Amazon adds streaming TV, movies to Prime: Could just be the beginning

Amazon added unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows to its Prime subscription plan. While the move is billed as Amazon vs. Netflix the move really just highlights what’s possible with the Prime model.
Amazon on Tuesday added unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows to its Prime subscription plan. While the move is billed as Amazon vs. Netflix the move really just highlights what’s possible with the Prime model.

First, the basics. Amazon Prime runs you $79 a year and now you get unlimited streaming to go with free two day shipping. On the surface, Amazon is taking target practice at Netflix. Netflix’s streaming only service runs you $7.99 a month. All things being equal, Amazon just undercut Netflix’s pricing.
There’s little doubt that Amazon is looking to hit Netflix. However, there is a bigger picture. Remember the Prime program is designed to get you to shop more and allow Amazon to grow its wallet share.
When shipping is removed as a barrier, shoppers spend more dough. Amazon rivals clearly see the threat from Prime. As a result, a bevy of competitors such as Toys R Us, Drugstore.com and others have joined Shoprunner, which offers free shipping and deals via participating stores. Shoprunner is a unit of GSI Commerce, which competes with Amazon on the fulfillment side of the e-commerce equation.
GSI handles the fulfillment for companies like Toys R Us and Dicks Sporting Goods. Incidentally, Shoprunner’s annual fee is $79 too.
In its initial incarnation, Prime was easy to replicate by GSI Commerce’s Shoprunner. Now Amazon has thrown in video the equation has changed again. Simply put, Amazon is playing a little offense and defense with its Prime program.
Streaming movies are likely to be just a start. Amazon could provide free Kindles to all Prime subscribers. Perhaps Amazon offers Web backup services via Amazon Web Services. You get the idea. Amazon could offer a lot of goodies to Prime subscribers—and probably will.

Apple succession planning key topic amid Jobs health worries

Apple’s shareholder meeting is likely to celebrate stellar returns, hit products like the iPad and even Steve Jobs’ birthday Feb. 24. However, the company is likely to be pushed on succession planning as worries about the CEO’s health resurface.
Apple’s shareholder meeting is likely to celebrate stellar returns, hit products like the iPad and even Steve Jobs’ birthday Feb. 24. However, the company is likely to be pushed on succession planning as worries about the CEO’s health resurface.
The company’s annual shareholder powwow is set for 10 a.m. PST on Wednesday. The biggest item on the agenda is succession planning. Jobs last month took a medical leave, but remains CEO. Tim Cook, chief operating officer, takes over the day-to-day operations at Apple.
In the meantime, Jobs is focusing on his health and Apple’s strategic decisions such as the latest subscription plan at the App Store, which has created a good bit of hubbub.
A pension fund, however, wants more detail on Apple’s succession plan. Apple says coughing up those details takes away its competitive edge.
What’s unclear is whether this succession plan proposal takes on greater urgency amid tabloid reports that Jobs’ health is deteriorating. The National Enquirer reported that Jobs health is in decline and the CEO has a few weeks to live. Of course, this report is a bit of a stretch given it was based on a doctor who never saw Jobs and was making a prediction based on a photo of the CEO’s butt.
Now Radar Online has video of Jobs leaving a restaurant and he’s struggling to get into a car. The coverage leaves me squeamish. After all, it’s not like we see Jobs walk around all day. He could have been walking like that for months, maybe years. Besides, shouldn’t Jobs just be left to care for his health? In any case, Jobs was at a dinner with President Obama last week.
The rub here is that Jobs is a public figure and shareholders want information. It’s a fine line to walk. In any case, these tabloid reports seem perfectly timed to put succession planning on the front burner at Apple.
A few observations ahead of Apple’s meeting:
• On the product front, Apple isn’t going to miss a beat. The iPad 2 appears to be ready for lift-off, a MacBook Pro refresh is likely to land tomorrow and the iPhone 4 is humming along at the two largest carriers in the U.S.
• The management bench at Apple is deep. Apple has done a good job over the last two years highlighting executives other than Jobs. If you believe Apple is Jobs you’re a fool. No man could propel Apple this far by himself.
• It’s unknown whether Jobs’ DNA is in Apple. Unfortunately, we won’t know whether Jobs soul lives on through Apple until he’s gone. But other executives have done it. Sam Walton still powers Wal-Mart and founders methods can carry on at companies. Is there any question that Walt Disney’s DNA is sprinkled throughout Disney? It could be a similar situation with Jobs. Here’s to hoping we don’t find out anytime soon.

