TAKEAWAY: Oh, how I missed my 24-hour separation from the MacBook (sorry William Powers, but disconnect was not fun in this case!). Now back to catch up with tidbits about tablets in the horizon and other goodies not bad for an ordinary Tuesday.
Samsung’s Galaxy: could this be the one running right behind the iPad in the tablet marathon?
RIM’s PlayBook: some say it will be the tablet of choice for business types who adore their BlackBerry
So, I sit at the Apple Store in Tampa, and I have to say that it is the only store at the sprawling International Mall that has any customers in it. Not only that, the Apple Store is full, and the Genius Bar has its usual waiting list, and preschoolers sit in front of big Macs, playing games, reading books, flipping pages with their little fingers with great ease. I am looking at future readers. One reads Peter Pan, with big letters, the other one faces a menu that reads: Pick Your Adventure.
Pick Your Adventure (with the Tablets) could be the theme of the day, and certainly the one to keep an eye on as December approaches.
Today, as I ate breakfast and watched NBC’s Today show, one of the segments was about the new RIM (BlackBerry) tablet, PlayBook, which was introduced in San Francisco yesterday. The commentator mentioned that “we will have some 32 tablets to pick from come December.”
That is more than I had heard while in Asia (18 to 20), or in Europe (22-25). But, whatever the number, there will be choices.
Still, if the buzz in the industry is worth listening to (you never know how much anyone really knows), then Samsung’s Galaxy is the one front runner tablet that could present some competition to Apple’s iPad. We will see. And, so far, nobody has seen much of any of these tablets that are appearing in the marketing jhorizon.
What is a publisher to do?
This bring up an important topic for us in publishing. So far, we have placed emphasis and developed editorial apps for Apple’s iPad. But, obviously, some users may opt to read their newspaper or magazine on another tablet. Did someone mention that in Japan, the talk is all about Galapagos, the tablet produced by Sharp? For a starter, the company will provide the service for electronic book (e-book) readers and launch two tablet PCs for the service in December 2010.
Anyway, during a working lunch with one of WoodWing’s reps, we discussed the fact that the essence of what goes into the tablet is the same, regardless of which one you put it in, but the layout templates we produce may have to change to accommodate various sizes. Obviously, and sorry for drawing the print comparison, the same as when a newspaper publishes a broadsheet and a tab edition simultaneously, as Germany’s Welt am Sonntag does.
At least one media commentator urges publishers to adopt a wait and see attitude about the PlayBook. Poynter’s Damon Kiesow writes that:
Journalists who cover technology should pay attention to this device, insofar as it is packed with geeky goodness. But should publishers and editors—the ones tasked with developing mobile content strategies—take note? It is safe to say: Not yet, at least.
By the way….
Our year long intern, Reed Reibstein (Yale University ‘11) sends us a couple of tips of interest:
He urges us to see the promotional video about RIM”s PlayBook:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/27/rim-introduces-playbook-the-blackberry-tablet/
Reed adds: “If the actual tablet delivers on the video, I think it could be a real contender.”
Reed also suggests that we take a look at the New Yorker app, which came out Monday: http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/2010/09/the-new-yorker.html.
Review of it here: http://magculture.com/blog/?p=8155.
Move over, Angelina
From Bild Zeitung’s app
Leave it to Germany’s Bild to find the one photo that stops conversation at the breakfast table: today’s app shows these two Chinese monkeys with lips that would make Angelina Jolie feel jealous. It is part of Bild’s daily ritual to seek photos of animals from around the world with something extra. These chimps definitely do!