It could happen very soon if Broadcom gets any competition, which is likely. The company has introduced a new smart phone on  a chip which is something of the holy grail for phone chip makers. Toss in a few competitors, and the race to zero in a price war will go into full swing. Combine that with volume manufacturing and a free OS like Andrios, and the $99 price point is very possible.

Built with an integrated ARM11 processor and capable of running Google’s Android and Microsoft Windows Mobile, the BCM21553 baseband chip could pave the way for cheaper but much more sophisticated handsets. For example, it will let vendors add video support up to HVGA quality and an 8 megapixel camera. Other features include 5.8Mbps upstream and 7.2Mbps downstream bandwidth. (The Inquirer)

Could a Kindle refresh result in a tablet or is Amazon on its way to introducing another product like a tablet as a hardware manufacturer? I’m sure the press will be rolling to bones to predict how the online retail giant’s acquisition of Touchco will influence future products.

Amazon will merge Touchco’s technology and staff members into its Kindle hardware division, Lab126, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., this person said.

Touchco, which began as a project at the Media Research Lab at New York University, had roughly six employees and had not yet turned its technology into a commercial product. The terms of the deal were not known.

An Amazon spokeswoman, Mary Osako, said the company would not comment on speculation. Ilya Rosenberg, a Touchco co-founder, declined to comment. (New York Times)

My roll of the bones a saw Amazon’s Jeff Bezos trying to insure the fruitpad and iTunes do not erode Amazon’s download market  share. Could that include a tablet? You bet.

IPad the tech is a pretty good idea. But there is more to a successful product than just tech. You have to have clarity of purpose and clear ownership of the intellectual space even if the item is a shared social device. The iPhone was clearly a winner on both those scores. But the iPad, not so much –

A Chinese company is claiming that its iPad knockoff is in fact an original design that has been copied by Apple. The P88 has been on the market in China for six months. It’s easy to recognize: it looks just like a big iPhone.

Xiaolong Wu, the president of the Shenzhen Great Loong Brother company which makes the P88, gave an interview to Spanish national newspaper El Mundo. If the iPad comes to China, he says, “We won’t have any choice but to report them,” because “it will certainly affect our sales.” The charge? Oddly, El Mundo reports the crime as “plagiarism”, although we assume it means IP or copyright infringement.

Wu says that Apple has not only copied the concept of a multi-touch tablet, but also the design of the case and screen bezel. And pre-empting our obvious criticism, that the P88 is just a large-scale iPhone or iPod Touch rip-off, Wu says that “they have nothing to do with it, as they have completely different functions.”

And the second…

While Apple’s iPad stole all of the headlines last week, the company has been in a dispute with Fujitsu over the name since last September and it doesn’t look like the Japanese manufacturer is going to step down.

“It’s our understanding that the name is ours,” said Mashario Yamane, director of PR at Fujitsu, in an interview with the New York Times.

Fujitsu has been selling its own iPad, a £1,500 Windows CE point-of-sale device used in retail stores, since 2002 so you’d think it is well within its right to claim ownership of the name.

There’s more to it than meets the eye though, as Fujitsu didn’t apply for the iPad trademark until 2003, specifically covering handheld devices used in retail. However, the application was bogged down and eventually listed as “abandoned” in April 2009 because a company called Mag-Tek had already claimed the trademark rights to IPAD for its line of PIN-entry keypads.

Now in the latter case, it is probably not too big an issue, except that the actual ownership might be in doubt. As a consequence it might take quite a while and $$ to not only clear it up but also pay royalties to the proper party. It just does not help and induces delay.

The first instance is more relevant. Should Shenzhen make its case before the Chinese courts (and why would they lose, they are the home team) it could lock Apple out of a very large market segment. It might also cause problems for Apple with overseas suppliers. So this is the item to watch.

The piece that confuses me highly is Apple is a brand conscious business entity. They prey on that identity to maintain the margains they garner for their product. So why would they launch a new product line without having researched the relevant branding issues with the name? Eh??

P88
IPAD

The PDF has for better or worse replaced the fax as a standard for digitally transmitted documents. Just about anyone can print a page from a PDF, and that’s terrific if if want to lose the fax machine forever. The downside is while the software to read PDF’s is free and readily available, the creator from ADOBE is pricey. The are free and low cost alternatives to install on your computer, but what about a free online tool that will create a PDF from a document you upload and email it for you? Try PrimoPDF.

disclaimer: no compensation of any kind has been received from Primo PDF.

Have you ever been in one of the big box retailers and marveled at the cost of a simple switch for HDMI cables? There must be something special about them, right? I have news for you, whole quality can vary a bit, a switch is a switch. Most tightwads will gladly pug and unplug to save $60 to  $100.

If you’re weary of the cable swap, I have a Tightwad certified solution from our affiliate Buy.com.  $17.99 gets you an A/B switch with remote, and it’s shipped free. Using our link to this limited time offer helps support Tightwad Technica.