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Android: The Open Mobile Choice

If you want real programming freedom on mobile you need to write for Android. Both Apple and Microsoft have made it clear they want to have as little as possible to do with free and open-source software.

Recently there has been a bit of a hubbub over Microsoft forbidding the use of software using the GPLv3 open-source license and all similar licenses on Windows Phone 7 (WP7). Then, the boys from Redmond realized that by the strict letter of their new rules they had just forbidden the use of some of their own open-source applications on WP7. As Homer Simpson would say, “D’oh!”
Microsoft may be slow, but they get there eventually. Shortly after their error was pointed out, they explained that some other open-source licenses, including their own of course, were actually OK on WP7. And, oh by the way, they might consider opening WP7 up to software under other licenses. That’s big of them. Apple, of course, has long forbidden the use of GPLv2-licensed software.
I was recently asked why Apple and Microsoft was doing this. The answer is quite simple. Apple, and to a lesser degree, Microsoft are all about control. You see when you buy an iPhone, iPad, or a smartphone with WP7, you’re not really buying a device, you’re renting the use of a device.
Fred von Lohmann, then a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), explained in 2010 about how Apple went about locking out FOSS, and in general outline, Microsoft does things the same way: “The entire family of devices built on the iPhone OS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) have been designed to run only software that is approved by Apple—a major shift from the norms of the personal computer market. Software developers who want Apple’s approval must first agree to the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. “
It’s not that way on PCs and servers. If you want to develop for a PC, you can do it anyway you like. Neither the operating system or computer vendor can stop you. On mobile devices, if Apple and Microsoft have their way, you’re locked into a closed eco-system.
People frequently think this is just a developer issue. It’s not. If I want to buy a Windows 7 PC and blow away Windows 7 and put Ubuntu on it I can. In fact, I usually do. If I want to use LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office on Windows no one can tell me I can’t. On a iOS or WP7 device the vendors get to pick and choose what applications I’m allowed to run.
For example, I like the VLC Media Player. VLC used to be available on Apple’s iOS, but now it’s not. The problem? It’s GPLv2 license.
With Android, on the other hand, as a developer you’re pretty much good to go. Use whatever license you like, knock yourself off. The same is true for Android users. You’ll get the broadest choice of software available under any license using an Android device.
In the future, MeeGo, like Android a Linux-based mobile may offer developers and users alike a similar array of choice. Today, though MeeGo, is still a work in progress, and although Intel has stepped up to foster MeeGo, after Nokia abandoned it to partner up with Microsoft, we probably won’t see commercial MeeGo devices until late this year, if then.
For now, though if you want an open-source friendly smartphone or tablet, as either a user or a programmer, Android is your first choice. An iPhone or WP7? If you’re like me and you don’t like dealing with control freaks, just say no.

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Windows 8 roadmap: A picture is worth a thousand build numbers

Given the very few (and occasionally confusing) leaks around Windows 8, an update as to how things are progressing is always welcome. Here’s a slide from a source of mine that is allegedly a snippet from the Microsoft internal Win 8 Milestone build timeline.

