A couple of days ago, Amazon not only slashed pricing of the Kindle 2, but they announced an international version of the Kindle 2 to be available on October 19. The product has been exclusively sold in America, but now people all over the world can purchase a Kindle 2 and use it over 100 countries. Today, Amazon has announced they will also make an international DX model, however, release has been slated for “sometime next year,” and not later this month.
The DX has been made available in June for Americans and sports a larger screen (9.7 inches), which allows for clear reading of textbooks and magazines. The larger screen makes it more familiar when reading different texts, among other improvements. Since the Kindle 2 comes with international roaming charges, it would be wise to assume the same for the DX. Since the international Kindle 2 is $20 more expensive than the American version, I assume the international Kindle DX to sport a more expensive price tag than the American DX, which is currently $489. When 2010 rolls around, I’m sure we’ll hear more details in terms of pricing and exact availability for the international DX.
AT&T has just announced that as of October 12, 2009, GoPhone prepaid customers will have the ability to access unlimited text messaging and talk time for the low monthly price of $60. Not only will the plan include texting to people in the United States, but in Canada, Mexico, and another 100 countries.
The goal of AT&T is to give their prepaid customers the option of unlimited text and calling without the requirement of an annual contract. To sign up for the new plan, users can simply call "611" from their mobile phones. Some examples of AT&T prepaid phones you can use with the new plan include the LG Neon, Nokia 2600, and Samsung A177. You can manage your plan options online through "Pick Your Plan." This feature allows you to pay each month in advance without a deposit or credit check.
As prepaid calling plan prices drop and become competitive with contract rates, more consumers may make the switch.
This week in tech saw a lot of open jaws and head shaking from observers like me. This week, I’ll point out the top four moves that makes me suspect drugs may have played a role in their decision to move them to the light of day. Here in tech, things move pretty fast; if you don’t stop and point out the crack heads, you could miss them.
This week:
“We can squeeze one more release from Windows Mobile 2003”
AT&T really hates iPhone users?
Wireless power is here, do you want it?
Flash on your phone; whether you like it or not<
Windows Mobile 6.5 embarrasses WinMo fans
Ouch! Windows Mobile fans all over waited for October 6, the heralded release date for the new Windows Mobile 6.5. Unfortunately, bloggers saw the release a bit differently. From my post earlier this week:
ZD Net: "...(I) would never recommend anyone actually purchase a new device just to get this update on their smartphone." Slashgear says, "Enterprise users will likely find this latest version a decent mixture of the familiar and the new, but Windows Mobile 6.5 still falls short of a knock-out blow against webOS, Android and the iPhone." From Engadget: "...it's very much a stopgap, complete with duct tape, bubble gum, and Bondo."
For an update that took 18 months to put together, the effort seems less than stellar. Windows Mobile 7, while looking impressive in pre-production form, is still months off (2010 delivery expected). So what is a WinMo fan to do? Here is my top three gems of advice for WinMo fans while they wait for the big 7:
Stop reading blogs. Bloggers are all jaded and get free iPhones from Apple in exchange for being fanbois anyway.
Buy an Android phone for the interim. It’s not like Google is profiting from it.
Rethink how much you need a cell phone. Give it up for a year, tell everyone it is an experiment, you’ll look cooler. You hipster, you.
AT&T to kill the golden goose?
Let’s say you are a farmer and your prize pig, who earns you a pretty penny at the county fair, is eating up all your feed intended for all the farm animals. What is a farmer to do? That seems to be the pickle Higgins from Magnum PI, er, Ralph de la Vega finds himself in. Our Sue Walsh explains:
“...it certainly sounds like price increases on data plans, data caps or throttling could be in store for the future. While such moves may certainly ease the burden placed on the network, it will most certainly anger iPhone users, many of who are already unhappy. “
Predictably, iPhone users are up in arms over the concept. Unlimited should mean unlimited, right? If AT&T wasn’t clever enough to realize that voice was secondary on the device, isn’t that their fault? Data is king and you are married to it, AT&T. You reap what you sow.
Powermat ought to scare somebody (else)
I was thrilled with Palm Pre’s Touchstone device that allows the phone to be charged just by placing it on the small toadstool charger. I am less thrilled with the latest wave of wireless charging mats that everyone is so excited about. Our Editor, Iyaz reviewed the mat and had this to report:
“If you buy into the Powermat universe, purchase the Powermat home & office mat or travel mat and have an iPhone, this is very handy. Keeping your phone charged is incredibly easy since you don't need to search for a fallen iPod cable. “
Your iPhone would have to be in a special case to allow this charging, as do all of the devices you want to charge, that or you have to plug in a wireless adapter prior to charging on the mat. If you are going to that much trouble, wires seem a bit easier (and cheaper) to me. Yes, wires are so 1980s but this isn’t the wireless power revolution we’ve been waiting for. The genius of the Palm Pre method, being designed to do this from conception, seems like a much better path than add-ons. But that is just one crackheads opinion. Are you loving these things?
