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A paper-inspired daily planner with notes for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and now Apple Watch. A day you design your way.

Is This Toshiba’s Answer to the iPad?

Just as we predicted months ago, everyone wants to release its own tablet now. Apple has created a new market with the iPad (some say it has reinvented an already existing market that only needed a kickstart) and now we’re seeing tablets popping up from anywhere in the industry.

Now, Toshiba wants to release a tablet computer as well, to fight the incredible success of the iPad. They have this prototype, and they call it “Libretto” - which stands for “small book” in Italian. It doesn’t look exactly like a tablet computer, but more like a touch-enhanced netbook. It’s an interesting prototype, so let’s take a look at the specs.

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Canabalt, Now Native on iPad

Canabalt, one of the most popular games available for the iPhone, has just been updated and it’s now a universal application that can run natively on the iPad.

The update comes with iOS 4 bug fixes and a new soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky. For those unfamiliar with Canabalt, it’s a very addictive game which features retro-pixel graphics, and you just have to run avoiding obstacles and jumping from one building to another. It’s one of my favorite games in the App Store.

Available at $2.99, free update for previous customers.

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Kindle Book Store to Lose Ground to Apple

While the Kindle has been an amazing accomplishment in paving the way for e-books, its time has seemingly passed. Citi analyst Mark Mahaney predicts that the Apple iBookstore will surpass Amazon’s service as the selection gets bigger and Apple sells more iPads. Electronista writes,

“Although not mentioned by Mahaney, Amazon also faces concern over the exposure of the Kindle reader and store versus Apple’s devices.”

As iBooks will begin opening doors on iPod touches and the new iPhone 4 starting next week, Apple will have a prominent advantage in simply outselling Amazon. The sheer amount of iBooks compatible devices, coupled with iBookstore integration with pre-existing iTunes accounts, makes purchasing e-books incredibly convenient. For the value of the Kindle compared to the iPad, consumers looking for an e-book platform may feel they’re getting more bang for their buck with Apple’s portable computer. Quite quickly, Apple is set to dominate yet another electronic market.

[via Electronista]

Scribd: User Engagement Surges After Dumping Flash

For those unfamiliar with Scribd, it’s an excellent social networking tool designed to get people talking about written materials – documents, comics, books – they’re all there. Lately they’ve been undergoing the arduous process of freeing themselves completely of Adobe Flash, and as they wipe away the last remaining remnants, the results have been dramatic.

CEO Trip Adler reports that user engagement, “Has surged.” Scribd isn’t saying their user base is increasing, rather, their pre-existing user base (50 million unique visitors) are spending a substantially greater amount of time searching for documents and sharing materials with friends.

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