2/21/2014:  Microsoft Reported to Have Office Apps for iPad

It has been reported as far back as November that Microsoft was writing a version of its legacy Office Suite for the iPad.  Now, the rumors surface again, with source saying that the app will be ready soon and submitted to Apple for approval.

The Apple app monitor, the Daily, has seen a working prototype of the software.  According to The Daily, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files can be created and edited locally and online.

It is also believed that the suite will be made available with  few weeks.

Microsoft promptly refuted (kinda) the proposition that they would sell Office for the iPad, but they did not deny it outright.  They simply stated that the story was based in “inaccurate rumors and speculation.”  The Daily promptly defended their story and stated again that they had seen an actual demo of the software running on an iPad.

Barnes and Noble Reports 2011 Was a Good Year And it Was a Bad Year

It was a good year because B&N grew their overall sales by five percent to $2.4 billion:

$1.49 billion (up 2% for the year) in their brick and mortar edifices.

$420 million in online sales (UP 32%)

$542 million in all forms of Nook sales (Up 38%) 

It was a bad year because in spite of their increasing sales and solid market share for their Nook family of eReaders and tablets, they lost $94 million on their Nook business.  When the final profits are announced it appears the losses on the Nook business will force their total profits will be negative.

B&N did confirm that their Nook and online book sales held about 30% of the overall e-reader market.  This fact is, itself, reassuring that B&N is on the right track with their eReaders and their digital offerings.  Both are popular, deservedly so.

B&N also announced that the price of the original Nook Color will be reduced to $169, down from $199, and that they will be offering an 8GB model of the Nook Tablet for $199, $50 less than their 16GB model which will continue selling for $269. These price cuts and new model will bring them into a better competitive position with Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

2/20/2012: Amazon Planning a 6 & a 10-inch Screen This Year

The rumor mill is flying about two new devices from Amazon.  The first, and a surprise, is a 6-inch color eReader.  This would not be an LCD color but an e-Ink color for eReading only. The Chinese newspaper the Economic Daily News is reporting that Massachusetts-based E Ink Corporation has landed an order from Amazon for an estimated three million color e-reader modules per month, with shipments expected to begin in March.

E Ink owns the black and white e-ink process, and recently announced its first color e-ink display of which several commercial devices have already employed. Mirasol is used by Kobo in South Korea and a couple of specialty readers in the U.S.  This would mark the first color eReader (as opposed to a tablet) that Amazon has chosen to sell.

Then there is the rumored Kindle Fire 2, or whatever name they choose, for an 8.9-inch tablet that would compete more closely with the iPad.  Supposedly this will be available later this year—possibly in the second quarter.

2/15/2012:  BlackBerry Playbook Increases Market Share

It looks as if the BlackBerry Playbook’s price cuts have gained RIM’s tablet some market share.   Canadian source now measures the Playbook’s Canadian tablet share at 15% of all tablets, whereas the share was only 5% last fall.

It is questionable whether RIM can make any money at its current $199 price for its base model, but it is hard to see that they would sell well at prices above the Kindle Fire.  One can buy market share, sometimes, but it may not be a solution to the problem.  It does move inventory, however, and that, apparently, is what RIM needed late last year.

2/13/2012: Samsung Updates 7-inch Galaxy Tab

Samsung has provided pictures and specifications on an update to their original Galaxy Tab—the 7-inch version.  The new version, called the Galaxy Tab 2, does not make a radical departure from the original.  It has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM and a 1024 x 600 LCD screen.  It will ship with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) which is an improvement.

It will have a three megapixel rear-facing camera with a VGA for the other side.  It will also come with Bluetooth, WiFi, and a 3G model for the cellphone providers.

There is no official pricing announcement, but a Swedish blogger has seen the krona prices for it, and translated into greenbacks, the price appears the be $450 for the lowest memory unit with WiFi only, and $563 for a 3G model.  These currency conversions will probably hold for American prices, but it gives us some idea of what to expect.

Prices for a unit bought under a cell phone carrier will be less, of course—perhaps as the $200 prices seen for its predecessor a few months ago.

From this data it looks to me as if the 7.7-inch version, not yet available in the U.S. is where I would put my money.  Much high screen resolution, better processor and many other features will probably garner the most attention.

The Tab 2 will go on sale in Europe before the U.S., and the exact date is not yet know

2/3/2012:  7-Inch Android Tablet $99 from Sprint With Two-Year Contract

Sprint, beginning on Sunday, Feb. 5, will sell a 7-inch Android Tablet running version 2.3, for $99.  to get this price one must sign a two-year data services contract.  The contracts provides for 1 GB per month of 3G data for $20 a month, 3 GB for $35 and 5GB for $80.

The Optik tablet, manufactured by ZTE, a Chinese company, has fair to less than fair specs.  Screen resolution of 1280 X 800 is better than some.  It has a relatively slow Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor that runs at 1.2GHz speed, 16 GB of storage memory, and a 5 Megapixel camera and another 2 MP for front facing pictures.  The Optik also has a mini SD card slot.  The weakest part of the design is in the WiFi radio.  It will run 802.11 b/g, which is one generation behind the three-times faster “n” specification that most everyone else is offering now.  And it will soon be two generations behind when the 802.11 ac begin appearing later this year.

The China-based ZTE is making its debut into North America.  It holds No. 5 spot in the global mobile phone market for the last quarter.  It almost caught #4 LG Electronics in the most recent quarter.

Ray Hendon

Mr. Scott Seiber, shown in the video below, is Windows Program Manager for Microsoft—the man in charge of developing Windows 8.  In this video he has put to rest questions about whether the ARM version of Windows 8 would run the Office Suite of application programs.  Mr. Seiber makes it clear that a full-featured version of Office will run on ARM processors, and run in the exact way it will runs on Intel x86 equipment.

As a background to the story, Microsoft had announced months ago that they would develop a new version of Windows for ARM at the same time they were upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.

This was and is big news.  It completely broke the tradition set by Bill Gates in Microsoft’s early years of existence that Microsoft’s OS would run only on Intel processors.  The agreement was central to Microsoft’s and Intel’s quest to leave their competitors behind.  Apple, Atari, Commodore, Osborne, Teas Instruments and Motorola, all had their own hardware and OS.

This partnership was enormously successful, as PCs based on the Microsoft/Intel configuration dominated the world for decades.  Part of this success must also be attributed to IBM, who based their PC design on Microsoft/Intel specifications.  The combination is still successful though not not as much as it was a few years ago. 

One of the primary reasons these two pioneers have lost share is the spectacular popularty of the tablet computer (primarily the iPad) and super powered smartphones.  Both of these form factors have left Microsoft and Intel in the dust.  Think of a sports car versus a long-haul truck.  Intel x86 chips can haul any load, whereas Apple has tailored its OS and CPU to do some things (graphics, e.g.) exceptionally well.  On the chip side, ARM has always specialized in fast and furious graphics and supreme low power operations.  This was a perfect combination for the iPhone and iPad, both of which need strong visuals and low power drain.

Although Microsoft had a version of Windows they called CES that ran on some of the early Motorola smartphones, it was poorly done and was swept into oblivion by the Apple’s and Google’s superior products. 

Complicating the picture further is that ARM-designed chips have come to dominate smartphones and tablet products.  A few Windows tablets are made, but they run a version of Windows 7 that was kludged for touch operations, and it has not been well received. 

This left Microsoft no option but to formulate a Plan B, and Plan B was to develop a new OS that accommodated touch operations as the primary means of controlling the computing functions and that would work on small as well as large screens.

The first fruits of this effort is seen in Windows Phone 7 which was written for ARM-designed chips.  The look and feel of Windows 8 and its finger-friendly operations show that Windows Phone 7 was the basis for its design. 

Of course, Windows 8 is also being written for screens larger than a cell phone or tablet, and in this domain (laptops and desktops) the Microsoft/Intel partnership dominates the industry.  This means that Windows 8 should embody not only finger-friendly gestures, but also accommodate mouse pointing and clicking.

Windows 8 thus takes on a huge role for keeping Microsoft in the picture for the future.  It is a vitally important project, and it seems clear that Microsoft is betting the company on its success.  From the looks in the video above, the efforts of Microsoft have been worthy. 

