Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G LTE Wireless

Reading on the new Kindle Fires and the 4G model, because of the 4G model. $50 for 250MB of data a.month, for 12 months sounds interesting.  The PlayBook has only wifi, but once in awhile, you need to look things up and you have no wifi, so the limited data plan could come in handy. But the step up indices is too steep, for me.

But I found funny is that as of today, there is no FCC approval for the 4G model. It seems almost assured to pass the FCC, but Amazon has to make note about it not being approved. In the bottom left corner they start off by saying "This device...".

But what if the FCC doesn't approve the device in time? What happens? It would be funny, I guess.

The real problem with the Kindle Fires are that the don't have the ecosystem outside of the US. So, they can never do as well as Apple. No matter what anyone says, only Apple has a worldwide ecosystem for tablets, everybody else will need years to catch up.

RIM and the PlayBook has failed, but so has every other tablet. Amazon has never released numbers for the Fire. And Google has not bragged on how many Nexus 7s they have sold. RIM and the PlayBook could make a come from behind victory.  Could. It would be nice. I really like my PlayBook.

Rueters India  link to article about the FCC

Micro Mini or Mini Micro

Just realized I have been using mini USB, when it should be micro USB. I need to edit all my post. The BlackBerry PlayBook has a micro USB port and micro HDMI out port.

If I do edit my post, it is for using the wrong words, mostly because the PlayBook has autocorrect function.

Some Shopping

USPS delivered my Kingston Wi-Drive 32GB from Amazon today. Not bad, as I ordered it 8-29-12, a Wednesday. Arrive 9-04-12, a Tuesday. Free delivery. And a holiday on Monday, Labor Day. My expected arrival was 9-11-12 to 9-17-12. Must admit Amazon does a great job at shipping, faster then most anyone else. But I believe they are the more evil then WalMart.

Also got a travel rapid charger for the PlayBook today. Was at the mall and went to Radioshack and they had one left. It was a clearence, $14.97 + tax. The seal had been broken, but everything was intact. The rapid charger uses 3 magnetic pins to charge the PlayBook. And it supposed to charge faster. What most people who have bought it like is that it doesn't use the mini USB port. The mini USB port can become damaged, so less wear and tear.

In the picture, you can see the rapid charger connected to the PlayBook. Next to it is the mini USB port and next to that is the mini HDMI.

Blog Blog Blog

Came across an article from CNET, but before I give you the link I wanted to say this - I can't confirm if this story is true. I know they have the one source, can't say if the have another.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57505050-93/samsung-to-bloggers-promote-our-products-at-ifa-or-walk-home/

I won't say I believe this story to be true. And this is Samsung India, which I can't confirm is a subsidiary of Samsung Group. The gist of the article is that Samsung India paid for some bloggers from India to fly to Germany to attend IFA 2012, a trade show. Read the article for more details.

When you read reviews of products, you must realize that it is of models, picked out by the manufactures to not have any flaws. A good review would buy one at retail like any consumer. Would I accept a free flight and hotel to attend a trade show? Yes. But I hope that I would tell you I accepted a free trip. As long as the reader knows, let the readers make up their minds if it is correct behavior. And if Amazon wished to send me a Kindle Fire 2 to review, yes please. Apple, I want to attend the iPad Mini launch.

After reading the CNET article again, I found they have the link for the original story, I think. I will post it below. One more thing. I think companies give bloggers free things all the time, not just Samsung India. Readers have the right to know.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/09/02/heres-samsung-flew-bloggers-halfway-around-world-threatened-leave/

WatchMore from App World

WatchMore is a paid app from App World. I had bought it a few months ago. It is supposed to be able to convert an ac3 audio file into a playable file for your PlayBook. No, I'm sorry, it will convert a video file, with a ac3 audio track into a mp4 video file with a playable audio file. Not real sure what the audio file file is.

Never got it to convert a file that could not play, into a file that plays. Until today.

Found a avi video file with an ac3 audio track. The video plays in the native player, but no sounds comes out. I used WatchMore and it converted an 550MB avi file into an 470MB mp4 file that will play with audio and video with the PlayBook's native videoplayer. WatchMore says it takes 1/7 of the the total runtime of the video to do the conversion. Didn't time the conversion, so I can not verify that.

But it does work.

Posting Pictures on Blog

In the previous post, I was hoping to rotate the picture. I just could not figure how to do it. I don't mean before I uploaded it, but after I chose the picture to put in the blog. I'll figure that out later. It is a learning curve.

Sony MDR-EX10LP

Never did order any headphones from Monoprice.com. But I needed to get new earphones. Went to the Ross (Dress For Less) store near me and they these Sony earbuds. $9.99 ($10.41 w/tax). Good price for these. Amazon has them at about $12. Other retail stores near me sell them for $21.99 regular price, or $15.99 sale.

The left driver on my current headphone died.