Amazon has just announced an amazing new line of Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD 7-inch and Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablets. I'll share thoughts on those in another post. For now, here's a quick look at how the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD stack up against Apple's iPad, as well as Google's Nexus 7, Microsoft's Surface RT, and BlackBerry's PlayBook.

So, looking at the tale of the tape, and recognizing each device has unique value propositions that just don't show up on charts, how does this sway you? Anyone jumping on a Kindle Fire HD now, or will you wait and see what the iPad mini brings to the table in October?

• Complete Amazon Kindle event coverage
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Lady Gaga has posted two discussion threads on her website in regards to her upcoming ARTPOP album. The first thread announced that the album will be available not only in standard digital format but as an iPhone and iPad app that will contain clips, pictures, and tons of interactive content. The second post gives more details about ARTPOP itself and how the app will function.

In the first post, Lady Gaga announced that ARTPOP will not only be an album but a digital project that will allow her fans access to content that traditional media just doesn't provide.

You inspired me to create something that communicated with images, because YOU do, YOU communicate with me and each other with .gifs and pictures, and artwork, graphics ALL DAY 24/7/ YOU'RE an ARTPOP generation. Im hoping you will all continue to grow together and stay connected through your creativity.

In a further post, we get a little bit more explanation of what ARTPOP is actually about and what platforms it will be available on.

ARTPOP APP will be available to work on computers (for example your laptops,) in addition to iPads, tablets, smartphone, Android, (compatible with as many formats that this technology can function on at this time) if you have a laptop this will fully suffice you to utilize it, so do not fret! I already anticipated you would say that :) Nobody will be missing out on anything special! Nothing is different except I've giving you more stuff to play with and have fun.

It will not be more expensive than album. I find digital music to be overpriced (as it is not the same value as a physical copy) and this is a way to give you more.

Lady Gaga's current website is a product of a startup called Backplane that was initially funded by Gaga herself along with Google Ventures. George Hotz joined the Backplane team after quitting Facebook at the beginning of this year.

Whether or not you're a fan of Lady Gaga, there's no denying that her website is an amazing tool that allows her to connect with fans in ways that music artists have never done before. It'll be interesting to see how the up and coming ARTPOP project will unfold and how fans will be able to interact with it. If it's anything like her current website, fans have a lot to look forward to.

Source: LittleMonsters, LittleMonsters

Blogsy is a blogging iPad app that takes full advantage of the iPad's touch interface by making it super easy to drag photos, videos, links, and more directly into the post you are writing. Blogsy is a full-featured blogging app that any blogger is sure to appreciate and offers support for WordPress, Blogger, Tumbler, Posterous, Drupal, and more.

When you first launch Blogsy, you will be prompted to watch tutorial videos on the developer's website and a sample post that briefly helps you get started will be open. Even if you don't own Blogsy, yet, you can check out the videos to get a feel for it before making a purchase.

One of the big features of Blogsy is it's integration with popular photo and video services. You can login to Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Picassa, Facebook, YouTube, or Vimeo to easily drag and drop images and videos directly into the post you are writing. There is also a built-in browser that allows you to drag images from Google Image Search and if you want to insert the website's URL as a link, you simply highlight the text you want to use the for the link, switch to the in-app browser, and drag the link into the post with the drag tool. It doesn't matter where you drop the link, it will automatically be attached to the text you highlighted.

When inserting a photo, Blogsy provides a lot of formatting options including alignment, size, alt text, caption, and link URL. Blogsy also includes a lot of options for text formatting in the toolbar making it easy to make your post look amazing. If rich text isn't your style, though, you can switch to the HTML edit with a swipe of three fingers to the right.

Although creating posts quickly and beautifully is a breeze with Blogsy, accessing posts that have already been published is a bit cumbersome. To do so, you must tap the settings button for the post you are currently working on (this section lets you add a title, tags, categories, and more), tap the Online tab at the top, select the correct blog, and then tap the post you wish to edit. I often times use my iPhone and iPad to fix mistakes in posts I've already published, so it's disappointing to me that it takes so many taps to access my published posts.

