Today A9 Innovations, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, released Flow, a new iPhone app that allows users to scan objects in real-life with the iPhone’s camera, and instantly get results for available “product matches” on Amazon.com. Flow, based on A9′s scanning technology and augmented reality software, can look at a product’s cover or UPC barcode, and find in a few seconds if the selected item is also available for purchase on Amazon.com. Think Google Goggles, only based on Amazon’s retail infrastructure rather than search. Flow works with book and videogame covers, CDs and DVDs and any product barcode, but I’ve managed to find other products such as iPad accessories and Apple gadgets without scanning the barcode, only by pointing my camera at the product’s packaging for a few seconds.

The tech behind Flow for iPhone is quite impressive. As you hold your camera towards a product’s cover or barcode, the app begins “scanning” its contents and matching the image with Amazon.com in real-time. You can see the scanning process in action through a series of colored dots appearing on screen, capturing the “key areas” of a cover — such as the title, lead image, or artwork. Once a product is “found” on Amazon.com, a pop-up overlay appears on screen with options to Buy Now, see more buying options, share it, or even listen to embedded media available on Amazon.com if it’s a CD.

For example, I was able to listen to some Killers and Led Zeppelin songs after I scanned some old CDs of mine. This pop-up interface item is displayed live on screen, on top of the camera view, as Flow takes advantage of augmented reality technologies built by A9. This means that if you have multiple items on your desk, scanning one after the other will close and re-open multiple popups — it’s very neat.

This is our first step towards integrating product search technology with augmented reality,” said Bill Stasior, president of A9.com. “The integration of a live camera display, graphical overlays, and visual recognition technology creates a seamless experience for a customer looking to discover information about objects in their physical surroundings.

Flow uses continuous scan technology developed by A9.com’s visual search team to identify products and provide related information found on Amazon.com. The app displays Amazon’s popular shopping features such as product details, customer reviews and ratings, as well as sharing options via Twitter, Facebook, or email.

In my tests, Flow managed to recognized old CDs from the early ’90s, Nintendo 64 games, Japan-imported PSX, PS2 and GBA games, European Wii releases, DVDs, books, comic books, iOS accessories and various Apple products. The app also comes with a list view, allowing you to delete scanned items, see the best reviews and buying options on Amazon.com, and even the locations you’ve scanned from through Bing Maps. Alternate Matches, descriptions, related products and previews are also displayed when available.

Flow’s impressive scanning technology will only get better with time, and it’ll be interesting to follow the development of the app and see if Amazon will further integrate with its retail and Prime services. You can get Flow for free on the App Store.

Earlier today Amazon announced a completely revamped Kindle family, which includes the standard $79 Kindle, the $99 Kindle touch, and the much-anticipated $199 Kindle Fire tablet. Ad-supported options and hands-on coverage aside, I’d like to quickly touch upon a common mistake in today’s tech headlines — that the Kindle Fire will “kill” the iPad.

First off, Amazon gets it: they know an ecosystem has to scale to different devices and operating systems, so they diversified their approach to ebook reading and media consumption with three different sets of Kindle (Keyboard/$79 Kindle, Touch, Fire) all tied to a single defining feature: your Amazon.com account.

In discussing Microsoft’s approach to the concept of ecosystem when compared to Apple’s, I wrote:

In Apple’s vision, separate operating systems can live inside the same ecosystem. The single defining aspect of this vision is the Apple ID, which on iOS devices, Macs, PCs, and web browsers gives you access to:

- Songs, Movies, TV Shows, Books, Podcasts;

- Apps;

- The Apple Online Store;

- Your iOS device’s location (still free with MobileMe);

- Email, Calendar, Contact and data sync with MobileMe;

- Your desktop operating system (with Lion’s Apple ID support).

Compare this to Amazon, which is doing the following:

• Amazon Prime: faster shipping times and Instant Video;
• Amazon MP3;
• Amazon Kindle;
• Amazon Appstore;
• Amazon Web Services.

Amazon is building an ecosystem, and all you need to access these services is a single Amazon.com account, possibly connected to a credit card. Like Apple, it may be difficult to keep everything in one account, but it’s not like the average consumer needs all the functionalities of Web Services anyway. Furthermore, Amazon controls its platforms with the web infrastructure they’ve created, and the newly announced Silk browser is the perfect example of how Amazon should also be able to somehow control and optimize web traffic operated by its devices.

There’s more. Amazon gets it because they’re offering a limited choice of devices to use with their ecosystem. Many often cite Apple’s product line-up as an example of simplicity and “just one model” philosophy, but if you think about it, there are multiple ways to get started with iOS:

• iPhone (two colors, different storage options, carrier variations);
• iPod touch (different storage options);
• iPad (two colors, different storage options, carrier variations).

and the Mac (all with multiple configuration options available):

• MacBook Air;
• MacBook Pro;
• iMac;
• Mac mini;
• Mac Pro.