There is no way to predict that tablets on ARM designs running Windows 8 will be successful.  That is a decision to be made in the marketplace, and the first returns will not be in before the end of the year. But, it is clear that Microsoft is serious enough about solving their problem by seeing that their legacy applications, Office’s Word for Windows, Excel, etc. will run and run well on the new platform.

1/30/2012:  Kindle Fire Outsells Estimates

Now that the bean counters have finished their tally sheets, it appears that Amazon actually sold 6 million of the $199 Kindle Fire in the fourth quarter.  This estimates comes from Stifel Nicolaus, an analyst, who put this in his recent note.  Earlier prediction of Kindle Fire Sales were in the area of 5-million units  for the period.

This is an impressive figure given that Amazon came from nowhere in the tablet market, and its sales didn’t start until mid-November.  Apple last week said it had sold 15.4 million iPad tablets in the last quarter, more than double the number it sold for the same period in 2010.

Some have estimated that the Fire accounts for up to 40% of Android sales during its first month and a half of its existence.

1/29/2012:  ARM Ultrportables on Windows 8

The ultraportable laptop category of PC is soon to get a major boost.  ARM chips, which began their life in America primarily as the brains of cell phones, has since graduated to tablet computers, running both iOS and Android designs.  But soon, beginning in February, ARM designed for laptops will be enabled to run Windows 8. 

An ARM based ultraportable will not be seen immediately on dealer shelves—I would look for that much later in the year.  But it is strongly rumored that Microsoft will release an ARM-based version of Windows 8 to developers in February.  This release is enabled by the fact that, again, according to reliable reports, Windows 8 has become stable on the new platform.

Some laptops and tablets running Widows 8/ARM designs were shown at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but they were shown only behind glass walls, and nothing moved on the screens other than a fixed display sequence.  No hands were allowed to touch these devices—Win 8 was not yet stable enough to allow such liberties.  But, now, the project moves to the next stage where developers can begin testing the new OS on tablets and laptops of their own design.

The picture at right, taken at CES, shows Windows 8 running on an ARM designed device.

For those of us who use these types of machines, this is unambiguous good news.  ARM chips were originally designed to run by sipping only the slightest amount of juice—extended battery life was their reason for existing.  The only way this could be achieved was to reduce the instruction set that powered the functions of the chip.  Reduced Instruction Set Chips (RISC) were not new, but they found new life under the ARM design by being adapted for cell phones, smart phones, and, more lately, on tablets.  The iPad, iPhones, iPod and Android devices all use ARM designed chips.

What has given this design new life is the expansion of the RISC concept by introducing multiple cores in the central processing unit.  Apple’s iPad and iPhone ARM design use dual cores now.  And late last year quad-core designs were perfected, opening the larger tasks required by PCs to its domain.  Nvidia was the first fabricator to make a commercially available quad core design, and Asus was the first to market with its Tegra 3 ARM on the their Transformer Prime tablet.  Many other tablets will be seen in the coming months running Nvidia’s and other quad core ARM designs.

It is thought now that using an ARM design will reduce the price of a laptop by a couple of hundred dollars per unit.  Thee savings will be about the same whether the chip is fabricated by Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, or Apple.  This means we could see fully functioning Windows 8 apps on ultraportables for $800 or less and even further as production costs are reduced by the economies of scale that invariably follow wider use.

Although there is no official announcement that Microsoft’s Office suite of apps will run under the ARM based version of Windows 8, unofficial reports say that all the Office apps run fine.  This development will be, I believe, one of the larger tech stories of 2012.  The practical implications are huge.

1/27/2012:  Moto Moves a Million

Motorola, in its quarterly statement released yesterday, assets that it shipped one million Android tablets during 2011.  The only tablet they sold during the year was the Xoom—their newer tablet, the XYBoard did not begin selling until 2012, although some could have been shipped in December.  The last quarter saw 200,000 units shipped, according to the report.

One million units is not great when compared with the 10.5 million Android tablets shipped during the year, but it may be enough to keep Motorola in the game.  Perhaps the XYBoard will sell better.

 

1/26/2012:  Android Tablets Close the Gap With iPad

At last there are real numbers that show the Android assault on the iPad is beginning to take effect. Although the data provided is of shipments—not sales to consumers—it can reasonably be assumed that the items shipped will eventually be sold. The shipments reported are for both the iPad and Android devices. The weakness in the data is that no distinction is made between shipments of 10-inch tablets and those of 7-inches. This is, in my view, an important distinction, since there is little basis for comparing a 7-inch screen with an iPad or 10.1-inch screen.

Regardless of the weaknesses of the data, it is all we have for now.  It is supplied by Strategy Analytics, a firm that advises Global 500 firms on technology issues. They specialize in tracking, analyzing and forecasting technology markets including consumer electronics and wireless devices.

According to their report, about 26.8 million tablets were shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple iOS devices accounted for 15.4 million units and Android about 10.5 million. Therefore, for the last quarter of 2011, the iPad had about 57 percent of the tablet market and Android at about 39 percent.

This is impressive when the same shipments are compared with the fourth quarter of 2010. In that year, as can be seen in the table below, Apple iOS shipments were 7.3 million units and Android 3.1 million. So, last year Apple’s share of the market was 69 percent and that of Android 29 percent.

For total units sales, Apple more than doubled its shipments and Android more tripled theirs.

This is good news for both Apple and the Android vendors. Android can compete with the iPad, but probably at lower prices overall, and the more capable Android 4.0 will probably help them compete with iOS.

Tablet Shipments Q4 10 vs Q4 11

It also convinces me that there is room for a Windows 8 tablet in the market. Windows 8 tablets are slated to debut later this year, probably in the third quarter, so the new OS will have only three or four months to work out the bugs before the 2012 Christmas selling season begins. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slow start for Windows 8, because no matter how much in-house testing is done on a new OS, consumers always find ways to foul the best laid designs on engineers. Quick fixes are a fixture in this type of business, and wise buyers will be aware of early and unexpected problems. This may slow their initial adoption.

1/23/2012:  RIM Makes a Management Move

RIM has provided a press release that former co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie are passing the reigns to the company’s former co-COO Thorsten Heins.  Mr. worked with Siemens AG before joining RIM in 2007.

The announcement is not a surprise.  It is clear that Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Balsille failed in their attempt to turn BlackBerry around.  Last year RIM owned about 35.8 percent of U.S. smartphone market. By November of 2011, that number had dropped almost in half to just 16.6 percent.  The stock value has faired even worse.  RIM is in deep trouble, and there are many within the industry who doubt that the latest move will be enough to turn things around.

1/21/2012:  eBook Borrowing Doubles

The demand for e-books at some major public libraries more than doubled in December and January compared to a year ago.  The Boston Public Library, the nation’s oldest, reports eBook borrowing more than tripled in December, compared to December 2010. For the first half of January, more than 700 people a day tried to borrow an e-book, or added their name to a long waiting list for some of the more popular titles.

At the New York Public Library, 2,907 e-books and materials were checked out on Dec. 26, 2011, nearly double the 1,523 checked out on the same date in 2010.  The New York Public Library carries over 20,000 eBook titles.

The increase in demand is closely tied to so many eBook readers as gifts during the Christmas season.  And this last season saw a record in eReading device sales.  It is estimated that the Kindle Fire sold over f.5 million units this last season.

Public libraries are stressed with the influx of orders.  First, they are restricted to lending of their electronic titles.  Different publishers limit the number of times an electronic title can be loaned, and some publishers do not have electronic editions.  There are some publishers who publish electronic editions but refuse to sell to libraries.  

Waiting lists for popular titles are long.

1/16/2012: Windows 8 for October?

A Microsoft executive, in an interview at CES, mentioned that it is generally three years between major upgrades to Windows, implying that October of this year is a likely time for the final release of Windows 8.  He was careful to note that this was not an official statement, but one of historical continuity, more or less.

This is important to Microsoft, of course, but it is important to the entire industry, because Windows 8 will feature a touch-screen orientation written from scratch for the first time.  Although Windows 7 was patched to add touch operations, it remained a mouse-centric OS, and the touch interface was a kludge and clumsy add-on.  Windows 8, it is hoped, will remedy these deficiencies.

