Along similar lines to Google and Apple in their application stores, Amazon is now developing and testing a new in-app purchasing system, with options for both subscriptions and purchases of individual items.
The report of the new testing was revealed my Bloomberg today and indicated that Amazon is looking to join the same market with Apple and Google. Enabling application software to generate revenue for developers as well as companies.
Amazon is planning to charge a 30 percent commission to clients for its in-app purchase service, which is the same rate as Amazon charges developers for app sales. Amazon still has a long way to go with its app store if its hoping to compete with Apple and Google. Who both have more than 450,000 applications available to purchase in their stores compared to Amazon’s 1400 applications. But quality over quantity may help a little.
Unfortunately no information on worldwide availability has been released as yet, but as soon as information comes to light we will keep you updated as always.
The joint venture that is Japan Display agreed on its formalities back in November, and has now finally started operating. While Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi all have a 10 percent stake in the business, the main investment comes from the government-backed INCJ. The collaboration hopes to champion the middle- and small-sized display sector, and has around 6,200 employees, and ¥230 billion (about $2.8 billion) of capital to help it on its way. Now that the wheels are finally in motion, an announcement of its operational divisions, which include "Mobile Business" and "Automotive" hint at what we might expect from the business going forward. Assuming no one sells up that is.
Kindle Touch owners who have been waiting for the arrival of the SolarKindle the solar powered light case designed for Amazon’s Kindle Touch devices.
The SolarKindles was first unveiled back in CES during January of this year. Will be please to learn that the SolarKindle has now arrived and is available to purchase from the SolarFocus website directly for $80.
Created by SolarFocus the SolarKindle cases lightweight, flexible solar panel has been designed to provide up to three days of lighted reading time from just one hour of direct sunlight.
Its equipped with a 1500 mAh lithium-polymer reserve battery that will run the unit’s built-in LED lamp pumping out 800 lux for up to 50 hours. It can also be used to charge the connected Kindle Touch device, providing it with up to 10 days of additional reading time.
Some of our readers will remember the Lensbaby Composer Pro for DSLR’s that was launched last year, and now Lensbaby has also launched the Composer Pro for a range of micro four thirds.
The Lensbaby Composer Pro is now available for the Sony NEX ranage, The Samsung NX range, plus a range of Olympus PEN cameras and Panasonic’s Lumix G cameras.
The Composer Pro offers silky smooth focus and tilt/swivel ability. With its refined design and sturdy metal construction, it’s a step up from the Composer. It is the premium choice for professional photographers and videographers everywhere.
You can find out more details about the Lensbaby Composer Pro for micro four thirds cameras over at Lensbaby.
The HTC Evo 3D was launched last year and now it looks like it is headed to Virgin Mobile in the US as the HTC Evo V 4G, and it looks like the specifications will be the same as the the HTC Evo 3D.
The HTC Evo V 4G will features a dual core 1.2GHz processor, plus a 4.3 inch qHD display that has a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, and it is capable of displaying 3D content without any 3D glasses.
The devices comes with two 5 megapixel cameras which can record 3D video and take 3D photos, up front you get a 1.3 megapixel camera for video calls and there is also Bluetooth and WiFi, plus Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
There are no details as yet on when the HTC Evo V 4G will land on Virgin Mobile and also no details on how much it will retail for.
If you've already decided whether you're Team One X or Team One S, and live in the UK, then get ready to flex the plastic on Thursday. Both T-Mobile and Orange have announced that's the day you can pick one up in store and online (and even over the phone if that's how you roll.) Both networks are offering the One X for free if you don't mind paying £41 a month, or you can scoop up the One S for a slightly more reasonable £36 -- if you're okay with the smaller screen estate and number-of-core bragging rights. In the mean time, you'd best start brushing up on that new UI...
It appears that the initial rumours of Google’s online storage service are coming true, after all. We talked about a possible screenshot that showed the service in action. Now, there are fresh rumours that the service may be launched as early as next month. TalkAndroid has got their hands on a screenshot of the the new service. There’s a clear mention of 5GB of free space being made available with the service. There’s a Download Google Drive button as well, which suggests that a local OS installation is possible as well. Of course, the domain http://drive.google.com will also be accessible to mobile phones, tablets and desktop users using a web browser. The subdomain is currently active on Google’s site, but it throws up a 404 error, as of now.
It's coming soon!
There was initial news that Google would be providing 2GB of space with the service, but that has clearly been upped to 5GB. The service should offer great integration between all of Google’s services as well as all the devices that their users use. Google should, however consider upping that space to above the 20GB mark as there are already services that offer much more storage space. Microsoft’s service SkyDrive offers 25GB of free space to its users. If Google Drive does launch in the next couple of weeks, it’s safe to assume that future releases of Chrome OS and Android - Jelly Bean will have Google Drive integrated into the OS.
Google’s Drive service should compete with other major free online storage services, such as Box.net and Dropbox. The last screenshot we had talked about included a software installation, which means that the service would be accessible directly from the desktop, possibly from Windows Explorer. The ability to quickly save files to the cloud without having to manually access a web page and use the web interface would be great. This would be a neat little feature to have on existing Google Android and Chrome OS devices. Being able to directly store documents and data directly through the operating system would be handy.
