Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Samsung's Tablets Get a Christmas Boost, More So Than iPad, Kindle - Wall St.. Cheat Sheet

SAMSUNG tablet

Santa did well by Samsung’s Galaxy tablets, According To Data by the touchscreen publishing company, OnSwipe, and its CMO reported That, “Samsung Clearly KRW Christmas When it comes to tablets,” per TechCrunch.com. The companys Compared user data from the period of time between December 26 to 29 and 19 to 22 December in order to measure the growth of different tablet platforms over Christmas.

Samsung’s Galaxy tablets grew by 50.4 percent, According To TechCrunch.com. That’s in comparison to 33.8 percent for the Nexus 6 tablets, 20.4 percent for iPads and 19.5 percent for the Kindle Fire. Granted, we only have Percentages to go on: Samsung started with much less of the market share, so it did not have to make ginormous gains in order to beat out it’s competition over the Christmas holiday, cautions TechCrunch.

OnSwipe’s CMO, Jason Baptiste, speculates That Although Samsung saw great growth over the holiday season, they still comp rise a tiny piece of the tablet puzzle in comparison with long-time favorites like the iPad. Baptiste That added, “The same goes for the rest of Android. What will be interesting is seeing Whether people still use Android Tablets 90 days out from now. “

Baptiste’s group overpriced had some numbers about the length of the session, reflecting how much consumers are using Their new gadgets. The average session time from Samsung users was 3 minutes and 9 seconds post-Christmas, down from 3:22 before the holiday. For iPad users the average session was slightly longer at 4:03 Compared with 4:12 before. The Kindle Fire’s users had the longest session times, with an average of 4:51, According To TechCrunch.com; OnSwipe documents currently Reaches 31 million users.

The cheapest of the Samsung Galaxy tablet line-up documents currently retails for about $ 169. The iPad is the priciest of the three tablets SURVEYED; the iPad mini retails for $ 399 on the company’s website, Whereas the Kindle Fire HD rounds out the group as the cheapest of the bunch, retailing on Amazon.com for $ 139.

More From Wall Street Cheat Sheet:

  • End of the Patent Wars? Apple and Samsung Talk Accords
  • Tweets Confirm It Was An ‘iPad Christmas’
  • Apple May Yet Achieve Samsung Sales Ban
  • Kindle Paperwhite - best e-book reader - Boing Boing

    Christmas tech support in just 9 seconds: Amazon boasts its Kindle Fire ... - VentureBeat

    Forget spending hours on the phone with tech support.

    On Christmas Day, Amazon Proved That its new “Mayday” feature, Which instantly connects the Kindle Fire HDX owners with an Amazon customer service Representatives via video chat, more than lives up to its promises. Amazon saidthat Mayday help requests were Answered by reps in just 9 seconds on average, much faster than the 15 second response time They typically aim for.

    The Mayday feature, Which is free and available 24 hours a day every day of the year, is Amazon’s attempt at quashing frustration with its products instantly. Amazon’s reps can not see You When you request Mayday help, but They can see what’s on your Kindle Display, highlight portions of the screen, and Communicate with you via voice chat.

    While Apple revolutionized consumer tech support with its expert service reps at retail stores, Amazon is going a step further by connecting customers with help without them having to even get off their couch. With its 9-second average response time on Christmas, Amazon Proved That it can Effectively scale the feature to handle an onslaught of new customers (somethingthat many early critics did not think was possible).

    Amazon overpriced saidthat it sold around 1 million Prime memberships in the third week of December. Prime and Mayday have one big thing in common: They help Amazon inspire a fierce sense of loyalty Among its customers. Why would you shop anywhere else When you’ve got reliable two-day shipping with Amazon Prime? And why would you buy another tablet in the future without the Mayday instant tech support feature?

    Amazon is notoriously secretive, so we have no clue how much it’s shelling out to support the Mayday feature. But no matter the cost, it’s a clear way to differentiate the Kindle Fire HDX tablets from all the competition. In today’s hyper-competitive gadget world, that’s priceless.