Given the very few (and occasionally confusing) leaks around Windows 8, an update as to how things are progressing is always welcome.
In early 2011, a source of mine passed on to me what he claimed was a snapshot of the internal Windows 8 roadmap. On that roadmap snippet are a lot of alleged internal dates for Windows 8 Milestone 2, the second of what are expected to be three major internal builds of Windows 8. I showed off this roadmap during a ZDNet Webcast I did recently on Windows 8 and slates (which is available for listening as a free, on-demand file).
Here is the Windows 8 roadmap slide I showed off, for those who missed it:

What’s interesting to me is how closely this roadmap snippet seems to be mirroring the timelines and build information from a few sites and sources claiming access to leaked Win 8 builds. On February 21, there were reports that Microsoft was just about done with Win 8 Milestone 2. On the roadmap above, final M2 build candidate is slated to arrive on February 23. And according to the roadmap above, the coding for Milestone 3 (M3) is due to start a week from today, on February 28.
Milestone 2, according to the roadmap, took the Windows client team five months. If M3 takes another five months — which it might if it has to go through all the same coding/integration/fixing/lockdown steps as M2 did — that would put its completion date around the end of July. Factor in a month or so for any kind of private Community Technology Preview (CTP) testing, and a beta around the time of this year’s Professional Developers Conference — which I’m still hearing is slated for September 2011 — looks downright doable.
The Windows client team, as you might expect, isn’t commenting on any timetables, build numbers, roadmaps or anything else pertaining to Windows 8 or Windows Next. (I tried using the Microsoft-favored “Win Next” just to see if I could muster a comment. No go.)
Microsoft execs also are not commenting on an alleged Dell roadmap leak from last week, which made it appear as if Dell will have a Windows 8 tablet ready in time for January 2012. While I wondered aloud last week (as did at least one Wall Street analyst) whether that meant Microsoft might be further along with Win 8 for systems-on-a-chip (SoC) processors than many of us previously believed, I’ve heard since that probably isn’t the case. That would mean the Dell “Peju” Win 8 tablet could be nothing but a demo machine for select developers … and maybe a debut at a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) keynote (?)…
In any case, if Microsoft does follow history and deliver a Win 8 Beta 1, Beta 2 and Release Candidate before RTMing, Windows 8 is looking like a mid-2012 RTM. The Windows 8 train seems to be running on time — just like the Win 7 one did.

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Is the BlackBerry PlayBook competitive enough?

The upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook certainly knocks some features off the current iPad, but will it be enough to survive in the tablet market once the iPad 2 rolls off the production line?
In between studying, drinking, and occasionally sleeping, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.
Despite his young age, he may appear inexperienced and misguided, but don't be fooled. At the grand age of 22, he has already totalled up many years of work, education, knowledge and general (mis)adventure.

The price tag for the benchmark of all tablets was clearly set by the entry level Apple iPad at $499.
But this set a problem for competitors and their own devices: either to have a smaller feature set and lower the price to level out as compensation for a seemingly lower powered device, or to apply a cheaper operating system like Android and maintain a similar build quality of the iPad, but with less of a marketing buzz.
Either way, the iPad is a tough cookie to crack, and so far every other competitor has pretty much bombed.
Price
The PlayBook, however, holds the same price tag of $499 as the iPad - maybe more, maybe less, as it is still early days yet. But already this bodes well for any iPad competition by appearing to be of the same value and worth as the iPad.
Features
The feature list at this point is relatively exhaustive and speculative, but already we have seen some one-upmanship on the iPad. Delivering some versions of the PlayBook with 4G LTE, it would be one of the first tablets on the market which takes advantage of the technology unlike the iPad 2 which has yet to emerge.
Plus the reported ability to run Android applications on the PlayBook will be met with surprise rather than relief. Just as the Nokia and Microsoft mobile application stores will merge, the PlayBook will get a greater spread of applications for a greater number of users, though it’s not clear if the stores will merge or simply be ‘available’ on the BlackBerry platform.

