Microsoft Partners With Barnes and Noble on
E-Books

post from Daring Fireball on 30 April 2012 11:03:22 PM. © Daring Fireball

Carl Franzen, reporting for TPM:

Looks like Microsoft and Barnes & Noble have been doing somereading of ancient proverbs, perhaps specifically: ?the enemy ofmy enemy is my friend.? [?]
Announced Monday, the new partnership is called ?Newco,? for thetime being (Barnes & Noble says they haven?t settled on the name).It sees Microsoft investing $300 million for a 17.6 percent equitystake. The remaining 82.4 percent will be owned by Barnes & Noble,and the company itself will be worth $1.7 billion in total.

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crosoft-partners-with-barnes-noble.php

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MXF to FCP Converter Mac to convert and import
MXF to FCP on Mac

post from prMac on 30 April 2012 09:47:00 PM. © prMac

MacMediaConverter announces Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac allows users to convert MXF to FCP and import MXF files to FCP for editing on Mac. With it, converting MXF to FCP recognized formats like MP4, MOV, DV, HDV, etc. This converter keeps the video quality during conversion with fast conversion speed. A variety of video output formats are supported like MKV, WMV, AVI, FLV, MPG, etc. Of course, some players are also supported like iPod, iPad, iPhone, PSP, etc.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-41973.htm

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Will cars help iPad zoom away for good

post from Apple on 30 April 2012 07:03:19 PM. © Apple

A few days back, I came across a press kit from Jaguar. The iconic British brand recently showed off the 2013 Jaguar XJ Ultimate, a $155,000 ultra-luxury sedan, that goes on sale later this year.

I am not really a car guy — I don’t own one and don’t plan to own one. What caught my eye was that the backseat of the car had two iPads, one for each rear passenger. They come with a wireless keyboard and are housed in what Jaguar calls, “specially designed leather-trimmed docks in the rear of the front seats and hidden behind roller doors, also finished in tailored leather. ” The iPads are charged when the car is running. The keyboards are slipped into the “cabinets.”

This isn’t the first time an automaker has made special consideration for the iPad, but this seems to be pretty well thought out one. Back in 2010, Mercedes showed off how iPad could be integrated into its cars. Other brands have made similar attempts as well. Anyway, the Jaguar offering made me wonder if the iPad is going to become as dominating a force in the auto industry as the iPod.

Back in the day, when automakers first started to build iPod connectivity into their vehicles, it was quite clear that it was game over for iPod’s rivals. The easier it became for drivers to use their iPods in the cars, the more Apple distanced itself from its rivals. The iPod’s march started with luxury car brands, but eventually even budget brands were bundling iPod connectivity into their cars. And now the cycle is starting all over again with iPad integration making its way into luxury car brands. (Also, my colleague Katie wrote an awesome post about iPad’s impact on greener transit and connected cars.)

Thoughts?

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Screenshot Journal

post from Daring Fireball on 30 April 2012 07:03:17 PM. © Daring Fireball

New $1.99 app for iOS UI designers from my friend Bryan Bell. Great idea.

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http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/screenshot-journal/id515287854?mt=8

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Roger Ebert: The Greatest Films of All Time

post from Daring Fireball on 30 April 2012 07:03:17 PM. © Daring Fireball

A surprise (but worthy) choice at the end.

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http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/04/the_greatest_films_of_all_time.html

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Apple’s fuel cells will be powered by
landfills

post from Apple on 30 April 2012 06:02:42 PM. © Apple

We were wondering where Apple and Bloom Energy were planning on getting all that biogas to run the large fuel cell farm at Apple’s North Carolina data center. According to a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Apple will get the biogas — which is methane from decomposing organic material — from landfills (hat tip Data Center Knowledge).

Apple will actually use “Directed Biogas,” meaning that the biogas from the landfills will be cleaned and injected into the local natural gas pipeline, and the fuel cells won’t be directly running off of the biogas. But Apple’s biogas supplier will inject the equivalent amount of biogas that would be used by the 4.8 MW of fuel cells.

Biogas can come from various types of wastes including hog farms — which are prevalent in North Carolina — restaurants and industrial processes, and water treatment facilities. Biogas is created when organic matter is broken down in a closed anaerobic digester, or a landfill where oxygen isn’t present, and the gas is captured.

Biogas in many states is considered renewable energy because it is mostly methane gas and can be used in place of fossil fuels for heating, electricity or powering transportation. Methane is a greenhouse gas, and it is also being stopped from being released into the atmosphere in this process. Beyond Apple, Google and Microsoft are also interested in biogas projects.

Biogas is still a very small source of power in the U.S. According to the American Biogas Council, there are only over 160 anaerobic digesters on farms and about 1,500 more operating at wastewater treatment plants. Patrick Serfass, the Executive Director of the trade group the American Biogas Council, says that the biggest barrier to more companies utilizing biogas is awareness.

