Suddenly, Amazon announced the availability of Kindle for Mac app. As if sending a signal to all Mac users planning to buy the iPad for e-book reading purpose that they can do the same thing with their current machine.  That they don’t need to spend some precious $525 dollar just to have an e-book reader.  They can do so with their existing machine and with the help of Amazon’s Kindle for Mac.

Now that I have let that issue out, let’s get into the details of the Kindle for Mac. Features? Pretty much what the application can do with its other iteration – Kindle for PC, Kindle for iPhone, and Kindle for BlackBerry.

Some of these features will let you:

• Purchase, download, and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
• Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free
• Choose from 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
• Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
• View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle for iPhone
• Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books and textbooks

Amazon also promise to roll out some more features soon. These include – full text search and the ability to create and edit notes and highlights. Kindle for Mac is available as a free download requiring around 20MB of your Mac’s storage. It works for all Intel Mac models.  Ready to take this app for a spin?  Here’s the download link - www.amazon.com/kindleformac.

Have you often looked up to the sky at night and keeps on wondering what could be out there in the vast universe? Have you ever wished that you can check the sparkling stars and name each and everyone of them without using a high-powered telescope in some laboratory? Well, now you can, right smack on your computer screen. Thanks for Bing Maps and the World Wide Telescope (WWT)  application.

The WWT application lets you explore the constellations and other known space objects similar to how you navigate through a regular Bing Map. It utilizes Microsoft Silverlight client right in Bing Maps and provides real time information about how the space is moving over the Earth. If you’ve been using Bing Maps before you’d pretty much have an idea how to go through the WWT application and navigate your way through the virtua stars and constellation unfolding right in front of you.

Now, here’s the coolest part. When you’ve selected a particular spot, you can click on it and the WWT application will shift to Bing Maps Street View. Giving you the sweet spot on earth where you should have been if you were actually looking at the sky using a real telescope. Sweet, right? This feature was demonstrated at the last TED event actually.

Want to go stargazing tonight? Check out the Bing Maps World Wide Telescope app. Make sure that you have Microsoft Silverlight installed on your computer to make the app work.

Whether we all like it or not, the Apple iPad has already marked its niche into the electronics industry. Despite the fact that it hasn’t even arrived on any user’s lap yet, the iPad, despite the many flaws and shortcomings thrown at it by critics is now becoming a benchmark for all other tablet PCs that are to be released by other manufacturers.

Take the case of Samsung which is reportedly preparing their own slate-like tablet PC. According to Philip Newton – Samsung Australia’s director of  IT Division, Samsung’s planned slate PC will boast of PC-grade processor and connectivity. It will be powerful enough that will drive users to make it as their primary computing devices. Incidentally, in case you’re not aware this is one feature that the iPad won’t probably achieved with any of its soon-to-be-released units.

Speaking at the Samsung Forum in Singapore, Mr. Newton even hits on the iPad saying that it lacks the processing power and connectivity features that slate-type platforms should have to spark interests among users.  Mr. Newton even said that those Atom-powered devices even have more potential than the iPad has.

Is this a hint that the Samsung slate PC will be running on Android? Unfortunately, that remains to be seen, since details and information about the Samsung slate PC are not yet known.

The good news is, we only have to wait until the second half of this year as Samsung promises to deliver the said device by then. In case you’re doubting Samsung’s capabilities to come with mini-computing device, just take a look at the picture above which is actually the Samsung Q1 UMPC  released sometime in 2006.  Unfortunately that UMPC didn’t reap much success for Samsung. But hey, who knows, with the interest on tablet-like devices today, Samsung might actually become successful with this one.

How about this folks? Imagine a printed version of Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged weighing around 12.5 pounds. But thanks to data compression and digital technology, that bulky dictionary can now be housed, accessed and used on a 25MB space in your mobile phone. To be specific about it – the Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary on your BlackBerry phones.

Wait, but that’s not all that you can have on your BlackBerry device, but the whole Merriam-Webster dictionary lines via a mobile application developed by Paragon Software Group of California. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary app supports  all BlackBerry Smartphones with OS version 4.2.1 and higher, except the BlackBerry Storm.

