Verizon to Sell iPads, Packaged with a Mi-Fi

Verizon Wireless is going to start selling the Apple iPad. You might wonder what the angle is, and it is that the iPad will be bundled with a MiFi, giving Verizon Wireless a recurring revenue stream.

Best Buy CEO Now Says Tablet Sales are Incremental to PCs

Brian J. Dunn, CEO, Best Buy Co. is "walking back" a comment reported by the Wall Street Journal, where Dunn said Apple's iPad might have cannibalized as much as 50 percent of Best Buy's PC sales over the last quarter.

Later, Dunn appeared to want to soften the reported remarks. "We see some shifts in consumption patterns, with tablet sales being an incremental opportunity," Dunn now says.

We might not know whether the latter statement, or the first statement, is closer to the truth until the round of quarterly reports.

Is Apple Working on a 7-Inch Screen iPad?

Apple might be looking to develop a new version of iPad, this one with a 7-inch screen and bring it to market sometime in 2011, according to a research note put out by Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar.

Some of us think that is a smart idea. The current iPad is too large to be a device normally carried everywhere, at least for some of us who have to use a notebook or netbook.

The Samsung Galaxy is available in a 7-inch form factor already, for example. 

Some smartphones, meanwhile, now feature 4-inch screens with very good "full web" access. In fact, some of us prefer to use the full web browser rather than apps for many tasks.

But content creation on a 4-inch smartphone still is too difficult. A 7-inch form factor is where the gap is, for a couple of reasons. It might just be small enough and light enough to lug around with a netbook. And it might be workable as a content creation platform for some tasks.

Is Apple Working on a 7-Inch Screen iPad?

ABC And Nielsen Partner On iPad App That ‘Syncs’ TV And Mobile Viewing

The ABC Television Group and The Nielsen Company have developed an iPad app for one of the network’s new primetime dramas in hopes of seeing how much of a connection there is between iPad viewing and regular TV watching.

The app is built on Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform, which allows mobile apps to automatically detect and synchronize with TV programming using audio watermarks. That means users can watch, leave and come back again right where they left off.

The free My Generation Sync iPad app was available in iTunes’ App Store. In addition to promoting the show, "My Generation," the app also is also designed to help draw interest to Apple’s new $0.99 “TV show rental” offer with Apple.

ABC And Nielsen Partner On iPad App That ‘Syncs’ TV And Mobile Viewing

iPad And iPhone App Buying Patterns

The iPhone and iPod touch are for games. The iPad is for a lot more. And people are spending a lot more, per app, on iPad apps than iPhone apps.

About 82 percent of the top 50 iPhone or iPod touch apps are games, compared to 36 percent of the top 50 iPad apps.

The top iPad app categories among the top 50 are Games (36%), Content (28%, includes news, video), Productivity (20%), and Utilities (16%, includes weather).

The top iPhone app categories among the top 50 are Games (82%, includes gag apps) and Utilities (18%, includes weather, social networking).

The average top-25 paid iPhone app was $1.51, versus $5.79 on the iPad (almost 4X difference).

Apple App Store Analysis: Here's The Difference Between The iPad And The iPhone

Europeans Want Android Tablets

What would the average eWEEK Europe reader want for leisure time? The answer, it turns out is an Android-based tablet along the lines of the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Twenty-six percent of the people responding to eWEEK Europe’s gadget poll said they’d love an Android tablet like the Galaxy, while another 18 percent said their next personal-use gadget would be an Android phone.

Apple did poorly in the poll, even though the short list held three Apple devices, including the massively-hyped iPad, the recently re-launched iPod and the Apple TV, which is sure to spark another Apple frenzy.

eWEEK Europe Readers Want Android

Apple Doubles iPad Production: Android is the Reason

Apple is manufacturing two million iPads each month, but production now is scheduled to ramp up to three million a month.

Android tablets may be the reason. Apple wants to make sure people can walk into an Apple store looking for an iPad and walk out purchase in hand.

Apple Doubles iPad Production As Android Tablet Threat Looms

iPads are Content Consumption Devices, Studies Find

A survey by copywriting firm Cooper Murphy Webb found that iPad owners use them largely for entertainment purposes.

Almost a quarter of respondents said it had become their primary entertainment device, ahead of TV and trailing PCs by just nine percentage points.

To a large extent, iPads and possibly other tablets compete with e-book readers, gaming consoles, mobile phones and TVs more than other PC form factors.