    Monday, December 30, 2013

    This Lego Robot Kills The DRM Protection In Your Kindle E-Books - Business Insider

                

    DRM, or digital rights management, is the Stuff that limits a consumer’s capabilities with his or her recommended for digital media. It’s what curbs the iTunes music you buy to your own use Specifically. It Prevents you from sharing your paid-for Kindle books with others.

    Peter Purgathoffer, an associate professor at the Vienna University of Technology, built a Lego robot That squashes the Kindle e-book DRM, we learn via Boing Boing.

    The robot works by Repeatedly pressing the “next page” button on a Kindle, then snapping a picture of the new page with a laptop’s webcam. Captured pictures are saved to a folder where They are or cancel treated with a process called OCR – optical character recognition – Which digitizes the text and turns it into a completely DRM-free e-book.

    The best part of this little robotic creation Is that Because it’s engaging in a transformative act (and is obviously for one’s own personal use), it’s legal.

    DIY kindle scanner from peter purgathofer on Vimeo.

    Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider staff through his investment company, Bezos Expeditions.

                

    Kindle, Chromebook lead Amazon bestsellers - Telecompaper (subscription)

    Amazon reported That its own Kindle Fire HD was the best-selling tablet on Amazon.com over the holiday season. “Millions” of people unwrapped Kindles at Christmas, the company said, without giving exact sales figures. The Samsung and Acer Chromebooks and the Asus Transformer Book were the best-selling laptops for Christmas, and Samsung LED HD TVs point the TV category.

    The company overpriced Announced That over 1 million people joined its Prime membership program During the third week in December, a new record. In addition to free delivery, Prime offers customers free access to more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes on the Instant Video service. Amazon said its Android Appstore overpriced more than DOUBLED content on offer lastyear, Reaching over 100,000 apps and games.

    Roman 'Christmas' was like OURS: Expert claims ancient society gave jumpers ... - Daily Mail

  • Sigillaria, a day of gift giving in ancient Rome, took place on December 23
  • Texts by poet Martial and philosopher Seneca reveal its festive traditions
  • They say the holiday period Involved private gift-giving and Continual partying
  • At this time, gambling was allowed, copious Amounts of drink were Consumed and masters provided table service For their slaves
  • By Ellie Zolfagharifard

    class=”article-timestamp”> PUBLISHED: 8:51 ET, 30 December 2013 |

    Two thousand years ago, you would not have been greeting neighbors with ‘Lo Saturnalia!’ rather than a ‘Merry Christmas’.

    That was the expression used across much of Europe During the Roman mid-winter festival of Sigillaria Which took place on 23 December.

    And many Christmas traditions we love to hate today – from disgruntled family members to your grandma’s outrageous sweater – May have its origins in this holiday.

     Sigillaria, a day of gift giving, took place on the 23 December. Pictured is a banquet taking place at this time

    Sigillaria, a day of gift giving, took place on the 23 December. Pictured is a banquet taking place at this time

    This is According To Dr Matthew Nicholls, a senior lecturer of classics at the University of Reading, who has been studying the work of Roman poet Martial and philosopher Seneca.

    For Romans, the week starting 17 December was party season During a holiday known as Saturnalia.

    At this time, homes were overpriced and slaves Became masters for at least for one banquet.

    The Roman texts reveal That the Day of Sigillaria, like Christmas, Involved the exchange of presents.

    The traditional poison was nuts but other popular presents included perfume, pencil cases, warm jumpers, jars of fermented fish and remedies for post-Sigillaria wind.

     Wine was popular choice of drink at this time. Martial tells of 'raisin wine, wine flavored with pitch, and even a special wine for' loosening the bowels'

    Wine was popular choice of drink at this time. Martial tells of ‘raisin wine, wine flavored with pitch, and even a special wine for’ loosening the bowels’

    Saturnalia IN ANCIENT ROME

    Saturnia

    The Sigillaria, a day of gift giving, took place on the 23 December.

    During the holiday period leading up to this day, known as Saturnalia, and torches were lit in a similar way to our Advent candles.

