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Is AOL Scamming Old People?

 

Image via CrunchBase

The decline and fall of AOL is one of the great stories of the digital age. At its peak, AOL was a subscription service and Internet gateway for more than 35 million Americans. Then the Web took off, telcos started delivering broadband services, and AOL got left with the ruins off its ill-considered marriage to Time Warner. Today, AOL has just 4 million subscribers. But here is the kicker—those people are still paying.

AOL.com, of course, is free. It used to be a pay service, but has been free for years. You can access the AOL.com, read all of its content, and check your aol.com e-mail without paying a dime. If you already pay for an account, however, AOL will continue to bill you. And evidently, that makes AOL a LOT of money.

Ready More at PCMag.com.

Sub Warfare: Google and Apple Offer Rival Subscription Payment Plans

People still think of Apple as a hardware company that builds MacBooks and iPhones, but the subscription payment plan announcement shows its real value is as an e-commerce platform. Likewise, Google may be the first and last word in search, but the company can't seem to help sprawling into everything from robotic cars to digital book making. So it only makes sense that it would offer a rival payment system, called Google One Pass. Both moves are great news for consumers—it is about to get a lot easier to buy everything from newspapers and magazines to software and services online. For companies that make all that digital media, the prospects are a lot grimmer. It may not yet be time to "go to the mattresses," but it is definitely time to pull out the calculators.

5 Ways the Nook Could Beat the Kindle

Barnes & Noble will be making some big Nook announcements this afternoon at a press conference in New York City, but the one question on everyone's mind will be: How is the nook going to compete against the Amazon Kindle? Barnes & Noble and Amazon keep its e-reader sales numbers pretty quiet, but it seems safe to say that the Kindle has an edge at this point. Amazon announced yesterday that Kindle sales have already passed last year's totals for Q4. What can Barnes & Noble do to catch up? I have five ideas:

Ready more on PCMag.com

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5 Reasons the HP Slate 500 Works for Businesses

HP finally released details about its much anticipated Slate product. We now have a name, Slate 500 Tablet PC, and a price, $799, but what seems to be lacking is a clear market for the device. Talk to HP and they are very clear it this isn't a consumer product designed to go up against the Apple iPad, and it is a good thing, too. It would get crushed. That said there is a chance—not a guarantee—that it is could catch on in vertical segments, for a these five reasons.

Read more on PCMag.com..

Windows Phone 7: Where Are the Apps?

Image via Wikipedia

Windows Phone 7 made an auspicious debut this week in New York. Microsoft showed off handsets from Samsung, HTC, LG, and even Dell. The platform looks good, with an interface designed from the ground up for mobile use. There is no Windows Mobile-like start menu on these phones, just big virtual buttons that you tap with your fingers. It looks like a platform that could go head to head with the Apple iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android. I just have one question: Where are the apps?

Read the full columnon PCMag.com.

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Ditch Mobile Apps, Invest in the Mobile Web

Even as participants at this year's ThinkMobile Conference showed off their latest Apple iPad apps, they expressed a deep exasperation at the effort and cost required to build separate applications for every mobile platform. After all, the iPad is just the latest in a long line of mobile platforms that developers and content providers must support in order to reach new audiences, a range that now includes the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Badu, Symbian, and, if one feels charitable, Palm's webOS. Meanwhile, everyone I spoke to said that the future was really in mobile Websites based on open Internet standards. So what is the hold up?

ThinkMobile is MediaBistro.com's bi-annual mobile conference, which, in the interest of full-disclosure, is a media partner of the PCMag Digital Network. (The program was also curated by PCMag.com contributing editor, Jamie Lendino.) The idea is to bring leaders in the technology and media spaces together to build better mobile products. Right now, that seems to involve trying to build half-dozen apps for marginal platforms and hoping a unified mobile Web eventually takes hold.

Read the full column on PCMag.com....

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Hands On with the New Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle launched the e-book market as we know it this week with the Tuesday introduction of a $139 Wi-Fi version of the device. The release shows how the company plans to continue to lead in the segment: focus on reading.

I got some hands-on time with the newest Kindle, which ships August 27, and found a device that was very similar to previous versions, but better in several important ways.

The first thing you notice about the new Kindle is the size. The device is 21 percent smaller than the previous version, making it much easier to slip into a coat pocket. You might think the screen is smaller, but it is the same six-inch screen as the older version. It is only the border that is smaller.

Read more at PCMag.com...

What's the Apple iPad's Killer App?

I'm no Apple fanboy, but seeing Steve Jobs on stage in person is exciting, and it isn't just about his personal magnetism. Apple has $29 billion in the bank and Steve seems determined to spend it building really cool stuff. The iPad certainly fits that bill. Just a little slab of a display lets you play games, browse the Web, watch movies, view pictures, read eBooks, get directions, send e-mail, manage your calendar, and, well, anything else developers want to write applications to do. But after the ridiculously hyped build up and the dramatic launch event, I'm still not sure what most people will use it for. What's the iPad's killer app? Continue reading...

Sony Reader Pocket Edition Review: Portable and Cheap

 
Good things come in small packages. Size matters. You can't judge a book by its cover. Pick your literary cliché for Sony's diminutive Digital Reader Pocket Edition($199.99 direct), they all fit. And the device itself will fit nicely in a purse, a jacket pocket, or even a back pocket (although that last one might be a little rough on the screen if you plan on sitting). Despite a somewhat-dated-looking menu system and the absence of wireless connectivity, the Pocket Edition is very readable digital companion

Read the Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300) full review on PCMag.com

Sony Reader Touch Edition Review: A Tough Read

The Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-600 ($299.99 direct) benefits from a sleek design and a touch screen that makes navigating menus a snap. Unfortunately, that touch screen is a little dull, making books harder to read than on competing devices. With the Amazon Kindle offering wireless delivery of books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs for $40 less, the Touch Edition is a tough read.

Read the Sony Reader Touch Edition (PRS-600) full review at PCMag.com.