The good

• Easily drag and drop images, videos, or links from Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, Instagram and Google Image Search, YouTube, Vimeo, or using the built-in Web browser
• Style your blog posts with the tap of a button - bold, italics, text alignment and more.
• Full support for multiple blogs and multiple photo and video accounts.
• Easily change image and video properties and alignment through menus.
• Write and edit HTM if you prefer
• Set or create lables/tags and categories, toggle comments on and off, and set visibility.
• Create scheduled posts, online drafts, and pending-review posts.
• Support for local drafts.
• Edit or delete online posts or pages.
• Upload images from your iPad photo library to any blog media library, Picasa, Flickr or Facebook.
• Easily access YouTube tutorials from inside the app

The bad

• Cumbersome to access published posts

The conclusion

If you're looking for a great blogging app for your iPad that makes it easy to upload photos, then you'll definitely want to take a look at Blogsy. It's integration with Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, YouTube and other services really sets Blogsy apart from the other blogging apps available.

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For those waiting on a full-on Apple television set, or even an enhanced Apple TV will more traditional capabilities, it looks like you'll have to keep waiting, at least for now. While Apple is likely ready to go from a technology standpoint, they can't seem to come to agreements with entrenched, terrified media companies over the future of the living room interface and experience. Adam Satariano and Alex Sherman report for Bloomberg:

In recent negotiations, the main stumbling blocks with cable companies have included a tussle for control over the software that determines the screen interface -- the look and feel of the viewer's experience, said people familiar with the discussions.

Bloomberg also succinctly sums up what Apple's plans are for the living room:

Since the middle of the last decade, Apple's engineers have been working on a more advanced product to allow viewers to quickly find shows and movies, blending both live and recorded material, the people said. It would recommend content based on interests and work seamlessly with Apple's family of other devices. An iPhone or iPad would double as a remote control, the people said.

According to Bloomberg, Apple most recently focused on deals to gain access to live programming from cable companies, without having to make completely new content deals. Apparently, however, the cable companies are worried that Apple will intermediate their customer relationships and don't find the prospect of more future-thinking business models appealing enough to risk the old, decaying ones.

And that's the downer in all this -- even if Apple's negotiations pan out, the best we'll get with this type of deal is an Apple TiVo, and not the product Apple really wants to make. Short of using some of that $100 billion in the bank to buy cable companies -- and they could never buy enough, globally enough -- and drag them kicking and screaming into a new and better world, we're all going to be held hostage to the fears, contracts, and comfort of the past.

Read the whole, sordid story via the link below.

Source: Bloomberg

New photo leaks show what could possibly be the rear casing for the upcoming iPad mini that is rumored to make an appearance sometime this fall. The photos show a casing simliar to what we see now on the iPad 2 and the new iPad except for a smaller form factor and a few changes.

The most noticeable difference will be the size as the iPad mini is rumored to have a 7.85 inch screen, which is a little less than 2 inches smaller than its predecessors. Other changes include the expected micro dock connector along the bottom.

Another difference is the location of the speaker opening. The current iPad and iPad 2 do not have openings along both sides for speakers, only the right. The opening is also on a curve upwards more towards the back on current iterations of the iPad. I'm not sure Apple would move the speakers completely to the bottom of the assembly due to noise interference depending on how you're holding the iPad.

Around the top of the assembly you can see spaces for where the cellular antenna assembly would sit on either side of the front-facing FaceTime camera. There are also grooves in each side similar to what we are already familiar with in current models.

The last thing worth looking at in these photos is the overall thickness of the casing. While it would simply be the angle the pictures were taken, it looks quite a bit thicker than the iPad 2 and even the current generation iPad.

Perhaps Apple will have to sacrifice some thinness in order to make room for components in a smaller size shell but this is contrary to what we have heard here at iMore regarding what the iPad mini will most likely look like. Our sources state that not only should the iPad mini be smaller, but thinner as well.

Up until now, we've only seen a few part leaks in regards to the iPad mini. It's possible these component leaks could have been earlier prototypes. Or they could be nothing at all. Either way, we should find out this fall whether it's at the upcoming iPhone 5 event or a little later in the year.

Source: Nowhereelse.fr

No, it's not the new iPad mini everyone here at iMore is waiting for, but it is the next big thing from Amazon! There's tons of Amazon content available for iOS already, and while Amazon probably won't announce anything specific for iOS users today, we still want to know what Apple will be up against this holiday season. So.... We're live on location in Santa Monica for the Amazon Press Conference. Fully expected to be announced is the successor to the Android-based Kindle Fire, as well as an update to their more traditional Kindle e-reader. Heading into the event there is also buzz that Amazon may even show off an Amazon phone based on the Kindle Fire's software. Will it happen? We'll know soon enough.