The iPad was considered the top delivery method for newspapers and magazines, and its popularity for books was even greater. Some 41 percent of iPad owners preferred to read on the device, compared to 36 percent of respondents who liked hard copies better.

Also, iPads were the top gaming device for owners of the tablets, beating out consoles by two percentage points.

A study by Ball State University researchers suggests new iPad users deem it best for leisure activities, not content creation.

How iPad Usage is Shaping Up - eMarketer

iPad Users Change Reading, Browsing, Gaming Habits

If results of a U.K. consumer poll are any indication, tablet PCs are about to change Web browsing, gaming and reading preferences.

According to survey conducted by Cooper Murphy Webb, Apple’s iPad is the preferred method of reading newspapers and magazines among consumers already owning the device.

The poll also found that a plurality of iPad owners prefer the device for reading books and gaming. Perhaps surprisingly, respondents indicated they used their dedicated gaming consoles and iPads about equally when gaming. If that holds up, it could mean trouble for game console suppliers. 

And a significant percentage prefer the iPad for Web browsing as well. That finding is less surprising, if one assumes the tablet device is designed to be used as a content consumption device.

Cooper Murphy Webb  polled 1034 U.K. iPad owners.


It's hard to tell at the moment whether the behavior of early adopters will be the same, or similar to, habits of more mainstream users.


The results, if they are replicated by other surveys, suggest the tablet has potential to disrupt and replace user behaviors for any number of other consumer electronics devices. Mobile phones and MP3 players are probably safest. PCs, notebooks, netbooks, ebook readers and game consoles would seem to be most at risk.


That's a rather broad base of devices threatened by tablet devices.

iPad Consumer Usage Study | Cooper Murphy Webb

Did The iPad Preemptively Kill The US Tablet Market Like The Kindle & Nook Killed Other Ebook Readers?

The U.S. market for ebook readers is basically a choice between the Kindle or the Nook.

Can you can blame the Apple iPad for that state of affairs? Or is it the business arrangements? Ebook readers, after all, are only as valuable as the selection of available content, pricing and delivery of that content.

It might be more difficult than most of us realize to get all those elements, plus an attractive user interface and device pricing, into alignment.

Did The iPad Preemptively Kill The US Tablet Market Like The Kindle & Nook Killed Other Ebook Readers?

Clearwire Appeals for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch Users

Clearwire now offers an "iSpot" access device that allows users of Apple iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone users to use the iSpot Wi-Fi connection instead of the AT&T network. The $29 iSpot uses the Clearwire mobile network to create a mobile hotspot.

The iSpot "On-the-Go" service provides unlimited data usage for $25 a month.

Kindle's Future in an "iPad World"

 Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO, thinks there is plenty of room in the market for optimized e-book readers.
Bezos believes the Kindle can continue to succeed as a device that’s dedicated to reading, especially long-form reading. Amazon isn’t looking to “create an experience." Amazon thinks the author will create the experience.

In a world with short attention spans, one would hope Bezos is right. Fast-paced, short form content is good for lots of things. Reflection isn't typically one of them.

Apple's iPad Is Going To Destroy The Netbook Market, Says Goldman Sachs

Whether you believe the tablet PC is a substitute for, or a complement to, a netbook, it does seem clear that a tablet's function is different.

The iPad is focused squarely on information consumption versus information production, analysts at Goldman Sachs note. A device that looks like “just a big screen” suggests what users should do with the device: consume information, with limited ability to manipulate it.

The lack of a physical keyboard suggests that the primary purpose of the device is not for inputting large amounts of information, but instead selecting among options, or performing light editing using a soft keyboard, the analysts suggest.

If that is the case, a key element of the experience will be relatively tight integration with content sources. 

I'm not so sure the netbook is destined by be replaced by tablet devices, though it seems obvious that if the reason lots of people carry netbooks or notebooks is simply to consume information and content, that will be the case.

For users who still have to "work" and create content, a tablet simply isn't going to be a viable choice.

Apple's iPad Is Going To Destroy The Netbook Market, Says Goldman (Sorry, Microsoft):

Apple's IPad Getting Enterprise Traction

Despite its launch as a consumer device, the iPad, like the iPhone before it, is getting workplace adoption. That doesn't mean Apple is especially anxious to create enterprise products, but simply that the same attributes that appeal to consumers also appeal to business users.

Research in Motion and Microsoft are the two companies which have to worry about such trends, since those two companies tend to dominate corporate demand for smartphones and PCs.

