UPDATE - Gizmodo first posted this as the first Flash app, but it turns out there have been other Flash authored apps done by other companies. This is the first from Adobe.
Source: Gizmodo
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The First [Adobe] Flash-to-Native-iPhone-App Conversion
Today, Adobe announces the availability of Connect Pro Mobile, an application for its enterprise Web conferencing solution Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro. Connect Pro Mobile was built using Flash Professional CS5 beta and published as a native iPhone application — the very first Adobe-authored application that uses the Packager for iPhone technology. With this release, Connect Pro Mobile offers users mobile access via an iPhone or iPod touch to rich communications including collaborative meetings, training sessions and Web seminars.
UPDATE - Gizmodo first posted this as the first Flash app, but it turns out there have been other Flash authored apps done by other companies. This is the first from Adobe.
Source: Gizmodo
UPDATE - Gizmodo first posted this as the first Flash app, but it turns out there have been other Flash authored apps done by other companies. This is the first from Adobe.
Source: Gizmodo
News
E-Magazines and E-Newspapers Benefit Everyone
E-newspapers and E-magazines could actually save many of the print publications that are struggling through the digital age. This type of e-subscription service would be quite easy to implement with the current and upcoming slate and tablet devices like the Apple iPad tablet and the Amazon Kindle E-reader. This would allow for e-magazines and e-newspapers to be delivered in a more environmentally friendly way than the current paper publications.
Source: AssociatedContent.com
Apple iPad demand exceeding pre-launch iPhone buzz?
A new survey has found that 13 percent of respondents are likely to buy Apple's forthcoming iPad, a number greater than the 9 percent who planned to purchase an iPhone before its launch in 2007.
I'm skeptical; simply going on the perceived buzz of people I know, I don't think that there's more interest in the iPad than there was in the iPhone.
Source: AppleInsider
Apple to sell iPad at Best Buy and other assisted locations
Apple said Tuesday that sales of its upcoming iPad device will follow a model similar to that of the iPhone during its onset, with availability limited to the company's direct sales channels and select other retail locations that receive Apple assistance.
"Initially it will be around places with really great assisted sales," Cook said. "Over time it will expand."
And yes, he also means Best Buy!
Source: AppleInsider
Apple iPad Applications for Digital Publications
Who Will Emerge as the Leading Developer of eReader Apps?
Apple's highly anticipated release of the iPad has brought on a surge of enthusiasm from within the print industry. Magazine and newspaper publishers are chomping at the bit for an opportunity to revive their struggling print publications through Apple's promising new digital media platform.
Source: suite101.com
....And we're waiting to see if Apple will start taking pre-orders for the iPad tomorrow!!...
E-newspapers and E-magazines could actually save many of the print publications that are struggling through the digital age. This type of e-subscription service would be quite easy to implement with the current and upcoming slate and tablet devices like the Apple iPad tablet and the Amazon Kindle E-reader. This would allow for e-magazines and e-newspapers to be delivered in a more environmentally friendly way than the current paper publications.
Source: AssociatedContent.com
Apple iPad demand exceeding pre-launch iPhone buzz?
A new survey has found that 13 percent of respondents are likely to buy Apple's forthcoming iPad, a number greater than the 9 percent who planned to purchase an iPhone before its launch in 2007.
I'm skeptical; simply going on the perceived buzz of people I know, I don't think that there's more interest in the iPad than there was in the iPhone.
Source: AppleInsider
Apple to sell iPad at Best Buy and other assisted locations
Apple said Tuesday that sales of its upcoming iPad device will follow a model similar to that of the iPhone during its onset, with availability limited to the company's direct sales channels and select other retail locations that receive Apple assistance.
"Initially it will be around places with really great assisted sales," Cook said. "Over time it will expand."
And yes, he also means Best Buy!
Source: AppleInsider
Apple iPad Applications for Digital Publications
Who Will Emerge as the Leading Developer of eReader Apps?
Apple's highly anticipated release of the iPad has brought on a surge of enthusiasm from within the print industry. Magazine and newspaper publishers are chomping at the bit for an opportunity to revive their struggling print publications through Apple's promising new digital media platform.
Source: suite101.com
....And we're waiting to see if Apple will start taking pre-orders for the iPad tomorrow!!...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
News
Nook vs. iPad
The following table compares Barnes & Noble’s nook with Apple’s iPad on several different metrics and measurements, such as screen size, weight, dimensions, and other features, but it is important to note that while the iPad can be an e-book reader, the nook cannot (yet) be a mobile media PC
Source: Nook*share
Should Apple TV Switch to the iPhone OS?
