e-Book publishers shell out $69 million in price-fixing allegation case

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Corporate News,

In the midst of Apple and ebook publishers collusion allegations brought forth by the Department of Justice (DoJ), Massachusetts Attorney General, Martha Coakley (Democrat), is tossing in her hat by filing a civil antitrust lawsuit. Three book publishers are shelling out over $69 million, $2 million of which is going to Massachusetts customers, to settle out of court. The ongoing lawsuit alleges that Apple got together with publishers and devised a plan to raise ebook prices in Apple's own iBookstore, which is in direct competition with Amazon's Kindle ebook store. Amazon is known for selling it's ebooks at rock-bottom prices, often at the expense of publishers and authors. So, although it appears that the DoJ's lawsuit greatly benefits consumers, who it really benefits is Amazon. Look at it this way: Amazon makes its lion share of money from many different sources, therefore, it can afford to sell ebooks at a loss since consumers buying through Amazon Kindle are exposed to advertisement promoting everything else they sell. Meanwhile, other booksellers are going out of business unable to compete, inadvertently creating a monopoly where Amazon reigns supreme. In the long run, who is this really benefiting? The way I see it, the DoJ lawsuit, although good intentioned, will eventually have the opposite effect of what its trying to achieve; and while now it appears to benefit consumers, in the end, Amazon wins.

Ebook publishers Macmillan and Penguin have not settled and Apple vowed to fight the allegations in court.

Read More | Boston Globe

Just how thin will the next iPhone be?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Design, Handhelds, Rumors,

It's pretty much a given that Apple likes to make its products as thin as possible, and it looks like the next-generation iPhone 5 will get that same treatment. An image has been put together by Sohu that shows what the next iPhone looks like compared against the iPhone 4S and iPhone 3GS in terms of thickness. As you can see, the front and back glass don't protrude from the metal frame, making the next iPhone even thinner if the leaked design is to be believed. We'll know for sure on September 12.

Read More | MacRumors

Western Digital MyBook VelociRaptor Duo: 2TB, Thunderbolt, 10K RPM, $900

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Storage,

Alongside the new My Passport for Mac, Western Digital also released its MyBook VelociRaptor Duo today, a monster setup that offers two 1TB 10,000 RPM hard drives and dual Thunderbolt ports so you can daisy-chain multiples together if you're rich, or connect other Thunderbolt-compatible devices. That's 2TB of storage that can be configured in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration with speeds of up to 400 MBps. That's fast. Time Machine compatibility is built-in right out of the box, and a Thunderbolt cable is thrown in as well. Ready to make the purchase? Expect to drop $899.99 on these bad boys.

Is this the new Kindle Fire?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Rumors,

Earlier today we mentioned that Amazon is touting that its Kindle Fire tablet has sold out (which really means they stopped making them because they're now manufacturing a new model.) Well, with the introduction of new Kindle hardware scheduled for next week, The Verge has published an image that purports to be the next Kindle Fire. Since posting, a source chimed in and let them know that this isn't exactly right, as the new Kindle Fire has a wider bezel than the image shows, and bezeled sides. We'll know for sure on September 6 when Amazon takes the stage.

Read More | The Verge

The Avengers: I Finally Catch Up

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics,

Yeah, my bad. I finally got around to seeing The Avengers on the big screen with my old pal Dave Olbrich (he was seeing it for the third time).

I'll echo what is probably the view of 99% of the super-hero movie audience: (1) I loved it and (2) where was this movie when I was 13?

Afterwards, I had a few thoughts.

I was surprised by the sudden death of what I thought was a fairly major character in the continuity. I know Joss Whedon always likes to kill off someone in his movies – I'm sure the first draft of Toy Story had a sacrifice from Mr. Potato Head – so I should've been better prepared. But I wasn't. Sad to lose the character and sadder that the actor has lost a pretty good gig.

Tom Hiddleston was riveting as Loki, an excellent performance capturing the character's grandiose plans and his petty humanness. Here's hoping he gets as good a role in subsequent years and doesn't end up playing a Russian mobster on Person of Interest, or the put-upon dad in some lame sitcom.

This is my favorite Scarlett Johansson movie. And yes, I've seen more than one. Including that one. And that one too.

Click to continue reading The Avengers: I Finally Catch Up

Western Digital My Passport for Mac offers 2TB, USB 3.0 external storage

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, USB, Apple, PC / Laptop, Storage,

Western Digital announced an update to its My Passport line of portable hard drives today with the My Passport for Mac, which top out at 2TB of storage space and include USB 3.0. It also offers out-of-the-box Time Machine computability, and rugged WD Nomad casing. They start at $99 for a 500GB model, and top out at $199 for the 2TB drives.

Quote Of The Day: James Wolcott & Steve Ditko

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

"Strip Vertigo of its haunting, Wagnerian eternal-return score by Bernard Herrmann and you've got a muddled Orphic saga that looks like a not-great Steve Ditko comic with a performance by Kim Novak that exerts all the erotic mystery and allure of a burlap bag."

James Wolcott @ Vanity Fair

Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!

[Artwork: Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1]
 

The Amazon Kindle Fire is officially sold out

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Handhelds, Rumors,

If you were hoping to pick up a brand new Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon today, you're out of luck. The company has announced that the Kindle Fire has officially sold out. Of course, that's corporate speak for "We'll be announcing a brand new Kindle Fire at our event next week and don't want anyone buying the older model and experience buyers remorse." The Kindle Fire is the latest Kindle model to be pulled as Amazon's Kindle event draws near. The new Kindle Fire is rumored to have a 1280 x 800 display.

Samsung ATIV S is the first official Windows Phone 8 device

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Microsoft,

The first Windows Phone 8 device has been officially announced in the Samsung ATIV S. What's so great about the ATIV S? Well, aside from running the next-generation mobile OS from Microsoft, it's got a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, 1GB RAM, and a 2,300mAh battery. Not enough? How about an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.9-megapixel front camera, and a body comprised of brushed aluminum and Gorilla Glass 2? You'll be able to pick up the ATIV S in October.

Read More | Windows Team Blog

Samsung Galaxy Note II: 5.5-inch 720p display, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, S Pen gestures

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds,

This morning Samsung announced its newest smartphone, the Galaxy Note II. Following up on the original Galaxy Note, the second edition is highlighted by a 16:9 5.5-inch 720p HD Super AMOLED display. Powering that is a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos processor and 3,100mAh battery, which should make running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on this one super-smooth. The device takes design cues from the Samsung Galaxy S III, which should be apparent by the curves and the similar color choices of Marble White and Titanium Gray. As far as optics go, expect an 8-megapixel rear camera that records 1080p video. Rounding things out, as you can see in the image, is the S Pen. Now sporting a rubber tip, Samsung believes the updated S Pen will have a feel much closer to pen and paper, and the Galaxy Note II has a bunch of S Pen quick commands and gestures. We've got no specific launch dates  yet, other than that the phone will launch internationally by the end of 2012.