March 5 2010
Posted by
Sammy, The Ebook King Under
Apple iPad,
Kindle Ebook Reader 
No Comments » |
As reported on a prior iPad post, the launch of the iPad is being delayed till April 3 due to production issues. U.S. consumers can order the new device starting on March 12 through Apple’s website. While the rest of the world will have to wait till later in the year.
The first iPads to go on sale will connect to Wi-Fi networks only and cost $499, $599 or $699, depending on the data storage capacity. Versions that also can connect to “3G” cellular networks (AT&T) are expected to go on sale in late April for $629, $729 or $829.
The new Apple iPad will come with 12 new applications and will run the 140,000 applications that were developed Apple’s other devices (e.g. iPhone, iPod touch). The delay is only a few days from the original date, but it does take a little luster off of the release.
March 5 2010
Freescale Semiconductor, the processor chip company that produces chips for most e-readers (e.g. Amazon Kindle
and Sony’s Reader) in the market today, announced earlier in the week that they are coming out with a new and improved chip (i.MX508 applications processor).
The faster processor is claimed to have twice the rendering performance of the current chip which will increase the device’s responsiveness (e.g. the page turning speed) and capacity of an e-reader to run applications and operate more quickly.
The other important factor is lower price of the new chip ($30 less). More power at lower price? Who doesn’t like that combination! This would be music to consumer ears and wallets. Apple might not be a happy camper since the new Freescale chip will drive down e-reader prices and put some pressure prices of the yet-to-be released Apple iPad. The e-reader market gets more interesting as the competition heats up. Expect Amazon to step up to the challenge by combining their newly acquired touch screen technology with the improved Freescale chip to create the next generation Kindle!
Tags: 