Apple's IPad Wins Corporate Converts at Wells Fargo, SAP - Bloomberg

iPad Replaces Menus

So the big problem is people stealing the menus, eh?

Will iPad Be the Fastest-Adopted Mobile Device, Ever?

At this rate, the Apple iPad might wind up becoming the fastest-growing mobile device ever.

Apple Has Sold 3 Million iPads In Less Than Three Months

Apple announced today that it has sold over 3 million iPads in just 80 days. This shatters most analyst expectations for the iPad. Just last week Katy Huberty at Morgan Stanley forecasted 3 million iPads sold for the entire quarter. Apple beat that by a few weeks.

It appears Apple has succeeded in once again creating a new device category.

Apple Has Sold 3 Million iPads In Less Than Three Months

Apple Wants to Sell Razors (iPads), Amazon Blades (Media)

Some observers will point out that about half of Amazon's total revenues come from selling media (books, for example) and that the Apple iPad is an obvious danger to the extent that digital content distribution moves out of its control.

To be sure, Kindle inventory can be bought on an iPad. But Apple is going to push its iBooks offering, shifting sales away from Amazon.

To be sure, notes Citi analyst Mark Mahaney, Amazon enjoys a lead for the moment in product breadth and depth. Comparing Kindle and iBooks, using the New York Times best sellers list as the data source, Mahaney notes that 88 percent of New York times  fiction and non-fiction best sellers are available on Kindle, compared to 63 percent from iBooks.

The average price for eBooks on Kindle is $11.23 compared to  $12.31 for iBooks, a 10 percent advantage for Amazon.

About half of NYT fiction and non-fiction best sellers are available for both platforms, and 80 percent of those items are priced identically on each platform. About 20 percent of the items that are cheaper on Kindle are about 11 percent cheaper, on average.

That's probably not a sustainable advantage, as a 10-percent price advantage on a $12 item is just $1.20, not likely a sustainable "moat."

The iPad is not exactly a "give away the razor, buy the blades" strategy. Apple very much wants to sell razors. Amazon, on the other hand,  really wants to sell blades. That illustrates an interesting difference in business models. Apple would merchandise content to sell media consumption devices. Amazon really would rather merchandise the platform and make a living selling the content.

Apple sells devices in the $500 to $800 range, while Kindle sells in the $189 to $489 range (basic version or the Kindle DX). Others may disagree, but it would seem Amazon has incentives to figure out how to "destroy" its hardware pricing to grab more media sales. That certainly makes more sense in the near term than trying to move upmarket directly into the iPad space.

Amazon Cuts Kindle Prices to $189

The reaction didn't take long: Barnes & Noble Inc. cut the price of its Nook e-reader to $199 on June 21, 2010. So did Amazon, just a few hours later. Amazon's standard Kindle e-reader now costs to $189, down from $259, though the "Kindle DX," featuring a larger screen and global mobile coverage, still sells for $489.

The strategic issue is whether e-book readers essentially wind up even cheaper than current levels as e-book and e-content purchase volume grows. It wasn't so long ago that would-be e-book reader suppliers thought a $400 or higher purchase price would still be viable.

Obviously the rapid emergence of a potentially-rival tablet market, exemplified by the Apple iPad, at about the $500 price point, plus Amazon and Barnes & Noble marketing at the $260 price point, has dashed a few business plans.

Of course, ask yourself which device you'd rather use, despite the higher price of the iPad. There's nothing wrong with the Kindle, but it is a monochrome e-book reader.

The iPad is a multi-purpose device that also doubles as an e-book reader.

How iPad Changes Gmail Experience

One of the more interesting questions about the tablet device market, assuming it does develop as a new and discrete mobile device category, is how user experience and application design might change simply because of the new form factor and navigation method.

For Google, one of the changes it already has made is a redesign of the Gmail interface on the Apple iPad.

"When you write an email you’ll now get a big full screen compose window instead of splitting the screen between your inbox and the compose view," Google says. More text is visible at once and there are no more distractions with messages on the side.

As with adaptations made to format content and navigation for smartphone screens, it appears Google already has made adaptations of the email-compose layout specifically for the iPad form factor.

For application providers, all this suggests a possible need for a "third" way to format web sites and applications, including different rendering for large PC screens, small mobile phone screens and mid-size tablet form factors.

The Iterative Web App: New Compose Interface for Gmail on iPad - Official Google Mobile Blog