Just as Amazon did last year when it introduced the new third-generation Kindle, it is renaming its existing models and putting them on sale. The “Kindle Keyboard” and ”Kindle Keyboard 3G” have been marked down $15 to $99/$139 for the wifi-only version and $139/$189 for the 3G version (prices are with/without “special offers”). The wifi keyboard version is priced exactly the same as the new Touch wifi version, and the 3G keyboard version is only $10 less than the 3G Touch (or the same without ads). Given that you can order a $79 ad-supported Kindle right now, it’s...

The next Apple event is set to take place on October 4th, and the invitation going out to journalists is captioned, “Let’s talk iPhone”. This caption has led to speculation on the part of tech journalists that the new iPhone will include advanced voice-recognition features that have been in the offing since Apple bought Siri 18 months ago. They also speculate that Apple will just be introducing only one new phone—and not the rumored “low-end iPhone” that some investors have been expecting. Rather than a new low-end model, Apple can just continue to keep last year’s iPhone around as...

Saturday afternoon, I started feeling abdominal pain. I thought it was just food poisoning or the stomach flu, but when it didn’t improve by Sunday afternoon I went down to the local urgent care center and learned that it was, in fact, appendicitis. They operated right away, removing the no-longer-necessary appendage from my body through laparoscopy, and sent me home to stay with my parents on Monday morning. During the operation process, a few more things about the iPod Touch vs. the iPad for e-reading were brought home to me. While I was waiting for the verdict from...

A while ago I wrote about the paucity of Android equivalents to the iPod Touch, and suggested that Samsung’s Galaxy Player might be such an equivalent. Shawn Ingram at our sister blog Gadgetell has just gotten its hands on the Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0, and also the Galaxy Tab 8.9, and has posted some first impressions. In fact, first impressions are just about all it has of the two Players. (Ingram got his hands on a review unit of the Tab 8.9, and will review it more fully later, but apparently not for the Players.) It does note...

On CNet, Donald Ball surveys a number of suggestions for what Apple can do to improve the iPod Touch, Apple’s “forgotten” iOS product. I’ve long held that the iPod Touch is Apple’s true “game-changer”. Maybe it doesn’t get as much press as the flashier iPhone and iPad, but it’s essentially a phoneless iPhone, containing most of the desirable features without the obnoxiously expensive contract. I have an 8GB 1st-gen iPod Touch that continues to be very useful for many purposes—I can whip it out to check my email anywhere there’s wifi, even if I don’t have my laptop or iPad on me,...

The latest chapter in the saga of patent troll Lodsys has come to light today. Despite having been told by Apple that it did not have grounds to sue developers for infringement, based on those developers' use of Apple’s in-app purchasing technology, Lodsys decided to go ahead and file lawsuits against seven developers. It actually filed three days ahead of its original deadline, in response to what it characterized as "Apple's threat." Not surprisingly, Lodsys claims that Apple has it wrong when it says that Apple's own agreement with Lodsys should cover those third-party developers: ...

Since a long standing as A few weeks ago, I looked at viable Android substitutes for the iPod Touch. One of the only contenders was Samsung's Galaxy Player, which seemed to have about the same specs but not very good reviews. Now Engadget reports that Best Buy's mobile shopping application lists a price for the eight GB 5 inch Galaxy Player of $269.99. Though it costs a bit more than the iPod Touch, the Galaxy Player does have a slightly larger screen, as well as a couple of features that the iPod Touch does not, including a...

If I had more money right now, this might tempt me: CNet reports that today Daily Steals is offering another deal on hardware that can be used for e-book reading. Daily Steals has a 4th-gen 8-gig refurbished iPod Touch on sale for $159.99 + $5 shipping—a bargain compared to $199 for Apple’s own refurbished unit pricing. I already like reading e-books on my 1st-gen iPod Touch, and the Retina display of the 4th-gen would make it even better. Plus it has FaceTime video chat and movie recording capability. The only downside is that this deal only comes with...

For anyone looking for a highly pocketable ereader, Woot is selling a refurbished 8GB iPod Touch (current generation) for $170.  Aside from the locked-in iBookstore, the Touch can use apps for the Kindle, Nook, Kobo and others as an excellent ereader.  I read on my iPhone all the time and it shares the same Retina display as the Touch...

I’ve greatly enjoyed the two 1st-generation iPod Touch pocket-sized media/Internet devices I’ve had over the last few years, and have had my eyes on the 4th-generation iPod Touch for some little while. I’ve been thinking that, come the fall, I might upgrade to a 4th-gen model when the 5th-gen iPod Touch comes out and drives refurb prices down. From a features perspective, the iPod Touch has just about everything I could want: a high-quality, highly-sensitive touchscreen, excellent e-book reading capability (even without iBooks available on the 1st-generation model, I’ve got Stanza so I have no complaints there), great...

A recently-discovered Apple patent application offers an intriguing look at a possible future for the iPad (and perhaps iPhone/iPod touch as well). AppleInsider reports that Apple is looking at placing a translucent e-ink display between the LCD display and the touch-sensitive interface layer allowing for selective display of content by regions. E-books could be displayed in the ink format, while pictures and video could use the full-color LCD-screen. While a similar duality of purpose can be found in switchable displays like the Pixel Qi screens we’ve mentioned a few times, this Apple-patented system would go one better in...

Oregon school kids really seem to like iPod Touches (or should that be “iPods Touch”?). Two different, unrelated projects have come to light over the last few months using them to boost kids’ reading abilities. In the Canby School District, every third and fourth grade student has been issued an iPod Touch, which they use for reading and math exercises. Reports are that they do so quite well, too: In presentations, [district technology coordinator Joseph] Morelock has shown that several classrooms using the iPod touches generated better test scores than the district average. He...