Amazon courting Apple's iOS developers to port apps to Kindle

AppleInsider: "Amazon is actively enticing Apple's iOS App Store developers to bring their efforts to the Kindle platform, particularly educational apps, in a strategy that attempts to push ebook readers up into competition with more sophisticated, general purpose tablets. ... "

Barnes & Noble soon to add more tablet functionality to Nook Color

Chris Meadows, TeleRead:: "Barnes & Noble has announced a big update for the Nook Color e-reader coming in April which will include a number of new functions such as applications and email, essentially bringing the LCD e-reader closer to being a full-fledged Android tablet. ... "

Is Amazon working on an Android Kindle?

Nick Bilton of NY Times via NDTVGadgets.com: "Although Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive, has said in the past that a color Kindle is 'multiple years' away, new job listings on the Lab 126 Web site, the division of Amazon that makes the Kindle, show that the company is building up its team of Android developers, which might involve developing software for a color screen. At least five new jobs were added in the last week alone seeking developers with Android programming experience. Now this could simply mean that Amazon is hiring engineers to work on new software for other Android devices. But it could also pave the way for a Kindle that runs Android, which would in turn be a color device. The current Kindle runs the Linux operating system. It's still up for debate whether an Android Kindle would be good for Amazon, or better for Google. With tablets becoming a competition over the number of apps available for the platform, Amazon would have a lot of catching up to do if the company decided to introduce an entirely new tablet operating system."

Google adds eBooks to Android Market

Important given advent of Honeycomb for new gen of Android tablets. Expert Reviews: "An extension of the Google eBooks store launched late last year in the US and formerly known as Google Editions, the Books portion of Android Market makes it possible to buy and download electronic books for reading on an Android 3.0 device."

HP TouchPad and Other Tablets vs. the Advantaged iPad

Michael Hickins, WSJ: "Hewlett-Packard announced its entry into the mobile device space today, but is entering a market already crowded with strong contenders. The market, currently dominated by Apple’s iPad (which hogged approximately 87 percent of the worldwide market in 2010, according to research firm IDC), already includes Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, and will count the likes of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Research in Motion and Dell, all of whom intend to ship by the end of this year. But it’s that very timing that gives Apple such a huge advantage, according to Susan Kevorkian, who follows the mobile device market for IDC. ... "

Amazon HP TouchPad Kindle App

Gizmocrunch: "While no release date has been specified, it is expected to launch around the same time the HP TouchPad hits the market (summer release). With the HP TouchPad Kindle app, you can read Amazon Kindle books on your tablet and even sync it with other devices you own (e.g. iPad, iPhone). Amazon has also announced that the Kindle app will be making its way to Android, BlackBerry and Windows 7 tablets soon as well, allowing you to share book with just about every platform. ... "

B&N's Nooknewstand (the Combo of Nookmagazine & Nooknewspaper) a Success Thus Far

Readers get here what they can't on iPad: subscriptions. Crave - CNET: In a press release, Barnes & Noble says, 'Digital periodical sales are exceeding expectations with more than 650,000 total subscriptions and single copy sales driven by Nook Color customers reading interactive versions of all of their favorite newspapers and magazines ... .'"

iPad as Textbook

Digits - WSJ: "For some classes at the University of Notre Dame, iPads are replacing textbooks — at least temporarily. The school is studying the use of the Apple Inc. tablet among students to see how it affects learning, and after a test this fall found that students students thought the device made their class more interesting. ... "

Apple Tightens Rules for iPad Subscription Model

intomobile: "It looks like Apple is preparing a subscription service for the iPhone and iPad for digital magazine and newspapers but there may be some unexpected consequences as it tightens up its restrictions. NRC is saying that Apple is tightening up its restrictions ahead of this subscription model, as it is indicating that subscriptions for the iPad can only be had through the iTunes store with Apple taking a cut. ... "

Want a Successful iPad App? Impress the Reader, Not Yourself

Matt Kinsman @ FolioMag: "Long downloads and rich media that serves no purpose are holding us back. ... With the flood of magazine apps hitting the market and many titles seeing downloads drop after the initial splash, publishers are looking at ways of standing out both to readers and advertisers. iPad-only editions are gaining traction, such as Bonnier's launch of Parenting Seasons but user experience (quick downloads, easy navigation) remains the key. As publishers we can thump our chest about Apple's strong-arm tactics and the lack of a workable digital newsstand, but the fact is long downloads and an emphasis on the one-time 'wow-factor' (as well as treating the iPad like a closed environment, similar to a print magazine) rather than giving readers reasons to come back are even more dangerous. ... "

Craig Mod on the Zen of Tablet Page Design

A List Apart: Articles: A Simpler Page:

The physical book is something designers get. It’s got a lot going for it, not the least of which is the fact that it’s physical. The boundaries are there, right before us. No guess work is necessary. And so there are a lot of great examples of well designed books. You needn’t look far to uncover a mountain of beautifully typeset and balanced pages.

But what about digital books?

Tablets are in many ways just like physical books—the screen has well defined boundaries and the optimal number of words per line doesn’t suddenly change on the screen. But in other ways, tablets are nothing like physical books—the text can extend in every direction, the type can change size. So how do we reconcile these similarities and differences? Where is the baseline for designers looking to produce beautiful, readable text on a tablet?