The set-top box market is nebulous at best, but Apple chose to engage it — much as it has the equally nebulous tablet market with the iPad, so we wonder if they wouldn’t do better engaging it on the same terms — with the iPhone OS and its 150,000 apps.
There would be problems to be sure. Right away the Apple TV’s 1280×720 screen resolution is much greater than the iPhone’s 480×320, and wider if shorter than the iPad’s 1024×768. Ideally, the Apple TV should go to 1920×1080 to match other, modern display resolutions as well.
Yes! Or do something. Apple needs to do something to the AppleTV before it is completely lost and forgotten.
Source: TiPb.com
Alan Kay: With the Tablet, Apple Will Rule the World
“When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing. So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.”
Kay practically invented modern computers; it's amazing to me he never patented anything. Particularly annoying when you see all the nuisance patents for ideas that really seem like small logical additions to what already exists rather than major steps forward.
Source: Gigaom.com
Reports: 5,000 'overtly sexual' iPhone apps purged
Chillifresh claimed in a Saturday post that a discussion with Apple revealed that more than 5,000 apps have been affected by its new App Store content policy. Apple said the change was triggered by numerous customer complaints, according to Chillifresh.
Makes you wonder what Apple will do in it's iBookstore. I don't understand why Apple hasn't figured out how to segment the content it's selling through the iTunes store. This is an issue that they are going to have to deal with more and more...
Source: CNET.com
Macmillan intros editable e-textbooks, plans iPad versions
Macmillan today unveiled a new format for digital textbooks that it hopes will become the mainstream. DynamicBooks aim to give control over a textbook to college and university professors by giving them Wiki-style editing: they can shuffle the order of material as well as edit it themselves.
[...]
Macmillan adds that it will talk with Apple about producing iPad-sized versions to take advantage of its seemingly ideal screen. As the iBookstore only allows ePub books so far, however, the publisher will likely have to turn to a custom DynamicBooks app instead
Source: Electronista.com
The following table compares Barnes & Noble’s nook with Apple’s iPad on several different metrics and measurements, such as screen size, weight, dimensions, and other features, but it is important to note that while the iPad can be an e-book reader, the nook cannot (yet) be a mobile media PC
Source: Nook*share
Should Apple TV Switch to the iPhone OS?
The set-top box market is nebulous at best, but Apple chose to engage it — much as it has the equally nebulous tablet market with the iPad, so we wonder if they wouldn’t do better engaging it on the same terms — with the iPhone OS and its 150,000 apps.
There would be problems to be sure. Right away the Apple TV’s 1280×720 screen resolution is much greater than the iPhone’s 480×320, and wider if shorter than the iPad’s 1024×768. Ideally, the Apple TV should go to 1920×1080 to match other, modern display resolutions as well.
Yes! Or do something. Apple needs to do something to the AppleTV before it is completely lost and forgotten.
Source: TiPb.com
Alan Kay: With the Tablet, Apple Will Rule the World
“When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing. So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.”
Kay practically invented modern computers; it's amazing to me he never patented anything. Particularly annoying when you see all the nuisance patents for ideas that really seem like small logical additions to what already exists rather than major steps forward.
Source: Gigaom.com
Reports: 5,000 'overtly sexual' iPhone apps purged
Chillifresh claimed in a Saturday post that a discussion with Apple revealed that more than 5,000 apps have been affected by its new App Store content policy. Apple said the change was triggered by numerous customer complaints, according to Chillifresh.
Makes you wonder what Apple will do in it's iBookstore. I don't understand why Apple hasn't figured out how to segment the content it's selling through the iTunes store. This is an issue that they are going to have to deal with more and more...
Source: CNET.com
Macmillan intros editable e-textbooks, plans iPad versions
Macmillan today unveiled a new format for digital textbooks that it hopes will become the mainstream. DynamicBooks aim to give control over a textbook to college and university professors by giving them Wiki-style editing: they can shuffle the order of material as well as edit it themselves.
[...]
Macmillan adds that it will talk with Apple about producing iPad-sized versions to take advantage of its seemingly ideal screen. As the iBookstore only allows ePub books so far, however, the publisher will likely have to turn to a custom DynamicBooks app instead
Source: Electronista.com
Monday, February 22, 2010
News
Flash support missing because of "hover" lack
In a touch screen world most people won’t care or even understand how to interact with flash banners that were designed with cursors and hovering in mind. In a perfect world devoid of snipes and verbal sparring, Apple and Adobe could work together to make existing flash sites and banners appear on an iPad. Completely possible! But it would suck.
