EU opens antitrust probe into Apple’s e-book deals | AFP

European antitrust officials launched a probe on Tuesday to determine whether iPad maker Apple and five international publishers struck illegal deals to fix the price of e-books in Europe.

The European Commission will look at deals between the US gadget giant and US publishing powerhouses Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins, Britain’s Penguin, France’s Hachette Livre and Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck.

Amelia Torres, the commission’s competition spokeswoman, said the probe will see whether the agreements “had the objective or effect of restricting competition and fixing the price of e-books at a high level in Europe.”

“This is an important issue for consumers, for people like me and you who love to read books, including on an electronic platform,” Torres told a news briefing, adding that the case will be treaty as a matter of priority.

Apple is in a fierce battle over the growing e-reader market with US online retail giant Amazon, which launched a new version of its Kindle tablet in the United States in September costing $199, half the price of the iPad.

The opening of the probe follows surprise raids in March by EU competition authorities in the offices of several companies active in the e-book sector in several EU states.

The commission said in a statement that it would investigate whether Apple and the five publishers engaged in illegal deals or practices that “would have the object or the effect of restricting competition in the EU.”

via AFP: EU opens antitrust probe into Apple’s e-book deals.

PhoneFactor Delivers IOS App for Authentication | PCWorld

PhoneFactor, an authentication system that uses mobile phones as a second factor for improved security, is now available as an app for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

When users log in to an enterprise application or perform an online transaction on a PC, PhoneFactor requires them to respond to a prompt sent to their mobile phone. The system has already been available with voice calls or text messages for the prompt, and now it can be used with a native app on the phone. The version for iOS 4 and iOS 5 is available now, and an Android version is coming soon, according to the company.

PhoneFactor is designed to take the place of a traditional two-factor authentication system, such as the SecurID hardware tokens sold by RSA, which display one-time passwords for users to enter on the PC. Because people can use their cell phones instead of a dedicated device, PhoneFactor is less expensive and easier to deploy and manage, according to Sarah Fender, PhoneFactor’s vice president of marketing and product management. A PhoneFactor software license typically costs enterprises between US$10 and $25 per user, per year, she said. The iOS app to use with it is free.

via PhoneFactor Delivers IOS App for Authentication | PCWorld Business Center.

Update: Google ‘messed up,’ yanks Gmail app for iPhone, iPad – Computerworld

Just minutes after launching its first native Gmail app for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, Google pulled the program, saying it had “messed up” by issuing a flawed version.

“Unfortunately, it contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error message when first opening the app,” Google said in an updated blog post. It promised a new version “soon,” but did not set a timetable.

Google tweeted much the same. “We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up,” the Gmail team said on Twitter.

David Girouard, Google’s vice president of apps and the company’s top executive for its enterprise group, issued his own apology on Twitter and Google+.

“Googla culpa!” said Girouard on Twitter. “Sorry, but we pushed a bad version of our iOS app for Gmail. More info shortly – we’re working on it.”

via Update: Google ‘messed up,’ yanks Gmail app for iPhone, iPad – Computerworld.

Mobile eDiscovery Content Review with eZoom Data Rooms

eZoom Data Room Services from Global EDD Group enable mobile content review via your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch device and include such features as:

  • Secure role-based access based on your eZoom user account,
  • Full-text searching,
  • Commenting and tagging of  discovery files,
  • Direct uploading of document and photos.
eZoom™ Data Rooms are a service from Global EDD Group that provide a basic, flexible platform for a quick, focused, content-driven analysis of discovery documents such as e-mails, documents, spreadsheets, presentations and scanned images.  Further information about eZoom is available by clicking here.

Polycom launches push into video conferences for tablets – San Jose Mercury News

Polycom on Tuesday is launching a push to bring its Web-based videoconferencing technology to Apple’s (AAPL) iPad, along with tablets offered by Samsung and Motorola.

Pleasanton-based Polycom says its tablet software — which is aimed at big businesses — will help workers hold videoconferences while on the go.

“Polycom,” company CEO Andrew Miller said, is “extending video collaboration beyond the traditional boundaries of the conference room and desktop.”

Still, this won’t be an easy market for Polycom to command, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with San Jose-based Enderle Group, which tracks technology trends.

Polycom must square off against fierce foes, such as San Jose-based Cisco Systems (CSCO), that also hunger for more chunks of the video conferencing sector.

via Polycom launches push into video conferences for tablets – San Jose Mercury News.

EMC Puts Documentum Mobile on iPad

Think about all the things you can do with EMC’s Documentum, and then think about doing them mobile. According to EMC’s website, Documentum userscan do that now by taking their repositories out of the enterprise using the iPad.

That is to say,  users of Documentum can access their repositories from the iPad, and although there is no mention of Android access, EMC has already said previously that it will be enabling access from all mobile platforms

Earlier on in the year during EMC World the company had slotted a release date of “sometime in the third quarter,” and sure enough, it can now be downloaded for iPad, and probably a lot more besides quite soon.

With it, all content in Documentum is visible, including rich media such as videos and images. In addition, EMC says users can carry out common repository tasks such as search and preview, download content for offline access, collaborate with other users and participate in business processes.

via EMC Puts Documentum Mobile on iPad.