I am worried, largely thanks to my ignorance. Iyaz left off splash tests. What if I toss a kitchen magnet at it? Will my microwave nuke the thing? For that matter, is it microwave safe? So many questions unanswered by Iyaz, you’ve got to wonder why he didn’t test out real-world scenarios like these…
Flash on your phone
This week, Adobe announced it was working with major mobile phone operating systems to get their Flash on more devices. Notably, the iPhone OS was not mentioned by Adobe to be included leaving some to scratch their heads and whine a bit. Conversation points quickly became mired in two areas: what will Flash support do to battery life and with HTML5, will we need Flash anyway?
Adobe answered concerns about battery life here, “in Active State with Video (i.e. you're watching a Flash video), Adobe estimates battery life of 3.4 hours. Not fantastic, but enough to get through a movie on a plane with battery to spare. Of course, video isn't the only thing Flash is used for, and when working with animation instead (e.g. many current Flash games) Adobe estimates that you could get up to 6.5 hours out of the phone. And if you turn down the screen brightness and turn off the radios? 14.5 hours.”
Many believe HTML5 adoption to most sites to be years off and until then Flash will be king. Google is behind HTML5 in a big way and that is going to speed things up. Tim O’Reilly casts this light:
“If you’re like me, you had no idea there was so much HTML 5 already in play. When I checked in with my editors at O’Reilly, the general consensus was that HTML 5 isn’t going to be ready till 2010. Sitepoint, another leading publisher on web technology, recently sent out a poll to their experts and came to the same conclusion. Yet Google, Mozilla, and Palm gave us all a big whack upside the head this morning. As Shakespeare said, “The hot blood leaps over the cold decree.” The technology is here even if the standards committees haven’t caught up. Developers are taking notice of these new features, and aren’t waiting for formal approval.”
Can Adobe keep Flash alive despite Safari, Chrome, Opera, and Firefox already support elements of HTML5 such as geolocation, video, app cache, and database functionalities? I don’t have the answer but it would appear that the wave of HTML5 support is going to have an effect.
Of course, the tech is useless if we don’t use it, no matter what the crackheads say. So far, America has yet to get really excited about mobile TV. Slingbox has had some success here but I am not sure it has been a runaway, yet. Major carriers are still in the early stages of releasing phones that can handle TV. Honestly, I can’t find much to watch on my 42” much less my 3”. You?
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Despite having an official release date of October 11, some customers have been reporting positive results when trying to place an order for the HTC Hero. Simply put, this may or may not work for you, but if you have been waiting, it may be worth a try, after all the worst they can say is no.
Should they allow your order to go through, be prepared to shell out $279.99 and agree to a two-year agreement. Of course, $100 will be coming back in the form of a mail-in-rebate.
And at worst, they will tell you that the Hero is not yet available and you can call back on Sunday.
We have seen details before about the upcoming Barnes & Noble ebook reader, most recently was when it made the FCC appearance and although that was a nice step to see, we have something a little more exciting today.
The latest details are coming from Daniel Joresson who is a Barnes & Noble representative. As to whether or not he was supposed to be spilling so many details, or even if he really knew what he was talking about is an entirely separate story. That said, he did offer some interesting tidbits which included that the ebook reader is coming from Plastic Logic will be available in the Spring of 2010.
Additionally, there will also be an ebook app that you will be able to enjoy on your cellphone to include the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. Sounds like the Kindle app to me, except that it will be available on more than just the iPhone.
In regards to the Plastic Logic device, he unfortunately did not, or would not mention any pricing, however he did state that it will have a color screen that is the approximate size of a paperback book.
Finally, when asked what will make the Barnes & Noble product better than the competition, he noted that it will have new and cool features that were not available when the other was built. And as you would logically guess, the “other” he device was most likely the Kindle.
Now for one final detail, and one that did not come from Daniel Joresson—it is also being rumored that the B&N ebook reader will be powered by Android. This is not anything official yet, instead it is coming by way of Gizmodo, who are citing that the “leak came from someone who (quite convincingly!) claims to work for B&N developing mobile apps.”
A couple of days ago, Amazon not only 
Despite having an official release date of October 11, some customers have been reporting positive results when trying to place an order for the HTC Hero. Simply put, this may or may not work for you, but if you have been waiting, it may be worth a try, after all the worst they can say is no.
We have seen details before about the upcoming Barnes & Noble ebook reader, 
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