New Technology 4 U

Amazon released a free Kindle for BlackBerry application that makes the online shop’s electronic books available for reading on the Research In Motion smartphones.

“Since the launch of our popular Kindle for iPhone app last year, customers have been asking us to bring a similar experience to the BlackBerry,” said Amazon Kindle vice president Ian Freed on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to make it available today.”
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If Apple is really considering price cuts on its just-introduced iPad, the best advice is to make them before launch, not after.

Not today, or tomorrow, but a price drop a week–or even a day–before it goes on sale might give the iPad an incredible boost. I will also describe what other businesses can learn from Apple’s troubles.

The iPad has been gradually settling back to early after a less than stellar Steve Jobs introduction on Jan. 27. The truth is that, for many, a supersized iPod touch just isn’t too terribly interesting.

A well-timed price cut could light a fire under iPad sales. That such a cut would be a bit of a black-eye for Apple would be noticed by only a few.

Just the fact that Apple appears to already be talking to analysts about “nimble” pricing suggests consumer interest in the iPad is less than the company hoped. A post-introduction survey actually found that the more consumers knew about the iPad, the less they wanted one.

Conservative wisdom might be for Apple to save face by keeping prices where they are and dropping them sometime after iPad sales begin.

Of course, some of us still have copies of the $100 rebates Apple reluctantly sent after it cut the price of the original iPhone a mere two months after many of us stood in line to get one on launch day.

If Apple has to wait to take iPad pricing action until it won’t upset early adopters, however, it could take nearly a year. Better to take the cuts early, when Apple will make fans, not enemies.

There are lessons for all businesses here.

Apple is not the first company to have a product launch go a tad sour. A $50-$100 price cut would send hard-core Apple fans over the edge with iPad excitement. It might also convince fence sitters to make their purchases closer to launch day.

That it might cause others to wait for the next price cut would be lost in the noise. Just like the idea that if things had gone well, the price cut would not have been necessary.

It seems clear that a sudden, unexpected, even last-second price cut could turn so-so first week sales into a blockbuster, generating momentum to carry the iPad forcefully into the marketplace.

After all, 16GB iPad for $449 (a $50 cut) is the sort of pricing to which even a jaded tech columnist might succumb.

Fruity toymaker Apple has released an upgrade to its iPhone OS. Version 3.1.3 (7E18), will replace the OS on all models of iPhone and iPod touch gadgets.

It contains fixes for all those flaws which Apple denied existed. These included the dodgy iPhone 3GS battery level reporting, the crashing app on launch feature and a ton of security features. Of course the iPhone is totally secure as users are protected by their faith in Steve Jobs. However just in case your faith is feeling a bit weak, the fixes are for the following vulnerabilities.

One flaw means that playing a maliciously crafted mp4 audio file may cause the iPhone to crash or run arbitrary code execution Another exploit involves a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.

Another gives a person with physical access to a locked device the power to access the user’s data Steve Jobs blames all Apple’s crashes on Flash, which does not work on the iPhone so how an Apple fanboi can explain this is anyone’s guess.

Revolutionise gaming world Anyone glancing through the list of invitees for the iPad launch at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts last week would notice that, apart from media hordes and analysts, several video games publications and gaming blogs such as Kotaku were also invited to the event. Ever wondered why? Well, if reports are to be believed, Apple has begun working with the likes of video game publisher Electronics Arts (EA) to develop content for the platform. The key selling point is the large touch-screen, which will likely be able to process input from fingers and hands touching the screen simultaneously, opening up the possibility of even greater control over characters, vehicles and other elements in video games. Music games, in particular, could benefit hugely from this development, and Ge Wang, co-founder of Smule, the company behind Ocarina, is said to be excited by the possibilities. Besides, utilisation of the built-in accelerometer sensor can also turn the iPad into an impressive game machine.

So could the iPad be Apple’s biggest push into video games yet? Yes, claims industry watchers. But it’s not the company’s first. In 1995, Apple attempted to grab a slice of the lucrative console gaming market with its Pippin, boasting multiplayer modem gaming and a CD-ROM drive. But the Pippin’s timing was poor – it arrived just after Sony’s PlayStation and in the end, fewer than 50,000 were sold, while Sony went on to sell more than 102 million units.

