Gadgets Blog » ipad

The decade is almost over, and wow, what a decade it has been. The technological advancements easily set this decade apart from many others, and a lot of that has to do with Apple and Nintendo.

The world of gaming saw the creation of the motion-controlled Nintendo Wii, X-box 360 and hardware powerhouse PlayStation 3. Everyone was “bowling” with the Wiimote and fighting with light sabers until Microsoft came out with the Kinect for X-box 360 and the game changed. As graphics and sound developed far beyond those of the ’90s, televisions have kept up with them. You can now watch movies and play video games on 3D high-definition televisions and even see them in realistic 3D on the big screen.

This could easily be considered the decade of the smartphone. Perhaps, no other medium has come so far so fast. Blackberry started it all by syncing e-mail and calendar with my computer, and then Apple revolutionized smartphones by adding real Internet browsing and hundreds of thousands of apps for everything from shopping and maps to games and sexy women in bikinis. Just when you thought Apple was going to corner the smartphone market, Android came in, and while it hasn’t overtaken the iPhone yet, it’s gaining a following.

This decade put the final nail on the paperback coffin, with millions of e-readers being sold. Kindle and the like can download books directly to the reader, as well as get the daily New York Times. Entire bookshelves can be downsized to a single tablet reader.

Just when you thought it was safe to watch Harry Potter on your cell phone, industry experts are saying it’s going to starting hitting you where it counts…in the pocketbook.

Do you remember the days before 3G coverage when we were forced to use tiny screens and actually push buttons and all we could really surf was out e-mail and a few sites designed for mobile Internet browsing. You remember those days? That’s when we actually used the phone to call people.

When 3G hit and phones were able to actually surf the web in its entirety, the game changed and we grew to not only love our new freedoms but also to covet and expect them. Soon, you could watch videos and television shows on the phone all while waiting in line for your groceries.

The major networks spent billions and billions of dollars to upgrade their infrastructure all the while offering unlimited data plans at a relatively cheap price. They made their networks better so we could watch Netflix from our phones and then seemingly paid the bill. Uh, yeah. Not so much.

I earned my writing chops working for a small town daily newspaper from 2000–07. I saw firsthand the effect the Internet had on newspaper sales and watched as our circulation dropped month by month. I finally got out of the business in favor of a more digital, medium because I saw the writing on the wall.

When the e-reader first debuted a few years ago, I thought it was a concept that just wouldn’t take off. Anyone who has tried to read a book on a computer and felt the headache afterward may understand my feelings.

When a friend bought one and I finally got to see how it looked and worked, I have to admit, I was impressed. He had the New York Times downloaded to his e-reader every day and had several books already on it.

It was at this point when I realized that reading both newspapers and books was going to be changed forever because of this little tablet. Amazon.com recently sent out a press release explaining how its Kindle had surpassed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as its highest-selling product in the history of the company.

Tablets like the Galaxy and iPad are sure to have Kindle or other apps in the future, and the technology will only get more advanced. Soon, bookshelves of text will be converted into digital formats that will all be housed on a single server.

While the project is still a ways off from hitting the market, Google Android head Andy Rubin gave members of the public and the press at the Dive Into Mobile conference a sneak peek at a buttonless tablet computer running on the Android operating system.

The pad looks comparable in size to Apple’s iPad, but it has no buttons. This is a departure from previous Android hardware, which included four buttons, and Rubin said this change was intentional. The pad orients itself regardless of which end is up. A button would make this confusing, so they went without it.

The tablet runs on a new version of the Android operating system and may include video conferencing and chat abilities, simplified menus and a three-dimensional version of Google Maps. Android and Motorola are developing this iPad killer.

This is the first time Google has given the public a glimpse of this much-anticipated piece of hardware, and it was just enough to whet their appetites for more. No date has been set for release, other than to say “sometime next year.”

As if you need any more realization that print media is a dying business, media magnate Rupert Murdoch is developing a newspaper designed specifically for iPads and other tablet reading devices.

The paper, to be known as The Daily, will be “delivered” daily at a cost of $0.99 per week and may be available as early as late December, according to CNN.com. Murdoch has long been a proponent of creating and charging for news content delivered by digital medium, and this digital newspaper is his first major foray into that field.

The question that must weigh heavily on Murdoch’s mind is this: Will people pay for digital content when they get most of their news online for free? Also, newspapers like The New York Times can already be delivered directly to the Kindle and other e-readers for a modest amount.

Murdoch plans to focus on national issues and not local content for the newspaper, so I can’t see it making much of dent in the online information market. Even with some of the top journalists of the day working for him, he is going to be charging for stories that will be readily available via online news sites and other e-papers at the same time.

