Wednesday’s much-hyped Apple event has come and gone. We got a revamped iPod lineup, a smaller and cheaper Apple TV with Netflix streaming and 99-cent TV show rentals, and Ping, a social network within iTunes 10. Before Steve Jobs took the stage, however, all we had were rumors and predictions. Which ones came true and which ones were pipe dreams? Let’s take a look.

RUMORS

Report: Revamped Apple TV Will Include Netflix Streaming
Reality: Correct. Late Tuesday night, Bloomberg cited “three people with knowledge of the plans” and reported that Jobs would announce a revamped Apple TV capable of streaming content from Netflix’s Watch Instantly library. A week after Netflix added streaming support to the iPhone and iPod touch, Jobs announced that that capability will also extend to the new Apple TV when it launches later this month.

Report: Apple Working on 99-Cent TV Show Rental Service
Reality: Correct. A week before the press event, Bloomberg also reported that Apple would introduce a 99-cent TV show rental service. Jobs announced Wednesday that users will indeed be allowed to rent TV shows on the new, streaming-only Apple TV for 99 cents. Bloomberg said Apple was in talks with News Corp.’s Fox, CBS, and Walt Disney to add the companies’ content. On Wednesday, Jobs said Apple was only able to secure deals with Fox and ABC, but hoped to add more networks soon.

Report: Apple iTV, Running iOS, Coming in September for $99
Reality: Partially Correct. In late August, Digg founder Kevin Rose said in a blog post that he’d heard rumors about a revamped Apple TV, renamed iTV, which would be sold for $99 in September and run iOS. While Apple did indeed introduce a new Apple TV that will be available later this month, it was not renamed iTV. As for iOS, Apple did not specify which OS Apple TV will run. Engadget first reported the revamped Apple TV rumors (sans the iTV moniker) in May, and was correct when it said the new Apple TV would emphasize streaming over local storage.

Report: Revamped Apple ‘iTV’ Won’t Have True HD
Reality: Correct. That Engadget piece also reported that the new Apple TV would be capable of full 1080p HD. In August, however, the blog reported that Apple TV would actually stick with the 720p format. According to the Apple TV tech specs, that is correct. Apple TV includes “H.264 video up to 720p,” they said.

Report: Apple Will Extend iTunes Song Preview Length
Reality: Incorrect. On Tuesday, CNet reported that Jobs might announce an extended music preview length in iTunes. Instead of hearing a 30-second snippet, Apple would provide a 90-second preview of a given song. Jobs, however, made no mention of such a feature in his presentation. [Update: CNet on Thursday reported that the National Music Publishers Association told Apple that it needed to negotiate with music publishers, not just record labels, if it wanted to implement such a feature.]

Report: Apple Presentation Will Not Include Cloud-Based iTunes
Reality: Correct. In the same story, CNet reported that Apple would probably not introduce a cloud-based music service because it has not yet obtained the licenses required for such an undertaking. While Apple TV switched from a download model to a streaming-only model, Jobs did not take iTunes to the cloud in his Wednesday presentation. Apple purchased and subsequently killed cloud-based music service Lala last year, prompting some to speculate about Apple’s plans for the cloud, but no such service has been announced.

Report: Apple Will Unveil a 7-Inch ‘Mini’ iPad
Reality: Not a chance. In August, DigiTimes’s in-house analyst team predicted that Apple will release an iPad with a 7-inch screen, down from the current 9.7-inch display. This prompted speculation that the announcement would happen during Apple’s fall event, but Apple September events have traditionally been music-centric, so it’s not a huge surprise that Wednesday’s event did not include any hardware upgrades for the iPad.

PREDICTIONS AND WISH LISTS

PCMag audio analyst Tim Gideon made a few predictions in advance of Wednesday’s press conference, while Wendy Sheehan Donnell, managing editor for consumer electronics, put together an “iTV” wish list. Did they get everything they predicted or wanted?

Prediction: Touch Screen on the iPod nano
Reality: Correct. Tim said leaked photos of new iPod cases appeared to leave space for a nano touch screen. The new iPod nano does in fact include a 1.54-inch multi-touch display.

