Thursday, October 28, 2010

New Nook Color at Barnes & Noble

nook colorOn Tuesday, October 26th, Barnes & Noble released their first major brand color e-book reader. In the past few months, other companies like Literati and Pandigital have released their own color e-book reader devices, but Barnes & Noble is the company that really got things right.

The device has been dubbed the Nook Color. The classy e-book reader features a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 LCD screen from LG surrounded by a black bevel that offers customers over 16 million different colors. The device weighs under a pound, runs Android 2.1, features built-in Wi-Fi, 8GB of memory, and a microSD card slot that allows users to add even more memory to the device. The battery life of the device comes in at about eight hours, which is a lot less than many of the other e-book readers available as of now.

At the time of the launching of the device, Barnes & Noble’s bookstore will have more than two million books available and over a hundred periodicals. These periodicals can either be subscribed to or purchased as single issues, which is a nice touch.

There are several new things featured in the Nook Color that have not been included with the previous devices in the Nook line. One of these fantastic features is the “Nook Kids” section that offers a variety of different children’s books. Children are given the option to either read the book to themselves or have the book read to them out loud by the e-book itself.

Other great features include the social integration option. It allows users to easily send a quote or status to Facebook or Twitter while reading a book. Also included with the Nook Color is the LendMe feature. This allows users to lend a book to a friend and see the books that your friends have that you might like to borrow. Obviously there are restrictions put into place by the publishers, but no matter what, this is still a really cool feature.

You can expect to have a wonderful reading experience with the Nook Color. The screen is bright and extremely responsive, and navigation is incredibly simple with the device. There is one single button at the bottom of the device that works as the home button. It allows you to go to the home screen or to help navigate books and apps.

The bugs are still being worked out of the Nook Color, but it really does give you a pretty darn good experience. The software found on the Nook Color is definitely much better than the software found on the original Nook. Right now, loading books and apps is rather slow, but flipping through the pages of the books or swiping across the screen is very quick and responsive.

Barnes & Noble says that they will continue to sell the original Nook, which has had a large firmware update that worked out many of the kinks that had been the complaints of many customers. The Nook Color will be available on Friday, November 19th. It will be sold at Best Buy, Walmart, Books a Million, and online for $249. If you’re looking for an e-book reader, the Nook Color is definitely one to keep on your list of possibilities.

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is Coming Soon

samsung galaxy tab
Just recently Verizon Wireless announced that they would be offering customers the Apple iPad in over 2,000 of their stores as of October 28th. Now they have said that they will also be selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab in stores on November 11th for $599.99.

There have been many rumors and speculations circulating about the 7-inch Android tablet from Samsung. Although the tablet will most definitely be made available in Verizon stores, Samsung has said that it will be available from all four of the major U.S. carriers. Unlike Verizon, the other carriers have not come up with a concrete date or price for the tablet.

When Samsung announced that they would be releasing the Galaxy Tab in the U.K. on November 1st, more rumors began to swirl surrounding the tablet. Boy Genius said that the device would be released from Sprint for $400 sometime around November 14th if you signed up for a contract. Without a contract they claimed that the tablet would cost $600. There were also speculations that T-Mobile would offer the device for $400 with a two-year contract and a $50 rebate or $650 without a contract.

The $600 price that Verizon is selling the Galaxy Tab for is without a contract. The carrier will be offering customers a $20 per month plan that will give them up to 1GB of data each month. They are also offering data plans with the iPad that include a 3GB, $35 per month plan and a 5GB, $500 per month plan. As of October 28th, Verizon will also have a 16GB iPad bundle that includes MiFi Mobile hotspot for $629 that can allow you to connect up to five mobile devices.

I have been extremely excited about Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. As amazing as iPads may be, I have a feeling that until the iPad is updated, the Galaxy Tab is going to be even more amazing. The Galaxy Tab can do so many of the things that the iPad unfortunately cannot. It is much closer to functioning like a laptop. It does have a smaller screen than the iPad, but it features things that cannot be found on the iPad like two cameras, phone capabilities with Bluetooth, and flash video support. I think Samsung definitely added some great features to the Galaxy Tab that have been missing from the tablet industry. If I was looking for a tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab would definitely be the first I would consider. Check out more details to see if the Galaxy Tab is right for you.

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Why You Should Never Be Without Your iPhone...

iphone travel appPublic and online polling has revealed that the general public truly believes that the iPhone is the ultimate travel tool. The iPhone allows individuals to stay informed, connected, and entertained. A creative consultant who commutes weekly from NYC and London, Felicia Tumaneng, said, “I wouldn't be able to leave the country without it.”

The iPhone is the best electronic guide available right now. Here are some of the ways that you can use your iPhone as the ultimate travel guide.

In the Car
One of the great features is the new TomTom App for the iPhone. It features “navigate-to-photo,” turn by turn directions, and rush hour and traffic alerts. The TomTom App turns your iPhone into a fantastic GPS system. It is available for $39.99.

The useful GasBook app is available at the Apple store for $0.99. This app offers you the most up-to-date gas price listings at stations nationwide. It also includes a fuel log that will keep track of your vehicle’s fuel stats. This is a very convenient app to have on your iPhone.

Trapster is another great app to have in the car. It is the perfect app for those individuals who might drive a little on the speedy side. This app alerts users when they approach speed traps, red lights, speed cameras, police check points, accidents, and other roadway hazards.

At the Airport
FlightBoard is another amazing app to have on your iPhone and is available for $3.99. It gives you an interactive view of over 4,000 airport and 1,400 airline boards. You can view either the arrival or departure board from basically any airport in the world.

The FLYSmart app is free and is geared towards individuals traveling within the United States. This app allows you to not only track flights but also find restaurants, bathrooms, and clubhouses in airports across the nation.

Bored and Need Entertainment
There are thousands of games available for the iPhone at the Apple apps store. One of these incredibly entertaining games is Words with Friends. It is a game that is essentially Scrabble. It is a great game to exercise your mind and waste some spare time when you’re bored.

Recently an app was released that allows subscribers to watch TV on their iPhone. PlayOn is available for $40/year and allows users to watch Hulu, ESPN, Netflix, Comedy Central and lots of other channels right from their smartphone.

Need a Bite to Eat
There are plenty of restaurant locating apps that are available for the iPhone. Yelp is free, UrbanSpoon is free, and Local Eats is only $0.99. These are all great apps that will help you locate any kind of restaurant you want no matter where you are.

Want to Make a Payment?
You can easily pay your bills with your iPhone. Apps like MobilePay USA allow users to make payments directly from their phones. Users simply enter their account information online. The card’s information is not stored in the phone, and a PIN number is required to access the information online. It is a safe and secure app that can be very useful at times.

These are just a few of the incredibly useful travel apps offered for the iPhone. There are plenty more that can be found at the Apple apps store. It is definitely true that the iPhone is the best possible travel companion. It can assist you with so many of your travel needs. So before you walk out the door, always make sure that you have your iPhone with you.

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