Techy Trends

I've collected some news about several  major trends. Pretty interesting sutff, partcularly about iPads.

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University of Minnesota  CEHD News

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), in partnership with the University's Office of Information Technology, will provide its entire freshman class of about 450 students with iPads, in the largest pilot of its kind at a major research university. . . .  CEHD faculty, who are world leaders in academic technologies and postsecondary education, will research how iPad use relates to student retention, engagement, and learning outcomes. A broad spectrum of first-year undergraduate courses in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning will incorporate the devices.
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Michael Liedtke A.P.: "Google plugs free PC-to-phone calling into e-mail"

Google is adding a free e-mail feature that may persuade more people to cut the cords on their landline phones. The service . . . enables U.S. users of Google's Gmail service to make calls from microphone-equipped computers to telephones virtually anywhere in the world.
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Ben Worthen, WSJ: "Businesses Add iPads to Their Briefcases"--

When Apple Inc.'s first iPhone came out in 2007, many companies told their employees that the device wasn't appropriate for the workplace. The iPad is a different story.

The company's tablet-style device seems to be sidestepping the resistance that the iPhone and other consumer-oriented devices have faced in the corporate environment. Indeed, many businesses have raced to snap up iPads.

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Rob Pegoraro T"Apple's move pushes TV toward Internet delivery"

Apple's updated video vision falls in line with that of such competitors as Amazon's video-on-demand store and the free, ad-supported viewing available at the Web sites of the TV networks and Hulu, which is owned by some of them. All those offerings mean free viewers don't have to pay for things they don't want to watch -- unlike the traditional programming model, in which they subscribe for a large bundle of content and then proceed to ignore most of it.

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GEOFFREY A. FOWLER And MARIE C. BACA The Washington Post: "The ABCs of E-Reading":

New Devices Are Changing Habits. People Are Reading More, Even While in a Kayak . . . . Among early adopters, e-books aren't replacing their old book habits, but adding to them. Amazon, the biggest seller of e-books, says its customers buy 3.3 times as many books after buying a Kindle, a figure that has accelerated in the past year as prices for the device fell.

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David Winograd, TUAW   "Notre Dame embarks on a paperless course with iPads"

The University of Notre Dame's yearlong study of eReaders in academics is starting the school year with a bang-- a course that will use the iPad as the only textbook students need. 

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Bret Lang, The Wrap "Look Out HBO"
 

Netflix announced that it had struck a deal with cable channel Epix that will allow it to instantly stream more box-office hits. Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that in exchange for access to the Paramount, Lionsgate, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer digital libraries, Netflix will pay Epix $1 billion over the next five years, putting the cable company back in the black. Under the agreement, which goes into effect on Sept. 1, Netflix will be able to stream movies 90 days after Epix picks up the rights, or around the time that movies go to DVD. The deal will dramatically expand Netflix's instant-streaming catalog.

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 Blog Photo from Notre Dame News