Here is a teaser from iHome about integration of Apple‘s new AirPlay in their hardware. Not much details beside what can be read in the picture.

Expect a wireless sound system with rechargeable battery to listen to your music anywhere in the house/car/cottage… you get [...]]]>

Here is a teaser from iHome about integration of Apple‘s new AirPlay in their hardware. Not much details beside what can be read in the picture.

Expect a wireless sound system with rechargeable battery to listen to your music anywhere in the house/car/cottage… you get the idea.

UK-based BlueBox Avionics has announced the bluebox Ai, a portable IFE solution that combines the iPad with the company’s proprietary security technology. This allows BlueBox to protect “early-window” content, such as movies that have been cleared for in-flight showings but not yet for pay-per-view, DVD or digital sales.

The company is impressed with the iPad’s 10 hour [...]]]>

UK-based BlueBox Avionics has announced the bluebox Ai, a portable IFE solution that combines the iPad with the company’s proprietary security technology. This allows BlueBox to protect “early-window” content, such as movies that have been cleared for in-flight showings but not yet for pay-per-view, DVD or digital sales.

The company is impressed with the iPad’s 10 hour battery life as well as the fact that it can be loaded with games, magazines, ebooks, custom apps, and video for each airline. Since iPads are wireless, new content can be loaded to the devices at any time. Individual iPads would also weigh less than the built-in IFE units.

The bluebox Ai is to be formally launched at the Aircraft Interiors Expo this week in Hamburg, Germany. BlueBox has announced that at least one international air carrier will begin distributing the iPads to passengers in July.

via iPads as in-flight entertainment systems? There’s a market for that.

Apple’s iBookstore which is currently only available in the US will also become available the day of the launch.

Apple released the following iPad pricing for Canadians:

WiFi Models: $549 [...]]]> The iPad will finally be available internationally on Mat 28th 2010… with pre-orders starting on may 10th.  Canadians are expected to may 50$ more than their US cousins!

Apple’s iBookstore which is currently only available in the US will also become available the day of the launch.

Apple released the following iPad pricing for Canadians:

WiFi Models:
$549 (CAN) for 16GB
$649 (CAN) for 32GB
$749 (CAN) for 64GB

WiFi + 3G Models:
$679 (CAN) for 16GB
$779 (CAN) for 32GB
$879 (CAN) for 64GB

iPad international availability set for May 28.

The iPad demand in the US is so huge that Apple had to make a difficult decision… delay the international sales of the device.  This is really sad as I was looking forward to get my hands on the device at the end of the month.  The good news is that with great [...]]]>

Image via CrunchBase

The iPad demand in the US is so huge that Apple had to make a difficult decision… delay the international sales of the device.  This is really sad as I was looking forward to get my hands on the device at the end of the month.  The good news is that with great sales comes great applications.  A lot of people where predicting that the iPad would not sell very well.  They have been proven wrong.

Find below a copy of the Apple press release:

Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad(TM). We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason–the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.

There you have it, no iPad for you in April International customers!

Not conceding defeat I decided to try it the [...]]]> OK, as you have read before I have tried Listia to see how it work.  My 1st listing attempt was one where I clearly stated that I was in to buy Credits with Paypal payment.  That did not went too well as Listia delisted both my listings. Bummer.

Not conceding defeat I decided to try it the way others are doing it. That is by buying Amazon.com gift cards and sending them to the listing winner.  As expected Listia did not de-list that one.  It actually completed without any problem and I made an ample 491 credits for a 5$ investment.  This is much better than buying 50 credits for 5$ as Listia gladly offer on their web site.

The challenge is now to convert those credits in $ profit.  One option is to buy others Amazon gift card codes for less than 491 credits.  This way I can accumulate leftover credits to buy more cards then sell them back at for more credits.  The risk here is that I hove no guarantee of how may credits they will go for as I can’t put a reserve… So I could end-up loosing in the end.

I will monitor things some more to see emerging patterns that might put me at better odds of making profit.  I will keep you posted.

In an effort to cut down the silly gift card business out of the equation I have created a [...]]]> Tonight I decided to do an experiment.  I recently joined Listia.com and noticed an interesting trend.  People are listing iTunes, Visa, etc, etc gift cards.  What this amount to is that they are actually buying (knowingly or not) Listia Credits.

In an effort to cut down the silly gift card business out of the equation I have created a listing that openly offer to BUY Listia Credits based on a flexible “Listia Credits to $” table.  You can see the details at http://www.listia.com/auction/113282.

