Samsung’s New Tablet with Kobo Software, More Twitter Users, More Skype Video

In Tech Digest by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson

It’s Friday and it’s time for our end-of-the-week Tech Digest, with the latest and greatest in digital developments.

There’s a New Tablet in Town

Tech companies are getting better and better at dragging out the launch of their new products. After weeks of rumors and leaked information, Samsung announced the official launch of their tablet PC, the GALAXY, at the IFA show in Berlin this week. Running on Android, this new tablet is slightly smaller than the iPad. It can make phone and video calls, and users can download Android apps. Similar to when the iPad first came out, many Android apps are not yet optimized for the larger screen size.

The ebook and ereading software on the GALAXY was created by Kobo. Called the Readers Hub, this platform supports ePub, PDF, and Adobe DRM. For international users, ebooks from Europe and Asia will be available.

No information on the pricing or the release date is available yet.

People Love Twitter

Mashable reports that last night, Twitter CEO Evan Williams announced that Twitter now has 145 million registered users, and they are adding 300,000 new users a day. Mobile apps and mobile internet access has contributed to this growth, with 16 percent of new Twitter users joining through mobile devices.

Video Conferencing with 10 People on Skype

Skype 5.0, still in beta, was announced yesterday. What’s the big deal? Now you can host group video calls with up to 10 people. Talk to you entire family, or host a conference call with colleagues around the world. No more muting your line and checking email during conference calls…you colleagues can see you!

Skype 5.0 is currently only available for Windows.

About the Author

Hannah Johnson

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Hannah Johnson is the publisher of international book industry magazine Publishing Perspectives, which provides daily information and news about book markets around the world. In addition to building partnerships with international cultural and trade organizations, she works with the Frankfurt Book Fair to organize and support a number of its overseas initiatives. Hannah has also worked as the managing editor for an online media company, The Hooch Life, focused on craft distillers and cocktail experts. Prior to that, she worked as a project manager for the Frankfurt Book Fair’s New York office, managing various business and marketing activities.