But on an even larger scale, Windows 8 will also be written to run on ARM chips for the first time.  ARM is the family of Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC) that has taken over the cell and smartphone markets as well as tablets.  Apple uses a dual core ARM design for the iPad3, and iPhone.  Samsung, Toshiba, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Acer, Asus and many others produce tablets or parts for tablets that use ARM architecture as the CPU on their devices.  Plus, the new generation of quad-core ARM chips brings its raw processing power up several notches to where it can now match the Intel designs in horsepower, at least ways important to tablet and general PC use

Of course none of the existing ARM-based tablets can run Windows.  Rather they operate on iOS, Android or QNX.  This means that owners of tablets of these devices will not be able to run any of the Windows’ Office Suite of productivity applications– Word for Windows, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.  And this limitation is the major stumbling block for making the tablet a computer capable of producing content rather than merely consuming it.

Microsoft apparently has its collective mind set on having a new generation of tablets using ARM designs but running Windows 8 as the operating system.  Owners of such a tablet could purchase an ARM-compatible Office Suite and thus not have to give up using their familiar productivity applications.

I would prefer to see Microsoft write a special version of the Office Suite for ARM chips using Android or iOS, but this probably won’t happen at first if ever.  Microsoft does sell operating systems as well as specific applications for productivity, so it seem reasonable to expect them to keep their legacy apps for their own customers. 

For now, and for the near future, iPad and Android tablet owners will have to be satisfied with working around the problem with Dropbox or other cloud solutions, but none of these solutions allow for easy creation or editing of Word, etc. documents.  However a new entry into the Office-Suite-for-iPad  category of cloud computing, Onlive Desktop, offers the most complete solution to this problem.  I will have a review of this new app in the next few days.

1/15/2012:  Sony Shows Ultraportable at CES

Sony is thinking ultrabook.  But, it doesn’t have one ready to sell yet.  It did show a preproduction model, however, but no one could put their hands on it.  From the view provided the ports can be seen: 2 USB ports including 1 USB 3.0 port. There’s also an HDMI port, VGA port, headphone jack, Ethernet jack, and a card reader which supports SD cards and Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo.

The thin laptop is also the same thickness front and back, abandoning the MacBook Air’s design of sloping to a near razor’s edge at the front.

Sony would not provide any pricing or availability information on their new ultra, so we can only surmise that it will come in a 3lbs or less, given its 13.3-inch screen.  Other specs will follow when they become available.

1/5/2012:  Acer has a New Iconia Tab

Acer is updating the 10.1-inch tablet with their new model, the Iconia Tab 200.  Their new entry into the crowded Android tablet market has graphics with a 1280 X 800 pixel screen and an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor that runs at 1 GHz.  These are fairly average numbers for tablets on the market today.

Acer insists the new model will be available in stores on January 15th, and, happily, its price will start at $329 at the low end with 8 GB memory.  The 16 GB model will sell at $349.

  This is good news for those looking an Android tablet.  The first wave of Android 10.1-inch tablets were priced at $499, and none sold well.  But, those prices have begun to fall.  It seems to me that a $300 entry price may have some chance of selling a significant number of units.

The Iconia 200 will not ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but it will be up-graded from Honeycomb 3.2 to the newer Operating System in February. 

Lenovo Revamps Their ThinkPad Line with Thin and Light and a Hybrid Intel/ARM Model

Lenovo is redefining the ThinkPad line of notebooks, going with thinner, lighter models and instant-on features that are generally redefining notebooks in the new year.

A most interesting model is their X1 series of notebooks.  The X-series has always featured  ultra-small designs, and usually featured the most powerful ultras one could find.  Expense was never an objective for this line. 

The new X1 Hybrid is well within this tradition.  It features a fanless “Instant Media Mode” of operation that does not load Windows or rely on an Intel processor.  Rather Lenovo has put a Qualcomm dual-core processor on the motherboard that runs on a version of Android when the Intel processor is not running.

This feature allows many functions to be completed without using the more powerful Intel i5 or i7 capabilities.  Web surfing, video and picture viewing, check email or listen to music—all can be done using the Qualcomm ARM chip while the Intel chip is turned off.

Among the benefits of this configuration is that the battery life is doubled to 10-hours, and an instant awakening from an idle mode.  If more heavy duty work is required, Windows apps can be invoked by starting up the Intel engine.

The weight of the new X1 is 3.7-pounds chassis,  a 13-inch (1366 x 768) Gorilla Glass display. It’ll be offered with Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, a 3G radio and a slice battery that adds up to five more hours of battery life. It’ll be available sometime in the second quarter for $1,599 and up.

The dimensions are not published, but it will probably about the same thickness of last year’s model, so it cannot bear the new definition of Intel’s Ultrabook specifications, but it will be still be thin compared with the older line of Thinkpads.  It will also have the fabulous keyboard that is unique to Thinkpads.  The Android Marketplace will not be available to this version of Android.

There are many new Lenovo models announced that do qualify for the Intel definition of Ultrabooks, and they will be detailed in another post.

1/3/2012:  Asus to Debut New 7-inch Tablet at CES

Asus has released the picture at left of their new Eee Memo Pad, a 7-inch tablet that is run by a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon dual core processor and supports 16GB to 64GH of internal storage.  It will have a built in 3G and WiFi, with a screen resolution of 1,280 X 800. 

No word on pricing yet, but it will most likely be shown at the up-coming CES in Las Vegas on January 10th.  The new tablet is slated to be introduced in Asia before making it to America.

RIM puts BlackBerry Playbook on Sale

Research in motion has put its Blackberry Playbook on sale from its web site for $299.  The odd part of this story is that the price of the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB units all sell at the same price.  They are probably looking to sell out their existing inventory, so the larger memory units will probably go first. 

It makes me wonder if RIM will stay in the tablet business given their terrible experience with their first try.  But, they have a large installed base of business accounts that want tablets, so they may feel the heat to come out with a new, improved tablet to satisfy this critical part of their market.

1/1/2012:  Sony’s S Tablet Price is Cut $100

Happy New Year!  I look forward to an exciting 2012, with hundreds of new products slated for introduction over the next twelve months.  I also look forward to lower prices on many products that help readers in their quest for convenience in pursuing their hobby.

To start the new year off, Sony is reducing the price of their S Tablet by $100.  A brand new 16GB model of the S will now retail for $399, and the 32GB model will hereafter sell for $499.

Their Android S Tablet has generally had good reviews.  It is often the second choice to the iPad2, coming in ahead of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.  Some of the reviewers put it just behind the Galaxy.

The screen size of the S Tablet is an odd 9.4-inches, but its operation is similar to the 10.1-inches of most Android devices and the iPad2’s 9.7-inch screen.

With its ability to play PlayStation games, it was expected to sell well, but has not generated the revenue Sony anticipated.  There is a review of this model here at ereadersreview.net(Click here for review)

Ray Hendon

Ultraportables, which include the newest incarnation of thin and light laptops, the Ultrabook, are thought by some to be a threat to tablet computers.  The instant-on capability of Ultrabooks are believed to be especially attractive to those who have been buying tablets because of this feature. 

It appears likely to me that Ultrabooks and other thin and light laptops will do well in the market place, especially when their prices fall a few hundred dollars.  But whether they will dampen any of the enthusiasm for tablets is another matter.  Personally I think both form factors satisfy separate needs for different users.

One feature of the new Ultrabooks that will help resolve the question is whether they will serve their owners as competent eReaders.  Surely there are some prospective buyers who would prefer to own only one device rather than two—but only if the one could do the work of two.  Can an Ultrabook do both heavy duty computing and convenient eReading?  Can one design satisfy both these needs?

Certainly a dedicated eReader or a tablet have some advantages over a laptop, even a thin and light one.  Reading electronic books, for example is probably done best by a device that closely emulates the look and feel of a book.  The popularity of the Kindle and Nook are thought to owe much of their success to their similarity to printed books.

How essential is the look and feel,  though, to those who read a lot.   This article takes a look at the possibility of using these new, thin and light computers as an eReader.

To put this question to a practical test, I loaded the top three eReading applications to an 11.6” screen Asus UX21 to see how they worked.  The applications chosen to test are:

Amazon’s Kindle App for PCs, Macs, iPad, iPhone and Android devices

• 
• Barnes and Noble’s Nook Application for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone  and Android devices
• 
   

   

   

• Sony’s Reader Application for PC, Mac and Android devices

  

To give you a taste of the difference, I have taken screen shots of random pages from eBooks on the three applications I mentioned.