Apple’s fuel cell FERC doc

View more documents from katiefehren.Image courtesy of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

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Now even retailers want to be like.

post from Apple on 30 April 2012 06:02:41 PM. © Apple

Apple of course!

According to a survey conducted by Motorola Solutions (that is the other Motorola business Google isn’t buying) says that retail, hospitality, and field service industries are looking forward to replacing the old, clunky and fixed point-of-sale systems with mobile point of sale systems.

Apple has been an early adopter of these mobile point of sale systems, plugging them into its iPhone devices. (Prior to the iPhone, Apple used a Windows CE based device.) Nearly 36 percent of the retailers surveyed by Motorola want to go mobile. Here are the some interesting bits from the Motorola survey:

Sixty-six percent of retail respondents are interested in mPOS, while 42 percent of retail respondents are currently piloting or starting trials within the next 36 months, and the majority is focused on using mPOS for sales associates on the store floor or line-busting.
More than seven in 10 (71 percent) retailers that indicated interest in mPOS are using or planning to use it to improve customer service and also intend to provide access to inventory management (51 percent), pricing (48 percent) and merchandise returns (42 percent) applications.
More than 43 percent of shoppers agreed that their shopping experience improved when store associates used mPOS devices.
On average, retail respondents anticipated replacing more than 36 percent of their fixed POS as a result of migrating to an mPOS.

When asked, “what equipment do you see your organization using for your customer facing applications?? nearly 46 percent responded tablets and 40.6 percent said smartphones. Nearly 51.3 percent think that they will use tablet computers for their “customer facing applications? while 49.6 percent want to use smartphones. Even field services operators want to go all tablets.

That has to be good news for the likes of Apple, which should sell a lot of iPads, especially to the high-end retailers. However, more than Apple, I find this a big opportunity for the likes of Square (and its competitors) who can build compelling mPOS apps for the same folks, Motorola is going to go after.

Here is what I wrote, when Square launched:

The marriage of computing and connectivity without the shackles of being tethered to a location is one of the biggest disruptive forces of modern times. It is (and will continue) to redefine business models, for decades. Square is simply riding these waves. My view is that Square (or something like Square) is going to disrupt the businesses of companies such as VeriFone and Symbol, a division of Motorola that makes point-of-sale devices. Verifone makes a $900 wireless credit card terminal vs. Square, which runs on a $299 iPod touch. I rest my case. Will Square (or another Square-type company) be a success tomorrow? Probably not! But in a few years, the sheer economics of it is going to turn the tide against the dedicated hardware makers.

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Why we love to use iPad indoors — WiFi

Sure, I have blogged ad nausem that iPad, iPhone and other smart devices are boosting demand for Wi-Fi connectivity (and hence gear) both at home and offices. But I couldn’t help but share this data from Actix, a London-based mobile network analytics company. In a press release they note:

By analyzing data from a live 3G network in a major city, the mobile network analytics and optimization specialist has found that only 5% of iPads are used outdoors and whilst iPads account for just 1% of data sessions, they use four times more data than an average 3G device. Key findings from the study were:
iPads account for less than 1% of all data sessions but make up 5% of total traffic.
95% of iPad usage is indoors.
90% of traffic from the iPhone 4 and 80% from Blackberry devices is from indoor use.

This isn’t surprising. Apparently 9-out-of-10 iPads being sold are WiFi only. I use my iPad to watch Netflix and Vimeo, but not over 3G. The networks are pokey and bandwidth is expensive.

But I bet this changes with the availability of LTE-based iPads, despite the expensive price tag on the data plans. Thanks to better speeds on the networks and ease with which I can access data instantly, I have stopped carrying my MacBook Air and instead never leave home without the LTE-version of iPad and the Apple keyboard just in case I need to draft something longer.

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Marware Now Shipping the Amped Portable Device
Charger

Marware, Inc. is now shipping the Amped Portable Device Charger in two colors, black & silver. The Amped is an incredibly small, rechargeable lithium-ion battery solution for most digital devices that support USB charging. The Amped powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod, as well as most smartphones, e-Readers, MP3 players, digital cameras and other devices that require less than 5V 1A output. Slightly longer than a tube of lipstick, its conveniently small size allows you to take it with you wherever.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-41972.htm

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Bad Things Rush at you When You Give A
Conservative A Cookie

"If You Give A Conservative A Cookie" storybook app for the iPad was released today by Trajan Books. Written and illustrated by Stephen Cody, the creator of the children's enhanced iBook "There's An Elephant Following Me", "If You Give A Conservative a Cookie" is a political parody of Laura Joffey Numeroff's "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". In this story, a small cigar-smoking pachyderm with attitude finds his way to a house in the suburbs. A nice young woman offers him a cookie.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-42081.htm

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