Amazon Android Appstore to launch this month

Last September, word broke that Amazon intended on launching its own Android App Marketplace.

It was a weird rumor to process. On the one hand, Amazon doesn’t do anything without a reason. Look at the Kindle: what seemed, at first, to be a niche has become the biggest and most ubiquitous e-book store on Earth, upending the traditional publishing model. Even the iPad couldn’t kill Kindle: in fact, if anything, the Kindle’s only become bigger since the iPad’s debut.

So when Amazon announced their own Android App Market, it was obvious they had some sort of plan besides just fragmenting the Android ecosystem even further. Amazon was clearly gunning to appeal to developers, offering whatever was greater: 70% of the purchase price or 20% of the “List Price.” In addition, Amazon was even offering to promote Amazon Android apps on their site.

At the time, I speculated that Amazon’s intention was to either release an Android tablet of their own sometime soon, or make themselves available for all Android devices (even the ones who aren’t paying Google Android licensing fees, and are therefore unable to deploy the Android Market on their devices).

Time will certainly tell, but it looks like that time will be coming sooner rather than later: according to Business Insider, Amazon Appstore for Android will be launching this month.That seems like curious timing, coming as it does so soon after the iPad 2’s debut. Could the Amazon Android Appstore just be one part of the puzzle? Is it possible that we’ll see an Amazon Android tablet in March as well?

For right now, only Amazon knows. Even if they don’t launch a tablet, though, there will be one cool new benefit of the Amazon Android Appstore: Amazon will apparently allow customers to preload their Android devices with software before it even ships out to them.

Read more at Business Insider

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iOS 4.3 is ready for next week launch, iPhone 5 might have NFC

According to people close to Apple, the iOS 4.3 has reached Gold status and should become available rather soon. Meanwhile an Apple patent sketch reveals unknown iPhone with an eWallet icon that can mean only one thing - Apple is or have been considering a NFC-enabled iPhone.

Apple is holding a press conference next week to unveil the new iPad 2. We guess it is also the perfect opportunity to launch the iOS 4.3 update. Perhaps it will fill the functionality gap between the GSM and the CDMA versions of the iPhone 4.

In other news, a picture from a new Apple patent reveals an iPhone with an NFC icon. Perhaps Apple will equip the next iPhone with NFC support, following a recent trend among high-end mobiles.

 

We guess will find about the iOS 4.3 on 2 March, while whether the iPhone 5 will support Near Field Communication will become clear in June.

Source 1, source 2

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Motorola Atrix to get full HD 1080p video capture after launch

The already eagerly awaited Motorola Atrix is making headlines again this time making a hint of 1080p video capture. Having a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU roaring inside, it should come as no surprise that this monster droid would offer Full HD recording much like the Optimus 2X, for instance.

The device is set to initially come with 720p video recording and 1080p playback via it's HDMI port but a vigilant read spotted a remark in the manufacturer's specs that promises 1080p video recording via a post-launch software update.

So far information on the update concerns only the AT&T version, the Atrix 4G, so we can't be certain if it will be available for the European version as well.

It's some great news for the fans waitig eagerly for the official launch of the Atrix, especially now that the Tegra-loving LG Optimus 2X is already flaunting it's fullHD capturing capabilities.

Since the 1080p video capture will probably be a major selling point of the Atrix 4G, we really hope Motorola doesn't take long with the update as it did with the updates of most of its other GSM Android smartphones.

Source

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