Hmmm....I'm not sure I buy it. For Apple not to include Flash support because a certain class of Flash authored material won't exactly work right? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Source: Gizmodo
The Real Agenda Behind Apple’s Decision on iPad Flash Support
Technologies like Flash and Silverlight allow developers to create rich content that can be delivered via a web browser. There is no gatekeeper regarding who may run such content as long as the user has a web browser that supports the plug in technology. This open access model directly threatens Apple’s obsession with retaining tight control over what applications are allowed to run on the iPad.
I'd buy this more than the hover theory; except that the App store is still "protected"; you can't distribute Flash "apps" other than through the store (unless they are simple things that run on the web.
Source: The Rational Walk
College Newspaper Warms Up Its Digital iPad Press
The student newspaper at Abilene Christian University isn't waiting for iPads to hit the shelves before taking up the opportunity the device holds for print publications. The Optimist has developed its own app for the new platform. "We can't wait until [the iPad] is adopted by a critical mass of people," Professor Kenneth Pybus said. "We want to be up and running and there when they're ready for us."
Source: TechNewsWorld
The iPad to go on presale this week?
According to a reliable source of ours familiar with the matter, Apple will be starting the presale of the iPad as soon as February 25th.
Source: appadvice
In a touch screen world most people won’t care or even understand how to interact with flash banners that were designed with cursors and hovering in mind. In a perfect world devoid of snipes and verbal sparring, Apple and Adobe could work together to make existing flash sites and banners appear on an iPad. Completely possible! But it would suck.
Hmmm....I'm not sure I buy it. For Apple not to include Flash support because a certain class of Flash authored material won't exactly work right? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Source: Gizmodo
The Real Agenda Behind Apple’s Decision on iPad Flash Support
Technologies like Flash and Silverlight allow developers to create rich content that can be delivered via a web browser. There is no gatekeeper regarding who may run such content as long as the user has a web browser that supports the plug in technology. This open access model directly threatens Apple’s obsession with retaining tight control over what applications are allowed to run on the iPad.
I'd buy this more than the hover theory; except that the App store is still "protected"; you can't distribute Flash "apps" other than through the store (unless they are simple things that run on the web.
Source: The Rational Walk
College Newspaper Warms Up Its Digital iPad Press
The student newspaper at Abilene Christian University isn't waiting for iPads to hit the shelves before taking up the opportunity the device holds for print publications. The Optimist has developed its own app for the new platform. "We can't wait until [the iPad] is adopted by a critical mass of people," Professor Kenneth Pybus said. "We want to be up and running and there when they're ready for us."
Source: TechNewsWorld
The iPad to go on presale this week?
According to a reliable source of ours familiar with the matter, Apple will be starting the presale of the iPad as soon as February 25th.
Source: appadvice
Friday, February 19, 2010
News
CBS: We’ll Cut iTunes Prices for Some Shows
CBS CEO Les Moonves says the broadcaster will mark down the price on some of its shows from $1.99 to 99 cents.
“There are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents,” Moonves said today, adding, however, that details have not been worked out.
Source: MediaMemo
iPad SDK hints at new widget, URL, and dictionary features
The idea that the iPad will undoubtedly present additional features at its actual launch date should come as no surprise, as Apple has similarly certain reserved features for other products it has announced months ahead of their actual launch, including Apple TV and the iPhone.
Source: AppleInsider
Adobe's DRM vexes e-book owners
But users say ADEPT fails to live up to Adobe’s promise of interoperability between e-readers and e-book stores. For instance, e-books bought from Barnes & Noble, for now, work only on the nook e-reader—not other popular e-readers such as the Sony Reader, even though both use Adobe’s DRM.
Source: Macworld/Computerworld
Apple and e-book DRM: Will they? Should they?
DRM has always been a double-edged sword: there’s good intentions behind making sure that those responsible for creating a song, movie, or book are rewarded for their time and work, but any creative effort is only meaningful if it’s consumed by an audience. What good is a book nobody ever reads or a movie nobody ever sees?
Source: Macworld
CBS CEO Les Moonves says the broadcaster will mark down the price on some of its shows from $1.99 to 99 cents.
“There are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents,” Moonves said today, adding, however, that details have not been worked out.
Source: MediaMemo
iPad SDK hints at new widget, URL, and dictionary features
The idea that the iPad will undoubtedly present additional features at its actual launch date should come as no surprise, as Apple has similarly certain reserved features for other products it has announced months ahead of their actual launch, including Apple TV and the iPhone.
Source: AppleInsider
Adobe's DRM vexes e-book owners
But users say ADEPT fails to live up to Adobe’s promise of interoperability between e-readers and e-book stores. For instance, e-books bought from Barnes & Noble, for now, work only on the nook e-reader—not other popular e-readers such as the Sony Reader, even though both use Adobe’s DRM.