Beginning with Amazon, a screen shot of George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, is displayed in the two column format for laptop viewing. The screen shot is taken of the Kindle application for PCs.

Screen of Kindle Reader in Two Column Format

The Kindle app is widely praised for its versatility of layout options, underlining, comments, bookmarks and especially its syncing abilities.  This app also has go-to options that ease navigation, and dictionary lookup for a highlighted word.  All these features work on Ultrabooks. 

Amazon also has a user friendly policy of allowing you to direct any book in your library to be sent to any device on your registered list of devices. Amazon is indifferent as to which device or how many you use for any their electronic titles.  It treats them all the same and syncs them in an effortless way. The moment I registered my latest laptop, the Asus ZenBook UX21, all books in my library were immediately available for reading.

The strongest features of Amazon is, in my view, the ease of use of its website.  It is easy to find books, send them to the device of your choice, and generally navigate their vast site.

Equally strong is the selection of books, magazines and newspapers. They claim over a million titles, but that includes some categories such as “Singles” that represent a new class of literature that is generally shorter than a book but longer than an article. 

The worst feature of Amazon is that they insist on using a proprietary format for their eBook files.  It has an AZW extension and works only on Kindle software or hardware.  Although all the free sites I use give the option of downloading their books in the AZW format, in practice it is not terribly inconvenient.  Amazon also can read PDF files, and they will convert your Word for Windows documents to a format that allows you to put them in you Kindle library.

The other downside to Amazon is that they use DRM (digital rights management) on everything, so there is no cutting or pasting using anything in the AZW format. 

The Nook eReader software also provides a good reader experience. The screen shot below is from one of their pre-DRM works. Don’t be fooled by the small typeface. My screen capture utility shrunk it because the Nook takes up more of the horizontal space of the computer screen than the Kindle reader, so it has to cut the size down to fit within the pasted space. In practice, the Nook screen is as readable as any other.

Screen shot from the Nook Reader using the dual pane format

All the formatting and user options are available for the Nook reader–font size, margins, highlighting, lookup, go-to. And the B&N syncing feature is excellent between devices, and they offer their reader software app for a wide range of devices.

As far as eReading goes, it is hard to find much to prefer of B&N over Amazon or vice versa.  Both are excellent and have almost identical features.

The same is true for selection of books. B&N’s inventory is huge, and they have a good selection of free public domain books—as good as or better than Amazon’s.

Nook uses the ePub format, as does Sony, although both will read many other formats as well.  They do not read Amazon’s proprietary AZW file format, however.

Something of an oddity: The Nook reader treats all ePub software as DRM protected, so they do not allow cutting or pasting of non-DRM books.  Even on the iPad, whose own iReader app allows cutting and pasting of non-DRM protected material the  Nook does not.

Sony’s reader app provides a good reading experience. The screen shot below is from an ePub file of a non-DRM version of Sherlock Holmes.

 

Screen of Sony Reader’s Dual Column Layout

 

As with the Nook, the Sony Reader software uses more of the landscape screen to display its materiel than the Kindle app, so my clipping software has to reduce it to fit the pasting space. But Sony gives one plenty of formatting options and page control.

Sony lags both Amazon and B&N with book selection and syncing ability.  Their books are generally priced high; they have few free books, and their selection doesn’t match its two larger competitors.

Sony makes its reader software available to fewer devices—no iPad, no iPhone, no BlackBerry, for example.  They have syncing available to the three types of devices they support, but I have not tried it personally.

I like the Sony reader app for its ability to read almost any kind of document regardless of format, except, of course, Kindle documents. I will always have their app installed on my computers in case a particular book is not available in the Kindle format.  And they allow cut and paste options for non-protected books.

I find all three of the reader software about equally enjoyable to use. The differences in layout and options are not terribly important. I find I use the Kindle app more than the others because I find more books on their site I like, and I like to sync the books among all my devices. Still, I maintain active use of the Nook and the Sony Readers.

Summary:

First, the reality of the size and convenience of specialized eReaders and tablets makes it clear that they have the advantage. It is not possible for an ultrabook, weighing in at 2.9 pounds, to be as convenient to use as a 7-inch tablet or even the pound and a half iPad.

However, it is also inconvenient to carry two devices if one will do. So, there will be occasions when a thin and light laptop could be a suitable substitute for a dedicated eReader or tablet. 

At bottom, all of these tested apps work well on an Ultrabook. And they would work just as well with the software from other vendors such as Kobo or Blio. If your eReading preferences include comic books, magazines or children’s books, then you might like a specialty reader designed for the formats unique to these publications.

While all the eReading apps work well on an Ultrabook, it still may not be your preferred way of reading electronic texts.  But they are completely usable as a primary or secondary eReader. The choice of one over another is more dependent on which site you prefer to use because of its particular strengths than to the characteristics of their eReades.

From my experience, I have given away my Kindle reader. I simply do not want to carry another device with me in my travels. Now that I have a 7-inch tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, I use it as my eReader of choice because of its lightness and ease of holding in one hand. I use the iPad for e-reading infrequently, but there are occasions when it comes in handy. Its weight, though, makes it a second choice, especially for long reading times. 

I rarely use a PC or my ultraportable for reading, but if I do it will be on the ultraportable.  Its lightness and instant-on feature does make it a better choice than the older, heavier laptops, but it is not as convenient to carry as a tablet.

An ultraportable may not be your favorite way of reading electronic texts, but it serves as a completely satisfying vehicle for reading if you want to carry only one device with you or if an occasion arises when it is all you have to use.

 

Reports out the last few days point to Barnes and Noble looking at ways of selling some or all of their Nook line of eRedeaders.  The problem is an odd one.  By most measures the Nooks have been successful products.  They competed effectively with other eReading devices, and the Nook Color almost singlehandedly defined a new niche in the tablet category of computers.

The bottom line, however, is that the sales success has not been translated to B&N’s bottom line:  the large book chain has not found  a way to sell their fancy new devices at a profit.  Development costs are high, as are the costs of keeping the products up to date in a fast-paced technology industry. 

B&N is said to be looking at two options:  The first is to sell the brand to another firm that could afford to continue developing the Nooks and to promote them in American and international markets.  It is understood, apparently, that these products need further development and to be promoted more than they are now if they are to become profitable.

The second option would be to sell a large percentage of the products to another firm but keep  a minority interest.  This would allow B&N to reap some of the expected profits from the line as it reached critical mass.  And it would free them from the need to raise additional capital.

Lurking behind the issue is that B&N is not currently profitable.  Furthermore, if they sell or drop the line of eReaders, what they are left with is a dinosaur brick and mortar book chain that is steadily losing ground to the same digital markets that the Nook has helped define.

Some analysts feel the Nook is doomed and will eventually disappear.  The price pressure applied by Amazon is simply too much for each of their products, the e-Ink Reader that sells for $100, the Nook Color for $199 and the Nook Tablet for $249.  At these prices, there is no margin left for profit and not enough money coming in to continue their development efforts.

If there is to be a buyer it must obviously be one with deep pockets.  Microsoft and Google qualify as having deep pockets.  But do they have the compelling interest?  It is hard to see Microsoft blowing itself up even beyond their present size to take on such a different breed of cat.  It is not an area in which they have much of a proprietary interest.  They are not hardware manufactures at their core; neither are they book sellers, electronic or otherwise.

The case for Google is better.  They have an electronics bookstore, although it is not doing particularly well.  And they make the Android OS that runs many of the eReaders, both e-Ink and LCD types.  They would have better bargaining power with the publishers for the electronic titles they would sell.  Perhaps a partnership would be possible for them.

It also seems that Sony could be interested.  Their selection of electronic titles lags B&N and Amazon, so they would gain traction in an industry that is not in their wheelhouse.  They make eReader hardware now, so there would be some duplication in picking up the Nook line.  However, Sony could use the Color Nooks to enhance their offerings in the 7-inch segment of the tablet market.  Furthermore, Integrating these two sides of the Pacific might me more than Sony could do given their current state of struggle in the computer market.  This makes them a longshot, in my view.