Amazon may kill off some members of the Kindle family soon (DX perhaps?), but here’s what they offer today to access the Amazon.com ecosystem:

• Kindle;
• Kindle Keyboard;
• Kindle DX;
• Kindle Touch;
• Kindle Fire.

The similarities in the underlying concepts of “ecosystem” and “uniqueness” between Apple and Amazon are clear, but there are some key difference that many people don’t seem to properly consider when referring to the latest Kindle Fire as an “iPad killer”. Assuming that by “killer” they actually imagine a scenario where people will stop buying iPads altogether and start seeing the Fire as the only option, Amazon would still need Apple’s retail power at an international level. These people that write “iPad killer” seem to forget that the iPad is available in 64 countries today. Amazon’s Kindle Fire will ship November 15th in the US. So let’s put the “killer” argument behind us once and for all.

Amazon is about to launch a product that may end up being a feasible alternative to the iPad for some people, a product shares several similarities with Apple’s approach to the digital ecosystem. I have no doubt Amazon will sell millions of these new Kindles, and I think the Fire in particular will prove popular with families, readers, movie watchers, gamers — average consumers that may prefer a cheaper device integrated with the Amazon.com account they already have and use daily.

It’s hard to form a complete thought on Amazon’s new strategy because they’re just getting started. The unification process of Amazon’s ecosystem and diversification of unique devices begins today, and the Kindle Fire will ship in less than two months. It’s hard to imagine whether Amazon’s long-term plan is “trying to be like Apple” with international releases, rich App Store, deals with music labels, partnerships with carriers, and so forth. It’s also worth considering that Amazon isn’t completely independent from others yet, as the Kindle Fire runs on a modified version of Android 2.x with possible legal implications in patent fees. And more importantly, it doesn’t even make sense to “judge” the Kindle Fire right now as a winner or PlayBook when we even haven’t tried one. But two months from now, right ahead of the holiday season, let’s picture the following situation: assuming an average consumer interested in reading, listening to music, playing games, watching movies and browsing the web has $500 to spend, will he pick an iPad or a Kindle Fire? And is there a reason to pick both?

That’s where ecosystems prove their strengths.

I’m currently in the process of getting rid of old textbooks and stocking up on required reading materials for a new college semester, and Amazon’s timing couldn’t have been anymore perfect. As you’re textbook shopping in your college bookstore or elsewhere, Amazon Student let’s you scan the barcode (which is super fast) to compare prices online. Alternatively, you scan the barcodes of books you already have so you can attempt to trade-in books for Amazon gift-cards (for future purchases on whatever you’re looking to buy). Amazon Student does try to get students hooked into the Aamzon Student program (Amazon Prime) with a 6-month free membership, costing $39/year soon after.

The app integrates with other areas of Amazon as well: keep your Wish List handy (useful for all those Amazon gift-cards you’ll be getting back), view Amazon Gold Box deals, and check out purchases right from the Amazon Student app. You can download it for free in the App Store.

[TechCrunch via Gizmodo]

Over the past six months there has been a (fairly) quiet tussle between Apple and various publishers and other content suppliers over the issue of In-App Purchases and Subscriptions. At the beginning of the year Apple had demanded that by July, all content available within an app must be available for purchase within the app through In-App Purchasing, for the same price as it was available on the publishers website (say the Kindle online store) and that the app did not link to the website for purchases but used the In-App Purchase system. Apple reversed their policy in May, removing the first two restrictions — but still denied publishers from including a ‘Buy’ link that went to a website and then finally late last month various publishers began to abide by these rules, including the Wall Street Journal, Kobo and the Kindle apps.

This obviously isn’t the best situation for consumers and as many have noted, including Dan Frommer of SplatF, it has made purchasing Kindle books more difficult for the user – despite the premise of In-App Purchases aiming to simplify purchases. Consequently, Amazon today released the Kindle Cloud Reader, a web app for Chrome, Safari and the iPad – with support for other browsers and devices promised soon.

The desktop version of the Kindle Cloud Reader is nice, but it is the iPad version that is most intriguing and impressive. It is a web app but it does an excellent job at masquerading as a native app — particularly features such as offline support and menus that hide/reappear when you tap the screen. It starts from when you first load the Kindle Cloud Reader and it asks permission to reserve 50 MB on your device so that it can store all the necessary elements of the ‘app’ and your books to ensure that when you have no 3G or Wi-Fi connectivity, everything continues to work. To really see how well it does at pretending to be a native app, try it yourself or jump the break for more screenshot’s of the Kindle Cloud Reader — pinning it to the Home Screen as a web app (which it dutifully suggests you do) in particular just amplifies the native app feel by removing the browser chrome.