Prediction: Entire iPod Line Has Morphed from Screen-and-Click Wheel to Touch Screen
Reality: Partially Correct. The iPod nano did, in fact, get a touch-based interface, but clickable buttons remain on the shuffle, and the iPod classic.

Prediction: Apple Will Keep the iPod classic Alive to Appease Devoted Base with Huge Music Libraries
Reality: Correct. Jobs did not mention the iPod classic in his presentation, but it remains on the Apple Web site. As Tim pointed out, a 64GB iPod touch – the largest iPod touch available – can’t come close to the 160GB of storage available on an iPod classic, available for $249.

Prediction: Apple Will Kill Off the iPod Line, Make Everything an iPad
Reality: Incorrect. The iPod line lives on.

Prediction: New iPod touch Will Include FaceTime
Reality: Correct. In a rundown of Apple rumors, Tim said FaceTime on the iPod touch was very likely. He was correct. Apple added a front-facing camera to the device and the FaceTime video chat application currently available on the iPhone 4.

Wish List: iPod touch Gets a Video Camera
Reality: Granted. In addition to a front-facing camera with FaceTime, Apple also added a rear-facing camera with HD video recording to the iPod touch.

Wish List: Everything Works Together
Reality: Wait for it. Tim asked for an Apple TV that could play the games, movies, apps, and TV shows you downloaded on your iPhone or iPad. While that was not part of Wednesday’s announcements, Jobs did show off a demo of AirPlay, which will be available in November with iOS 4.2. It will allow users to stream content from any iOS device to an Apple TV. Start watching something on Apple TV in the living room, walk into another room, and pick it up on the iPad.

Wish List: A 128GB iPod touch
Reality: Sorry, check back next year. The iPod touch still maxes out at 64GB.

Wish List: A Better Apple TV Remote
Reality: Sort of. Wendy wanted an Apple TV that could be controlled via iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad, as well as a more full-featured remote. While Apple revamped the design and introduced a silver remote to replace the old white one, the upgrade was primarily cosmetic and did not include any major feature enhancements.

Wish List: Apple TV Subscription Pricing
Reality: Nope. Wendy wanted a flat monthly fee that would let you stream as much content as you please. While Apple added Netflix streaming and 99-cent TV show rentals, it did not introduce an unlimited plan a la Hulu Plus.

Wish List: Cable TV Tie-In and DVR Capabilities on Apple TV
Reality: Ha. This was an admittedly 99.9 percent unlikely announcement, but we had to try. “A do-it-all device that eliminates the need for a cable box or a DVR sure would be nice,” Wendy wrote, but alas, no announcement from Jobs.

Source : PCmag.com

Samsung yesterday introduced its Galaxy Tab, and from the looks of this 7-inch Android-powered tablet, it seems like it might be the first true Apple iPad contender. Since April, there have been a raft of reports of upcoming tablets from HP, Best Buy, LG, RIM, and others. The iPad has dominated this overhyped tablet space, not just because it’s a well-executed device; but very few tablets have actually made it to market. And those that are (or were) available, haven’t really made an impact. JooJoo anyone? We didn’t think so.

This is not to say that the Galaxy Tab is available. According to Samsung, the Tab will come to Europe this month and to the U.S. “in coming months.” But at least the company showed an actual working device at the IFA trade show in Berlin. In anticipation of the Galaxy Tab’s availability, we put it side by side with the Apple iPad to see how they stack up specwise.

Source : PCmag.com

September 01, 2010

Jakarta. The number of Internet users in Indonesia is expected to triple by 2015, fueling growth for media companies and phone carriers, according to a study released on Wednesday by Boston Consulting Group.

The study found that the total number of Internet users in the so-called BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China — and Indonesia will double to 1.2 billion by 2015.

That will be three times the number in the United States and Japan combined, up from two times as much at the end of 2009.

While mobile phones with Internet access will aid growth, personal computers will double in the five countries to more than 920 million, according to the report.

As consumers gain more access to the Internet, they’ll also spend more time online, providing a boon to entertainment providers, Boston Consulting Group said.

The surge in Web use will benefit media companies such as China’s Tencent Holdings and phone carriers including Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), analysts said.