Of all the Android-based tablets that have been brought to market this near, none have made any significant progress against the leader, the Apple iPad, except the recently introduced Kindle Fire.

Wisely avoiding a head-to-head competition with the iPad, Amazon chose a smaller form factor and one oriented more to the e-reader market and its needs than to the wider audience that the iPad appeals to.  Yet the Fire is, after all, still an Android-based machine, but with extensive customization of the interface and tight integration with all of Amazon’s products and services. 

Now we have the beginning of estimated sales data, and the data supports the wisdom of Amazon in doing with their new tablet what they did.  A business information services company, HIS says:

“. . .Amazon will ship 3.9 million Kindle Fire tablets during the last three months of 2011, giving the company a 13.8 percent share of tablet shipments in the fourth quarter, beating out the 4.8 percent held by Samsung. Apple is pegged to control 65.6 percent of the market.”

The same data also shows that Barnes and Noble did a good job on their new tablet, the Nook Tablet.  It has established itself solidly behind Samsung in fourth place with around 4% of the market. 

The success of the Fire, specifically, shows the marketing muscle of Amazon, and is a tribute to their design team—as is the Nook Tablet.  The iPad can be taken on, but the most successful firm in doing it did it with a smaller (e-reader-sized) screen and a reduced functionality.  But, more importantly, it also comes in less than half the price of the iPad.  These factors, coupled with Amazon’s loyal customer base and marketing muscle, explain much of their success.

This success story may give other manufacturers some hope, but it also a warning.  Android cannot take on iOS directly.  Their interface is not as polished or consistent, although I hope the newest version, 4.0, will go some distance in closing this gap. 

But close is not good enough in the tablet market.  A price reduction is mandatory for those who aspire to take on Apple.  Look at the failures of Motorola’s Xoom, RIM’s BlackBerry Playbook and HP’s tablet.  Close isn’t enough. 

BlackBerry, similar to HP, has found, perhaps a sweeter spot at $200 than at $500, but it is far from clear that their 7-incher is yet a viable product.  This venerable firm had to take a half-a-billion dollar write-down on their existing inventory this last quarter.  I can’t see how this is good news for anyone but to the guys and gals from Cupertino.

Another piece of good news for those of us who buy this stuff, is that the 7-inch segment of the tablet market may have found its proper place.  At $200, it is viable.  The problem with this is that no one can make and sell a good quality 7-inch tablet at that price.  It is reported by those that follow the accounting statements and finances of Amazon that the Fire costs them a dollar or two more than $200—but they can make up the difference with the sale of all the other stuff they sell.  Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Toshiba and countless others don’t have this luxury.

Perhaps I should exempt Motorola from this category, however, because it is now owned by Google.  It is understood that Google does have aspirations to rival Amazon in the sale of books and other stuff, and they have made moves in that area.  But the Xoom is supposedly an autonomous division of Google, so on their own, the executives of that division could not sell their product for less than it costs to produce it.  Google has some organizational issues to deal with if they want their product to compete in this market.  They may have to adopt the old Gillette strategy of giving away the razor to make their profit on the blades.

 

11/28/2011:  Rumor: Apple to Re-design MacBook Airs And Add a 15-inch Model in Q1 of 2012.

Now the 10% price reduction on existing MacBook Air notebooks makes more sense.  The rumor is that sometime in the first quarter of next year Apple will offer a new design of the 11.6 and 13.3-inch models, plus they will add a 15-incher to the mix.

The price reduction is, then, a way of trimming its inventory of the old before bringing out the new.  This puts a new twist on buying one now.  The new models will probably have beefed up processors, faster and be more efficient.

Adding a 15incher, it is said, is Apple’s way of trying to compete in the enterprise market—sell more to business users.  This strategy, if it is, will meet significant resistance from business buyers who have a mandatory need to run the legacy Windows apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.  Microsoft has written code for these apps to run on Apple products, but it will require a separate purchase and add another layer of support on the IT departments.  Something, no one wants to do.

But, the Air is a fabulous product, and it will get some sales in the enterprise market.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire is Huge in Sales, as Are The Other Kindle Models.

Amazon announced that Kindle sales are four times greater this year than last, probably largely attributable to the Kindle Fire.  Their new tablet is now the largest selling item they sell, system wide.  It looks as if Amazon has hit the sweet spot for the small-form tablet.

11/24/2011:  Lenovo’s 10.1-inch Tablet Price Cut

The IdeaPad K1, Lenovo’s entry into the consumer market for Android tablets, began its existence priced at $499.  Seeing its mistake, Lenovo has now reduced its price to $349 according to PC World.  Lenovo’s on-line site specifies $379.  This is their top of the line product for consumers.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS
•     NVIDIA® Tegra 2.0 T20 1.0GHz processor
•     Google Android 3.1 operating system
•     10.1” HD (1280×800) display
•     Up to 1GB DDR2 memory, up to 64GB SSD storage
•     Integrated Bluetooth®, 3G1
& 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity
[Only two color options (brown and red) support 3G connectivity;
3G option is not available before the end of August]
•     Micro SD card reader, Mini HDMI connector & Docking port
2
•     Integrated front (2M) & back (5M) mounted webcam

It comes with 30 apps (including Angry Birds) pre-loaded.  Strong on social networking, movies and its high resolution screen.  At the new price it will be competitive for those who want an Android large-screen tablet.

11/21/2011:  Children’s Books Lag in eReading

An article in today’s NY Times points out that children’s books are not making the transition to electronicformat at the pace for all adultr books.  The article points out:

“. . .sales of e-books for titles aimed at children under 8 have barely budged. They represent less than 5 percent of total annual sales of children’s books, several publishers estimated, compared with more than 25 percent in some categories of adult books.”

It seems that the parents of young children enjoy the tradition of holding an actual book with a child in their lap and the two go through the pages together.  In this way the child learns to turn the page and get familiar with the symbols and pictures made especially for the younger set.

It is difficult to impossible to put all the special fonts and pictures for children within the confines of a six-inch eReader screen.  Additionally, converting a paper children’s book to electronic texts is expensive with the special graphics and page sizes used for the youngsters.

The article also points out another significant impediment to adoption of electronic editions.  Parents love the browsing experience of a brick and mortar store and often stumble upon a new book for their child by just strolling the book shelves.

“. . . parents often want to flip through an entire book before buying it, something they usually cannot do with e-book browsing. A study commissioned by HarperCollins in 2010 found that books bought for 3- to 7-year-olds were frequently discovered at a local bookstore — 38 percent of the time.”

It looks as if there will not be much of an acceleration from tradition print to electronic editions in this niche market. 

11/19/2011  Amazon Ups Orders Again for Kindle Fire

According to a report by Display Search, a research organization, Amazon has recently added another one million units to its orders for the Kindle Fire this quarter.  This brings their orders up to 6 million, which is what they expect to sell by the end of this year.

The iPad2, according to general consensus, is expecting to sell about 9 million units for the quarter ending December 31.  this comparison is astounding.  No other tablet provider has sold more than a couple of million units a year, much less a quarter.  Amazon has shown its marketing muscle, and they have it in abundance.

These sales figures may not stay at this level past the holiday season.   Apple is expected to bring out the iPad3 by April or 2012, and that would put it further ahead of the Kindle Fire in features than it is now.

Nevertheless, Amazon has made an impressive debut for its new tablet .  they have my attention.

11/18/2011:  BlackBerry PlayBook for $199 in Canada

The Kindle Fire effect has reached our immediate neighbor to the north. The BlackBerry PlayBook is now on sale there for $199 for their 16 GB model at Canadian BestBuy stores. This sale will end on November 24.

In the U.S., Staples is offering that same deal (one per customer) but only on Black Friday. So far no other American retailers have matched that deal, but it probably won’t be long. It looks as if RIM is trying to empty its warehouses.

There is probably a newer version on the near horizon, at least I hope so. The new model, though, is not supposed to be out until after the first of the year in February.

For those interested in e-reading, the PlayBook has a Kindle app, so it will do well reading electronic books. Its specs are also quite good—fast processor, good screen resolution and fast execution. It has been hobbled, however, with the omission of some key applications such as email and contacts, and it uses a proprietary operating system, QNX, which is not natively compatible with Android apps. This has left it short of a good selection of independent apps.

