At the beginning of the year, Forrester Research asked consumers what their favorite operating system for a tablet would be. Forty-six percent chose Windows. Forrester asked the question again in September, and that number had dropped to 25 percent. READ MORE
Apple has released to developers its iOS 5.1 beta, which is intended to bring several bug fixes to users. However, tech whizzes have already spotted some code within the release that points to several new Apple products that may be coming, specifically the next-generation Apple TV, the next iPhone and two new iPad models. READ MORE
If you’re a retailer you might be interested in a new interactive tablet display that can be used to engage customers in all sorts of ways. Called the i View Android, it can be used to promote products, display specials, let customers play games, register for loyalty programs, give feedback, scan QR codes, print coupons or access Web sites. This video even shows restaurant patrons using it to order from a menu. READ MORE
Black Friday is here and shoppers are out buying gadgets like crazy. Many of them are looking for tablets and some are deciding whether it’s going to be an iPad under the tree or another brand. While the Kindle Fire can’t beat the iPad on many levels, it can when it comes to price. That fact has many people wondering if they can save a couple hundred bucks and get the Fire instead. READ MORE
When Steve Jobs died, Apple fans were so distraught that they began treating Apple Stores like shrines, leaving flowers and notes on their doorsteps. Do you think your own store could ever inspire that degree of customer loyalty? Perhaps it can–if you follow in the footsteps of Ron Johnson, who headed up retail at Apple and is now leaving to become CEO of J.C. Penney. READ MORE
After you’ve stuffed yourself with turkey this Thursday, what will you do next? While some may nap or watch football, a huge number of Americans will get started on their holiday shopping, according to prognosticators at PayPal. READ MORE
When CNET’s Greg Sandoval attended the lavish launch of Google Music, he couldn’t help recalling a similarly lovely bash when Microsoft launched Zune–by some odd irony, almost exactly five years ago. And there were plenty of similarities to point to. Both events took place in Hollywood and both featured blue lights. In each case, a tech giant was trying to catch up to iTunes, the undisputed leader in digital music sales. In each case, it was doing so with a music catalog that wasn’t quite as big. Google has signed up three of the four biggest record companies but is missing Warner. Apple’s got all four. READ MORE
Anyone who’s been following the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction goings-on in the European tablet market knows that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been banned in Germany for the offense of looking too much like an iPad. Since all tablets bear a striking resemblance to each other (except for a few with outlandish cases) that seems weird to begin with. Now, in an even odder twist, Samsung is seeking to bypass the injunction by shipping GalTabs to Germany with a slightly different design. Namely, with a metal band around the edges of the device. Will Apple seek yet another injunction to bar this new version? Our guess is yes. What will the German courts say? Stay tuned. Read more at CNET.
Earlier this month, Google launched its Gmail app for iOS devices. It wasn’t exactly met with a round of applause. There were few of the powerful features users get with regular Gmail, notifications weren’t working correctly, and the app crashed so often that Google finally pulled it from the Apple Store. READ MORE
First Amazon announced the Kindle Fire, which many seem to think is going to dent Apple’s iPad sales this holiday season. Now some say the digital retail giant plans to build a speech recognition interface to rival Apple’s Siri personal assistant technology. The speculation stems from the recent revelation that Amazon.com has quietly acquired speech-to-text software developer Yap, which was founded in 2006 by Igor Jablakov, who previously worked on speech recognition technologies at IBM. READ MORE
