Posts Tagged ‘amazon kindle’

iPad App Review: GoodReader

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

goodreader app review

Rating: ★★★½☆

Although there is already a lovely interface for ebooks offered by Apple’s very own iBooks on the iPad, there are also a number of different types of documents that the average desktop user would wish to read, i.e. documents, PDF’s, presentations, spreadsheets, high resolution images, HTML web pages and many others. This is where GoodReader  for the iPad comes in. We have seen this app previously as it was developed for the iPhone a while ago, and it was considered one of the best readers. The app can be used for a variety of different tasks and the good news is, the app is now available for the iPad.

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FIRST official reviews of the iPad are now available

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

The FIRST official reviews of the iPad are now available. Read on.

Critics from both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have praised Apple’s iPad for its ease of use and its phenomenal battery life which according to tests actually lasted longer than Apples claim of 10 hours.

The reviews from both newspapers said that the tablet PC, which will go on sale in just 2 more days, works extremely well for both surfing the web and consuming media such as eBooks and video content.

One reviewer said, ‘If you’re mainly a web surfer, note-taker, social-networker and mailer, and a consumer of photos, videos, books, periodicals and music… this could be for you’. However the review did add that the device does have some quite annoying limitations.

‘The email program lacks the ability to create local folders or rules for auto-sorting messages, and it doesn’t allow group addressing. The browser lacks tabs. And the Wi-Fi-only version lacks GPS,’ he said.

The reviewer described the 9.7″ tablet as ‘so bright and responsive’, but added: ‘The bottom line is that you can get a laptop for much less money with a full keyboard, DVD drive, USB jacks, camera-card slot, camera, the works.’

The eReader War:

The two reviewers were split over whether or not the iPad could beat Amazons Kindle device as the most popular eReader on the market. Currently the Amazon Kindle has a 90% share of the eReader market and is on sale for a similar price as the Apple iPad.

While The Journal’s Walt Mossberg said he preferred the iPad to the Kindle, David Pogue from the New York Times said the device was much too heavy for reading when compared to the Amazon Kindle. The iPad weighs a staggering 1.5lb’s whereas the Amazon Kindle is a fraction of this weighing in at just 10oz.

He said: ‘You can’t read well in direct sunlight’ and ‘You can’t read books from the Apple bookstore on any other machine, not even a Mac or iPhone.’

Apple’s iBook store will not come preloaded on the iPad however which will allow other companies, including Amazon, to create online bookstore apps for the device. Readers will therefore be able to buy eBooks from a number of different suppliers but read them on their iPad.

Amazon said the company would ‘look forward to making Kindle for iPad available very soon,’ but didn’t confirm if the App would be ready for the U.S launch on Saturday.

Once again we will have to wait until the launch of this device to see who wins this eReader war that has developed but from the reviews so far there is no doubting that the iPad is going to be a revolutionary device.

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Apple Signs Deal With Perseus Books for iPad content

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

FFBBHB8Q88F9 UK bookies are predicting that the iPad will be nowhere near as successful as the iPhone. The iPhone went on sale in June 2007 and within 74 days of release it had sold 1 Million units. This was probably due to the touch screen technology being a novelty at the time. With the iPad however experts are predicting that it won’t sell anywhere near as many units as the iPhone due to it being less practical and basically being an oversized iPod touch.

Apple is doing its best to prevent this from being a reality and today came news that Apple has signed a deal with Perseus Books who are one of the largest book publishers in the world. Perseus Books also have 330 smaller imprints such as Zaget and Harvard Business School Press and as of today Apple has secured the deal to resell its books in electronic format on the iPad.

Both Apple and Perseus Books have confirmed that this rumour is in fact true and that they will follow the same business model that Apple currently uses for its App Store. This is where the publishers set the retail price for all of their products and Apple makes their money by keeping 30% of the sales as a form of commission.

This latest partnership between Apple and Perseus Books could prove a much needed boost for Apple. Recently we have seen a variety of products being developed by other manufacturers designed to be competition for the iPad such as the Amazon Kindle and the HP Slate. Amazon currently holds a 90 percent share of the market for eBooks.