“The fastest-growing Internet markets are those with low penetration rates and strong economies, and the BRIC countries all fall into these categories,” said Jake Li, an Internet analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Shenzhen, China.

“The opportunities for online advertising and e-com merce in these markets are huge.”

The number of SIM cards in use in Indonesia will top 100 percent of the population by 2015, meaning some users will have multiple devices, the report said.

Tucker Grinnan, head of Asian telecommunications research at HSBC Holdings in Hong Kong, advises buying Telkom, the nation’s largest phone company, and Tencent, Asia’s biggest Internet company by market value.

“Of the three markets, China, India and Indonesia, we believe that Indonesia has the best prospects for organic growth in telecommunications revenue,” Grinnan said. “There is still a big rural opportunity.”

Only 12 percent of Indonesians use the Internet, and only 5 percent use personal computers, but both of those rates are expected to triple by 2015, the report said.

Twenty percent of China’s population owns a personal computer, compared with 32 percent in Brazil and Russia and 90 percent in the U.S. and Japan, Boston Consulting said.

Tens of millions of additional users get online at Internet cafes or shared home or work computers, giving China 384 million Internet users at the end of last year, almost triple the total in 2006, the report said.

However, mobile phone penetration in Indonesia was 66 percent, higher than in India or China.

About 20 percent of Indonesian mobile phone users have more than one SIM card, and nine percent have two phones for personal use, mostly to take advantage of discounted network rates with family and friends.

With such high mobile penetration, the study found “unusually high” rates of mobile Internet use in Indonesia, with nine million mobile users, up from just 2.3 million in 2007.

The use of mobile e-mail and mobile payments and e-commerce was highest among the five countries studied.

“Indonesian digital consumers use their mobile-handset connections to meet a variety of needs that are typically met in other countries through PC-based Internet,” it said.

“Given the prevalence of mobile phone use in general among Indonesians, and their adoption of 3G, mobile Internet could well emerge as an alternative to home PC use and become a key growth pocket as 3G becomes more affordable and available.”

Source: Jakarta Globe

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As planned, on August 31, 2010 morning promptly at 8:30 pm Plt DG Postel Muhammad Budi Setiawan BRTI been removed as Chairman of the testing and checking the team’s departure signals telecommuniation Lebaran 1 Syawal 1431 H. Disposal of these teams ‘departure took place in the lobby page DGPT stepping House – Jakarta, with introductory remarks from the beginning Plt DG Postel and then proceed with the disposal of the flag start and the sirens’ departure marks the start of the team headed toward the Peacock, where his team deployed throughout their organizers follows with each attribute and their vehicles. Network telecommunications services which will be checked simultaneously starting on August 31, 2010 morning that in addition to the Peacock also be checked also for the majors Jakarta – Cirebon – Losari, then Jakarta – Cileunyi – Nagrek – Garut – Tasikmalaya, hereinafter Semarang – Yogyakarta – Solo. . Especially for a team that departed from DGPT pages are only for that led to the Peacock, while three other goals directly handed over to the respective telecommunications carriers under the monitoring BRTI.

Almost the entire board of directors and chairman of telecommunications carriers looking attended the event which took place a very festive send-off it. In his speech, Plt DG Postel said, that the team is expected to be dispatched to know as accurately as possible the level of readiness of the telecommunications carriers. Although the assignment was held in the month of Ramadan, said Plt DG Postel, the team must still do his best but still can not forget the fasting obligation to do so because his spirit still has to break the fast if the time and meal time.

Report the results of this test is expected to be published on 3 September 2010 in okyektif, transparent and with a sufficient degree of accuracy can be justified. In general, the test result data for 2009 show that for network availability (network availability): in general is quite ready and adequate with some telecommunications options. As for sending SMS: in conditions that are not crowded when checking, SMS sending an average of under 3 (three) minutes according to rules about the requirement of the Service Quality Standards. For the time prior to and during Hari Raya 1431 H, the conditions would be different. But it is expected, the SMS center can maintain the quality of telecommunications services such short message service delivery. In addition, the percentage of dropped calls for calls within the network provider’s average below 5% in accordance with the requirements under the rules of the Service Quality Standards.