Thus far, regardless of similar promotions in the recent past, it is not moving off dealer shelves. It is hard to make much of a case for it at $199, given its limited usefulness over the long term. In my view is was almost a good idea, and RIM almost implemented their almost good idea. It was and is, though, almost a good tablet.

11/16/2011;  Santa’s List Dominated By Tablets This Year

A survey done by PriceGrabber of online shoppers asked respondents what they wanted for Christmas.  First, 79% of the respondents wanted a tablet computer over a laptop.  Of the 79% who preferred a tablet, the following is their ranking by preference:

1. iPad: 83%
2. Kindle Fire, 5%
3. Samsung Galaxy Tab 4%
4. HP Touch, 2%

The survey was taken in mid to late October, before news of the Nook Tablet was released.

For those who wanted an e-reader, the results by rank:

1. iPad, 62%
2. Kindle, 27%
3. Nook, 7%.

The sample size was 3574, but it was not a random sample, therefore the results are not reliable for scientific purposes.  But is is informative.  The iPad obviously dominates their choices, and this is not new.  But the Kindle Fire coming in 2nd is.  Amazon has an amazing ability to catch the public’s attention, and a good level of trust, too.  Christmas may be a little blue for the other sellers of tablets such as Acer, Asus, Toshiba, HTC and others.

No questions about preferences for screen size were asked, but the large-screen iPad seems to settle that issue for now.

Mobile Battery Life May Expand by 10 Times

Nothing is more bothersome to mobile computer and smartphone users than having to keep all their instruments charged.  I generally use four portable devices: a Lenovo Ultraportable Laptop, an iPhone, iPad and a Galaxy Tab of 7-inches.  Keeping all these guys running requires due diligence and constant attention.

Now a group of engineers at Northwestern University have been experimenting with lithium ion batteries, the kind almost all mobile devices use, and they claim they have extended the life of a single charge by 10 times.  A cellphone might last a month on a charge if this holds true when their ideas are put into production.

Additionally, they also claim that these new formulations will charge in a 10th of the time of today’s batteries.  They claim 15 minutes is all it takes to get one of their batteries fully charged.

The full article is found here if you want to get the details.  Needless to say, this is great news for all who are too often tethered to a wall outlet for hours at a time. I hope their claims have merit for production models.

11/10/11:  Amazon Increases Production Run on the Kindle Fire to 5 Million units

Pre-orders for the new Kindle Fire, Amazon’s upcoming 7-inch tablet, are doing so well that they have just upped the first production run to 5 million units, according to report from Taiwan. 

This is excellent news for Amazon, who has spent many millions of dollars in developing their new tablet.  It looks as if the Fire will slip in at second place behind only the iPad in the race for leadership in the tablet market.  Over the last year Samsung has led the 7-inch segment of the market, but the Fire is going to blow it out of the water.

This is probably good news, at least in one way, for Barnes and Noble.  The new form factor is definitely catching on.  This may mean that B&N’s efforts for their new Nook Tablet will also pay off.

The Kindle Fire is expected to be delivered to those who ordered earlier by November 15th.  I am anxious to read the first reviews of it.  The price is good, but it comes in on the low side as far as its specs—no cameras, slower processor and not running a version of Android that has access to the Android Marketplace.

RIM’s Playbook to go on sale Black Friday at Staples for $199

Research in Motion has had trouble selling its BlackBerry Playbook, and there has been much speculation as to whether their 7-inch tablet will make the cut by the end of the year.  The price has been coming down from its original $499, and now Staples has announced it will sell the device for $199 on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Its survival is still in question because of delays in bringing its functionality up to par with other tablets.  And RIM recently cancelled a scheduled upgrade, putting it off until next year.  This indicates that the software fixes are much more difficult to bring off than its executives first thought.

11/09/2011:  Kindle Fire and other Kindle Models to be Sold at 16,000 Retailers.

Beginning November 15 the new Kindle Fire will be in stock at over 16,000 stores in the U.S.  BestBuy, Office Depot, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Staples, Target and WalMart will carry the products.

These are, by and large the same stores that have carried the eInk readers Amazon sells, so it is not surprising they have picked up the Kindle Fire.  This availability trumps Barnes and Noble’s bragging rights about having brick and mortar stores where their customers can buy the Nook Color.

Most of these stores also carry the iPad, so it gives Amazon a chance to compete directly with those who are shopping for a new tablet.  Although the Fire does not seem designed to compete head-to-head with the iPad, it doesn’t hurt to have it close by when iPad shoppers are looking.

11/08/2011:  T-Mobile to offer 4G (almost) version of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

Press release from T-Mobile:

Beginning Nov. 16 customers can purchase the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus for a $249.99 down payment at T-Mobile retail stores.

The purchase requires a $50 mail-in rebate, with a T-Mobile Value Mobile Broadband plan, two-year service agreement, and 20 interest free monthly payments of $10 on approved credit. Overage-free Mobile Broadband Value plans start at $29.99 per month, and T-Mobile postpaid voice customers enjoy $10 off their monthly mobile broadband service.

This up-dated version of the original Galaxy Tab is one of the finest 7-inchers on the market.  Now with a dual core, 1.2GHz processor, it will be much faster than its predecessor and have Honeycomb Android doing the user interface. 

For e-reading it offers two built-in readers: Blio for great color graphics in printed material and Zenio for magazines featuring full color.  It also offers a significant improvement in playing videos.  I would expect reader software from Kindle and Nook will be available the day it ships.

Amazon is selling a 16 GB WiFi-only version of the Tab for $399  with deliveries beginning November 13th.  Best Buy also carries a WiFi version (16GB) for $399.

The almost 4G offered by T-Mobile would be great, but there is no subsidy for buying it.  Their least expensive data plan is $30 per month, but with the extra $10 a buyers’ cost would be $40.

There are many rumors about the iPad3 (the Maxi) due to debut in March/April of next year.  And there are old rumors, now being recycled, that Apple also has a 7-inch version of the iPad coming—the Mini.

The maxi is well established, with reports of a new, higher resolution screen already shipping to manufacturing plants in Asia, getting ready for its first or second quarter debut.

But the specifications of the maxi are not settled.  The latest rumor, reported by Forbes Magazine, is that the iPad3 will be a high performance machine that will feature  not only a higher resolution screen but voice recognition service, Siri, as well.

This is big news, because Siri, accepting complex voice commands to do things in the future when certain conditions are met, is shaking things up in the smartphone market.  Much of the high demand for the iPhone 4S is attributable to this new feature.  If introduced to the next generation iPad, many existing owners would have a huge incentive to buy a new one.

The Forbes article goes on to report that there may be substance in the rumor for the mini.  The 7-inch market has seen frantic activity lately, with suppliers from Asia, North America and Europe rushing for a place on dealer shelves this year and next. 

The take by Forbes is that Apple would use the 7-inch device to secure their hold on all segments of the tablet market, using the smaller form factor to supplement their dominance in the larger screen size. 

One rumor insists that the mini will be first out of the starting block, but this seems unlikely.  No support screen shipments support this rumor.  Surely, if Apple had such a plan, suppliers would already be hard at work.  And once factories start churning out specific parts for a future product, the news leaks out.

Whatever, rumors are great fun, and tweak our interest in the not-to-distant future.  I, for one, would love to see Apple’s design ingenuity put to work on the stogy 7-inch market.

Bllack Friday is coming up soon, and the special items that retailers use to attract customers to their store are booming this year.  Some of these offers are especially attractive to those who like to read electronically, so I have filtered through the offers to construct the list following:

• BestBuy:  Acer Iconia A100 @ $190. 

The Acer Iconia A100, shown on right, is a normally much more expensive, but it is going for $190 at BestBuy only on Black Friday.  This tablet is not the equal of the latest Samsung Tab 7.0 plus or the HTC Flyer, but is equal and exceeds the Kindle Fire, at least in some uses.  Being a “pure” Android 2.3 device, it has full access to the Android Marketplace, which means it will run virtually everyone’s eReading software:  Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo, Google, and many others.