The application features – online update or over-the-air program updates, dictionary database installable on flash cards, hyperlinks between related articles and directions, search history, online dictionary catalog that provides one-click access to other Merriam-Webster Dictonaries, multilingual interface and no internet connection required.

But before you check out the BlackBerry App World to download the app, be prepared to spend some extra dough since this apps are not for free. The complete line of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and their selling price are as follow:

• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition ($24.95)
• Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged ($59.95)
• Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary ($24.95)
• Merriam-Webster’s Pocket Dictionary ($14.95)
• The Merriam-Webster Dictionary ($19.95)
• Merriam-Webster’s French-English Dictionary ($24.95)
• Merriam-Webster’s Spanish-English Dictionary ($25.95)

If you see a need to have any of these Merriam-Webster Dictionary in your BlackBerry, go check out the app at http://www.penreader.com or at the BlackBerry App World.

First Lady Michelle Obama and the USDA has launched a competition for developers, game designers and students to develop the most fun and engaging tools and games that will encourage children, specifically “tweens” (ages 9-12) to eat better and be more physically healthy and active.

Apps for Healthy Kids aims to halt the increasing rate of obesity among children which have tripled in the past 30 years which may shorten the expect lifespan of chilren.

If you’re up for the challenge, the Apps for Healthy Kids  is requiring that any tools and games that you will develop be built based on USDA nutrition dataset which is available through the Open Government Initiative. These datasets provide information on total calories, calories from “extras” and MyPyramid food groups for over 1,000 commonly eaten foods.

So here’s how you can enter the contest:

During the competition submission period (March 10 – June 30, 2010), first register here (registration is free) and read the complete Official Rules and Questions and Answers. After you register you must verify your email address via the registration email sent to the email entered in the registration form. You will then be able to enter a submission. Fill out the submission form on the submit application tab, including your submission title, text description, link to game or tool, data set(s) used, and whether you are submitting in the “tool” or “game” category. A picture is optional but helpful. Be sure to read the terms and conditions, and if you agree, check off the box, and submit!

Finally, the prize, not much at $40,000 but hey, it’s for a good cause anyway.

As soon as Apple started accepting pre-orders for the iPad, the product page for one of its most important component, iBooks was also updated. It’s not really surprising that Apple will highlight the iPad’s e-book reading features especially since this is a hot market right now. And besides how good is a new Apple product if it doesn’t have a competitor to taunt? Sorry Kindle fans, but whether you like it or not, Apple is taking on the Kindle’s dominance in the e-book market.

Anyway, so what’s up with iPad and iBooks. Nothing much really, except for the fact that apparently the iPad can actually read e-books to you aloud.  Yes, I know Amazon Kindle has this. But we all know that this feature has been an issue before with the Kindle. So, it’s kind of surprising that Apple decided to have this feature in the iPad.

So, once the iPad starts rolling into the hands of those who pre-ordered it, expect some legal issues to arise once more. But I’m pretty sure Steve and his boys are more than ready for this.

In a related note, another indication that Apple is really prepping up the iPad as a fierce Kindle competitor is the fact that the device will be supporting e-books in EPUB format which will not be sold from the iBooks E-Bookstore. This simply means that you won’t be spending additional money to use your iPad as an e-book reader. You can practically load it up with free e-books that are freely available from various online sources.

This is a welcome feature and is good for both Apple and iPad users who are planning to use their iPad for e-book reading purposes. For Apple, it will be able to capture an already established market – the e-reader market. And for iPad owners, it’s one less cost.

In case you’re not aware,  the Apple Store has just started accepting pre-orders for the highly anticipated and perhaps even highly ridiculed product – the Apple iPad. If you’re like me who have been waiting for this day and wants Apple to ship the iPad on April 3, then If I were you visit the U.S. Apple Store and look for the iPad pre-order page. I wouldn’t waste time especially because it seems that Apple will be running short of supply in no time at all.

In fact, Apple has limited the number of iPads that every customer can pre-order to two units only. This was probably decided upon to ensure that more people will be able to get their units and not just a few who might take advantage and purchase more with the objective of selling them in the black market.

Apple is accepting pre-orders for all the announced models of the iPad – Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi +3G and their respective variants with different storace capacity ranging from 16GB to 64GB. I had to contend with ordering the 16GB Wi-Fi version since based on my experience with the iPhone I could barely consumer 8GB of storage with several dozens of apps already installed. I’m hoping that my storage need for the iPad would be covered by the 16GB model.