Ultra Slim 3-Port HDMI Switch w/Remote Control - Adds Two More HDMI Ports! Ultra Slim 3-Port (3 In, 1 Out) HDMI Switch w/Remote Control General Features: Ultra Slim design Supports 12-bit deep color, full 1080p Manual or remote switching Supports HDMI v1.3b High bandwidth: Supports up to 2.5 Gbps Supports up to 25 meter HDMI cable lengths (1080p 25m + 25m, 1080i 25m + 20m) Maintains high resolutions for HDTVs and computers Output support: HDMI v1.3b + HDCP 1.0/1.1 Video Amplifier Bandwidth: 1.65 Gbps / 165 MHz Frequency: Up to 165 MHz Supports interlaced and progressive scan sources Power, Input, Output status LEDs Remote control included Connectors: Input: Three (3) Type A 19-pin female HDMI port Output: One (1) Type A 19-pin female HDMI port DC 5V power input IR port Supported Resolutions: VGA: 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1920 x 1200 DTV/HDTV: 480i, 576i, 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p Power Specifications: AC Power Adapter Input: 100-240V 50/60 Hz, 0.35A AC Power Adapter Output: DC 5V 1.5A Consumption: 10-watts (max.) Dimensions: 0.625 x 3.375 x 1.125-inches (H x W x D, approximate) Regulatory Approvals: FCC CE Weee

The manufacturer offered sample of its prototype for $98, so who knows. My thinking is $120 to $150 is more realistic. With a real keyboard and decent sized screen at a price that blows away the unsubsidized smart phone, this could be a winner if it ever makes it to the American stores. More at Armdvices.net

Or at least that is what is posed over at ZD Net Australia by Darren Greenwood. Its the same old thing — When is the sumo match between Linux and Microsoft gonna happen? Got news for ya Darren, the answer is never –

However, Microsoft still remains dominant, in New Zealand as in Australia, where it has just signed a major deal with the Queensland Government — a state that has previously investigated open source capability. Perhaps it was found wanting.

Whatever the reasons, at the very least we can hope that governments will use the possibility of open source to barter down Microsoft into offering taxpayers a better deal — Queensland government said it had saved $10 million in its latest deal.

Thus something so “communist” can help bring about competition and help capitalism work better in the IT sector, delivering better services, products and prices for all.

The reason is not that hard to fathom either.

In some cases Linux does not have to ‘fight it out’ as it has already won. Prime example is print. Specifically the printer. Look at any of the major brands and if you pull back the cover, its a Linux box that has the habit of fusing plastic to paper in pretty patterns. Or the embedded space where it has half the market and pretty much all of the DIY market for devices that need an OS. Its next biggest competitor is DOS.

But you want to discuss desktop don’t you? Well yes Microsoft is the clear leader. Probably stay that way for a very long time too. Look the ‘year of the Linux box’ never was going to be. I recognized that after the first year. But there is an odd thing about this pattern. Linux IS being adopted in some cultures as the price point for MS product is not compatible with the economies of many countries. So places like Vietnam, Ghana, Brazil, Argentina are huge adopters of the Penquin.

But its an interesting thing about Linux, it is tending to surround the entire desktop owned by Microsoft. So as product comes in from overseas with lower price points the underlying OS will be come dominant. That is especially true when the cost of the computer device drops below $400. So like the Blob in the 1953 flick of the same name, Linux will just ooze in have taken over. Not tomorrow, maybe not even 20 years from now. But it will eventually.

The dynamics of the technical S curve say it must over time.

Linky.

Note: Language warning

Looks like my initial assessment is a tad premature!

In its infancy, virtually all television programing was performed live. It wasn’t until the 6o’s that satellites made real time distribution to a world audience possible.  Distribution costs were high and access to the channels were limited.  Thanks to the Internet, it’s possible for anyone to broadcast a live video world wide at no cost. Ustream has made it easier to do a quality live feed with a free desktop app (it also sells one that does more).

The Ustream Producer is a desktop application allowing broadcasters to stream in high quality,
just like they would from Ustream’s website.

Additional features include the ability to:

• Easily manage video and audio sources
• Browse, drag and drop audio and video files
• Start and stop recordings
• Pop-out a chat room or Social Stream
• Display your desktop via screencasting capability
• Update your status and syndicate to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and AIM
• Broadcast using Picture in Picture
• Create multiple transitions  (Ustream)

Think you can do better than the live programming that’s out there? It’s never been easier to take your shot at stardom.

Forget all of the jokes about naming Apple’s overpriced tablet after a feminine hygiene product. Fujitsu liked the name enough to register it and slap it on product some 7 years ago.

It’s Fujitsu’s iPad from 2002.

Sold mainly in the United States, the multifunctional device from the Tokyo technology company helps shop clerks verify prices, check real-time inventory data and close sales on the go.

Fujitsu, which applied for an iPad trademark in 2003, is claiming first dibs, setting up a fight with Apple over the name of the new tablet device that Apple plans to sell starting in March.  (New York Times)

So what’s up with the too cool for Tightwads gang in Cupertino? I think this demonstrates arrogance whether due diligence on the name rights was explored or not. Hey Jobs, here’s a new name - free on the Tightwads: FruitPad.