However, unable to access corporate email without a tethered BlackBerry device will be a blow to enterprise users. On the other hand, it shouldn’t have much effect on non-corporate users, who should still be able to access their Hotmail, Gmail and other web-based emails on the device.
It even gets Flash. Even the iPad doesn’t have Flash.
Branding
With such a familiar BlackBerry brand behind it and a split younger generational following, it is entirely possible that Research in Motion’s new tablet could serve as the first serious competitor to the iPad.
But is it enough?
But even with all this, I suspect that many will simply wait it out to see whether it becomes a popular device or not. Apple set the benchmark high, and whether Research in Motion can reach the bar, let alone raise it, there are too many variables at play at the moment.
However, Research in Motion have taken their time to consider what the iPad doesn’t currently have, and capitalised upon it. The forward and rear facing camera, high definition video, Flash, the 4G and LTE technology for next-generation mobile broadband speeds, and the usual pizazz that would come with the BlackBerry like BlackBerry Messenger.
But if the iPad 2 gets there first, then the PlayBook could fall flat on its face. If the PlayBook is released before the iPad 2, then at least it has a fighting chance of making itself known before it inevitably gets pulled by the consumer market.
Do you think the PlayBook is a viable competitor to the iPad and tablet market?

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Xoom Android tablet set for sale Thursday at Verizon

Apple iPad competitor, set to add Flash 10.2 support this spring, will cost $600 with contract; $800 without one

Verizon Wireless will start selling Motorola's Xoom tablet on Feb. 24 for $599.99 with a two-year service agreement, the carrier confirmed today.

Without a contract, the 10.1-in. Xoom, the first tablet to run the new "Honeycomb" version of Android, will cost $799.99.
Motorola Xoom
Motorola's Android 3.0-based Xoom tablet. (For a closer look at Google's tablet-focused mobile OS, see our visual tour: Android 3.0 has landed.)

Rumors that the Xoom would sell for $800 without a contract had started circulating in recent days, and some bloggers complained that the price tag was so high that it would discourage people comparing the Xoom to the 9.7-in. iPad and other devices currently selling in the $500-$730 range. An iPad with 32GB of storage and 3G service costs $729; an equivalent Xoom costs $799.99.

Verizon said that wireless 3G service for the Xoom starts at $20 a month for 1GB of data. Further details on 3G pricing were not immediately available.
Tablet war

* QuickPoll: Will Motorola's Xoom steal iPad 2's thunder?
* Xoom Android tablet set for sale Thursday at Verizon
* Visual tour: The Android tablets of MWC
* Has HP done enough to rival the iPad?
* Visual tour: HP makes webOS trifecta with TouchPad, Pre3, Veer
* HP launches first run at the tablet market
* iPad lead shrinks as tablet sales grow
* In crowded tablet market, brand identity will matter
* Visual tour: Top tablets from CES
* Microsoft's slow, steady tablet strategy a big gamble

More in Netbooks/Tablets

Upgrades to 4G LTE service will be possible in the second quarter at no extra charge, Verizon added in a statement.

The Xoom also comes Wi-Fi-ready.

The Xoom was introduced at the Consumer Electronic Show in early January and was demonstrated at Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona.

The first Xoom tablets to ship will not include support for Adobe Flash, but Adobe noted in a blog post yesterday that an over-the-air update to Flash Player 10.2 will be ready "within a few weeks of ... devices becoming available."

Flash support is considered by many to be an advantage that Android devices will hold over Apple products, like the iPad, that don't include Flash.

The Xoom will ship with a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, with each core running at 1 GHz, for a total of 2 GHz of power.

The device includes two digital cameras, a front-facing 2.0-megapixel model that serves as a webcam for video chat, and a 5.0-megapixel camera on the rear for shooting still photos and 720p video. The Xoom has 1280-by-800 resolution, compared to the iPad's 1024-by-768. It is slightly thinner than the iPad, and both devices weigh 730 grams.

The Xoom will support Google services, and Verizon has noted on its Web site that Google Maps on the Xoom will quickly load 3D vector maps that can be tilted, rotated and enlarged.

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