Time Inc. announced it will offer all of its 21 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People and Fortune on just about every tablet platform.
Look for Time’s publications on iTunes, Android’s store, HP’s new tablet, Next Issue Media, and Nook by the end of this year. (There is no mention of RIM’s Playbook or Kindle yet.)
To date, Time’s digital magazine and content apps have been downloaded more than 11 million times.
“Note that while the release mentions ‘digital subscriptions,’ what that really means is ‘digital-only subscriptions available everywhere but iTunes,’ reports the Wall Street Journal. “Apple and Time Inc. still haven’t come to terms on subscription rules, so right now the only way to get a digital subscription for the iPad is to buy a subscription package that also includes print.”
Two new tablet devices aimed at children under the age of 10 will hit the market this month, providing parents with the option of no longer having to share their iPads.
Educational toy maker LeapFrog began accepting pre-orders last month for its new LeapPad (available August 15) — a $99, 5-inch device including 2GB of storage and a video recorder. Designed for 4- to 9-year-olds, the LeapPad features a touch screen and big buttons for little hands.
Additionally, Amazon is now taking pre-orders for a 7-inch Android-based touchpad called the Vinci, available later this month starting at $389. The Vinci tablet features a protective soft-cornered chassis, 512MB of RAM and a 3MP camera.
Neither tablet includes Wi-Fi functionality, so parents won’t need to be concerned regarding what their children might download.
The BBC’s popular iPlayer is an on-demand broadband television and radio service that has been available in Great Britain for four years.
As of last week, the service is now available through an iPad app to 11 countries in western Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland) — with plans to launch in the U.S., Canada and Australia by the end of the year as a pilot program.
The app will allow users to stream programs over 3G and Wi-Fi, with the option to download for later viewing offline. International users will have access to some content for free, while full access will be subscription-based.
Luke Bradley-Jones, managing director of BBC.com, describes iPlayer as a VOD service: “We will have content from the last month, but also the best from the catalog stretching back 50 to 60 years.” He added, “What we’re trying to test in the pilot is the ability to drive exploration and discovery through a programming approach rather than an algorithm-based approach. We’re not trying to compete against a Netflix or a Hulu. This has to be tailored and hand-crafted, so we can create a tone of voice.”
Ustream launched its first iPad-optimized app this week. According to TechCrunch, the app “allows users to view live and recorded content streaming through the service — and to stream their own footage direct from their iPad 2.”
The company released its Android app on Honeycomb two weeks ago. There is also an iPhone version available.
The free Ustream app supports AirPlay, which means users can stream whatever they are watching on their iPad 2 to bigger screens.
“The AirPlay support is especially nice because while the video is projected onto your TV you can still use your iPad for chatting and social stream,” writes Gizmodo.
Ustream will also allow users to broadcast their own videos using either of the iPad 2’s cameras.
Facebook’s iPad app may be closer to launch than earlier reported, since a fully operational version was recently discovered “hidden” inside the current iPhone app.
The iPad app reportedly has a more modern look than the “tired old” iPhone version, resembling Twitter’s iPad app. The navigational features are said to be intuitively positioned whether the device is held vertically or horizontally.
According to Wired writer Charlie Sorrel: “Facebook has managed to fully port the signature confusion of its website to a tablet app, a not insignificant achievement.”
The iPad app has also been described as “spectacular.” For those who can’t wait for the official release, the CNN post includes a link for instructions to get it running from inside the iPhone app.
Consumers are increasingly using iPads and other tablet devices for mobile purchases, according to a new report by Forrester Research released this week.
Tablets might even one day outpace smartphones and PCs in terms of e-commerce volume.
The devices already account for 20 percent of mobile sales, even though just 9 percent of online shoppers have tablets. Additionally, 60 percent of tablet owners say they have used the devices to shop.
Tablets typically offer richer catalog presentations than those available via smartphones, and applications often produce faster loading times than retailers’ websites.
“Everyone thinks that mobile phones and mobile commerce are the next big things, and I think what this data shows is it’s probably actually tablets,” explains Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester analyst. “We have always capped e-commerce at 10 to 15 percent of total retail sales, but this potentially has the capability of really expanding e-commerce much beyond that.”
Chinese manufacturer Lenovo is entering the tablet fray with three new devices set for release in the coming months.
The 10.1-inch devices will be priced comparably to the popular iPad and will target specific users (the IdeaPad Tablet K1 for general consumers, ThinkPad Tablet for business users, and IdeaPad Tablet P1 for home and office use).
The IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad (available in August) will run Android 3.1, while the IdeaPad P1 will run Windows 7.
All three devices will initially be Wi-Fi only, with 3G versions expected at a later date.
The Digital Trends post includes images and technical specs on all three models.
Apple Inc. officially unveiled its newest operating system — OS X 10.7 “Lion” — on Wednesday. The OS introduces many features that mimic functions seen on its popular iPad.
