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Apple iPad Will Magically Read E-Books Aloud

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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.

Originally posted on March 12, 2010 @ 6:58 pm

iPad to Hit Apple Stores on April 3, Pre-Order Starts on March 12

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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

Originally posted on March 5, 2010 @ 11:40 am

Google Chrome Tablet Could Be the iPad’s Worst Nightmare

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If  these concept pictures of what seems like a Google Chrome tablet is close to becoming a reality, I would have entitled this post with something like – “Move over iPad, here comes Google Chrome Tablet.” But unfortunately, this Google Chrome Tablet is just part of Google’s testing procedures in trying to perfect the Google Chrome OS which is about to be released this year.

The pictures were created by the folks at the Google Chromium projects website.  The pictures were believed to be proof of Google’s way of finding the best device that can fully utilize the Chrome OS. In other words, this is not about hardware but rather about a software product.

Actually if Google will put this into the drawing table it would be a close competitor of the iPad. And with the negative feedback that the iPad got after it was announced, Google could very well take advantage of the situation and come up with a better tablet PC.

Interestingly, the documentation on the Chromium project website notes that the tablet device running on Google Chrome OS should have 5 to 10 inch display with fully optimized touch features. In addition, other features such as multi-touch gestures, docking panels, high-res display and visual exploration were also noted on the documentation. These, plus some other features all point to one thing – that Google Chrome OS would run well on tablet PCs.

The question now is, would Google also make the Chrome OS available on a tablet device? It is currently under negotiation with HTC for the development of the Chrome netbook, so a Google- HTC  tablet might be possible as well.

If that happens, then the iPad will be in serious trouble .

Originally posted on February 2, 2010 @ 8:10 am