There’s been a spree of tablet-related news here on the Smarter Gadgets blog, and with good reason. As the holiday season approaches, developers are putting the final touches on their gadgets in time for the high-consumption period after Thanksgiving. Apple’s iPad has clearly set a bar that is quickly being chased down by rival electronics companies. But while the iPad and its imitators have taken aim at general consumers, and Amazon’s Kindle has taken aim at the paperback, is there anything else that can fit into the increasingly crowded market for tablet computers?

The answer could very well be yes. Introducing the Kno, a tablet computer developed specifically for students. The Kno is an impressive gadget that is intended to provide a valuable resource to students. Developed in partnership by a Princeton professor and an electronics entrepreneur, the tablet computer is intended to integrate all elements of the learning process for a typical student, creating a handy device that displays textbooks in electronic format, while also providing a workspace for students to take notes and on-board tools for in and out of the classroom.

The iPad may hog the limelight as the most visually impressive gadget, but in the world of tablet-style computers, Apple’s creation is nowhere near the top. E-readers have been around since before Apple ever brought iPad to the market, and in that regard, Steve Jobs & Co. have some catching up to do.

The most prominent e-readers on the market come from less likely companies. Barnes & Noble has found great success with their Nook, but the most successful e-reader stands the Amazon Kindle. Now entering its third generation, the Kindle and its tie-in with Amazon’s reputation as a book distributor have made it a breakthrough product for Amazon.

The Third-Generation Kindle stands as the latest and greatest in this line of gadgets from Amazon. It boasts a number of new elements that are likely to bring even more consumers over to the Kindle brand, first and foremost being the screen. The screen for an e-reader like the Kindle suffers from slightly different demands than other electronic gadgets. The Kindle has been built with traditional books and long periods of use in mind. The e-ink technology that has been used provides a solid medium for reading. The realm of visibility is one of many features that Kindle has looked to upgrade. While a bright light will still wash the screen out, brightness is not the issue it once was.

The tablet wars are in full swing. Even though Apple beat competitors to the punch with their iPad tablet, the rest of the field has quickly reacted to their latest product, with companies like Toshiba and Dell creating new devices as quickly as possible. This week, a new challenger to the tablet market was announced, one coming from a mobile pedigree that could boost its presence in a big way. The Blackberry Playbook, developed by the company behind Blackberry, RIM, boasts a number of features that could make it an excellent option on the market.

The specifications are impressive to say the least. A seven-inch screen boasts high-definition images, with vivid colors that pop right off the tablet. The Playbook supports 1080p video, meaning even the most high-definition films look great on its display. Other multimedia options only enhance the experience with the tablet. Dual cameras, one on the front and one on the back, allow for both picture taking and video-chatting via apps like Skype. HD video capture is possible on both cameras. In an exciting twist, an HDMI port on the side of the tablet allows you to play back pictures and images on a larger screen with ease.

The hardware inside the tablet is a lot to get excited about as well. With 1GB of RAM and a 1GHz dual-core processor, the Playbook packs some serious punch on the processing side of things. The processor supports true multitasking, enabling the user to operate multiple programs at the same time. Additionally, web browsing on the Playbook will come with the full support of HTML5 and Adobe Flash, enabling access to virtually every website on the Internet. All of the user’s favorite sites, multimedia, and games will be accessible on the Playbook.

In Apple’s staggering line-up of products, gadget after gadget has seemingly entered the public consciousness. Since the introduction of the iPod, Apple has built a 21st century empire based around a strong brand image. Their products are innovative and simple to use, appealing to users across all demographics. The iPhone, iPad, and their new line of laptop computers have made them a relevant company after languishing in Microsoft’s shadow throughout the 1990s. Earlier this week, in addition to updates to their flagship products, Apple unveiled a new vision for a product that has been less than stellar: Apple TV.

Its not that this is a particularly new concept, or one that Apple hasn’t made an attempt at before. Apple TV originally was a little-known product offered up by the company, a small box plugged directly into your television. The device could access a video store and the internet through a simple connection, enabling you to stream videos to your big screen. While the idea sounds great on paper, slow connection speeds and poor availability doomed the project in the early days. It enjoyed a small following, but nothing compared to other mainstays of their company.

The new Apple TV looks to fix a number of these flaws. In what seems an attempt to recreate the success of the iTunes Music Store with videos, the new device features a wide array of videos available for streaming. There is a bit of a catch, however. First of all, the user is only able to “rent” the videos, meaning that instead of downloading them to a permanent library, you’re forced to stream them off the internet instead. For users wanting a handy collection, the new Apple TV doesn’t seem to be the right choice. Surely there’s a better way to implement this television and video-watching from the Internet idea.