The Spectator The independent student newspaper of Valdosta State University
Let’s get back to the tech world.
These last couple of weeks have been missing some tech stories, so let me catch you up to speed on what has happened.
Apple had record pre-orders and sales for the iPhone 5. Within 72 hours they had two million pre-orders– double that of the iPhone 4S.
Barnes & Noble announced the Nook HD and the Nook HD+.
The Nook HD is the lightest 7-inch tablet with an HD display and has about 11 hours of battery for reading with 9 hours of video time. It has a proprietary dock connector and a full sized HDMI port. The 8GB version will cost $199 while the 16GB will cost $229. It will be released Nov. 1 with a MicroSD slot for up to 32GB of expandable memory.
The Nook HD+ is the lightest 9-inch tablet with a full HD screen. This is the same as the normal HD except it has a better and bigger display. It will release in 16GB and 32GB at $269 and $299 respectively. This also has a MicroSD slot for 32GB of expandable memory and will also be released Nov. 1
A rumor is being reported that Microsoft will start making Surface branded smartphones. It was first rumored when Microsoft announced the Surface tablet during the summer, but Microsoft has not declined the possibility of them making smartphones. Several recent interviews have questioned Microsoft about this. Well I guess we’ll see what happens.
Windows 8 will release on Oct. 26 with new laptops and will be available to upgrade for Windows users.
Fortune has started spreading a rumor that Apple will send out invites to an iPad Mini event. They will send the invites Oct. 10 and the event will take place the following week. This would make a lot of sense since Apple still has yet to announce when the new iPods will launch this month. Could Apple want to launch the new iPod line along with the iPad Mini for the holiday shopping season?
That’s it for this week. Don’t forget to check out the SpecTech blog for the video for my #4 favorite video game of all time! Watch at http://vsuspectech.blogspot.com/
The question for this week is, would you rather purchase a Kindle Fire HD/HD 8.9 or a Nook HD/HD+? Email your answers to smsetser@valdosta.edu or post at http://vsuspectech.blogspot.com/
I’m looking forward to the Nook HD. The Kindle HD seems to be a great device as well but the lack of a SD slot kills it for me. The Nook hopefully like those before it will be able to be rooted and run CM10 Jellybean. This wasn’t part of the question but I’ve used Windows 8 on a tablet already. Smooth as butter and fast.