Some problems were predicted to affect the quality of telecommunications service providers during the coming Hari Raya Idul Fitiri:

1. Availability of electricity supply to the BTS / RBS / Node B, BSC and MSC. From checking, with the BTS / RBS / Node-B which is plagued weaken the power supply signal. To anticipate this, telecommunication providers must prepare a backup utility and generator set, including preparing fuel for generators.
2. Changes in traffic patterns. With a tradition of going home, there will be changes in traffic patterns of origination, from big cities to small towns / villages. Thus, the network capacity in large cities will become a little crowded, but instead will become solid in the back and forth paths and destination cities / villages.
3. Levels and congestion points. Telekomukasi service quality will be affected also due to congestion, which in addition to making the trip are blocked, traffic also will be concentrated on the BTS / RBS / Node B is the area that freezes. As for places that have the potential congestion and make the quality of services affected include: Tol Jakarta-Cikampek, Nagrek, Peacock and Indramayu region.

—–

Head of Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics (Gatot S. Dewa Broto, Mobile: 0811898504, Email: gatot_b@postel.go.id, Tel / Fax: 021.3504024).

Source : www.ekon.go.id

(CNET) — Some of the world’s biggest electronics companies are readying an assault on the tablet market. But before they even begin, they find themselves at an early disadvantage.

Though Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Research In Motion, and Dell have announced or hinted at touchscreen tablets that will arrive between now and March 2011, they’re way late to the party.

Since the iPad’s debut in April, Apple has built a huge lead in this category — in terms of actual devices sold but also in many consumers’ minds.

The category is new — a large touch-screen device bigger than a smartphone and running a lightweight operating system wasn’t widely available to consumers prior to the iPad’s introduction — but Apple got out of the gate and hasn’t looked back. The company is selling about 1 million iPads per month and has not noticeably slackened its pace since.

The entire media tablet market is estimated to generate sales of just more than 12 million units by the end of 2010 and 25 million by the end of 2011, according to analyst firm IDC.

Apple had sold more than 3 million by the end of June, and at that pace, Apple has likely sold about 4 million to date. That’s almost a third of IDC’s forecast for the year, and the all-important holiday shopping season is still ahead. So where exactly does that leave the latecomers?

At first glance, the chances of the Galaxy Tablet from Samsung or a WebOS-based slate from HP wresting some reasonable share of this market from Apple in the short term don’t seem great.

The companies with the most resources and brand recognition in position to compete with Apple are either only just getting their products into stores or about to put them into production (see the rest.)

Of course, none is completely out of the game. There’s always room for competition, particularly in a market dominated by Apple, a company that tends to inspire both abject devotion in its customers and intense ire among its detractors. But this market is also so new, and we still haven’t seen what tablet versions of Android, WebOS, or BlackBerry OS are capable of.

Six months from now, just after the yearly Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the tablet landscape is going to look a lot different than today — expect to hear many iPad wannabes announced at the show.

But for all of the new products introduced, there are a few key things that need to happen if they’re going to make a dent in Apple’s lead: find a tablet-oriented operating system, pull together great hardware and get app developers on their side.

Software

One of the reasons it has taken Apple’s competitors awhile to catch up is they don’t have their own operating system that is tablet-ready. While it’s been “difficult and time-consuming” for Apple’s competitors to pull together the various pieces to build a device that can compete with iPad, “the gating factor has been, in large part, the operating system,” said Susan Kevorkian, IDC analyst.

RIM and Palm (now owned by HP) control their own OSes, but we’ll get to them later. Most of the tablets that have already been announced (Dell Streak, Samsung Galaxy, Asus Eee Pad) use Android, the Google-developed free mobile OS. We still haven’t seen a tablet-optimized version of Android, but it’s coming. We’ll get to see what Google has come up with once Android 3.0, or “Gingerbread,” is launched sometime between October and December.

“Google has to do what Apple did: figure out what is different about touch input in a tablet, how is the (virtual) keyboard different, what is the unique user interface experience,” said Michael Gartenberg, analyst with The Altimeter Group.

