I'm pretty sure you can trigger at least some other applications from the iPhone's browser using URLs. For instance being able to bring up the app store with special links or the phone dialer. I don't know if this extends to the YouTube app, nor if it's possible to define your own custom URLs.

Yes, apps can be triggered from the browser. Clicking a link that goes to Google Maps opens the app, and YouTube embeds play the video full screen without leaving the browser. 3rd party apps can also register, either with a custom url (app://), or by a URL rule (http://app.com/redirect/to/app). Apple's own MobileMe Gallery app is a recent example of this. If I try to visit http://gallery.me.com/user, it opens the app.

Amazon loses pricing control over a third publisher

I'd say that 3 out of what Amazon calls the "big six" unquestionably classes this as an "upset." Especially when you consider the remaining publishers are likely days or weeks away from moving in the same direction.

An interesting thing to note is that Amazon can still work this to their benefit in so far as their core business goes - selling the media.

I'm more convinced now more than ever that what we're seeing, what we're going to see, with the iPad is the start of a revolution that has the potential to be much bigger (orders of magnitude bigger) than what we've seen so far with the iPhone. I also have a feeling we're in for a few more surprises regarding the iPad product (line) this year.

Uh...because a book publisher is taking back the rights to charge $15 for an ebook instead of $10?

Whatever, that statement is so ridiculous I can't stand it.

..which requires multiple tasks, unless you want the SSH session to timeout (missed keep-alives) and disconnect while you read your email.

Cheers

Two separate thoughts. The first about the publisher relates to Amazon. The Second comment about this being the start of a revolution is a big-picture one. I'm seeing the media start to come around, some interesting examples of some new apps and new app revisions and the general public's reactions to those.

I'm confident that this product will also make a bigger impact with regards to digital print consumption than Amazon has managed to attain with its Kindle. As a content retailer Amazon has a great opportunity here. With regards to possibly higher book prices, the market will determine how that all plays out.

It would be stupid for Amazon not to start selling books with Nook- and SonyReader- and iPad-compatible DRM.

Bitt, agreed, however, they also have their Kindle application, which I think can do very well on the iPad and iPhone. To further the process of selling onto other devices without Kindle software, they may consider changing the Kindle DRM.

I don't know how the formats are going to play out since it doesn't yet appear that there's a clear path to end segmentation, mostly due to DRM. Without the DRM concern it's not inconceivable for a reader application/device to support multiple formats and/or convert between formats. It's also going to be interesting to see how the publishers are going to feel about this segmentation while overall volumes are increasing.

I forgot to post this the other day. An author's account of the Amazon/Publisher pricing fight. It seems like Amazon's preemptive 70/30 arrangement came with some nasty fine print which seems to have put publishers on the fast-track to lacing up their boxing gloves.

Seems like the iPhone/iPod have helped to double the mobile games development share, from its previous 12 percent to its current 25. That is, of the game developers out there, previously 12% were developing for mobile platforms, while now 25% are doing the same. 19% of all game developers are currently developing for the platform, which is apparently two times higher than either the DS or PSP developer pool.

Source: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/02/05/apple.catching.up.to.nintendo.in.dev.interest/

Getting the developers on board is a good way to get more customers on board. And if the developers are on board it means there's some money to be made.

Nice and light video of the Charlie Rose Show with David Carr, Michael Arrington, and Walt Mossberg on the iPad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysq7mmGaWoU&feature=player_embedded

I watched the Flash version (embedded on another site), and it had the CPU on my MBP 2.8Ghz Core2Duo pegged at over 55% the whole time. The machine, which is normally cool to the touch, is smoking hot right now. The link is direct to YouTube where you can stream in H.264 if you've set that beta option.

I might be eating my words soon.

http://www.musicreader.net/ipad-version-musicreader.html

It's screen is too small unless you can do it in landscape mode and auto scroll or tap a footswitch. Wonder how that might work...

Yup Tony, this thing is going to excel in so many vertical markets that some people will invariably use it in multiple day to day. In the end, that really means it's not strictly a vertical device.

Operating off an external device would require using a wireless remote device operating on BlueTooth or Wifi, or using a wired controller developed using the dock connector.

Or, if they wanted to be crazy, they could sample audio through the mic and change the page when you've played up to a specific point on your instrument. Now how cool would that be?

Too cool. But if it wasn't flawless it would be less than useful.

Not so cool, actually, since when sight reading you read up to a few lines ahead of what you're playing. But if you could put the offset in, maybe.

I had this idea years ago, and I just imagined a built-in metronome with software clever enough to know the time signature and bar marks. Since you play the piece at a constant tempo, the music can be made to scroll at that tempo.

Yeah, it would be fairly easy to just make the page scroll when there was a certain volume level present, without any fancy note-matching. And each musical score would have a preferences/metadata associated with it to indicate the timing.