While pre-ordering for all the units can be placed now, only the 16GB Wi-Fi model will be shipped on April 3. The rest of the other units will start shipping around last week of April. Prices for each of the models of the iPad vary and depend on their storage capacity.

So, are you placing an order today? Do you think there will be enough interests for the iPad that Apple will closed pre-order as earliest as possible?

Sony Computer Entertainment America has just snagged a content distribution deal with several major movie studios that will allow Playstation 3 owners to have some great movie titles delivered via the Playstation Network.  This deal just made the Playstation as the first to offer HD movies from practically all the major studios, hence establishing itself as a powerful home entertainment platform not just for video gaming but for total entertainment as well.

Among those who agreed on the movie distribution deal are 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. The deal includes both purchase and rental of the major studios’ titles on their movie catalogs.

To kick this deal off, here are new titles available today on the Playstation Network:

• “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, “Jennifer’s Body” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” – 20th Century Fox
• “Up”, “G-Force”, “Earth” – Walt Disney Pictures
• “Star Trek”, Paranormal Activity”, “Zoolander” – Paramount Pictures
• “This Is It”, “2012″, “District 9″ and “Zombieland” – Sony Pictures
• “The Hangover”, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”, “Wizard of Oz” – Warner Bros
• “Inglorious Basterd”, “Couples Retreat”, “Public Enemies” – Universal

There are great movie titles. One is even nominated for the Oscars recently – Inglorious Basterd”. So if you own a Playstation 3 and have registered for the Playstation Network, you can grab these great movies and have delivered to you via your connected Playstation 3 console.

Apple finally dropped the bomb that many of us have been waiting for, the past couple of weeks. The iPad will start hitting Apple Retail Stores on April 3 and you better get yourself ready as early as now because the Apple.com will start accepting pre-orders seven days from now. You read it right folks, you can pre-order your iPad starting March 12. Did that get you excited?

Anyway, whether you’re excited or not, here are some major details that you should know in relation to Apple’s announcement today. First, the start of pre-order will be for all models of the iPad – Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi+3G and each of the various models that these two have that differs in storage capacity – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

Now, if you order the Wi-Fi only version, regardless of its storage capacity, you can either pick up your iPad at a designated Apple Store or have it ship directly to your home on April 3 only if you order the Wi-Fi model. If you order the Wi-Fi+3G model, you can only have your iPad later in April.

And those apply only if you are in the U.S. If you’re in any of these countries – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, all models of the iPad will be available in late April as well.

As for the iPad pricing, here goes - $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB for the Wi-Fi model, and $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB for the Wi-Fi+3G model.

So there you go. Are pre-ordering the iPad on March 12? Which one are you going to get, Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + 3G?

Via Apple Press

Skype and Nokia’s partnership has been going for quite some time now. In fact, their plans of integrating Skype to Nokia devices has been discussed as early as February last year. Although Nokia devices were able to get a default Skype client it is only now that it is finally made available for majority of Nokia’s smartphones – specifically those running on Symbian ^1.

Skype for Symbian will let you to use Skype even while on the move, either through WiFi, GPRS, EDGE or 3G.  Skype for Symbian is now available for download at the Nokia Ovi Store and you can install it on your smartphone if it belongs to the following long list of Nokia devices that support it:

Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia X6, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia 5530 and the following non-touch devices: Nokia E72, Nokia E71, Nokia E90, Nokia E63, Nokia E66, Nokia E51, Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia N85, Nokia N82, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8 Gb, Nokia N79, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 5320.

If your current Nokia phone is any of those devices listed, then you can enjoy the following features of Skype on your device:

• Make free Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world
• Save money on calls and texts (SMS) to phones abroad.
• Send and receive instant messages to and from individuals or groups
• Share pictures, videos and other files.
• Receive calls to their existing online number
• See when Skype contacts are online and available to call or IM
• Easily import names and numbers from the phone’s address book

Of course before you go on a Skype holiday, make sure that you are subscribe to an unlimited data plan, since even though Skype-to-Skype call is free, you are still using up air time of your mobile carriers.

You may download Skype for Symbian by following this link.

Via The Skype Blog