The company also reported record earnings in the third quarter, despite any major new product announcements. Revenue was up 82 percent, and profits more than doubled, as consumers continued to purchase iPhones and iPads in record numbers (Apple computers also continued to sell, although iPod sales declined 20 percent).
Global sales of iPads nearly tripled to 9.25 million during the third quarter. Apple credits some of the success to adoption of the device by businesses such as Alaska Airlines and Nordstrom.
The New York Times reports that Apple’s current market value is 10 times Dell’s and nearly five times Hewlett-Packard’s.
Amazon may be selling a tablet computer as early as October, report people familiar with the matter.
The new tablet is expected to feature a 9-inch screen and run on Android’s operating system (but will reportedly not include a camera). An Amazon-designed second tablet may be available next year.
Amazon is still expected to introduce two new Kindles in the third quarter.
With its own online retail operation, Amazon is well positioned to compete with Apple. Moreover, one analyst says Amazon can offer a cheaper alternative and make up the difference with movie, music and book sales.
“Video Time Machine” is an entertaining and informative 99-cent iOS app from Original Victories, Inc. (compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad).
The app chronicles more than a century of compiled movies, commercials, TV broadcasts, and other moving images (the iTunes Preview description reads: “Watch over 10,000 hand-picked videos from 1860 to 2011”).
A simple interface enables users to select a year and then browse categories, including: news, games, sports clips, ads, movies, TV, and music.
For those more interested in entertainment surfing than a specific year or category, the app features a “random” button.
According to the Engadget post (which includes a video demo), all of the cataloged videos are available via YouTube, but the Video Time Machine “isn’t designed to simply mimic it; rather, the program’s meant to act more as a history lesson, giving us a unique opportunity to witness a slice of life.”
Apple announced the 15 billionth app download this week. The App Store has been open three years.
There are some 425,000 apps and 100,000 iPad apps available to users in 90 countries.
Apple has paid more than $2.5 billion to app developers to date.
From the Apple press release: “Users of the more than 200 million iOS devices around the world can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, education, sports, health, reference and travel.”
“Tablets aren’t cannibalizing notebooks; they’re converging with them,” writes John Paczkowski in a WSJ article about how fears regarding an iPad takeover of PC sales is overblown.
Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi sees tablets and notebooks converging as solid-state storage, low-power processors, app stores, touch interfaces, and lighter weights continue to span both platforms.
Sacconaghi predicts there will be notebooks of iPad weight with touchscreens and integrated keypads for under $1,000 which may undermine sales of tablets.
Paczkowski concludes: “In other words, the cannibalized becomes the cannibal. And in the end, it turns out that the post-PC era doesn’t mean that the PC is dead, but rather that it’s been born anew as a converged device — an ultrathin, touch-sensitive notebook.”
The annual iTunes Festival kicked off Friday in England, streaming select performances live in HD to iPads and iPhones for those who downloaded the free app.
The event is scheduled for 31 consecutive nights at the Roundhouse in London.
Paul Simon was the first artist to take the stage. Additional headliners include Coldplay, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Moby and more.
Apple funds the event by recording the live sets and selling them exclusively on iTunes.
Wired suggests an alternative business model: “But it makes me wish more festival organizers would do this the other way around — free recordings of the gigs you paid to see at festivals. Or perhaps a handful of free tracks to choose from an entire festival’s lineup, with the complete collection put on sale. There’s no better live recording than one created during the night you attended.”
In his new book, iPad in the Enterprise (available this August), Nathan Clevenger examines how the Apple iPad has started to transform the way enterprise IT departments are operating. Some interesting excerpts from the book are listed below.
“The day the iPad was introduced we had some discussions about adding them into our environment; 24 hours later, we had 500 devices accessing e-mails,” said Frank Modruson, the CIO of Accenture. “CIOs who resist will eventually be forced to change.”
“As we move forward into a world where cloud enabled networks are the norm,” says Art Glasgow, the CTO at Ingenix, “CIOs have to accept the fact that the world has changed. Any device at any time on the network will be the norm and it will have to be done without sacrificing security and manageability. Cool matters and usability rules the day so devices like the iPad have to be not just accounted for, but designed for. The good news is that devices like the iPad aren’t just cool. They are flexible, multifunction tools that are changing the way we work and create and in that sense may very well be not just an innovation themselves, but a catalyst to innovations.”
Hewlett-Packard will start selling its new TouchPad on Friday, entering the tablet market currently dominated by the iPad 2.
The new tablet, starting at $500, features a 10-inch screen with “a slick, distinctive software interface.”
Walt Mossberg likes TouchPad’s UI but downgrades it for poor battery life, a small number of apps, and an operating system that is buggy and requires regular rebooting.
The TouchPad will initially be available in two versions (16 or 32 gigabytes of storage) and will only offer Wi-Fi connectivity.
Mossberg: “At least for now, I can’t recommend the TouchPad over the iPad 2.”