What Amazon has done by creating this web app reminds me of the Financial Times, which also created a web app for delivering their content to users and subscribers after they also felt Apple’s terms were too restrictive and negative. Unlike the Financial Times, Amazon has not removed their iOS app from the App Store — it remains, albeit hampered by the lack of easy access to the Kindle Store. On the Kindle Cloud Reader however, the Kindle Store works great with a link in the top-right corner and it is made better by the fact that the store has also received an iPad-enhanced design and works much better whilst also looking great.

You can access the Kindle Cloud Reader now, simply by logging in to your Amazon account – all your purchased books will already be there.

[Via TechCrunch]

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The Amazon Kindle app has been updated in the App Store, and subsequently has removed the button linking to their Kindle Store in complying with Apple’s rules for termination (with the ultimate deadline being set at June 30th). Apps offering subscriptions must use in-app-purchasing, and all links to external stores must be removed. The Wall Street Journal and Kobo are also among some of the companies complying at the last minute with the rules pending the upcoming deadline.

Amazon didn’t just update their Kindle app to comply with Apple’s terms of service, however, adding the capability to deliver newspaper and magazine subscriptions to your iPad or iPhone, and download recent editions from the Archived Items section of their app. Amazon is seemingly skirting around subscriptions by making customers push new issues to their devices via the Kindle Store on the web, but automatic delivery makes us wonder whether this infringes on IAP rules.

A second addition brings the ability to highlight text and share quotes or passages with friends on Facebook or Twitter. I’ve never been so enamored to share text of a book I’m reading with my compatriots on either social network, but you bookworms have no more excuses for not showing up to your weekly book club discussion.

As companies experiment with the idea of digital textbooks (look at Inkling for a perfect example on the iPad), new and affordable models for distribution will be thought of along the way. Amazon announced this morning that students will have the opportunity to save up to 80% on textbooks by renting them from the Kindle Store. The 80% discount applies to the initial 30-day renting period, which students can adjust to fit the length of their short or long semesters (normally eight to sixteen weeks at my community college). You can rent books for up to a year, but at that point I’d just buy the book.

What’s interesting to me is how Amazon is tackling the ability to retain your notes. My biggest fear with digital textbooks is that they aren’t cheap enough to buy (I can always sell a textbook back and get up to 60% back of what I initially paid), and that any notes I’ve taken will be lost if I’ve written in the margins. This same concern is expressed by Amazon, whom have tied these features in with Whispersync. All of your notes will be kept in the Amazon Cloud, where you can pull notes back down and read related passages even after the rental period of your textbook is up. I find this intriguing (particularly so if notes are easy to take in the first place).

I’ve always purchased textbooks from Amazon, but now they raise the question of whether I should rent a digital book. Textbooks are available to read across devices from the iPad, iPhone, Mac, and the Kindle itself (along other devices that support Amazon’s Kindle app). Students who want to remove a couple of six pound textbooks from their backpacks (and save their backs) might want to invest in a slim messenger back and an iPad instead, but with the Kindle you know there will the issue of finding pages (with its weird take on page numbers), and its unclear how well graphics and margin notes will be presented. Maybe one of you dear readers would be bold enough to take the dive? Have you purchased digital textbooks in the past? Let us know in the comments!

[Kindle Textbook Rental via Amazon Media Room & TUAW]

Reuters is reporting that a Californian judge has denied Apple’s attempt to quickly stop Amazon from using the term ‘Appstore’, which they have been using for their Android app download service. Apple had earlier this year filed a trademark lawsuit that claimed Amazon was improperly using the ‘App Store’ name in a way that will “confuse and mislead customers”. Amazon had claimed that the term was generic and therefore not protectable.

Whilst the full trial is set to take place in October of next year, this decision was in response to Apple’s request of an injunction against Amazon from using the name. In her decision, U.S. District court Judge Phyllis Hamilton said she did not agree with Amazon’s claim that it was “purely generic” but similarly found that Apple had not established “a likelihood of confusion” required to get an immediate injunction against Amazon’s service.

If the injunction had been successful, Amazon would have had to nearly immediately ceased using the name for their service. Neither Apple nor Amazon responded to Reuter’s requests for comment on the news on the injunction. This trial has attracted the attention of other players in the smartphone app market including Microsoft, Nokia and HTC, all of whom have filed complaints against Apple’s attempt to file a trademark for the term ‘App Store’.

[Via Reuters]

The previously announced biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, which will be the first ‘authorized’ biography of Jobs, is now available for pre-order. iSteve: The Book of Jobs will be released on March 6^th, 2012. The description of the book from Amazon provides:

From bestselling author Walter Isaacson comes the landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In iSteve: The Book of Jobs, Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs’ professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with Jobs’ family members, key colleagues from Apple and its competitors, iSteve is the definitive portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.

You can pre-order iSteve: The Book of Jobs from Amazon right now for $19.80 in paper, or $14.99 for the Kindle edition. Curiously the release date (March 6^th), will be on the fourth anniversary of the release of the iOS SDK that allowed developers to build third party apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

[Via Cult of Mac]