That's the prediction Aapo Markkanen, ABI senior analyst, makes today. It's the right call, as Larry Page starts his third year returning as Google CEO. Page resumed duties on April 4, 2011, and the company's direction took a hard turn. Business is more aggressive, altruistic goals less and so-called openness a waning thing. As I asserted a year ago, "Google has lost control of Android". That Page and Company would try to wrestle back control is no surprise.

Facebook Home is good reason. The user interface debuting April 12 takes over the more app-centric Android homescreen, putting the social network first before anything else, including Google+. Facebook's OEM program could put Home on many more devices. HTC already is on board with the First smartphone. Then there is Samsung, which during fourth quarter accounted for 42.5 percent of all Android handset sales, according to Gartner. TouchWiz, which gets a big update with forthcoming Galaxy S4, is the user experience -- not that determined by stock Android. These are but two examples of many.

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Although it sounds like a slightly late April Fool’s joke, Amazon has today announced it will be giving customers who have purchased vinyl records from Amazon dating back to 1998, free copies in MP3 format.

It forms part of the AutoRip service which automatically adds MP3s of past and present CD purchases to the shopper’s Cloud Player libraries.

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Starting April 5, AT&T will carry one model of Amazon's tablet in stores, with $150 discount for those customers making a two-year contractual commitment. Just as T-Mobile tries to free Americans from subsidies, the nation's second-largest carrier reels them back in. The 32GB Kindle Fire 8.9" 4G LTE will sell for $399 without commitment -- $249 with one. The higher of the two prices reflects Amazon's recent $100 reduction, just 18 days ago.

Subsidized pricing makes Amazon's tablet one of the most-affordable mid-size models available. For example, Apple's 7.9-inch iPad mini starts at $329 and $459 with LTE. However, for comparable storage (32GB), iPad mini is $559 with LTE. Those prices require no contract. Something else to consider: Unless Amazon and AT&T have some special agreement that I don't know about, that $249 or $399 includes advertisements -- "special offers" -- that buyers must pay an extra $15 to remove. Still, $249 out the door makes Kindle Fire HD 8.9" the lowest-priced tablet for sale with super high-resolution display.

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I guess reviews just aren't enough. Social matters more. Late today Amazon and Goodreads reached a merger agreement, in a deal expected to close second quarter. The companies did not publicly disclose terms.

Goodreads is a recommendation service with social sharing capabilities. Founded in 2007, the the company claims 16 million members and 23 million reviews, but the magic comes from the social aspect. If you ever wanted to snoop in a friend's bookshelf, Goodreads lets you do something just like that -- recognizing reading recommendations from people you know can be more influential than professional reviewers and other strangers.

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I love Amazon Prime. If I had a Kindle I would probably love it even more, if that were possible. Over the past two weeks I have also come to love my new Google TV, which has taken over our living room, with control of the DirecTV DVR and apps thrown in to boot. One of those apps is Amazon and I use it quite often, keeping a string of movies and TV shows in my watch list.

Now the Google PrimeTime app for Google TV has been updated to version 1.4.3-43-79424. This innocuous little name actually comes with a huge feature update. Not only has Amazon Prime content been rolled into the service, but you can control it and Netflix and HBO GO subscriptions from within the app as well.

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Zombieland, the 2009 cult classic movie, about four unlikely people who come together to fight their way across an undead-filled America, is making a comeback of sorts -- rising from the dead, as it were. Amazon Studios has picked up on the surprisingly popular movie and the not so surprising Zombie fetish we have and announced its latest offering.

Zombieland the series will be produced as a pilot and make its way into your living room via Amazon Prime. It is the seventh comedy pilot announced by the online TV studio and it joins six children's show pilots also under production.

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Today, comScore started a new service that ranks the top U.S. websites by desktop and mobile views -- the latter is a new measurement. Some of them really pop off the chart, with Apple glaring among traditional companies. More than one-third of unique visitors in February accessed the site via mobile device-only. That compares to 5 percent for Microsoft properties. Analysts, bloggers and journalists often portray the fruit-logo company as best representative of the so-called Post-PC era, and Windows' maker the epoch in decline.

The numbers aren't shocking, if you think about them. Windows has little presence on smartphones or tablets. Microsoft mobile OS smartphones share was just 3 percent during fourth quarter, according to Gartner. IDC forecasts Windows tablet market share, based on unit shipments, will be less than 5 percent this year. By comparison, iOS has greater reach, with, according to the company, cumulative shipments exceeding 500 million. Hell, Apple sold 43.5 million iPhones just in Q4, according to Gartner.