It’s the same problem facing Windows 7 on a tablet. Though the likes of HP and Asus have talked about using it on a touchscreen tablet, Window 7 is not optimized for touch input. IDC, for instance, doesn’t even include it when tallying iPad competitors. And while the new Windows Embedded Compact 7 version might be aimed at tablets, it doesn’t have its own built-in app store, which is crucial.

That’s a key factor in building a successful iPad competitor that neither Google nor the hardware makers really have control over: getting app developers on board.

The thing that portended the explosion of the iPhone and eventually iPad for Apple was the company’s ability to get and keep individual app developers on its side. Apple’s App Store currently boasts 225,000 apps, the most of any of its kind. Only once the App Store exploded did the iPhone truly establish its influence over the mobile computing market.

While Android has gained momentum with app developers crossing over to its platform, which Apple is very well aware of, getting those same developers to optimize their 100,000 apps for tablets is another challenge.

Hardware

But even more than good software and an app store, at the most basic level you have to have impressive hardware. Dated touch-screen technology, low-end processors, and a 4-hour battery are not going to distinguish themselves against the dominant force in the category, said Gartenberg.

“You introduce something that isn’t at least as good as the iPad, it doesn’t have a chance,” said Gartenberg. “But it’s not just ‘How do I create something that’s as good as the iPad?’ but how is it differentiated and better than the iPad? And Apple is already working on the next version.”

Differentiation can take different forms. RIM is reportedly making its tablet a companion to BlackBerrys, which could be attractive to loyal BlackBerry-toting types. And putting Flash on a tablet would appeal to those frustrated by Apple’s banning of it in iOS. Including a camera or two (front- and back-facing) would also be something Apple doesn’t yet have.

What about RIM and Palm?

Though both RIM and HP have an advantage in owning and controlling their own OSes the way Apple does, they haven’t proven them to be viable for tablet use — yet.

BlackBerry 6 and Web OS are both made for smartphones, just like iOS was made for a smartphone. Apple didn’t just drop it on a larger-screen device; it took the time to fine tune it for the iPad. It’s very likely RIM and HP can do the same, it just may take time.

HP has the added benefit of a lot of resources it can throw at WebOS, but it’ll be competing for developers for its App Store with Apple, Android, and BlackBerry.

Though it’ll be challenging, Apple’s lead in the touch-screen tablet market isn’t impossible to overcome. And clearly, there are plenty of heavy hitters up for the challenge, judging by the abundant rumors we’re hearing.

“Apple is the first vendor to succeed in this no-man’s land device space,” Gartenberg said. “But the lesson here is: no one is going to cede that land to Apple. Starting fourth quarter of this year, you’re going to hear a lot more.”

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. CNET, CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. Used by permission.

Source : CNN.com

(CNN) — Social-networking giant Facebook has entered the check-in world.

Facebook executives on Wednesday announced the launch of Facebook Places, which — similar to services such as Foursquare and Gowalla — will allow people to use the GPS on their mobile phones to let friends know exactly where they are.

Facebook Places is available immediately in the United States through the latest version of Facebook’s iPhone app and, for other advanced mobile phones, through the company’s site for advanced mobile devices, executives announced at Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

Users who wish to announce their location to their friends on Facebook would tap a “check in” button to see a list of places nearby, and then choose the place that matches where they are.

“After checking in, your check-in will create a story in your friends’ News Feeds [on Facebook] and show up in the Recent Activity section on the page for that place,” Places product manager Michael Sharon wrote on Facebook’s blog.

Facebook staff also said the feature will be useful not only to let friends know where they are, but also to learn if their friends are nearby at the same time, and to write down what they are doing at the location and what they think about it — creating a trail allowing friends to see what the writer did there days or even years ago.

When users check into a place, they also can “tag” any Facebook friends who are with them, essentially letting other friends know that the person is there, too. To cut down on the potential for users to falsely tag friends to a place, people can tag friends only if the taggers themselves check in to the location, too.

Sharon, speaking during Wednesday’s announcement, said Places has other safeguards to address potential privacy concerns.

First, check-ins will appear only to users’ Facebook friends as a default, and users can further trim the recipients list to specific friends. Users also can remove check-ins by phone or web at any time, Sharon said.