So if eReading is one of the things you would do on a Kindle Fire, look to the A100 as equal to the task.  Although you would give up the tight integration into the Amazon website for movies, books, music and magazines\, you can surf much faster, check you email well, and run all the Android apps.  I would give serious thought of using this device in place of the Fire if you want to have a more competent tablet as a tablet plus as an eReader.

• Asus Transformer:  @ $250.  The Transformer turns a 10.1 inch tablet, which seems competent in its own right, into a netbook, if you buy the keyboard/docking station that is sold separately.  So, for an extra $100 you get the best of the tablet and netbook.  At $250 it is only $50 more than the Kindle Fire, and it will run all the Android eReading software.  Something definitely worth checking out.

With a regular price of $399, it is $50 less than half price. If you are considering a netbook, this one is worth checking out.   It runs a verson of Andoid that has all the imporant eReader software availeble, so it would make a fine eReader machine plue a more fully functioning tablet/netbook.

Toshiba Thrive 10.1-inch Tablet @ $280. Running Android 3.2 with 8 GB of memory, this is a great price for a full-featured tablet computer with WiFi.  It will also run all the Android eReading software.  For another $50 you can upgrade to the 16Gb version.

Staples:

• BlackBerry Playbook, WiFi @ $199.  This tablet, highly touted when first introduced earlier this year, is still less than a fully function tablet, but the omissions to its feature set will be corrected in early 2012.  As asubstitute for the Kindle Fire it might be a good replacement.  It has the same internal processor as the Fire, but it has a excellent new OS dubbed WebOS.  An innovative design with fast execution and a bright screen, at this price is competes well with the Fire and Nook Tablet.  I don’t know if the Nook reader is available yet, but the Kindle Reader is.
• Acer Iconia A500 (10.1-inch screen) @ $300.  I don’t know the build quality of this Acer product, but if it is a solid machine, it represents a good value for an iPad substitute.  Android, at its current stage of existence, is not a full substitute for the Apple product, but with every new iteration of its OS it get closer.  At almost half the price, it is well worth checking out, especially as an eReader.

 

Office Depot:

• Lenovo Idea Pad K1 10.1-Inch Tablet @ $300

The Lenovo K1 is a competent 10.1-inch tablet with specs equivalent to many of the Android 10.1-inch tablets on the market today.  This $300 price may represent the new pricing point for those devices not quite up the the iPad standards, and $200 lower in price 

This tablet will have all the eReader software available to other Android devices, and would represent  a good buy for a well designed and built machine.

Apple Stores and Apple On-line

• MacBooks (Air, and Pro Models) off up to $101.

Apple doesn’t often discount its products, but Black Friday gives them a chance to clear out the inventory of many of their products.  The MacBook Air, a popular ultra-thin portable, will be about $100 less than usual, according to some rumor sources.  The MacBook Air represents the standard of the new ultra-thin portables.  No other vendor can match its looks or performance.  $101 off is not a steep discount, but it represents a fairly consistent way Apple cleans out its inventory with shallow discounts.  Such is the demand for their products.  The Air is available in 11.6-inch and 13-inch models ranging in regular price from $999 to almost $1300 for the 13-inch screen.  These will probably be the best prices one can expect for these highly valued machines.  Both the Air and MacBook Pro models have good eReading software from everyone who counts in the industry.

The MacBook Pro, the heavier model that has, for years, represented Apple’s standard for a conventional portable computer, is now giving way to the Air, with its lighter, thinner design.  You can go all the way up to an Intel i7 with this model, and a $100 off is probably is as good as it’s going to get.  

The model will probably be around for a few more years.  It has, of course, all the eReading software one could ask for.

 

iPad 2 @ $41 to $61 Off

The iPad 3 is headed to market by March or April of 2012, so Apple has some iPad2’s to close out.  As discounts go, these are not killer amounts, but it what we should expect from Apple. This firm has always maintained it high price points.

It looks like an exciting day on the busiest shopping day of the year. BestBuy is opening their stores at midnight. Arrive early if you have your sights set on a particular product. eReading on the iPad is fine, but it is a little heavy for long-session reading.  The King of the tablets gives nothing away as the best of the best in the tablet world.

Bon shopping.

 Ray Hendon

For the last two years I have wanted to begin each article about e-readers or tablets with a phrase about how rapidly things are changing in the industry. But, it is now and it always will  be that way. Technology is changing fast, and the longer we have experience in a particular technology, the faster change takes place. It’s a sentiment that is true in every segment of industry that is touched by computer technology.

This article is about the seven inch tablet, a segment of the tablet industry that has not in the past seen the tectonic eruptions that have defined the 10-inch segment. The iPad, of course, dominates the 10-inch segment, and, so far no other single tablet has managed to mount a significant challenge to the dominance established by the Apple product.

The seven-inch market, however, is not the same. Although Samsung probably owns the lion’s share of the smaller form factor today, their dominance is going to change soon. Samsung was the first major designer to bring a high quality device into this space, the Galaxy Tab. Their first 7-inch tablet was almost alone for the first nine months to a year of its existence. But, the price point Samsung chose for their entry was too high by half, so its sales paled with that of the iPad by more than 10 to one. Dell, who also had a 7-incher in the market, made a serious design flaw in giving their product a poor screen resolution, and even with their newer version, they still don’t get it, offering a measly 800 X 480 resolution while the market demands better.

The latter half of this year, however, has seen interest in the smaller form factor explode, not so much with sales but with other manufacturers jumping into the market with their own devices. Apparently they see something there that consumers do not. Of course, Amazon’s decision to go with the smaller screen for their first tablet has created more excitement than anything that preceded their announcement.

Below are nine of the best of these new devices, including one expected before the end of the year.

Acer Aspire Iconia A100

The technical specifications of the A100 are a little on the low side of most of the other tablets shown. It supports a dual core ARM A9 at 1 GHz speed, and its screen resolution is less than the best: 1024 X 600 is still being sold but 1024 by 800 is where it is headed. The A 100’s storage memory is light at 8 GB, although it does have a micro SD slot to boost the external memory.

Other specs include a weight of 14.7 oz, a TFT-LCD multitouch screen, two cameras, WiFi, blue tooth, 2 USB ports, HDMI out and GPS. It also runs Android Honeycomb and retails for $329 at BestBuy. AT&T has a 3G model that they sell with a data services contract.

Reviewers generally like the device but think it is priced too high for its specs. I agree, but I hope that as the end-of-year selling season progresses we will see a price reduction closer to $200. With the Kindle Fire going for $199 and the B&N Nook Tablet for $249, it doesn’t make much sense for spending a hundred or hundred and fifty more for the A100. It was unfortunate that Acer brought out its new model just before either the Fire or Nook Tablet came on the scene. Acer and every other tablet seller will have to do some re-thinking on their price points.

Lenovo Idea Pad A1

Priced on sale at $220 today from Lenovo, this model was also introduced before the Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, so it suffered a little from being overpriced for the modest specs it has. But, the assumption would be that it is a well-built device, coming from Lenovo. It features:

Texas Instruments OMAP 3622 ( 1GHz )  single-core processor derived from the ARM A8 Cortex family.

· 1024×600 screen

• Android 2.3

· Optimized for the Web with full Flash® support and instant synching

· More than 10 preloaded apps, with more available via Lenovo App Shop and Android Market

· GPS navigation in offline mode

· Integrated front (0.3M) and back (3M) cameras

· Trendy design available in black, white, pink or blue

· Integrated Bluetooth® and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi

· Measures 7.7” x 4.9” x 0.5”

· Micro-USB connector, microSD card reader

Its weaknesses are the single core processor and a lack of full Android Market Place support and running an older version of Android, v 2.3.

Its strengths are in GPS, cameras (not great, but OK), and good connectivity with USB and microSD memory capability. Lenovo may find traction for their new entry at a $150 price point. But Lenovo has failed to adjust its prices yet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

Samsung’s lead in the 7-inch segment of the tablet market is based on its original machine, The Galaxy Tab. The picture to the right is its replacement. While it looks about the same, it is thinner, lighter and speedier.

The Tab 7.0 Plus includes a 1.2GHz dual-core processor; the older model had a 1Ghz single-core ARM Cortex A8. The new machines also uses Android Honeycomb 3.2 operating system; vs. 2.x Hummingbird for last year’s model. The screen resolution remains the same at 1024-pixel by 600-pixels. One of the cameras is up to 2.0 megapixles from 1.3. Video resolution remains the same at 720p.

