Devices

Do you use a stylus for your iPad?

Evernote has acquired Penultimate, the note-taking and handwriting app for the iPad–pointing towards a future where more people scribble notes on tablets. To help iPad writers prepare, we’ve rounded up stylus recommendations from different review publications.

In the video embedded above, you can see the not-yet-released Blue Tiger stylus. Check it out: “You may have been hearing good things about Bluetooth 4.0. It’s a fast wireless connection, and is fully supported by the CoreBluetooth framework in iOS5. Bluetooth 4.0 devices don’t need to pair with your iPhone or iPad, they just connect and work. Also, the battery life is dramatically better – think months or a year on a single coin battery. We’ve developed the first pressure-sensitive stylus for iPad that uses Bluetooth 4.0.”

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Purdue University researchers analyzed battery usage on free smartphone apps, discovering that some of the most popular free apps “spend up to 75 percent of their energy tracking the user’s geographical location, sending information about the user to advertisers and downloading ads.”

These activities can drain your battery more quickly than an energy efficient app. To prevent these apps from draining power, you should switch off your free apps when you aren’t using them on your smartphone.

Check it out: “New findings show that 65 percent to 75 percent of the energy used to run free apps is spent for advertising-related functions … The free Angry Birds app was shown to consume about 75 percent of its power running ‘advertisement modules’ in the software code and only about 25 percent for actually playing the game. The modules perform marketing functions such as sharing user information and downloading ads.”

At the inaugural MIT Sloan Hi-Tech conference last week, Google VP of commerce and payments Stephanie Tilenius shared some staggering statistics about the mobile phone market–pointing to a future where smartphone apps will replace ATM machines and checks.

Google is already testing Google Wallet, a mobile payment app that will let customers pay with a smartphone (video demonstration embedded above). What do you think? Check it out:

By 2015, 10 percent of mobile users will pay with their phones, and 2.5 billion people will have bought a digital good. The Google exec went on to describe how her company’s online payment tool, Google Wallet, will transform the mobile payment process. Instead of swiping, customers will now “tap” their phones to pay with their credit cards. The system will simultaneously access the user’s loyalty information and find applicable coupons, including those from print, TV, radio, in-aisle, and billboard ads, making it easier for retailers to track their campaigns and making discounts more accessible for consumers.

While reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on a Kindle, Reddit user Sageas spotted an eReader prophecy in Douglas Adams’ classic book.

Here’s the passage: “He also had a device that looked rather like a largish electronic calculator. This had about a hundred tiny flat press buttons and a screen about four inches square on which any one of a million ‘pages’ could be summoned at a moment’s notice. It looked insanely complicated…”

They posted a picture the passage on a Kindle screen–an eReading juxtaposition that generated hundreds of comments, arguments and tributes to digital books on Reddit. Before you ever saw an eReader, how did you imagine digital books?

With the announcement of the new Kobo Touch and the Nook Touch, now is a good time to buy a non-touch eReader. Both of the companies have put older versions of their eReaders on sale.

The Nook Wi-Fi version is now $119 and the Nook 3G and Wi-Fi version is $164. The Kobo Wi-Fi is now $99 at Borders. You could also try eBay for a used on to get an even cheaper deal.

And if you are looking to spend even less, Aluratek’s new Libre eReader are now $50 at Buy.com.

The two devices look a lot alike and will prove to be direct competitors, especially before Amazon gets in the ring. Both devices employ Neonode technology to enable the touch screen. Both have eInk screens and are going for the reader looking for. Both let you check out library books and come loaded with lots of free eBooks. Both have six inch screens and both are Wi-Fi enabled. Read more

1. Where will you use it? This is a very important question to ask yourself because it will probably determine whether you want a backlit screen or not. If you are going to read more outside, then you want an eInk screen, if you are going to read more inside and you don’t want to have to turn on the lights, then you should consider a tablet like the iPad.

2. How will you use it? If you plan to use it to read trade paperbacks, then eInk eReaders like the Kindle and the Nook work great. If you want color magazines and interactive storybook apps, then it’s all about the Nook Color and the iPad.

3. How much do you want to spend? If you are looking to spend close to $100, then you may want to consider the ad supported Kindle, an Aluratek Libre or the $99 Kobo. If you are willing to fork over more, the Nook Color or the iPad offer additional features besides just reading that make it worth the additional dollars. Read more

Overstock.com has a refurbished model Nook Color available for $224.99. And as SlickDeals.com points out, you can get it even cheaper with a 20% off coupon code.

Here is more from GizmoCrunch: “According to SlickDeals, you can get the special price (includes shipping) with a discount code: ‘I found that Overstock.com is carrying the Certified Pre-Owned (aka refurb) Nook Colors for $224.99. Credit goes to sceptor for finding the 20% off coupon code 206777 and to MaineShoppah, who in this thread mentioned that it worked with camera lenses which made me try it with the Nook Color. So it comes down to 224.99 x .8 = 179.99 + 2.95 shipping = 182.94.’”

You can also get 5% back and free shipping if you are an O loyalty member. You can get an additional $20 off if you are willing to sign up for a credit card.

Let us know if this works for you.

Want to hide your eReader inside a real book? Two Etsy artists will make you an iPad, Kindle, or other eReader cover out of hardcover books.

Abookisabook has Kindle covers featuring everything from cheesy poetry to Star Wars books. Rookcase will make you an iPad, Kindle, or Nook cover out of odd library books.

Here’s more about the Rod McKuen cover pictured above: “Cover is handmade from a hardback book. The binding is reinforced and lined with fleece. Your e-reader is held in by riveted elastic straps. On the opposite side of the e-reader is an additional strap that can be used to hold a notebook. It also includes a strap attached to the back which wraps around to keep the cover closed securely. All my covers are made from damaged hardback books that can no longer function as readable copies. You can have an awesome cover for your reader without destroying literature!”

This rumor is still unconfirmed, but Business Insider is reporting that Microsoft has decided to discontinue its media player, the Zune.

As the story goes, MS is planning to focus all their development teams on Windows Phone 7. Also, Microsoft will continue to sell existing models of the Zune, but will not introduce new ones.

The Zune never achieved the success of the iPhone and iTouch, so it was never able to attract t the development community that grew up around iOS. But it did eventually get an official reading app. Unfortunately for Microsoft, that reading app epitomized the many shortcomings of the Zune.

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