    The holiday was held in honor of Saturn, the god of time. It was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet.

    This was Followed by private gift-giving, Continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere. Gambling was allowed, and masters provided table service For their slaves.

    The Day of Sigillaria, like Christmas, Involved the exchange of presents.

    The traditional poison was nuts but other popular presents included jars of fermented fish and remedies for post-Sigillaria wind.

    Wine was popular choice of drink at this time. Martial tells of ‘raisin wine, wine flavored with pitch, and even a special wine for’ loosening the bowels’.

    In what Dr. Nicholls Describes as a ‘Roman Kindle’, a single codex or manuscript May have been offered as married whichcould holding the entire Iliad and Odyssey of Homer.

    Martial’s work Reveals That, just like today, Those receiving presents They disliked faced the age-old problem about knowing how to react.

    ‘Martial tells us That the quality of a friendship can not be measured by the value of the gifts, and even tells recipients of his cheap presents That he’s been “mean” to save them the expense of buying something expensive in return , ‘said Dr. Nicholls.

    It seems the Romans got into the party spirit early. Seneca wrote: ‘It is now the month of December, When The greatest part of the city is in a bustle.

    ‘Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you May hear the sound of great preparations’.

    Wine was popular choice of drink at this time. Martial tells of ‘raisin wine, wine flavored with pitch, and even a special wine for’ loosening the bowels’

    ‘Of course not everyone embraced the Christmas spirit.

    As today, some people found it all a bit too much, ‘said Dr. Nicholls.

    ‘The elder Pliny, the “bah-humbug” of his time, even had a special set of rooms in his house he could retreat to in order to hide from the festivities.’

    Dr. Nicholls’ work adds to a body of research That Suggests traces of Saturnalia celebration May survive in Christmas today.

    ‘It’s hard to say definitively who invented Christmas but how about raising a glass to the Romans this year,’ said Dr. Nicholls.

    ‘We can be sure our Christmases would be very different if it was not for them.’

     Dr Nicholls' work adds to a body of research That Suggests traces of Saturnalia celebration May survive in Christmas today

    Dr. Nicholls’ work adds to a body of research That Suggests traces of Saturnalia celebration May survive in Christmas today

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      class=”rotator-panels”>

    Introducing The All-New Kindle Paperwhite-The 6th Generation Of Kindle - EFY Times (press release)

    Monday, December 30, 2013 : Today, Amazon Announced That the world’s best-selling e-reader, Kindle Paperwhite-is getting even better. The all-new Kindle Paperwhite features new display technology with higher contrast, the next generation of built-in light, a faster processor, the latest touch technology, and exclusive new features designed from the ground up for readers. Kindle Paperwhite is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com.

    “Kindle is the best-selling e-reader in the world for six years running,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “No one is investing on Behalf of readers or pushing the boundaries of hardware, software and content for readers like this team: The New Kindle Paperwhite has brand-new display technology, the next generation of our built-in light, a faster processor, plus all of the exclusive benefits of the Kindle ecosystem like the Kindle Matchbook, the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, over 400,000 exclusive titles, Goodreads, Kindle Singles, Kindle Worlds, Kindle Free Time, and much more. “

    Kindle Paperwhite combines the best hardware, massive selection, lowest book prices, best reading features, best customer service, personalized Recommendations, customer reviews, and more-into one seamlessly integrated service for customers. This is the reason Kindle owners read four times as many books-print and eBooks-as They do prior to owning a Kindle.

    Here’s what makes the all-new Kindle Paperwhite better than ever:

    New display technology with higher contrast-Kindle Paperwhite’s display is the most advanced e-reader display ever constructed. Higher contrast and better reflectivity means whites are whiter and blacks are blacker, so the pages are virtually indistinguishable from a physical book. You will not find this level of contrast with any other e-reader display.

    Next generation built-in light-Guides light toward the surface of the display so you can read comfortably without eyestrain.

    New, 25% faster processor Books open and pages turn faster for a seamless reading experience.

