Gadzooki

Droning On

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Amazon has a drone, the US military has scores of drones, but you might be surprised to find out which professionals are also loving the drone movement. Realtors, real estate property managers and others in the housing industry are leading the pack when it comes to drones for everyday consumption. In fact, these gadgets are changing the entire real estate game for the better. Forget hiring a helicopter to take aerial shots of a property; a drone can do that for a fraction of the price.

Imagine this: You want to buy or sell a piece of property. To showcase the property from a real bird’s eye view, you need a high quality aerial photo. Or maybe you’re looking to buy a property and you’re on the fence between Choice A and Choice B. Suddenly Choice A dishes up an aerial view and you can really see how sprawling the backyard is or how close you are to the good park with the cool playground. A droid just sold a house, and it’s helping buyers and sellers alike stack the odds favorably. [Read more…]

Cheaper Kindle – “Special Offers” Included

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Kindle with Special Offers
The Kindle has changed the way people read – there is no doubt about that. While there are still a lot of people who prefer to hold real paper in between their fingers and smell the unmistakable aroma of a “real” book (I am included in this group, by the way), the convenience that e-book readers such as the Kindle is undeniable. Ever since e-book readers became readily available in the market, these gadgets have made converts of countless people around the world. Don’t get me wrong – nothing “real” books but when it comes to portability, I like having the option of accessing hundreds and hundreds of book from a single device that weighs less than my thinnest paperback.

Kindle is definitely one of the most popular – if not THE most popular – e-book readers in the market today, and Amazon continues to play on that factor. There have been several versions of the Kindle, each targeted towards specific users. This time, they are laying their cards on the table with the “Kindle with Special Offers”.

Basically, with this version of the Kindle, you get the same old 6-inch Kindle with Wi-Fi and e-ink pearl technology. However, you get some dollars knocked off the price, so instead of $139, you only pay $114. And how is this possible?

The key lies in the “Special Offers”. This term is simply a disclaimer informing us that ads are included in this Kindle.  In other words, the Kindle with Special Offers is subsidized by ads.

What kinds of ads will you see in this Kindle?  Here are some examples:

  • $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
  • $6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
  • $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store (choose from over 1 million albums)
  • $10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Denim Shop or Amazon Swim Shop

Personally, I wouldn’t be bothered by such ads.  The main issue bothering people is that the ads will be intrusive and disrupt the pleasure of reading.  Indeed, how would you feel if you were reading a hardbound book with ads in the margin?  The good news is that apparently, the ads will only show up when the screensaver turns on and at the bottom of the home screen.  Basically, you won’t get those pop ups in the middle of a gripping scene.

Given that, I think that having ads on the Kindle should not be an issue at all.  I do think that they ought to give a better discount on the gadget, though.

Get the Kindle with Special Offers here.

Take Ten (1 Sep 09): Vaio/Chrome, movieIQ, Samsung app store, Windows Mobile 6.5, 3G problems by 2010, Wii channel free, Snow Leopard, Kindle in Europe, Nokia World

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Every Tuesday, Gadzooki takes a look at ten top tech stories from the past week and serves them up to you in manageable chunks for easy digestion. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed or Twitter account so you don’t miss them.

1. Sony Vaio laptops preloaded with Google Chrome browser

sony-vaiosApparently it’s been happening for some time, but Sony has been preloading some of its US-destined VAIO laptops with Google’s Chrome web browser.

That’s a great result for Google, even thought VAIO’s aren’t necessarily the most popular laptops going and that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox have a huge market share in comparison (~70%/20%).

Is this a sign that Sony might be keen to get Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS on board? It would be interesting to know, though hard to measure, how much damage PC manufacturers have suffered as a result of sticking Windows Vista on their computers. Windows 7 might be better, but perhaps Chrome OS will join Linux as a credible alternative OS — even as a build option rather than by default — for hardware vendors wanting to distance themselves from Microsoft.

Chrome might only have about two percent of the browser market share at present, but I just get the feeling that share will grow as more deals are done and the word gets out to Joe Public.

Via

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