Amazon Instant Video for the iPad, Google unveils Android Blog and more » Community

Amazon’s Instant Video is a great capability, and it is now mobile!

In order to provide more value to their users, Amazon has rolled out the instant video app for the iPad. Amazon’s instant video offering has a huge library of free streaming video for Prime subscribers. Amazon is trying to show that while Netflix and Hulu Plus can stream video, they are not the only game in town. Via Gizmodo, more here.
Yammer is launching a chat feature within a few weeks. It was recently purchased by Microsoft, yet is rolling out new features shortly. This latest feature allows you to identify who in your network is online, and instantly chat with them. Yammer is a great tool that we use, and enables collaboration, the purchase of Yammer might be a sign of good things to come for Microsoft Office users. Via TechCrunch, more here.
Roku, one of the best media streamers around, has released the streaming stick as an upcoming device. This device will allow you all the capabilities of the Roku, with just a little HDMI stick plugged into your HDTV. The Roku streaming stick relies on WiFi to stream video. Today, they’ve released the name of their partners in this enterprise. Via BusinessWire, more here.
US Smartphone penetration gets even closer to 47%, with Android and Apple taking the lionshare. ComScore released their Q2 mobile OS survey, which shows Samsung and LG as the top OEMs of mobile subscribers, with Apple in third place. Android and iOS are still gaining marketshare, mostly at the expense of RIM. iOS is gaining more than Android however. Via TechCrunch, more here.
Raspberry Pi, the amazing little Android computer, is now running Ice Cream Sandwich. We’re big computing guys here at CTOVision, and have really tracked the development of the Raspberry Pi minicomputer with enthusiasm. The upgrade to ICS is a huge step forward, as it is (at least in this writer’s opinion) the bare minimum for any Android device any more. Via Engadget, more here.
Nearly 40 iPhone and iPad prototypes revealed in trial – as I mentioned yesterday with the news of the Samsung 11.8″ tablet, there will continue to be interesting leaks from this trial. If you check the following link, from The Verge, you’ll find some quite interesting designs and images. More here.
Google releases Android blog for all you “phandroids” out there – Google has dropped their “mobile” blog, moving everything to one Android blog. While this may be damaging to consumers of non-Android Google mobile applications, it is evidence of an even stronger commitment to the operating system. Via Droid-Life, more here.
Google Wallet is updated to allow the use of any credit or debit card. When the service was released, it had a couple of shortcomings;
- the lack of NFC capable phones
- being pegged to only one credit card
- insecurities (which are now being trumpeted)

While Google Wallet is (again a beta product) not quite ready for launch, the addition of any card as payment, is a huge step forward for the service. Via InformationWeek, more here.