This essay looks to address these very questions. This essay also marks the release of an HTML baseline typography library for tablet reading. It’s currently iPad optimized. It’s called Bibliotype and the hope is for it to provide a solid base atop which we can explore. It’s very rudimentary, but rudimentary is a damn fine place to start. ...

Apple iPad 2 Rumors Circulate the Web

NY Times: "While almost every technology company in the world descends on Las Vegas this week for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, one major tech company will be missing: Apple. But even in the absence of Steve Jobs and his iProducts, the technology giant’s intimidating presence will be felt in every corner of the event. This can already be seen in the number of iPad 2 rumors circulating the Web leading up to C.E.S., which officially opens on Thursday. ... "

With CES Raining Tablets, Some Will Get Flooded Out

Computerworld: "Show sponsor executive predicts that of possible 100 new tablets on display, some won't live on beyond four-day show."

Forrester Predicts One-Third of U.S. Consumers Will Be Tablet Users by 2015

NY Times: "Forrester Research has published a revised forecast for the U.S. consumer tablet market today, noting that its initial predictions from last year were 'too conservative.' ... Indeed, Apple's introduction of the iPad changed the game, so to speak, for tablet adoption, and many people are predicting 2011 - or least CES - to be replete with tablet-related announcements. Forrester has revised its forecast upward to 10.3 million units for 2010 and says that it expects sales to more than double in 2011 to 24.1 million units. Of these sales, most will be iPads, as Forrester predicts Apple's dominance over the tablet market will continue through 2012. ... "

Kindle App Coming To Android And Windows Tablets

San Francisco Chronicle: "Following Amazon's success with Kindle on the iPad, Amazon is releasing a version of the Kindle app for tablets based on Android and Windows as well. Revamping the Android version of Kindle for tablets is a no-brainer given the number of Android tablets slated to come out in 2011, but the Windows move is a surprising vote of confidence in Microsoft's tablet strategy. ... " I don't get that latter statement at all. Rolling out a Windows version will not be expensive for Amazon to do. Granted, Microsoft's tablet "strategy" looks to many (myself included) like a very late nonstarter. But why shouldn't (wouldn't) Amazon go for the deepest penetration possible?

More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool

NY Times: "ROSLYN, N.Y. — As students returned to class this week, some were carrying brand-new Apple iPads in their backpacks, given not by their parents but by their schools. ... "

Google Digital Newsstand Aims to Muscle In on Apple

WSJ: "Google Inc. and Apple Inc. have stepped up their battle to win over publishers, as the two companies vie to become the dominant distributor of newspapers and magazines for tablet computers and other mobile devices. Google is trying to drum up publishers' support for a new Google-operated digital newsstand for users of devices that run its Android software. With the effort, it is chasing Apple, which already sells digital versions of many major magazines and newspapers through its iTunes store. ... "

2010: The Year in Digital Comics

Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources: "What a difference a year makes! A year ago today, the iPad not only didn’t exist, it hadn’t been officially announced yet. People read comics on their iPhones and iPod Touches, but the screens were too small for a good experience (and therefore, no one wanted to spend much money on them). The iPad changed all that, with a big, full-color screen that is just a tad smaller than a standard comics page (and a tad larger than a standard manga page), and publishers started taking digital comics seriously. The distribution was already in place, thanks to the iPhone—comiXology, iVerse, Panelfly—and now the publishers not only jumped on board with those platforms but also started developing their own apps. ... "

Year of the Tablet Takes Another Stab at It

Joshua Brustein, NY Times: " ... [2010] became the Year of the iPad. This year, manufacturers are promising it will be different, saying that after the success of the iPad, they have learned a lot about what consumers want in a tablet. 'We could have done this a year ago and rushed it out, but it wouldn’t have had the right features,' said Phil Osako, director of product marketing at Toshiba, which is introducing a new tablet at this year’s show, which begins Thursday in Las Vegas. ... " Other players: HP, Motorola, RIM. "Perhaps the most important feature is the ability to watch high-quality video, say industry analysts, pointing to market research showing that, above all, consumers want to use tablets for all kinds of media consumption — watching films, looking at and sharing photographs, playing games. 'Apple competitors’ first instinct was to build a cheaper device and put a cheaper processor in it,' said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research ... 'The problem with that is that it wouldn’t have been as good for the video screens.' ... "

Bezos Discounts Kindle-Tablet Competition

Digits - WSJ:

Some industry watchers like to argue about whether one kind of gadget will kill another. Others insist that–just like TV did not kill radio–most new product categories are simply additive, creating more consumer choices. Jeff Bezos seems firmly in the latter camp.

In trumpeting Amazon’s latest sales successes Monday, the e-tailer’s CEO argued that the much-discussed battle between e-readers and tablet computers is a non-issue, because many shoppers are choosing both. ...

“Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies, and Web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions,” Bezos said in a press release, citing the low weight, long battery life and easy-on-the-eye displays of Amazon’s popular gadget. The current price of the Kindle–which now starts at $139, compared to $499 for the least-expensive iPad–means “people don’t have to choose.”

Forrester analyst James McQuivey says Bezos’s pronouncement isn’t such a stretch. According to the research firm’s surveys, roughly a third of iPad buyers also have or intend to buy a Kindle, he says.

“Kindle prices are so cheap now, that it’s not hard to envision buying both devices,” McQuivey says. The iPad, he says, “is a great multi-purpose device that can also read books but is not optimized to do so, leaving plenty of room for Amazon to sell Kindles to iPad owners.” ...