Chinaman416

Kirkaiya

Kirkaiya

Benguin

tomsomething

Bant - LOST: One wallet pizza.

Here's how the NYT describes it (the pic above is of Apple's iBooks app):

The Kindle app for the iPad, which Amazon demonstrated to a reporter last week, allows readers to slowly turn pages with their fingers. It also presents two new ways for people to view their entire e-book collection, including one view where large images of book covers are set against a backdrop of a silhouetted figure reading under a tree. The sun's position in that image varies with the time of day.

It's hard to tell from that whether it's going to be more like Cover Flow, or like the iPad's kinda cheesy wood bookshelves. But, it's likely our first taste of the Kindle interface for the new, super Kindles being developed with full color multitouch displays and Wi-Fi. Or at least, it's practice for Amazon. (Granted, those super Kindles at least a year away, unless Amazon had been working everything but the touchscreen before they bought Touchco, the company supplying their quite cool-sounding multitouch display tech.)

The reason Amazon and Barnes & Noble need apps to get their books onto your iPad, even though Steve Jobs touted the iPad's format of choice, epub, for its popularity and openness, is that they each use their own crazy formats and DRM (particularly Amazon). Amazon's books won't work at all, and the only B&N books that'll work are DRM-free epub files. Obviously, the apps offer other benefits, like syncing, but format compatibility is a huge reason.

The question, really, is whether or not Apple's going to let them build their own ebook stores into the apps, now that they'd be competing with Apple's own iBooks store. B&N's iPhone app, for instance, lets you buy books directly through the app, but iBooks wasn't an issue at the time.

The best thing Apple could do? Let them be. The easiest way to convert a Kindle customer into an iBooks customer is to let them seamlessly move to the iPad, bringing all their old books and their Kindle account with them. Then, if the iBooks experience is better than Kindle's or B&N's, for the same price, they'll switch. If people can't bring their old books along for the ride, they're less likely to hop on, plus if Apple gimps or bans Amazon or B&N's apps, they'll just look like callow dicks, afraid of the competition. If the competition makes everybody's ebook apps better, then everybody wins. Then again, if Apple's selling tons of iPads, making lots of money, I guess they win either way. [NYT]

(P.S. If you want to send us photos of the Kindle iPad app, that would be dandy.)

Bant - LOST: One wallet pizza.

FooFighting

Prostate of Grace

mattycakes

Bant - LOST: One wallet pizza.

Lübnah has an umlaut

nvleafs

(Starman) 258, Brigadier-General of the FireWire Battalion

shadzow

The main reason for Kylo's existence is to work with—and presumably sell—its $100 motion-sensing Loop remote control, although any mouse will sync up with the browser just fine. (Hillcrest's Loop connects to the computer as a mouse, and like Kylo, works on Windows and OS X.)

The browser, available for free, isn't meant to replace your trusty ol' PC browser, or decimate Internet Explorer's install base numbers. Instead, as is the trend these days, it's meant to establish a presence (or beachhead, in Kylo's case) in the home server and Internet TV space. Not internet-connected TVs, but TVs with actual computers connected to them.

And because it's meant for viewing the Internet on big, beautiful HDTVs, Hillcrest has designed a number of specific features for the browser. They include large fonts and an on screen keyboard, similar to the Wii, that eliminates the need for a physical keyboard.

They've also thrown in a set of paneled links to content, which make jumping to the kind of content you'd want to see on a TV—video, news and game sites, mostly—a less tedious prospect.

Hillcrest Labs Introduces Kylo™: The Web Browser for Television

- Available for the Millions of Households That Connect Their Computers to TVs -
- Provides Optimized Presentation of Web Sites for Viewing From the Living Room Couch -
- Free, Mozilla-based Browser Compatible With Windows or Mac OS® -
- Ideal for Use With the Loop™ Pointer, but Works With Any Mouse -

Rockville, MD and Palm Desert, CA – March 22, 2010 – Today, at the DEMO Spring 2010 event, Hillcrest Labs launched the Kylo™ browser – a new Web browser for TV. Developed for the millions of households that connect their PCs or Macs to the TV, Kylo lets users visit any site on the Web with a browser that was specifically designed to be viewed from a distance in the family room, living room, or dorm room.