But this time, things could be different and it seems Apple has firmly set its eye on the lucrative gaming market. Why? Because in April last year, Gizmodo reported that Apple hired two gaming executives within a week’s time. They were Richard Teversham, former senior European director of business, insights and strategy for the Xbox, and Bob Drebin, chief technical officer of AMD’s graphics group and creator of the graphics chip for Nintendo’s GameCube.

Later, in November, an Apple job posting appeared, seeking a game designer for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

“If Apple indeed reveals the tablet on January 27, and a significant chunk of Steve Jobs’ presentation demonstrates some new ways of playing video games, I wouldn’t be surprised,” said PCWorld’s Jared Newman in a pre-launch report.

We weren’t surprised either when Steve Jobs actually showed off how smoothly the iPad handled a couple of impressive 3D racing and sports titles.

Of course, the iPad’s no groundbreaking game console. However, its launch is certain to trigger an onrush of games developers into making better gaming apps.

Apple New iPhone 4G!: iPad Overload Rumors

Head hurts so bad with iPad news, time to hide in a corner and hope that iPhone 4G news will come in. The iPad aka the overgrown iPod Touch is all over the news like a rash at the moment and there seems to be no cream whatsoever to clear it.

Do not get us wrong we will no doubt be getting one but we just want to know more about the possible release of a brand new iPhone for 2010, is it going to Verizon as well, who will sell it in the UK other than the carriers we know about already, will it be called the 4G, what real specs and features will it have, will it be announced before July.

So many things we want to know and of course you want to know as well, at the moment it is iPad this iPad that and so on and on and on, which is getting quite boring now. Yes it was very cool indeed when we first heard about it and so much so we said “We want one”, but it is news about the iPhone 2010 we want to learn more about.

When Apple introduced the iPhone, it shook up the cell phone business but it also changed the way people play video games. About a quarter of the 100,000 applications that you can download to the iPhone are games, ranging from the simple “Doodle Jump” to a version of “Grand Theft Auto.”

Now, with the looming launch of a tablet-style computer — already nicknamed the “iPhone on steroids,” with a bigger screen that might have a place in the living room — Apple could pose an even tougher challenge to established players in the video game business.

That assumes, however, that potential buyers aren’t scared off by a price that might be more than the cost of a Wii, a PlayStation 3 and an Xbox 360 combined. Apple isn’t commenting on its unveiling Wednesday.

Apple’s iPhone and the similar iPod Touch brought a new look to games because they have an accelerometer inside that lets people control the action by turning or tilting the device. With a touch screen and the computing horsepower for high-quality graphics, the iPhone lends itself to pared-down versions of console games like “Assassin’s Creed” and “The Sims 3.” Its size, meanwhile, makes it easy to consume addictive puzzles in 5-minute increments while waiting for the dentist or riding the subway.

Now the iPhone, which costs $99, $199 or $299 plus a monthly service plan, rivals gadgets such as the Nintendo DS ($130-$170) or PlayStation Portable ($170-$250), known as the PSP, which were created solely for playing games on the go. It’s unclear whether Apple has taken substantial market share away, but the iPhone likely introduced people to mobile games who wouldn’t have played otherwise.

The iHandstick is a case for the iPhone which turns the iPhone into a gaming controller, giving your hands a perfect grip. The iHandStick suits various versions of iPhones including the iPhone 3Gs, 3G and also the iPhone Touch of second and third generations.

The iHandstick is especially handy for you to play racing games on the iPhone. It also protects your gadget from getting scratches on the edges and the back. It costs only $17 and is worth a try.

Some of our readers will remember the SmartScreen iPhone App that we featured back in September, we just got an email from the developers, and the good news is that the app is now available from Cydia.

The SmartScreen iPhone App lets your program your own widgets and place them on the lock screen of your iPhone, it will only work on jailbroken iPhone, check out the video of it in action below. SmartScreen is an application for the iPhone and iPod touch that will allow informational widgets to be placed and used on the lock screen. Widgets are similar to those offered by Apple’s “Dashboard” and they follow this familiar look and feel. continue reading…