Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks  Amazon's Kindle DX has been undergoing testing by several universities as a possible replacement for printed course materials. Last year, University of Washington students reported that it didn't quite make the cut due to complaints about it's navigation, folder, and note taking systems, and now Princeton University is chiming in with the same complaints.
Both schools loved the device's portability and battery life but is that enough for it to be a success in the academic world? Not likely. In order for e-readers to gain a foothold there they will need to offer powerful features for taking notes and highlighting texts as well as a top notch file system. Another cog in the wheels is the agreement three universities-Pace University, Reed College, and Case Western Reserve-reached with the Justice Department saying they would refuse to buy, promote, or recommend any e-reader that was not fully accessible to the blind. This is where things could get sticky as several publishers refuse to allow their ebooks to be read using the built in text to speech feature. Hopefully the feedback from the schools and the Justice Department will lead Amazon to release a truly revolutionary Kindle 3 sometime in the future! Read [TechFlash] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Web Browsers Internet Explorer is notorious for not having features or rendering systems that are in line with today’s trends. Even the latest version of Internet Explorer pales in comparison with other browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Many video sharing websites such as Youtube are dabbling with HTML5 as a method to display videos. Flash is still the generally accepted method of displaying videos on the internet, but some see HTML5 as the way to go for a more efficient approach, even on mobile devices. Many recent browsers are already beginning to roll out newer versions that support HTML5, but Internet Explorer 8 still doesn’t support HTML5 (with the exception of a few recent beta versions), and therefore it doesn’t support new tags such as the FROM GAMERTELL - Sivak Games’ new NES game, Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril, has sold out in a single day. The title is an action platformer, somewhat similar to Mega Man, and is available on a cartridge that is compatible with all NES/Famicom systems.
MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile  The new Slacker 2.0 app for Android is out and it looks amazing. The 2.0 version has added caching of stations to allow Slacker Plus users to play their music, even if no signal is present. Typically, music streaming sites, like Slacker and Pandora, require a data signal to stream. Slacker 2.0 app is changing all that.
"Android users can now enjoy their music anywhere they go with our personalized and feature-packed Slacker Radio for Android 2.0," said Jonathan Sasse, senior vice president of marketing at Slacker. "The benefits of the new station caching feature enable listeners to travel far beyond Wi-Fi or mobile connections to enjoy a continuous and unrivaled music experience." Slacker says they’ve paid special attention to battery life and report minimal drain while listening from cached music. The cached music can be set to be automatically refreshed so users don’t need to be constantly thinking about it. Users in gyms and those that roam out of coverage are going to find this app along with the Slacker Plus subscription ($3.99 per month) to be well worth the effort. Read: [Android Guys] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Apple, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  Ask any iPhone owner in NYC or San Francisco and you’ll hear some negative feelings for AT&T, the iPhone exclusive carrier. In these two cities and other events that draw iPhone users together, such as CES or SXSW, users find the network is brought to their knees. Is it all AT&Ts networks fault, as so many users assume?
For their part, AT&T acknowledges their network needs improvement and has set out making those improvements such as upgrading to speedier 7.2Mbps HSPA+ protocols and moving towers to 850MHz spectrum. 4G/LTE network upgrades loom in the future but AT&T has pledged stopgap solutions until then. With more data-intensive phones coming out with each passing day plus the exclusive arrangement for the iPad, things are only going to become more critical for AT&T. Or is it the iPhone itself? Around the world, no other countries that sell the iPhone see the issues Americans do, this is, except the UK. Users, specifically in London, experience identical issues: dropped calls, spotty service and the inability to make data connections. O2 has been the exclusive iPhone carrier in the UK for years and learned a few things. For years, phones kept the data connection open as battery life wasn’t a major issue on older phones. With the advent of the modern smartphone, clever makers tweaked the radios to shut down after the requested data was served. New data requests require creating a new connection. The starting and stopping of connection requests is where the problem is for carriers, but is also responsible for lifting battery performance to mediocre. Without this data switch being flipped so often, battery life would suffer even more. The end result seems to be both the network and the device. Word is O2 has passed what it learned on to AT&T and Apple. Apple seems content that AT&T can handle the challenge, enough to entrust the success of the iPad with the carrier. That should speak volumes to us. Read: [ars technica] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Video, Video Providers  Streaming or downloading is quickly becoming to way many people view movies, rather than buying DVDs or even Blu-ray discs. This must terrify brick-and-mortar retailers, so it makes sense that some would attempt to snatch whatever video service they can. Netflix is the most popular, but there are other, like Vudu which would be easier to acquire.
That’s exactly what Walmart has done. The retail giant today has announced a “definitive agreement to acquire VUDU, Inc.” The move means that Walmart will have those deals that Vudu has made with studios, both major and independent. Given Vudu’s current deals with TV manufacturers, Walmart would be able to push Internet-enabled TVs more heavily and not have any issues with it. Of course this means it’ll likely be even easier to buy an Internet-enabled TV from Walmart in the near future. The question remains, however, if this will keep people from buying those same TVs for the Netflix streaming services. It’s unlikely that this will cause anyone to switch from Netflix to Vudu, though it has the potential to bring in more customers. If Walmart shows off the service on TVs in stores to those who don’t necessarily know everything about video streaming, perhaps there will be an increase in Vudu users. Read [Vudu] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
More Recent Articles | 
No comments:
Post a Comment