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Google to Sell Google Tablets Online?

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If The Wall Street Journal's sources are right, Google is going to rival Apple and Amazon even further-- with plans to directly sell Google-branded tablets via online store.

Google tabletAccording to "people familiar with the matter," Google will be selling Asus and Samsung Android tablets later this year, with Motorola-built Google-branded devices to follow.

“Google believes the current model for selling tablets is broken,” the WSJ says. Will direct sales (and putting retailers aside) fix it? The company already tried selling the HTC-built Nexus One exclusively online back in 2010... managing to sell only around 100000 phones, according to Android team lead Andy Rubin.

Meanwhile both Apple and Amazon have no troubles with online hardware sales (especially Amazon, whose successful Kindle Fire is only available online).

Rumours have also been going on for a while on Google entering the hardware arena-- with Motorola-made Google-branded tablets and a wireless music streaming system.

Go Google Heightens Rivalry with iPad (WSJ.com, subscription required)

Go Google to Launch Own-Brand Tablet?

GAME Finds Buyer

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GAME manages to find a buyer-- Baker Acquisitions Ltd., an entity advised by investment company OpCapita, is taking over all remaining GAME UK assets including all 333 UK GAME and Gamestation stores.

GAMEThe parties are not disclosing financial details of the sale and no statement is available on the future of GAME operations outside the UK.

Baker Acquisitions will be bringing the GAME business out of administration, saving nearly 3200 jobs. It will also re-employ a "small-number" of ex-GAME head office staff made redundant last week. It also has "no plans" for further store closures.

The retailer already closed down 43 UK retail outlets (12 GAME stores, 6 Gamestation stores and 25 Debenhams concessions) last March.

GAME reportedly owes creditors, suppliers and banks something around £180M, as major games publishers (including EA, Nintendo, Microsoft, Tecmo Koei, Capcom and Activision) started refusing to supply the retailer with new titles due to concerns of creditworthiness.

Go Announcement of the Sale of GAME UK

Change the Way You View TV/Projector Setup Forever

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 ISF Joel Silver

Joel Silver, president and founder of the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF), is one of the industry’s rock stars…who frequently writes articles for leading journals and also consults for organisations such as CNN, Epson, Bose, the BBC and many more.

But less known is that one of the main reasons he’s now an industry rock star is because of his work in IT: Joel is the co-inventor of the patented Microsoft Media Centre Calibration Wizard now in over 111,000,000 PCs.

Now CEDIA joins with the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) to offer a course on delivering professional services for accurate and dependable electronic imaging.

Hosted at the Panasonic Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, UK, the 3-day course will run from 17th – 19th April 2012.

Cheap and Cheerful to Dominate the Tablet Market?

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The iPad might rule the tablet market, but the situation might change soon enough-- ABI Research predicts low cost (sub-$400) tablets will take over 60% of the market by 2016, while the over $400 segment shrinks.

iPad Kindle FireThe tablet market remains a booming segment 3 years after its general birth. Tablet models currently on sale total over 220 models ABI says, with the majority having sub-$400 price points.

Display sizes are also set to change-- while tablets with wide aspect displays (9" and over) account for 75% of total 2011 tablet shipments (mostly due to iPad 2 shipments) the analyst expects smaller (7-9") models to gain more ground in the future. How come? Customers preferring the more portable option, mainly.

ABI says eReaders will also remain relatively strong. The market offers over 30 different models from major vendors, while 2011 growth totals 33% Y-o-Y (with 2012 Y-o-Y growth to reach 20%). However the slow pace of digitisation of local content will continue holding both eReader and tablet adoption back in key emerging markets.

Go Apple Will Maintain Tablet Market Dominance in the Short Term, Low Cost Segment to Take 60% by 2016 (ABI Research)

Rejoice, the AMIGA is Back!

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After bringing back the C64 with the retro-tastic C64X, Commodore USA launches the Amiga mini-- a mini-PC boasting a stylish aluminium case (similar to the Mac Mini) ideal for use as either a Home Theatre PC or a gaming machine.

Amiga miniIt carries a 3.5GHz Core i7-2700k CPU, 16GB DDR3 RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GT 430 (with 1GB RAM), 1TB HDD and optional 300 or 600GB SSD. Connections come via wifi, Bluetooth, x4 USB 2.0 and x2 USB 3.0 ports, while outputs include VGA, DVI and HDMI.

It also carries a slot loading Blu-ray reader/DVD writer combo, something of a rarity in current mini-PCs.

Commodore USA is also launching the C64X Supreme (an upgraded version of the C64X) and two new VIC models-- the VIC mini (a C64X Supreme only inside an Amiga mini case) and the VIC-Slim keyboard PC.

All new Commodore PCs use Commodore OS Vision, a customised GNU/Linux distribution.

Go Commodore Amiga Mini

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