Some experts have predicted that with news of this new partnership between Apple and Perseus Books that the iPad could threaten Amazon’s dominance in the eBook market. One analyst suggested that Amazon could see this market share fall from its current rate of 90 percent to just 15 percent. This would be a huge blow for Amazon and if true then it could mean that the iPad would become the market leader for portable eBook readers.

We must remember that at this point these speculations are just that; speculations. There is no telling who will come out on top; we will just have to wait until the iPad is released to find this out. There is no doubt that the iPad will be a huge success for Apple as it seems that everyone cannot wait for the product. Since Apple announced its release there has been a huge hype surrounding the product and the scale of its success will depend on a variety of factors such as how it compares against the Amazon Kindle, one of its main competitors.

With just a few weeks until the release of the iPad in the US we shouldn’t have to wait long to find out who comes out on top and from what we have seen, the iPad is a fantastic product and is well worth the hype.”

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Posted in iPad Applications, iPad News | 1 Comment »

Amazon uncovers Kindle App for the iPad

Monday, March 22nd, 2010
amazon kindle ipad app

amazon kindle ipad app

There is a lot of hype surrounding the iPad at the moment and how Apple hopes it could revolutionize the industry. Apple plans to open a new store along with the iPad called the iBook store which will allow the customer to download and purchase eBooks directly to their iPad. Today came news of the Kindle App that has been developed by Amazon especially for the iPad.

This new app is Amazons version of the iBook store and will be Apple’s main competition for eBook downloads on the iPad. Amazon already has a Kindle App available for the iPhone but the new iPad app has had a lot more work put into it and a complete redesign. Instead of simply porting the existing app that they have available for iPhone, Amazon has hired a team of 14 developers to make the new iPad app something really special. The developers have worked on making the iPad Kindle app look great on the bigger screen that the iPad features.

Amazon has given a demonstration of this app to the New York Times who has actually worked with Apple to create its own app specifically for the iPad. In the demonstration Amazon showed a completely reworked and redesigned home screen which displays the covers of all the eBooks against the image of a silhouetted boy sat reading under a tree. The sun in the background both rises and falls depending on the time of day.

Amazon also claims that as well as the features that Apple will offer in their iBook store, such as swiping the finger across the screen to turn a page, their app will offer much more. For example Amazon claims that with the new Kindle app it will be possible for the user to highlight text in different colours as well as alter both fonts and sizes of the text.

Along with these extra features and tweaks Amazon has made they will also include a variety of features that we have previously seen available on PC, Mac and the iPhone. These include the ability to synchronise bookmarks, notes and page information across multiple devices. You will also be able to import your Kindle library and access the Kindle Store.

With Apple’s iPad set for release in just a few weeks in the US it will be interesting to see how this pans out for Amazon.  If this App is more popular and more refined that the iBook store that Apple is going to offer then it could see the end of this dream for Apple. Both companies are going to have to battle it out for number one spot. If you are currently in the UK however I’m afraid you are going to have to wait a little bit longer for both this App and the iPad as Apple plan to release both in late April.

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Is the Ipad over hyped?

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

I am not an apple hater or a microsoft fan boy, but I truly think the ipad is overrated. It is an iphone/ipod touch on steroids. It might have a better web/interface interface because of the screen. The only thing special is the ibook store. I think the ibook store might come to the iphone. It looks cool and everyone talks about it because its a freaking apple product. I have an ipod touch and love it. I am getting a mac because I like them too and the high school I want to go to uses them. No one was hyped up about the Sony Ereader or Amazon Kindle. The Ipad does do things the other 2 dont such as Internet, apps, and the media. I might get one, but as a computer, no. It might be good for someone who wants a book, movie, internet on the road. If you want really nice internet, doesnt need to run multiple apps at the same time, and can sacrifice flash player then get it Otherwise get a Touch or iphone.

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Posted in iPad Applications | 7 Comments »