The Kylo browser is not meant to replace traditional browsers such as Internet Explorer®, Safari®, or Firefox® for use with standard computer display screens, but instead is for use on a television connected to a computer. Unlike other applications or Web sites, Kylo is not a "walled garden" of aggregated video content, but rather a true Web browser that lets users go where they want across the Internet.

"No matter how hard they try, no single set-top-box manufacturer, specialized TV widget developer, or content aggregator can match the volume of online viewing choices available on a computer," said Dan Simpkins, founder and CEO of Hillcrest Labs. "For this reason, many consumers are simply using their new HDTVs as an alternative display for their PCs or Macs. So, we've developed Kylo as a free and simple TV browser that enables them to visit any site on the Web, and makes the entire experience more enjoyable."

The Problems

Despite this growing trend, the first hurdle that consumers face is the physical act of connecting their computers to their TVs. For this reason, Hillcrest Labs developed a simple online guide to help people get started: www.hillcrestlabs.com/loop/connecting.php.

"When users connect their computer to the TV, they typically run into a series of mundane and irritating complications," said Simpkins. "Many people rely on unsightly keyboards and mice on their coffee tables or couches – often to the dismay of their spouse or roommate."

Simpkins continued, "Some Web sites have optimized settings for TV viewing, but most do not. Fonts and items of interest are generally too small, and too hard to see from across the room. In addition, conventional Web browsers tend to clutter the screen with unnecessary status bars, menus, tabs, indicators and more, since they were designed to be used from two feet away. People deserve something better when it's time to connect to the TV."

The Solution: Kylo Browser + the Loop Pointer (or Any Other Mouse)

Last year, Hillcrest Labs launched its iconic Loop pointer as its first company-branded product for consumers. The stylish in-air mouse was named a CES 2010 Innovations Award Honoree, and is powered by Hillcrest's Freespace© in-air pointing and motion-control technology. Hillcrest's Freespace technology is also used in the award-winning Logitech MX™ Air Rechargeable Cordless Mouse. Like the Kylo browser, the Loop pointer was specifically designed for consumers who connect their computers to TVs. It is available for $99 via Hillcrest Labs or Amazon.com at www.hillcrestlabs.com/loop.

"We've been very pleased with consumers' responses to the Loop pointer," said Chad Lucien, vice president of Freespace products at Hillcrest Labs. "With just four buttons and a scroll wheel, it's an attractive, in-air mouse for the living room."

Simpkins added, "With the Loop pointer, we felt that we had the right hardware for consumers, but that was just part of the solution. The Kylo browser lets people view any Web site from a distance, use an onscreen keyboard, and benefit from a suite of optimized features for surfing the Web from the couch."

Key features of the Kylo Web browser for TV include:

* the ability to visit any site on the Web;
* an onscreen keyboard that appears when there is a need to enter text, eliminating the need for a physical keyboard; compatibility with any physical keyboard for users who prefer to use one;
* Fonts, cursor, and onscreen targets are larger than those in traditional browsers;
* easy zooming and panning;
* the maximization of useful viewing space by hiding or removing toolbars, tabs, buttons and indicators;
* works with any mouse, but ideal for use with an in-air mouse such as the Loop pointer;
* easy bookmarking;
* a directory of links to dozens of popular Web sites;
* a Mozilla-based design, and
* free, easy download and setup.

The Kylo browser is available for free via download at www.kylo.tv or www.hillcrestlabs.com/kylo. Additional details about Hillcrest Labs are available at www.hillcrestlabs.com.

Brownski

NightInfinity

myfriendtheZebra