Lenovo Says New ‘Ultrabook’ Thinner Than MacBook Air | PCWorld Business Center

Lenovo has jumped on Intel’s “Ultrabook” bandwagon, announcing a new IdeaPad on Thursday that the company said is thinner than Apple’s celebrated MacBook Air.

The IdeaPad U300S has a 13.3-inch display and is the slimmest laptop on the market, said Michael Littler, marketing lead at Lenovo’s product group consumer marketing. The U300S is 0.59 inches thick (1.49 centimeters) and weighs 2.2 pounds (0.99 kilograms), Lenovo said. The 13-inch MacBook Air is 0.68 inches thick and weighs 2.96 pounds.

The U300S comes with a choice of low-power Intel processors. It provides up to eight hours of battery life during active use and 30 hours on standby. The starting price is US$1,200, and the laptop will start to ship in mid-October, with worldwide availability set for November, Lenovo said.

The Ultrabook is the name for a new class of thin and light laptops being promoted by Intel. It’s been seen as a way for Intel to revive interest in laptops, sales of which have slowed due to the popularity of tablets, and Apple’s iPad in particular.

via Lenovo Says New ‘Ultrabook’ Thinner Than MacBook Air | PCWorld Business Center.

Lenovo Heats up Price War With $199 IdeaPad Tablet | PCWorld

Lenovo announced a new US$199 IdeaPad tablet with a 7-inch screen and Google’s Android OS in response to the surge in demand for inexpensive tablets, the company said on Thursday.

The IdeaPad A1 tablet weighs around 400 grams (0.88 pounds) and is under 0.5 inches (1.27 centimeters) thick, and will become available in specific starting around the end of September, said Nick Reynolds, executive director of global marketing at Lenovo. The tablet provides seven hours of battery life.

The tablet will be among the cheapest 7-inch Android tablets available from a top device maker. Many competitive products cost more than $250. Acer last month started shipping its 7-inch Iconia Tab A100 tablet for US$329, and Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab screen sells for $279 through Amazon.com and Fry’s Electronics.

“This is a very accessible price point starting at US$199,” Reynolds said. Lenovo views the tablet as a companion to PCs, and a low price will open up demand for tablets, especially in emerging markets, Reynolds said.

Lenovo’s new tablet comes as prices for Android tablets drop in an effort to challenge the market dominance of Apple’s iPad 2, whose rock-steady $499 starting price has not changed since its launch earlier this year. One of the first Android tablets, Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab, went on sale late last year through Verizon starting at $600 without a contract, and was considered overpriced. But Android tablet prices have fallen. Unbranded tablets sell for as little as $100. Consumers last month scrambled to buy Hewlett-Packard’s TouchPad tablet, which was priced starting at $99 in a fire sale after the company announced it would stop selling webOS devices. Buyers’ frenzy over the TouchPads was such that HP on Tuesday said it would make a final round of the devices and have them ready for sale in coming weeks.

via Lenovo Heats up Price War With $199 IdeaPad Tablet | PCWorld.

Adobe CreatePDF App Lets Users Create PDF Files From iPhone, iPad, iPod

Adobe Systems recently launched an application for iOS devices that lets users author files in Portable Document Format straight from their mobile devices. With CreatePDF, users can author PDFs that will appear onscreen the same way on a computer, mobile device or web browser.

Create PDFs From the Cloud

With a diverse ecosystem of computing devices, including mobile phones, smartphones, tablets and desktop computers, documents often appear differently when viewed on different devices. While desktop computers can convert documents into PDF, most mobile devices don’t have enough computing power to do this. But with Adobe’s CreatePDF, the actual conversion process is done in the cloud using Adobe’s online service. Documents published as PDF can then be sent via email or shared through other compatible iOS apps.

via Adobe CreatePDF App Lets Users Create PDF Files From iPhone, iPad, iPod.

There’s an App – and a Risk – for That | Law.com

iPads are the hottest tablet technology in corporate America today. They’re light, sleek, and portable, and thanks to a rich and steady stream of business and entertainment apps introduced daily, people can use them for a burgeoning selection of personal and professional tasks. Now in their second iteration, iPads have proven valuable for many business functions. Salespeople have greater flexibility and access to digital product information in the field, medical professionals have bedside access to patient records, and mobile business executives can give stunning presentations and enjoy instant access to corporate data—and all right at their fingertips.

Like many new gadgets, iPads often first appear in businesses as employee-owned devices, prompting questions of if and how to allow for their connection to the corporate network. As the world of iPad apps matures, many companies have taken steps to issue the devices to their workforces, sometimes as replacements for laptops. But with technological innovation moving at warp speed, corporations need to frequently update their policies on data management and compliance to keep up with new developments—and the advent of the iPad is a case in point. The time has come for in-house counsel to take note of potential information management, e-discovery, and privacy risks presented by these devices.

Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is written broadly enough to cover new devices, such as iPads, that create, transmit, and preserve electronically stored information (ESI). As companies deploy more and different devices, dispersing their sources of ESI, the risk that preservation and collection efforts will fail to prevent spoliation and other e-discovery perils increases. While there are currently no published court opinions addressing discovery obligations as to iPad content, courts have extended the duty to preserve and produce to content on PDAs (personal digital assistants) such as BlackBerrys, particularly when such information is unique rather than replicated on the company’s network. Counsel should assume that litigation hold obligations will extend to iPad content in their employees’ possession or control.

via There’s an App – and a Risk – for That.