Source: Macworld/Computerworld
Apple and e-book DRM: Will they? Should they?
DRM has always been a double-edged sword: there’s good intentions behind making sure that those responsible for creating a song, movie, or book are rewarded for their time and work, but any creative effort is only meaningful if it’s consumed by an audience. What good is a book nobody ever reads or a movie nobody ever sees?
Source: Macworld
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Kindle app for BlackBerry
Amazon.com has released a Kindle application for BlackBerry phones. The BlackBerry devices supported are: the Bold 9000 and 9700, the Curve 8520 and 8900, the Storm 9530 and 9550, and the Tour 9630.
Amazon: Kindle for BlackBerry
Amazon: Kindle for BlackBerry
News
Last words? Google Books to get final hearing
Representatives from Google, groups representing authors and publishers, privacy advocates, and competitors will appear before Judge Denny Chin on Thursday in New York to argue--for possibly the last time--over whether Chin should approve Google's class action settlement with the authors and publishers over Google Book Search. If approved, the settlement would allow Google to display books with varying degrees of access, sell books directly from its site, and launch an institution subscription to its library of over 12 million books.
Source: CNET.com
PC Makers Ready iPad Rivals
In the next few weeks, executives from Hewlett-Packard Co. will meet in the U.S. and Taiwan to tweak prices and features on an upcoming keyboardless computer dubbed the Slate, said two people familiar with the matter.
H-P has discussed selling a version of the Slate—similar to the iPad in size and features, and including a cellular connection—for a price below the $629 Apple charges for an equivalent iPad.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Open-source .epub vs. Adobe .pdf
According to Mark Coker’s file-format data covering the past year on Smashwords, Adobe’s proprietary .pdf file format was the most-used format at 35%, followed by the open-source .epub format at 22%. Mark also noted that this was a change from the previous year, when .epub beat .pdf handily.
Source: Ditchwalk
Less Expensive, Bite-Sized, Available for Take-Out: The Book of the Future
When authors start having to roll up their sleeves and get under the hood of translation software, learning the ins and outs of formatting, you know we are still in a hobbyist phase.
Source: TheBookDesigner.com
Amazon E-Book Market Share to Fall as Industry Grows
Amazon.com Inc. will likely see its market share of e-book sales slip to 72 percent this year from 90 percent in 2009 as competition intensifies from Apple Inc.’s iPad and Google Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG analysts said.
Source: Bloomberg
Why I Just Bought A Dell
Even with all the iPad hysteria in yonder interwebs, there is one fact that differentiates the iPad from a true, bad-to-the-bone laptop: the need to sync. This above all else cripples the iPad (at least when one considers it against the backdrop of the average laptop hardware spec).
I think he misses the point - it's a bit like arguing "I just bought a Dell instead of a Kindle." the iPad (and the Kindle) aren't supposed to be laptops.
Source: KindleDigest
Representatives from Google, groups representing authors and publishers, privacy advocates, and competitors will appear before Judge Denny Chin on Thursday in New York to argue--for possibly the last time--over whether Chin should approve Google's class action settlement with the authors and publishers over Google Book Search. If approved, the settlement would allow Google to display books with varying degrees of access, sell books directly from its site, and launch an institution subscription to its library of over 12 million books.
Source: CNET.com
PC Makers Ready iPad Rivals
In the next few weeks, executives from Hewlett-Packard Co. will meet in the U.S. and Taiwan to tweak prices and features on an upcoming keyboardless computer dubbed the Slate, said two people familiar with the matter.
H-P has discussed selling a version of the Slate—similar to the iPad in size and features, and including a cellular connection—for a price below the $629 Apple charges for an equivalent iPad.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Open-source .epub vs. Adobe .pdf
According to Mark Coker’s file-format data covering the past year on Smashwords, Adobe’s proprietary .pdf file format was the most-used format at 35%, followed by the open-source .epub format at 22%. Mark also noted that this was a change from the previous year, when .epub beat .pdf handily.
Source: Ditchwalk
Less Expensive, Bite-Sized, Available for Take-Out: The Book of the Future
When authors start having to roll up their sleeves and get under the hood of translation software, learning the ins and outs of formatting, you know we are still in a hobbyist phase.
Source: TheBookDesigner.com
Amazon E-Book Market Share to Fall as Industry Grows
Amazon.com Inc. will likely see its market share of e-book sales slip to 72 percent this year from 90 percent in 2009 as competition intensifies from Apple Inc.’s iPad and Google Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG analysts said.