A major upgrade over the older model is as a media center. The new one can be used as a remote control for many tv, etc. Samsung has also added a USB port, a nice improvement.

The new model will arrive at retailers on November 13.

The Wi-Fi-only Plus model with 16GB of storage will cost $400 at Best Buy, Amazon and Tiger Direct. A 32 GB model is also available.

There can be little doubt that the price of the new 7-inch Tab will have to come down. It is one of the best of the current crop of 7-inchers, but at twice the price of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and with only marginal improvement in performance, it is unlikely to sell many of the new machines. I would look for big price reductions as the final selling season gets underway.

One other thing in its favor is the year’s experience Samsung has in working out the kinks of this small form factor and in enhancing its feature set.  Their 7-inch Tab was and is a well made, sturdy device.

 

Huawei, SpringBoard

The 1280-by-800 screen

Mobile hotspot 3G

1.2-GHz dual-core Qualcom Snapdragon processor

1 GB RAM and 16GB storage

 

Huawei’s tablet is probably the best of the new breed. Good screen resolution, hotspot capability and a fast, dual-core processor.

It is a fine machine. It is fast, great graphics and a full feature set. But it is beset by two major problems, at least at this writing.

First it is too expensive. Again, the Amazon $199 price will cut it off at the knees at its advertised price of around $400.

Second, for now it is available only through T-Mobile—the weakest of the four major national service providers of cell phone service. Part of its problem is that its T-Mobile pricing is quite complicated. You make a down payment (with approved credit) of $229.99 and get a card for a $50 mail-in rebate. Then, on top of the charges for a data plan the owner must pay $10 a month for the next two years. This totals to $429 over the course of the contract, and by that time, of course, you will want to get a new device, given the rapid changes going on in the industry. One must also pay for the data services.

Below is a cut and paste from the T-Mobile site as to its features:

5 Megapixel Camera

Bluetooth® connectivity

Calculator

Calendar

GPS with Navigation Capability

HDMI Out

Music player

QWERTY keyboard

USB Tethering*

Voice recorder

Wi-Fi enabled*

This is a good batch of specs except for external memory capability or USB connection. It is also overpriced when compared with an iPad2 or other tablets. I would like to see it sold with WiFi only, but Huawei seems to be putting all its eggs in the T-Mobile basket for now.

PC world has a hands-on review here. Generally the reviewer was impressed with its speed and ability to stream videos without hitches. But, the reviewer had only a few minutes with the device, so we must wait for a more comprehensive review.

 

Amazon Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire has generated more interest in tablet computers than any other product except the iPad. Kindle e-reader customers have suffered long with their eInk, non-touch readers, and there is obviously a large number of Amazon customers who were waiting for a full-color tablet. Amazon recently upped their initial production run to 5 million units that they expect to sell before the end of the year. Pre-orders have apparently gone well.

Video Review:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3Opi9VZt8s

Written hand-on review from Associated Press: http://news.yahoo.com/review-kindle-fire-sacrifices-under-200-050342124.html

Hands-on review from Wired: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2011/11/kindle-fire/all/1

Specs on this $199 device are not outstanding. To get the price $300 lower than the iPad, they had to leave out things like cameras, high resolution screen (1024 X 600), 3G access and unmolested Android. But, the total package will probably work well for many users. It will surf, is tightly integrated with Amazon’s movies, music and electronic books. It will stream video, check e-mail and have some form of text entry for notes and letters. And Amazon has created its own browser that promises to be fast and capable. The video of a demonstration is impressive.

It also stores your movies, books and music on Amazon’s cloud storage facilities. This means you don’t need a lot of internal memory, thus saving more on production costs.

With Amazon’s marketing muscle and decent machine they will have a hit and probably end the year with the second place in tablet sales behind the iPad. In terms of pure specs, the Fire is more toward the low end of the market rather than the high, but when the build-quality and software integration is included in the definition it is not a low-end machine. It has a reduced feature set, but it does a great job in what it does.

 

Nook Tablet

The Nook family of e-readers and tablets is shown below, with the newest entry, the Nook Tablet shown on the right. Its specs are better than the Kindle Fire—it has a faster dual core and higher screen resolution, and it has more internal memory. It is also priced at $249.99, $50 more than Amazon’s product.(Click Here for  Review of Engadget)

For a more comprehensive review,see PC World’s Review Here.

Who can say how it will fare next to the Fire. Probably it will do OK. B&N gained credibility with their Nook Color as a fairly competent Android device, although it was marketed as a full-color e-reader.

I don’t think it will sell near as many as the Fire. Amazon has a larger customer base, and the integration with Amazon’s content will be attractive to many of their loyal customers. Nevertheless, B&N has a loyal customer base, too, so I expect they will do well with their new Nook Tablet.

HTC Flyer

The Flyer is a great 7-inch tablet. It is light, slim and has a great processor and screen. I wish all the 7-inchers were this good. It’s major problem is that it is a little too good. HTC has included pen-input capability, and this adds to the cost. While it is nice, not everyone needs it, and I wonder that it woldn’t have been better to offer two models, one with and one without this feature. But, that is only one person’s guess.

A hands-on review was published at Engadget (Click Here). It is a great machine. “. . . the 7-inch Flyer, the most unique of this year’s Android tablet offerings, opting for a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a sturdy aluminum construction that doesn’t even try to compete in the race for extreme thinness, and a Magic Pen to make you forget it’s running Gingerbread and not Honeycomb (yet).

Its display goes with the 1024 X 600, but it looks great. I have used it for brief periods—it is fast, bright and responsive. Viewing angle is much better than many, and it feels good in the hand.

When it first hit the market a month or so ago it was priced at $499—a killer for a 7-inch tablet. But it sat on dealer shelves until the price was reduced to $399. But it is still a notch too high, in my view.

It comes in two versions: 3G and WiFi only. Amazon sells a 3G version for $500, but it must be unlocked. None of the major carriers are selling it with a service plan for now.

Looking ahead:

The most interesting new 7-incher headed our way is the Samsung Tab 7.7. The new tablet, from the specs I have seen, it looks great.

· 7.7" SUPER AMOLED Plus*· 1280 x 800 WXGA· 197 pixels per inch (ppi)· 4-way rotation· Live Panel · Mini Apps · Clipboard · Hub for music, video (1080p), etc · WiFi, 3G, Blue Tooth · Front and back cameras · 1 GB memory + micro SD slot · 1.4 GHz dual core processor · Flash and Mobile Office suite · Sensors for proximity, GPS, Accelerometer, and others e-reading, games and remote control · WiFi, 3G, Blue Tooth · Front and back cameras · 1 GB memory + micro SD slot · 1.4 GHz dual core processor · Flash and Mobile Office suite · Sensors for proximity, GPS, Accelerometer, and others

The only problem with the nifty new device is that when and where it will be available is an unknown, apparently even to the executive suite at Samsung’s headquarters. Apple got an injunction against Samsung that prevents selling it in Germany and Australia.  Perhaps Samsung is fearful of the same thing happening in the U.S. The basis of Apple’s complaint was patent infringement, so this is a bothersome issue that may be a while before it is settled.

I will be first in line to see it if it ever makes it here. It may be a block buster of a product if it is priced right and the courts eventually allow it to be sold.  Otherwise, Samsung will have to pay some royalties to Apple on each unit produced.

The 7-inch market looks to come into its own this year and next.  I have found many uses for this size tablet, but it does not replace the iPad or other 10.1 Android tablet.  The screen size is simply to small to do a good job surfing in a serious manner.  I have also noticed that many power users have both sizes, so I am not alone in my opinion of its usefulness.

It is much preferred over a 10-inch tablet.As an e-reader, hotspot, email checker and some other functions,   It will be interesting see how this plays out.  Will the 7.7-inch make a splash?  Will Samsung’s other entry into the less than 10-inch market, the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab 8.9, make it as a viable alternative?

I took the picture to the left at a local BestBuy showing my 7-inch Galaxy Tab below the Galaxy Tab 8.9.  The larger screen will not fit into my back pocket, but it certainly makes a better web browser.

I will be watching this new form factor closely to see if it finds traction in the market.