According to writer/director Kevin Smith, who I just saw Live this past weekend, the iPad is going to change film making.

..uh...I assume you're joking. I'm mostly just confused. He didn't really mention it that much...

It's such a versatile device.

How about an app that can let the iPad be used as a cheese platter? You put different cheeses on it and it shows a text label next to or under each piece, allowing you to swipe for more information, including nutritional and historical.

Yeah...I saw that...I can only assume you're trying to be funny here.

Nothing's lost on you Matt. Hehehe.

I think I'm going to have to license this thing after all.

If the iPad doesn't outsell most other companies' notebook and netbook computers I'll be *very* surprised.

Penguin Books: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdExukJVUGI&feature=player_embedded#

Wallstreet Journal: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/03/murdoch-confirms-wsj-coming-to-ipad-device-kept-under-padlock/

A number of other notable mentions from other companies in the past week or two. Could these apps/books/publications be made for a different platform? Sure. But they won't be, and that's the important part and what's going to help drive sales of this thing. It may just be as big or bigger than the iPhone in less time than anticipated.

I'm not any more likely to buy one than I was when it was first announced, but I can see owning a future revision in a few years. Possibly a few of them actually, since as mentioned, I think they can make great single-pupose devices.

so who on here is going to buy an iPad on Saturday? i would, but can't afford it...

I won't be buying one - they're not available in Canada yet anyway. BUT.... I think I may pick one up for my mother later in the summer. I'll have to use one for a little while before I decide whether that's a solid idea or not. The motivation is to simplify her web and email use further, while also giving her the ability to "take it with her" around the house.

Does anyone watch the TV show Modern Family? This week's episode prominently featured the iPad as one of its main plot lines. I don't know any other consumer electronics company in the world that could pull that off. Actually, I can't think of any other company that makes anything that could pull that off.

Chevy does a lot of TV advertising like that. The last episode of Human Target had a lot of Chevy shots/dialog/etc. There were a few normal commercials for them also during the episode.

Wait wait wait...are you actually giving CREDIT to Apple for turning a 30 minute humorous sitcom into a 30 minute advertisement? This kind of thing is one of my least favorite things to happen to TV in the last several years, and it sure sounds like you're applauding them for it. (by the way, Phil is my least favorite part of that entire show. I find him horribly tedious).

But like Tim says, there are plenty of other companies that do this sort of crap all the time. Did you watch the full season of White Collar? The presence of Ford Sync in that show was nauseating. Eureka had a terrible commercial tie-in with a deodorant (Degree, I believe) a couple seasons ago, and this past season they wouldn't shut up about their damn new Subaru.


About the iPad: recently, I found myself actually wondering whether I'd like one. I read all my comic books on my computer, and I'd love to have a tablet to do that in bed or on the couch. But the problem is that that's the ONLY thing I'd do with it. Because of that, I'll wait until there's a super cheap knock-off that isn't tied to an app store controlled by tight-asses, and I'll be plenty happy with it. I don't need an app store anyway, just one app to do the one thing I want the device for.

And whatever tablet I got, whether it be a cheapo product or an iPad someone handed to me for free, neither has any chance whatsoever of replacing my netbook.

Anyway, I hope the iPad owners enjoy their devices and get a lot of use out of them. I do not argue that it's a bad product, merely that I have no use for it, particularly at that price.

I'll be picking up the WiFi model tomorrow morning and spending a month with it before shipping it off to the grandparents. If I find it useful, I'll be buying a 3G model to keep.

I'll save my judgements about it till later this weekend after some hands on time. I've seen some interesting use cases already, and will be bring it to work daily to see how it fits in there as well.

Already noticed about 6 of my iPhone apps are now updated to universal apps with iPad specific UIs. I'm really curious to see how many more come out over the next few weeks, and what apps intentionally stay separate to force me to buy them a second time.

Bruno, 2009-03-10, Re: the Palm Pre

Bruno 2010-04-02, Re: the Apple iPad

The Palm Pre segment was on a talk show, in a segment devoted to tech toys.

Modern Family is a sitcom.

Shorter Bruno: Only Nixon could go to ChinaOnly Apple can shamelessly pimp products on TV.

I just entered the 'tablet age' last week. I picked up a Samsung Q1-Ultra from a Craigslist ad for $250.
The seller had wiped the disk and installed Windows 7 Home Premium. It runs Win7 really well.

Fun little toy. I'm thinking about going SSD and adding another gig of RAM.

It runs everything for Windows that I could ever want to run on a big PC.

The modern Family incorporation of the iPad was however FUNNY. That's the point. It was actually well-integrated into the show and topical. Because what was shown in the sitcom is actually happening right now in real life.

I'm pretty confident the iPad is going to be bigger than the iPhone at this point.

Here's another interesting/useful function for an iPad... Secondary display for your computer:

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/02/first-look-idisplay/

Could be very handy for Photoshop (and similar) palettes.