If you want to watch your favorite TV shows on your Mac - or your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch - whenever you want, a bit of hardware and software from Elgato will let you do so without spending money in the iTunes Store or relying on dodgy BitTorrent sites.
Barnes & Noble changes the name of its eReader app for iOS to Nook, to match the name of its standalone ebook reading device.
Amazon is releasing two new 6-inch display Kindles to replace the Kindle 2: a Wi-Fi only model for $139, and one with both AT&T 3G and Wi-Fi for $189. The new devices have 50-percent higher contrast, new fonts, faster performance, longer standby time (a month!), and double the storage, all while weighing less. The new models ship 27 August 2010 in the United States.
Every three years or so, the Librarian of Congress can issue exemptions to the encryption-cracking restrictions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The latest rules make installing third-party software on an iPhone perfectly legal. But Apple doesn't have to make it easy.
iBooks 1.1.1 fixes one glaring error and adds a few minor features, but still lags behind GoodReader in basic PDF functionality. iBooks 1.1.2, released shortly afterwards, fixes a problem with updating iBooks.
Since the iOS caches your iTunes account password after you make a purchase or download a free app, other purchases can be made - unintentionally and without requiring the password again - within the next 15 minutes, which can be a problem with iOS devices shared with children.
Barnes & Noble started it, by cutting the price of the Nook from $259 to $199, prompting Amazon to drop the Kindle 2's price to $189 and the Kindle DX's price to $379. Now Sony is following suit, cutting prices on its Reader Daily Edition to $299, the Reader Touch Edition to $169, and the Reader Pocket Edition to $149. Only the Reader Daily Edition has wireless capabilities, though, so Sony may have more work (or price cutting) to do before its products can compete with the Kindle and Nook, much less the iPad.
Concerned about buying books from the iBookstore because other members of your household won't be able to read them without using your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch? Never fear, because there are multiple ways that members of a family can all share the same purchased books - from different iTunes accounts - on multiple iOS devices.
In an attempt to keep the Kindle DX relevant in a world occupied by the iPad, Amazon has released a new model that features a higher-contrast E Ink screen and the significantly lower price of $379.
Hulu has finally released a preview of its software for iOS: Hulu Plus. The service costs $9.99 per month, but includes full episodes - in HD, where available - from ABC, NBC, and Fox, as well as a vast backlist. The service will work with Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players, gaming systems, and computers, too.
The latest version of iBooks adds notes and synchronization, and runs not just on the iPad, but also on iPhone and iPod touch devices under iOS 4. Most notably, though, iBooks 1.1 now supports ebooks in PDF format in addition to those in the EPUB format. Alas, there are obvious bugs and omissions.
Apple has released a redesigned Mac mini, trimming the unit's physical size, encasing it in aluminum, adding HDMI output and an SD card slot, upping the maximum amount of RAM to 8 GB, and increasing the CPU and graphics processing power - along with the base price.
Probably changes something, but Apple hasn't deigned to provide any release notes. (Free, 10.65 MB)
Apple has announced that movies from major film studios are now available for rent or purchase in the iTunes Store in France and Ireland. Purchases start at €7.99 for older titles, €9.99 for recent releases and €13.99 for new releases. Rentals cost either €2.99 for older titles or €3.99 for new releases; add €1 for high definition versions. With this move, France and Ireland join the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to have movies available in iTunes (outside of the United States). The delays in adding additional countries are no doubt due to content license restrictions from the major studios.
Glenn Fleishman tries reading in several apps - iBooks, Kindle for iPad, and GoodReader for iPad - and finds the experience uniformly positive.