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Last night something strange caught my attention, nearly enough to post a late-day story. Then this morning I got a little email nudge from Amazon PR, and thought: "Yeah. Why not?" The timing and broader ecosystem implications are interesting for service "Send to Kindle". Just as Google whacks RSS -- pulling feed icons from its products and setting Reader's execution -- Amazon provides a mechanism for saving content you come across, say, browsing at work for reading at home on your ebook reader or tablet.

The concept is by no means new, not even for Amazon. There are several good cloud services dedicated to saving content for later reading or incorporating the capability. Instapaper comes to mind, and Feedly has an easy tap mechanism to save for later. What makes Send to Kindle different is device/app-specificity. Additionally, websites, including WordPress blogs, can place a button supporting the service.

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For tablets, 2013 is the year of small form factors -- and, presumably, lower prices. Amazon isn't waiting to see, and that's a good strategy considering Kindle HD might not be the device Goldilocks is searching for. Unlike the fairy tale where one is too big or two small, Amazon's tablet may not be just right. Proactive price reduction could change that.

Here's the problem: Several analyst firms now predict that slates with 7-7.9-inch screens will command the market, which puts 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD a wee bit on the plump side. "One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size", Jitesh Ubrani, IDC research analyst, says. "In terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond".

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When I wrote Why I Love Kindle back in February I said I was intending to upgrade to a Kindle Paperwhite soon. Three weeks later, timed so I can buy a Kindle copy of my own book (my publisher only supplies free paperbacks), and that’s exactly what I’ve done.

The Kindle is one of those very rare devices that you don’t really need to upgrade. New features, an improved screen, touch support – it’s all well and good, but when you’re reading something you’re pretty oblivious to anything other than the words on the page. Or rather the screen. That said, moving to the Paperwhite from a second generation Kindle is a huge leap forward.

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We've had to wait a tad longer than expected, but it's finally here. The team behind the popular custom Android distribution CyanogenMod unveiled the second monthly release based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, more than a month after the last build.

Like it usually happens with monthly builds, with CyanogenMod 10.1 M2 the focus is on stability improvements rather than introducing numerous new features that have yet to pass rigorous testing. As a result some of the latest features found in nightly builds may be left behind for future monthly releases in order to provide a custom Android distribution suited for daily-driver use.

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Amazon has launched Amazon Cloud Player 2.0 for iOS. The app, which lets users stream or download music from their Amazon Cloud collection, has been revamped to support the iPad and iPad mini for the first time, in addition to previous support for iPhone and iPod touch.

Version 2.0 also debuts a revamped user interface and adds a new setting that allows users to configure the size of the offline cache used for storing streamed music for access while offline.

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The death knell for WebOS has sounded. HP promised a lot when purchasing the Palm mobile operating system back in 2010, only to abandon ship. The company is among Google's newest and most-important partners. Earlier this month, HP unveiled its first Chromebook, which is followed by its first Android tablet, the Slate 7.

Despite the fact that Mobile World Congress does not technically start until tomorrow, the big announcements have already been rolling out from Barcelona, Spain. HP, not to be left out, unveiled its new seven-inch Android tablet, clearly designed to go head-to-head with Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7.

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On Valentine's day, French consumer electronics company Archos professed its love for mobile technology by unveiling a new tablet lineup dubbed Platinum. The three devices, 80 Platinum, 97 Platinum HD and 116 Platinum, are designed for the wallet-conscious tablet buyers while also sporting pretty decent hardware specifications.

The common denominators between the three tablets are found inside the shell, with only the physical dimensions and screen specifications separating them. The devices share a quad-core 1.2GHz processor backed by an 8-core GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and 2GB of RAM. Archos also throws in its branded Media Center applications, front and back cameras, as well as a mini-HDMI port and microSD card slot.

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Amazon works hard to position Prime streaming against Netflix and the new Redbox Instant. Uh-oh, the retail giant muscles Hulu, too. Amazon has struck a deal with TV network CBS for exclusive rights to the upcoming Stephen King TV show, based on his novel "Under the Dome".

The show, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, will debut this summer -- June 24th to be precise. Amazon Prime will be "establishing an in-season, online subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) window for the show on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service. Prime Instant Video will be the exclusive online subscription home for "Under the Dome", according to the company.

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