Source: Bloomberg
Why I Just Bought A Dell
Even with all the iPad hysteria in yonder interwebs, there is one fact that differentiates the iPad from a true, bad-to-the-bone laptop: the need to sync. This above all else cripples the iPad (at least when one considers it against the backdrop of the average laptop hardware spec).
I think he misses the point - it's a bit like arguing "I just bought a Dell instead of a Kindle." the iPad (and the Kindle) aren't supposed to be laptops.
Source: KindleDigest
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Creating an eBook with InDesign
Here's a video podcast that shows how to produce an ePub using Adobe Indesign: InstantinDesign.com (Click the Watch the Episode icon at the end of the text!)
News: February 17
How to succeed at marketing the iPad
"This is one of these products that bumps up against the most important issue in new technology: compatibility," according to Rashi Glazer, tech marketing expert at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. "Is it compatible with what people currently do...will people be willing to change their behavior?"
Source: Cnet.com
Norway halts Apple iPad pre-orders
Even though Apple US is not taking orders (and only has a "Notify" button in their shop) it seems resellers overseas are taking pre-orders.
"It's been a crazy interest and demand for Apple's latest creation, iPad," reads the website of Eplehuset (Apple House), a "premium reseller" with stores in Norway and Denmark. "Price and delivery for Europe will be ready in a short time, but in the meantime, we have chosen not to receive more pre-orders for now."
Source: Brainstorm Tech
iPad, EPUB, Apps and Comics, oh My!
How do you get a comic into EPUB format? It's so easy you're going to freak out. Ready? Here goes:
First, get your pages together and in order. Compress them into a .zip file. Change the .zip to .cbz. Get Calibre. Use Calibre to convert the .cbz to EPUB. Done. The conversion literally took me about 2 minutes to run - it even has a setting for converting comic books (not kidding!). No app. No special processing. No nothing. DONE! Calibre even has specific output settings for different devices (Nook, Sony, Kindle, etc, etc). It's a great program and exceptionally easy to use.
Source: comicsbulletin.com
Decrypting Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.2 eBooks on Windows
Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.2 tosses a monkey wrench into the procedure for decrypting Adobe eBooks that I described in iPhone: Reading Adobe/EPUB eBooks. Using that procedure as originally described can produce
Error: problem decrypting session key
instead of decrypting an eBook.
First I'll give the remedy, then I'll explain...
Source: Viva eBooks!
"This is one of these products that bumps up against the most important issue in new technology: compatibility," according to Rashi Glazer, tech marketing expert at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. "Is it compatible with what people currently do...will people be willing to change their behavior?"
Source: Cnet.com
Norway halts Apple iPad pre-orders
Even though Apple US is not taking orders (and only has a "Notify" button in their shop) it seems resellers overseas are taking pre-orders.
"It's been a crazy interest and demand for Apple's latest creation, iPad," reads the website of Eplehuset (Apple House), a "premium reseller" with stores in Norway and Denmark. "Price and delivery for Europe will be ready in a short time, but in the meantime, we have chosen not to receive more pre-orders for now."
Source: Brainstorm Tech
iPad, EPUB, Apps and Comics, oh My!
How do you get a comic into EPUB format? It's so easy you're going to freak out. Ready? Here goes:
First, get your pages together and in order. Compress them into a .zip file. Change the .zip to .cbz. Get Calibre. Use Calibre to convert the .cbz to EPUB. Done. The conversion literally took me about 2 minutes to run - it even has a setting for converting comic books (not kidding!). No app. No special processing. No nothing. DONE! Calibre even has specific output settings for different devices (Nook, Sony, Kindle, etc, etc). It's a great program and exceptionally easy to use.
Source: comicsbulletin.com
Decrypting Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.2 eBooks on Windows
Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.2 tosses a monkey wrench into the procedure for decrypting Adobe eBooks that I described in iPhone: Reading Adobe/EPUB eBooks. Using that procedure as originally described can produce
Error: problem decrypting session key
instead of decrypting an eBook.
First I'll give the remedy, then I'll explain...
Source: Viva eBooks!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Wired Tablet App
Wired has developed an electronic version of their magazine using Adobe AIR, and you can see a video about it (along with a bit of a demonstration) at their site.
The content was created in Adobe InDesign, and though it's published in AIR, they expect to be able to "easily convert it for major tablet and mobile platforms."
They expect to do a full release sometime this summer.
The content was created in Adobe InDesign, and though it's published in AIR, they expect to be able to "easily convert it for major tablet and mobile platforms."
They expect to do a full release sometime this summer.
..we also think it's an opportunity to reset the economics; for the first time people may value this experience so much that they'll pay for it.
Chris Anderson - Editor in Chief, WIRED
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