Facebook said it would make Places available in other countries and on more mobile platforms soon.

Facebook staff said the company planned to let Foursquare, Gowalla and other services enhance their current integration with Facebook. Executives with Foursquare and Gowalla were at Wednesday’s announcement in Palo Alto, previewing plans to ramp up how their users will announce their locations on the social-networking site.

The past year has seen big growth in the relatively new mobile check-in space.

Foursquare, which essentially made its debut in 2009 at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, was one of the combatants in a so-called “Location War” at this year’s festival, going heads-up with Austin-based rival Gowalla.

Since then, Foursquare has become the clear favorite of the two — and a darling of tech media, even as it looks for ways to turn a profit. Boasting a half-million users at the start of SXSW, Foursquare doubled that in about a month then needed only another three months to hit 2 million last month.

On mobile apps like Foursquare, users “check in” at restaurants, bars, movie theaters or just about anywhere else they visit. The idea is twofold — to let friends know what you’re up to, while racking up points and earning virtual badges in the application’s gaming element.

The New York-based Foursquare has begun forging some corporate partnerships and some businesses have started offering discounts and other deals for users who check in frequently.

Facebook, with its half-billion users, represents a massive potential user base for Places.

CNN’s Doug Gross and Jason Hanna contributed to this report.

Source : CNN.com

With the industry revving its engines for the third and fourth quarter, the iPad rumor mill has also begun to pick up with reports of a smaller 7-inch iPad.

At this point, the reports (like most things Apple) are unconfirmed rumors, flowing from Taiwan where most gadgets are built, if not designed. Last week, DigiTimes‘ in-house analyst team predicted that Apple was prepping two iPad revisions: an upgraded 9.7-inch iPad, with a new ARM Cortex-A9-based processor and 512MB RAM, plus a 7-inch iPad using the Cortex-A9 processor and an IPS panel with a resolution of 1024×768. The current iPad uses a 9.7-inch display.

DigiTimes pegged the 9-inch iPad launch for the first quarter of 2011, with no time given for the 7-inch model.

Although the DigiTimes report seemed to be informed speculation, Taiwan’s Economic Daily News has also weighed in, claiming that the 7-inch iPad is also real. Unfortunately, the Chinese-language paper is not viewable on the Web, at least in English; PC World‘s Dan Nystedt reported that the paper confirmed the previous DigiTimes report.

One of the iPad’s chief criticisms is that it is not much more than a larger iPod touch, a criticism that has been dispelled by Apple’s most recent sales figures. A smaller iPad would most likely not dramatically improve the portability of the device, as it’s still larger than a pocket. But a 7-inch iPad would be on par with the Barnes & Noble Nook and slightly larger than the redesigned Amazon Kindle, which includes ts traditional 6-inch display but a smaller border.

Source : PCMag.com

The new BlackBerry Torch is a terrific business phone, but consumers without BlackBerry Enterprise Servers will find one major annoyance: it doesn’t sync contacts and calendars over the air with Microsoft Exchange servers. And if you have Microsoft Outlook 2010, BlackBerry Desktop won’t sync locally with Outlook, either.

The new BlackBerry Desktop Manager 6, coming in the middle of this week, should solve part of the problem – for 32-bit Outlook 2010 users, at least. According to RIM, BlackBerry Desktop will work with 32-bit Outlook 2010, but it won’t be compatible with the 64-bit version of Outlook 2010.

A two-step process of syncing Outlook with Google Calendar via Google Calendar Sync, and then syncing Google Calendar to the BlackBerry, worked with Outlook 2003 and 2007, but Google Calendar Sync doesn’t work with Outlook 2010. There are various risky ways of altering either Google Calendar Sync or Outlook to make this work, but I’m not guaranteeing them. Of course, you can also export your contacts to a CSV file and then import them into Google as a one-time process, but that’s not an ongoing sync. I guess it’s better than nothing, but only by a little bit.

The real problem here is that RIM seems to have purposefully neglected consumer BlackBerry Exchange connectivity in order to force people to install BlackBerry Enterprise Servers. Yeah, sure, BlackBerry has a free version of their server available, but many individual users can’t just go force their Exchange administrator to install a new server. It’s a frustrating gap that RIM needs to overcome.

