Amazon

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If all of the rumors are true, Amazon has a 7-inch “media tablet” that runs a forked version of Android and will connect to all of Amazon’s services, including its Appstore, Movies, TV, Music and of course eBooks. It won’t be true multi-touch but the rumored price is half of the iPad’s (just like the screen) at $250.  Who is making this for Amazon?  Foxconn of course.

Yes, it sounds just like a Nook (which is getting an interesting update soon) with a better backend store.

via Verge
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Remember that cool iHub USB device that was briefly selling on M.I.C. Gadget, but then was pulled by Apple’s lawyers? It is back, and at a place you’ll probably feel a bit more familiar with: Amazon. Amazon has a few sellers selling that iHub again for prices (white, black) as low as $12.40. Interestingly, Amazon is fulfilling these orders (free shipping) which indicates that they might be complicit.

The iHub isn’t the only Apple branded device making its way through Amazon’s fulfillment centers. the iAccessory Store has a new look “silver” iHub for $9 (black too) and some questionable iPhone HDD enclosures as well as external speakers that bear the Apple logo.

An unboxing video from Nowhereelse.fr of the iHDD and iAudio below:

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According to the New York Post (via BGR), Amazon is getting ready to launch their rumored Android-powered tablets with a price tag “hundreds less” than Apple’s current $499 base model iPad 2. “Hundreds less” sounds a lot like $299.

The devices, expected to launch sometime in October, will more than likely be the result of the entry-level tablet codenamed “Coyote” and it’s pro-model counterpart the NVIDIA T30 Kal-El powered “Hollywood”. We told you about these devices back in May, which will most likely be powered by a highly customized Amazon version of Android (bringing with it Amazon services like the Appstore, Kindle eBook store, Amazon Videos, music and possibly brought together by the Cloud Drive).

Amazon is clearly prepping a huge move into the tablet market. We reported this week that the company signed up a third touch panel supplier, and that was after recently becoming the second largest buyer of tablet-related parts – without yet having released a tablet.

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For reasons yet undefined, Google Books has been removed from the iTunes App Store.  We noticed the App was gone earlier this week but thought it might have been just a blip.  Now it has been awhile.

Google Books was just updated in April with new 3D page turning, landscape mode and search so it is unlikely that Google decided to orphan it.  Google launched its Books initiative in December of this year as a competitor to Amazon and Apple’s eBookstores.

So why is it gone now?  The timing with Apple’s new, controversial Terms of Service would seem like the most obvious explanation.

Was Google in violation of Apple’s new in-app purchase terms of service? Or, is this because Harry Potter is coming out on Google Books?

We’ve reached out to Google and Apple for answers.

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Macworld reports that Adobe is making its first application available on the Mac App Store. Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Editor  is being offered for $79.99 which is less than the $99 boxed version (which is often discounted– for instance it is $60 currently after a $20 discount at Amazon).

Mac App Store version of the application costs $80 and includes all the same editing tools as the full version. However, unlike the full $100 version, it does not come bundled with the Adobe Elements Organizer application. This version is available only in English, and cannot be purchased anywhere outside of Apple’s Mac App Store.

The big deal here is that a huge software maker, that makes a lot of money on selling boxed software, is trying out the App Store.  Adobe are also experimenting in the iOS App Store as well.  The big question: Will Creative Suite be there soon with Apple taking 30% of the cut?  Ouch.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Editor at App Store 
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We might be due for an iWork refresh pretty soon.  We’re hearing from a few Apple Store employees that “there is no iWork on the shelves, no iWork in stock and none on the way”.  A quick check to Amazon shows none in stock there (but family packs are available).

Ingram Micro shows a few hundred retail boxes available and Amazon’s secondary sellers have some in stock.  The online Apple store has them in stock but there is a fresh “new” label on the product (see above).

We’re not sure if this is a inventory blip or a sign that new products might be coming but we do know that iWork is coming as apps in the Mac App Store and we know that is coming January 6th.  Anyone else heard anything?

Update: Also, the Apple Search page also autocompletes “iWork ’11” (thanks Pete!):

Update 2: TUAW points out that iWork ’09, the latest version of the software suite, was released on January 6, 2009. Coincidence?

Update 3: Video below of Apple store Employee saying wait for iWork ’11 soon:
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Update: That didn’t take long. Amazon is either sold out or was ordered to stop selling them directly.  Anyone out there snap one up?

Target isn’t the only new seller of the iPad this weekend.  Amazon gets the iPad as well and sells them for the same price as Apple.  Amazon, however doesn’t charge any tax in most states and offers free shipping as well.  (good way to burn out a bunch of leftover giftcards!).

Amazon is only carrying the 32GB and 64GB Wifi versions currently but will likely round out its inventory as we approach Christmas.  Amazon carried the iPad through third party vendors previously but often with over-inflated prices — and that’s still the case in the UK.

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