    New touch-technology 19% tighter touch grid makes the Kindle Paperwhite respond even more accurately to the smallest touches .

    New Kindle Page Flip Skim page-by-page, scan by chapter, or skip to the end of your book, all without losing your place. For example, it’s now easy to quickly flip back and forth to That map of Beyond the Wall in A Dance With Dragons. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com / kindle-page-flip.

    New Goodreads Integration Combines the world’s Unmatched e-reading community, and the world’s Unmatched community of booklovers. Join over 20 million other readers and see what your friends are reading, share highlights, and rate the books you read with Goodreads on Kindle, available EXCLUSIVELY from Amazon. See screenshots: www.amazon.com / kindle-Goodreads.

    New Kindle Free Time-Built-in parental controls havebeen extended to give parents a simple, engaging way to Encourage kids to spend more time reading. Hand-select books for your kids to read, and hand out achievement badges When They hit reading milestones. A progress report keeps parents updated on the total time spent reading, number of words looked up, badges earned and books finished. See screenshots: www.amazon.com / new-kindle-free time.

    New Vocabulary Builder Compiles words you look up in the dictionary into an easy-to-access list. Use These lists to quiz yourself with flashcards and instantly see words in context. See screenshots: www.amazon.com / kindle-vocabulary.

    New Smart Lookup-Integrates a full dictionary definition withother reference information about a word, character, topic or book via X-Ray and Wikipedia. For example, using an ordinary dictionary to look up “credit default swaps” in Michael Lewis’ The Big Short would give the individual definition of “credit,” “default” and “swaps.” Smart Lookup recognizes this is an important topic and phrase In the book, and gives you the correct definition of “credit default swaps” through X-Ray. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com / kindle-lookup.

    New In-line Footnotes-With a single tap, read the complete text of each footnote in-line without changing the page or losing your place in the book. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com / kindle-footnotes.

    New Kindle Matchbook-New benefitting lets customers purchase Kindle editions of print books purchased from Amazon-past, present and future-for $ 2.99 or less .

    The Goodreads and Free Time features will be delivered later this year as part of a free software update.

    Kindle Paperwhite still includes all of the features That Helped make the Kindle the best-selling e-reader in the world for six years running:

    Reads like real paper-No-glare display for perfect reading, even in bright sunlight.

    8 weeks of battery life-Read for weeks, not hours, on a single charge.

    Weighs just 7.3 ounces-hold comfortably in one hand for long reading sessions.

    Built-in Wi-Fi and free 3G Think of a book and be reading it in under 60 seconds.

    Massive selection-Millions of books, newspapers and magazines, including the latest bestsellers, Kindle Singles, and more.

    Kindle exclusives-Over 400,000 books are exclusive to the Kindle Store.

    Instant book prices-Over a million titles are $ 4.99 or less, over 1.7 million are $ 9.99 or less.

    Kindle Owners’ Lending Library Prime members who own a kindle can choose from hundreds of thou sands of books to borrow for free, as frequently as a book a month, with no waiting and no due dates.

    Carry-over a thousand books-Never leave a favorite book behind.

    No setup required-Kindle arrives pre-registered so you can start reading time immediately.

    Whispersync-Saves and synchronizes your last page read , bookmarks and annotations across all of your devices, so you can always pick up where you left off.

    Worry-Free Archive Automatically backs up your Kindle books in the cloud, so you’ll never need to worry about losing your books-re-download your books wirelessly anytime for free.

    X-Ray Explore the “bones of a book”-see all of the passages across a book that mention relevant ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics of interest.

    Time to Read-Tells you how much time it will take to finish a chapter or a book based on your personalized reading speed. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com / time-to-read.

    Facebook and Twitter Share book Recommendations, highlighted sections and meaningful quotes with friends.

