Today's Headlines

Are Publishers Basically Giving Away Magazines for iPads?
The New York Times
Columnist David Carr quotes a source who believes that publishers are replicating a print model that is short on revenue from consumers and leaves the industry once again reliant on the whims of advertisers.

Bezos Hints at Development of Amazon Tablet
Consumer Reports
When asked about the possibility of Amazon launching a multipurpose tablet device, the company's president and CEO Jeff Bezos said to “stay tuned” on the company’s plans. In an interview at Consumer Reports' offices, Bezos also signaled that any such device, should it come, is more likely to supplement than to supplant the Kindle, which he calls Amazon’s “purpose-built e-reading device.”

Despite Clever Marketing Campaign, Skepticism Mounts for RIM Playbook
AllThingD
“Amateur hour is over.” That’s the phrase RIM uses to tout its Playbook tablet. But with doubts for the company’s prospects on the rise, that proclamation is becoming increasingly more ironic. To wit, the growing mound of analyst downgrades piling around the company like manure on a horse farm.

Movie Rentals Come to Motorola's Xoom Tablet
MacWorld
Yesterday Motorola announced that users of its Xoom tablets on Verizon will be the first to get the new Android 3.1 update and the first to be able to rent movies from the Android Market.

Adobe Plans to Become the App Middleman
Folio
Coinciding with the recent news that Conde Nast is the latest publisher to reach an agreement with Apple to offer subscription capabilities for its magazine apps, Adobe separately revealed a little bit more about how it actually helps facilitate those subs.  On Adobe's Digital Publishing blog, a Monday post notes that the company's Digital Publishing Suite provides the interface through which customers activate their subscriptions for the Conde apps.