Source : PCMag.com

By: Jamie Lendino

• 08.05.2010

Apple’s iPhones are fun to play with, but they don’t last forever. Here’s how to stretch out their batteries.

Cue the chorus of happy iPhone owners: “Finally!” With iOS 4, Apple added some long awaited features to its three-year-old iPhone platform. Arguably the most important was multitasking, which lets users run Pandora, Skype, GPS navigation apps, or other useful programs in the background while browsing the Web or talking on a call.

This seems like it would take a toll on battery life. Early reports are that it does, although the situation is more complex than it appears. Lots of people around the Web are complaining the battery runs down more quickly with iOS 4, even though it features limited multitasking that only lets certain portions of code run in the background. The rest of the time, the OS just freezes each app where you last left it.

It’s too early to tell whether the battery life issue is caused by multitasking itself or by poorly-programmed third-party apps. Nonetheless, while the latest iPhone 4 features improved endurance, it’s not a huge jump over last year’s iPhone 3GS, which was no marathon sprinter.

Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do to increase your iPhone’s battery life. Here’s a comprehensive list for anyone frustrated with his or her device’s endurance. Our recommendation? Implement all of these fixes, bask in the glory of your device lasting for several days at a time, and then bring back a few features you really miss.

Turn off push notifications. This is perhaps the single biggest battery killer on the iPhone. For some reason, third-party app developers love to activate the iPhone’s alert feature.

Turn off push e-mail. Honestly, I have no problem leaving my iPhone’s e-mail app set to manual. When I tap the e-mail icon, it defaults to the “All Inboxes” view. Then it automatically runs a check and grabs all new mail. Otherwise, the mail app does nothing. Perfect.

Turn off whatever radios you’re not using. The iPhone lets you disable 3G—itself a useful feature for wherever AT&T’s HSDPA network isn’t up to snuff. But that’s also a battery saver. The same goes for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS; the latter is particularly troublesome, as location-based apps often hook into it whenever they’re running. Heck, if you’re in an area with really weak cellular signal, go into Airplane mode. Searching for a signal is really hard on a phone’s battery. Switching to Airplane Mode will also kill Wi-Fi, but you’ll be able to play games, read e-books, watch movies, and listen to music.

Kill background tasks. You’re not supposed to have to do this, but now that the iPhone has multitasking, you may encounter apps that eat up battery by polling the Internet in the background. Skype, for instance, uses quite a lot of battery while waiting for calls. If you fear you’re running one of those apps, double-tap the Home button, hold your finger on one of the bottom row icons for a second, and then begin killing background tasks by tapping the little X at the top left corner of each icon.

Set display brightness to adjust automatically. Turning down the brightness is obvious, and barely worth a mention. But the automatic adjustment setting is less obvious; activating it means the iPhone will automatically dim its display in darker environments, including seemingly well-lit indoor rooms. That’s fine; you don’t need the display blaring at all times.

Watch the force feedback. Many games take advantage of the iPhone’s vibrate feature to simulate force feedback; this can be a battery drain.

Get a battery case. Our managing editor Sascha Segan never brings an iPhone to a trade show without a Mophie Juice Pack Air, which doubles an iPhone’s battery life. Yes, it makes the phone a bit thicker, but he’d rather have a thicker phone than a useless one.

Sync your iPhone periodically. Even if you’re not changing any playlists or installing new apps, periodically syncing your iPhone and PC will install the iPhone’s latest OS and firmware updates. Some of Apple’s updates have improved battery life in the past.

Be sure to check out our Top 40 Free iPhone Apps roundup for the latest and greatest third-party programs available in Apple’s App Store.

The market leading e-reader gets refreshed with a Wi-Fi only option and a zippier screen.

Amazon today introduced a new version of the Kindle eReader — Kindle 3 — that shows it’s not backing down from selling dedicated electronic reading devices.