The event gets going at 10:30 a.m. PDT, 1:30 p.m. EDT, and 6:30 p.m. BST. (To say nothing of all the other times you folks enjoy throughout the world.)

Also joining in on location from the Mobile Nations team is Ashley Esqueda and Steph Koenig. To tune into the action as it unfolds, jump on over to live.mobilenations.com.

- Take me to the Live Blog Coverage

Whether you're a blogger or a tech addict, you're probably impatiently waiting to see what Apple reveals at the iPhone 5 event this coming week. Scammers and fraudsters love to take advantage of the excitement that surrounds events such as these. If the "invite" that appeared in my inbox this morning is any indication, that's exactly what they'll be doing.

Apple sends out invites to their events via e-mail but it's important to pay attention to where they're coming from as well as what links you're clicking in them. If you got an invite to an Apple event or any other kind of suspicious e-mail, be wary. As the screenshot above shows, the e-mail I received came not to my iMore e-mail, but to a general public inbox for my business. That's the first indication. The second was that it was coming from a domain other than just apple.com. Hovering over the link also showed the link to route to a strange tracking website.

In short, if you've received something like this recently and you think it's too good to be true, it probably is. Use common sense and don't click any links from anything that looks sketchy. Always verify the domain an e-mail is coming from and its authenticity. The time of year for Apple related scams is upon us, so be on your guard when it comes to opening e-mails that appear to come from Apple. Odds are, they aren't.

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Apple's App Store volume discount program, which attempts to make it easier and cheaper for schools and enterprise to buy large quantities of apps, is expanding to more geographies around the world.

Get your apps into the hands of even more users around the world. With the Volume Purchase Program, it's easy to make your iOS apps available in volume to businesses and education institutions in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. You can also build and distribute custom B2B apps for businesses enrolled in the Volume Purchase Program.

The program, introduced back in July of 2011 allows organizations to purchase sets of redemption codes for apps (and iBooks, for education) that can then be installed on multiple iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads within the organization. For education, that's 20 apps or 20 iBooks or more. For business, it also includes custom apps created for, and distributed to, only that business.

Making it available in more countries is great, especially if Apple has products in the pipeline that they think will be attractive to schools and business on unprecedented scales. Because, hey, everyone needs apps to go with them.

Anyone try out the volume discount program yet? Did it save your organization significant time and money?

More: Apple Volume Purchase Program for Education, Apple Volume Purchase Program for Business]()

The CASE:Lynk has just arrived on Kickstarter and it is basically a case for your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S with the added feature of an integrated sync and charge cable. The CASE:Lynk has been designed for moments when your iPhone is woefully short of battery power and you get the opportunity to plug it in then realize you don't have a cable with you. With the CASE:Lynk you will never have that problem again.

Cases have gone through many transformations and innovations, but we think we've stumbled upon one that's both functional while still retaining an elegant minimalist aesthetic. Apple is known for creating products that are simple, beautiful, and highly functional. We want to continue that approach with CASE:Lynk!

You might think the integrated charging cord built into the back of CASE:Lynk would cause it to be a bulky case. This was one of our major concerns, as well, when designing the product. In order to slim it down, we developed a custom USB connector without the jacket. This allows us to reduce the thickness of the back of our case to only 2.3mm. It is 1mm thick everywhere else, so you get a complete charging and syncing solution without adding bulk to your pocket. These innovations make CASE:Lynk the slimmest charging cord on the market.

The designer already has plans to release a version that will be compatible with the iPhone 5 and its rumored 9 pin dock connector. The CASE:Lynk is certainly a smart way to ensure you always have a sync and charge cable with you whenever you have your iPhone. If you like the idea of the CASE:Lynk, you can become an early adopter with a pledge of $35 which will secure one case complete with sync cable should they make it into production. The CASE:Lynk currently has a couple of pledges amounting to $75 and still has a long way to go before it reaches it funding goal of $125,000; it still has 34 days to go.

What do you think of the CASE:Lynk? Do you think it is a good solution for charging on the go?

Source: Kickstarter

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