Costa Living

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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• New Study: Amazon's Kindle tops Twitter Tweets ()
• How to read Kindle books on your Nook Color (geek.com)
• Kindle vs. Nook on Twitter; Kindle review on Amazon: library lending Kindles (teleread.com)

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 Tablets Can't Match the iPad's Magic

The Apple iPad went on sale six months ago. Having been lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the device before it hit shelves, I knew it would do well. It was head-and-shoulders above anything else on the market. Giving it an Editors' Choice was a no-brainer. In the days before the launch, wherever I brought the iPad, I was swarmed with strangers wanting to touch the device, swipe the screen, all imagining what they would do if they owned one. Despite all this, at no time did I think the Apple iPad would sell more than a million units month.

Steve Jobs calling the device "magic" is just goofy, however. The iPad's stunning success is completely explainable without divine intervention. Here is why the iPad is kicking ass, and why it will continue to do so well into 2011.

Read more on PCMag.com.

 

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...

E-reading Between the Lines--Plus a Star Wars Quiz

The back story behind this clip is that I was 20 minutes early for my scheduled Fox Business hit only to find out that my segment was moved up by 20 minutes. It was wicked hot in NYC that day and I was drenched with sweat. Worse still, when I sat down, I had no idea that the cameras were rolling.

I say this, of course, just to explain why I spaced on Darth Vader's home planet. Everybody knows it is Tatooine. Everybody.

Amazon's Kindle Secret is in the Software

A year ago I wrote a column titled "E-Book Readers Can Do Better" that outlined what products like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader series would need to add before they truly appealed to mainstream consumers. One year and one tremendous endorsement from Oprah later, Amazon's Kindle 2 incorporates a lot of my suggestions. Still, it isn't the latest Kindle that's cemented Amazon's leadership role in the e-book market. It was today's announcement of a free Kindle reader for the iPhone, because it shows that Amazon really understands what e-books are: software.

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My Review of the Amazon Kindle 2

With a new look, an enhanced screen, text-to-speech capability, and a host of additional design improvements, Amazon's Kindle 2 ($359 direct) offers everything that made the original Kindle a best-seller—and more. The price remains high, but avid readers will make back some of that cash on discounted e-books. Although I would love to see a more open file format, the Kindle 2 is still the best e-book reader you can buy. With an ever-increasing catalog of magazines and blogs porting content to the platform, the Kindle 2's appeal will extend far beyond the bookstore.

Read my full Amazon Kindle 2 review