The new Kindle, code-named Shasta, doesn’t have a color display or a touch screen, both long-rumored to be in the works, but it is smaller and lighter, and has a longer battery life than the previous model.  Since these are the Kindle’s key advantages versus Apple’s (AAPL) iPad, the improvements further distinguish the two rival devices.

The new Kindle’s six-inch screen is the same size as the previous version, but the body is 21% smaller, making it small enough to slip into the pocket of a suit jacket. It’s also 15% lighter, weighing in at just 8.7 ounces compared the hefty 1.5 pounds of the iPad Wi-Fi model. That’s crucial considering that users often hold their eReaders with one hand while riding the subway or lying in bed.

The battery life of the new Kindle is also improved, lasting up to one month with the wireless turned off or 10 days with it turned on, reducing the hassle of frequent charging required by devices like the iPad.  And with storage expanded to hold 3,500 books, most users can carry their entire library with them.

The screen contrast on the electronic ink display has also been improved, while the 20% faster page turning should silence any remaining critics who complain about lag times.

Take your Wi-Fi with or without 3G

The next generation Kindle still offers free unlimited wireless 3G service (plus built in Wi-Fi), unlike the data plans for the iPad 3G, which run $15 or $25 per month, with a ceiling on how much you can download. (The iPad, of course, can access a far wider array of data-intensive content.)

Amazon (AMZN) has also held the price for the new Kindle at $189. Since this new price was announced in June for the existing model, down from $259, the growth rate of sales of the device have tripled, says Amazon. (The iPad starts at $499.)

Amazon is also introducing a Wi-Fi only version of the Kindle for $139 and offering free access at AT&T (T) hotspots in the U.S. Both new models will begin shipping August 27.

Forrester estimates that the Kindle comprised two-thirds of the 3.7 million eReaders in the U.S. market at the start of this year. That’s not likely to change soon: Of the nearly 20% of US adults surveyed online who are considering buying an eReader, 69% are leaning towards the Kindle, though the report notes that figure will surely be eroded by tablets like the smash-hit iPad.

While the iPad and its ilk may pose a threat to eReaders, there’s still plenty of market to share. Forrester predicts 29.4 million US consumers will own eReaders by 2015.

Sales of Kindle books, meanwhile, have surpassed those of hardcover books: Amazon announced last week that it sells 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcovers. Skeptics point out that hardcovers account for only 23% of physical books sold, according to Nielsen, with paperbacks making up the majority.

But consider this: Kindle owners buy more than three times as many digital books as the number of physical books they bought before owning the device. And Amazon’s 630,000 books available at the Kindle store certainly tips the scales for serious readers contemplating the iPad’s 60,000 titles.

(Yesterday Amazon announced that it has sold more than one million Kindle books by Stieg Larsson, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, part of the Millennium Trilogy — which is not available on the iBookstore.)

The new Kindle is premised on the same proposition as the old: that demand for more affordable dedicated devices still exists.

For evidence, look no further than Apple’s iPod. It shoots video, but the main draw is still music. And even with the launch of the iPad, the growth of the iPhone, and near saturation of the market for mp3 players, Apple sold 9.41 million iPods last quarter.

“It’s like running shoes,” says Russ Grandinetti, Amazon’s VP of Kindle content. “If I’m going five miles, I put on a pair that are designed for running and will be supportive, not my Chucks.”

Yet like Chuck Taylor sneakers, the new Kindle will continue to occupy a low price point and trade on a sort of timeless style and categorical rejection of bells and whistles. Jeff Bezos can only hope his product also matches Converse’s for longevity and sales.

What’s new about the new Kindle 3:

• 21% smaller with same 6-inch screen as previous model
• 15% lighter than previous model (8.7 ounces vs. 10.2 ounces)
• Electronic-ink screen has 50% better contrast than any other eReader
• 20% faster page turns than previous model, with improved fonts
• Battery lasts up to one month with wireless off, compared to two weeks for previous model
• Stores 3,500 books, double that of previous model
• Built in Wi-Fi
• Graphite color option
• Easier to grip surface
• Newly designed buttons and button layout
• Quieter page turn buttons
• Improved PDF reader
• Text-to-speech enabled menus
• New leather cover available, featuring a retractable reading light, powered by the Kindle
• Source : CNN.com