There is chance that Listia will cancel my auction… but really I don’t think I am breaching any site rules here.  I am offering to BUY Credits and guess what… it mean sending money to the “bidder” in return via Paypal. It is perfectly legal.

The only reason I could see them terminate the listing is because they might want to prevent people to openly buy credits for less than they sell them. Listia is currently selling 1 credit for 0.1$.  I am offering around 0.016$ per credit.  A lot less but in line with what credits are trading today on Listia.

If successful, my next challenge will be to devise a way to sell Listia Credits I bought.  This will likely prove harder but I have a few ideas.  Could this be the beginning of a Listia Credit Exchange Market?  Maybe.

UPDATE

Look like Listia want the monopoly of selling Credits.  They killed both my listings for buying Listia credits on the basis that they where confusing.  Right! The only thing confusing is why Listia won’t let it’s users buy credits by offering money to other users in exchange.  They are OK with people selling silly Gift Cards.  This is essentially the same but with a piece of plastic instead of an electronic money transfer.

“Manufacturers had better start building more efficient applications and more efficient services. There is no real way to get around this,” “If we dont start conserving that bandwidth, in the next few years we are going to run into a capacity crunch. You are already [...]]]> Oh my god, what a complete bush… this is! RIM‘s Lazaridis proclaims:

“Manufacturers had better start building more efficient applications and more efficient services. There is no real way to get around this,” “If we dont start conserving that bandwidth, in the next few years we are going to run into a capacity crunch. You are already experiencing the capacity crunch in the United States.”

The problem is not the devices! The problem is the greedy carriers that keep thinking 20 years back when there was no data to speak of, when voice was king and data was confined to floppy disks.

He should actually speak about the carriers and tell them to get up from their precious ass and do something about the lack of transport on their wireless networks.  Invest more in technology instead of crippling the users phone features.  Maybe people would be more inclined to spend money with them.

See, data has escaped and there is no putting this thing in the bottle.  The iPads of the work will consume wireless bandwidth like there is no tomorrow.

via RIMs Lazaridis warns iPhone is prophet of data network doom | 9 to 5 Mac.

Update: Source for original file: http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae335/unanimouswow/Prototype352.jpg

Look like the black borders are symmetrical all around.  Could hide the wireless antennas quite well. But there is no docking port… so quite possibly [...]]]> This might be one of the iPad prototype?

• Look like iPhone: Check
• Has a home button: Check
• Look like 10″ diagonal: Check
• Announced docking port at the bottom: Might not be visible

Update: Source for original file: http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae335/unanimouswow/Prototype352.jpg

Look like the black borders are symmetrical all around.  Could hide the wireless antennas quite well. But there is no docking port… so quite possibly a fake ;-(  Look good anyway.

UPDATE 2: OK, Someone pointed the fact that left might in fact be right So what I thought would be the bottom of the unit might be the top, hence no port there to be viewed.

Update 3: Look at the white back of the unit.  This could possibly allow people to buy it in different color like it is possible for iPods.

FINAL UPDATE:

This is a real product but not the iPad.  I found this other picture of the device from a different angle:

It is the MID 700 from BoEye.  The product was shown at Dubai’s GITEX. So now let see what Apple really come out with tomorrow!

It could really come in handy is “head-up” displays for vehicles. Samsung says [...]]]>

Samsung is showing off a notebook prototype with a 14 inch transparent OLED display. When the screen is off, it’s up to 40% transparent. And when it’s on, you can clearly see the display, but you can also see right through it.

It could really come in handy is “head-up” displays for vehicles. Samsung says the tech could also be used for eye-catching advertisements and displays, and notebooks like this prototype.

Short video after the break.

via Samsung notebook with transparent OLED display.

The design changes are subtle, but still effective. [...]]]> Today, Toshiba unveiled seven additions to its consumer-friendly Satellite line, as well as three SKUs for its small business-friendly L300 line. The notebooks, which range in price from $549 to $849 and have screen sizes from 14 to 18.4 inches, boast a tweaked design and, obviously, budget price tags.

The design changes are subtle, but still effective. For instance, the keyboard now has a matte finish, which means the keys should feel soft, but not slippery (not to mention pick up fewer fingerprints). Toshiba also brought its higher-end, glossy Fusion finish down to the entry-level– and extended it to the palm rest as well.

Other flourishes that Toshiba is offering on select models include: seamless, edge-to-edge glass displays; illuminated backlit- keyboards; slot-loading DVD ports; 3D accelerometers to protect the hard drive; 16:9 displays, some with native 720p resolution; and multi-touch trackpads (on all models except entry-level and netbooks, which were announced previously).

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