    All of These Features combine to make the Kindle Paperwhite the best device, and the best service, for reading. Unlike tablets, Paperwhite reads like real paper even in bright sunlight, I will not tire your eyes in the dark, weighs just 7.3 ounces, so you can read comfortably with one hand, and has a battery That lasts for weeks, not hours. That’s why many people buy both a tablet and a Paperwhite. Here’s what customers have to say:

    “First of all, reading on a Kindle is a great experience, in my humble opinion it is much better than reading on a tablet or phone. There is something about the way the screen works That seems magical and you want to keep reading it. “- RA” Bob “

    ” Anyone who LOVES to read, Should own a Paperwhite. I love my Kindle Fire, but I wanted to read outside in bright sunlight, so I decided to try the Paperwhite-it is wonderful, so easy to read, could not believe how easy to read. “- Connyane

    “I have had this (Paperwhite) for around a month, and the battery lasts ages, it is very durable even without a cover, and has reduced my eyestrain from reading off of a tablet considerably. I did not Realize how sore my tablet was making my eyes until I started reading with this. “- Mauro

    ” I already had a Kindle Fire That I loved but I bought this for my vacation Because lastyear In could not read the Kindle Fire in the sun. This was better than I thought Because it is super light, super easy to read. “- Helen

    ” The reading experience is much better thanthat from using a tablet or a smartphone … if you like to read a lot you definitely need a Kindle, and the best one available is the Paperwhite. “Gonzalo

    ” Sure, you can get the LCD based readers like the Kindle Fire or iPad, But when it comes to crisp reading on a light device with long battery life, this is the one you have got to get. “- Jagadeesh

    ” I use tablets for everything but reading books. For that I vastly prefer Kindles due to more natural experience, better portability and less eye strain. “- Klopus

    ” I have read off my husband’s iPad and it is not the same at all, my eyes get tired super-fast. But I can read my Kindle for 2 hours straight (and often do) with no eyestrain at all. “- Amf0001

    ” Reading on the Kindle Paperwhite is exponentially better than on a tablet. It is bliss to be able to enjoy an eBook while sipping an espresso outdoors in the afternoon and then just keep on reading through the sunset to the moon rises. The e-ink screen, long battery life and relatively low price frees you to enjoy your books anywhere. It performs well under any lighting condition so I find myself just reading books all the time. “- Joseph

    The new Kindle Paperwhite is only $ 119. Kindle Paperwhite is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com and begins shipping September 30th The new top-of-the-line Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is only $ 189. Customers can sign up to be Notified When Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is available for pre-order at www.amazon.com. Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is expected to ship on November 5

    For high resolution images and video of the new Kindle Paperwhite, visit www.amazon.com / pr / kindle.

    Sunday, December 29, 2013

    Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids vs Amazon Kindle Fire HD - Price and Specs 2013 - Society and Religion

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    As usual, Amazon's Kindle blows away competition for tablet activa tion on ... - Geekwire

    December 29, 2013 at 2:11 am

    kindleflurry Amazon has typically seen its Kindle tablet sales spike During the holidays, and 2013 Appears to be no different.

    KindleFireHDX89Horizontal Mobile app analytics firm Flurry just released some holiday tablet sales numbers and noted That on Christmas, Amazon’s tablets were activated 24 times more thwart than a normal December day – a number much higher than the likes of Apple, Samsung or Acer.

    This follows a recurring tendency for people to buy Kindles as gifts for family and friends. Many refer to Amazon’s device as the “fruitcake of tablets,” meaning That while you May not purchase one for yourself, you’d gladly gift it to others due to its popularity and low price.

    The “24″ statistic is actually lower than previous years, whichcould signal That more people are actually buying a Kindle for themeselves. In fact, my colleague Todd Bishop wrote EARLIER thisMonth That it would be a shame not to Consider the Kindle Fire for yourself after he spent some time with the product.

    Amazon, Which does not make profit on tablet sales, released the Kindle Fire HDX this case and is marketing the tablet aggressively into advertising campaigns, using head-to-head comparisons with the iPad Air, and was promoting the new “Mayday” customerservice button – One That saw a response time of nine seconds During this holiday.

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    Reach staff reporter Taylor Soper at taylor@geekwire.com or on Facebook @ Taylor_Soper . Follow us on Twitter @ Geekwire .