12:39 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

The University of Virginia Press has started a new open access publication called Founders Early Access. It contains 5 thousand previously unavailable documents concerning James Madison and John Adams. I've looked through the list, and it's mostly letters to and from the principles.

UVA's other digital records require fees ranging from $200 to $7300 to access, and UVA is requiring a license agreement. They're actually trying to claim copyright on works written 200+ years ago. How ridiculous.

10:32 AM by celtica96 in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

***Now With Photos & Screenshots***

On Tuesday (November 17, 2009) I was delighted to hear about the availability of the new SmartDevices V7 from Alex at Eletroworld. He agreed to ship me one and let me use it for 20 days. Then, I would have to buy it or ship it back. I decided to take Alex up on his offer. Alex knows my weakness for the latest gadgets. The V7 was shipped by DHL and arrived today (Friday, November 20, 2009). Now that's speedy delivery!

The heart of the V7 is a Telechips TCC8900, a variant of the ARM11, with a clock speed of 600MHz. Also, it has double the RAM (256MB) and FLASH (2GB) of the Q7. The net result is that the V7 feels faster and more responsive than the Q7, which I also own. The main advantages of the V7 over the Q7 are the built-in HDMI port and the triple boot feature, which allows the user to choose among the Android, Linux, and Windows CE operating systems. The extra $50 for a V7 over a Q7 seems like a steal.

Like the Q7, the V7 ships without much documentation. The Quick Start Guide is in Chinese but has some diagrams. There is no discussion of the HDMI or other features of the V7. The V7 accessories include a charger and an HDMI cable. After unboxing, I hooked up the charger and gave the unit a few minutes to charge before turning it on.

The startup screen gives options for Android, Linux, and Windows CE. Alex indicated that the Android OS is not working properly due to some unknown conflict with Windows CE. When I tried to load Android, a message appeared indicating that SmartDevices is still working on this component. When I persisted in following this option, the device crashed. Wow! I really wanted to try FBReader under Android. Oh, well, I decided to move on to Windows CE and see what would happen. I rebooted the device, returned to the triple boot screen, and chose the Windows icon.

Windows CE loaded perfectly and displayed its quaint desktop. I confirmed that it's Windows CE 6.0 by checking the System Control Panel, which indicates Build 3122. For those who aren't familiar with the differences between Windows CE and Windows Mobile note that CE does not include Office Mobile. CE just includes the PowerPoint, Excel, and Word viewers. This version of CE is the "95%" English version with the rest of the system still using Chinese. I used Settings to change the Regional and Locale options to English (United States) but this did not seem to make much difference.

Overall, V7 performance under Windows CE is quite snappy. I was able to log on to my WPA encrypted network, surf the Internet, and open PDFs and PowerPoints without any problem. It's a good Windows CE device but a price tag of $250 requires more justification these days.

One of the things I looked for was a way to access the HDMI port under Windows CE. I searched for either an icon on the desktop, a program, a setting, or a control panel but came up empty. If there's a way to use the HDMI port via CE, then I missed it. I don't know whether or not HDMI support will be forthcoming for Windows CE. SmartDevices get this working and document it!

After this disappointment, I decided to try Linux. I had to power off the unit and turn it back on to get to the triple boot screen. Using the +/- and Function keys I selected the Penguin and waited for the V7 to boot. Linux loads quickly (it's Version 5 customized by SmartDevices). Tooling around on the desktop, I played with the dock and had problems with the Wicd Manager. I had to run Wicd five times before I could get it to talk to my wireless router. I'm not sure why this was a problem compared to connectivity under Windows CE, which worked flawlessly the first time. In retrospect, it may be that one of my other computer systems was interfering with the signal.

Under Linux, I found the tool for HDMI off the System Tools menu where GDebi and PCMan are located. It's called Tvout Gui. When it's tapped, a window appears entitled TVOUT with three settings--TVOUT Device, HDMI Resolution, and TVOUT Resolution plus an OK button. The default settings are TVOUT Device (TVOUT), HDMI Resolution (Auto), and TVOUT Resolution (Auto). The only other option for TVOUT Device is HDMI. Changing Auto to any of the other settings for HDMI Resolution and TVOUT Resolution did not help with any of the three LCD monitors I used to test the V7.

The SmartDevices V7 came with no instructions on how to set up or install HDMI functionality under any of the three available OSes. Here's how I got it to work. Hook up the supplied HDMI cable to the port on the V7 and the port on the monitor/TV. Power on both devices and boot the V7 into Linux. Open the Tvout Gui application and change the TVOUT Device setting from TVOUT to HDMI. The V7 Linux desktop appears in the upper left corner (800Hx480V) of your 1920Hx1080V display. The display on the V7 goes to sleep and the tablet acts like a large touchpad. The mouse cursor appears on the part of the monitor occupied by the V7 desktop. Move your hand across the surface of the V7 display to move the cursor on the 1920x1080 display.

This all sounds great but the reality is less rosy. First off, I don't want my high-resolution monitor to display the V7 desktop as 800x480 pixels. I want it to display as 1920x1080 pixels. Otherwise, it's not much value to me. Second, the V7 sometimes pops out of HDMI mode when sliding the mouse pointer around. I'm not sure but this may be a problem with the HDMI 1.3 protocol. The effect is jarring though. Third, not all displays are created equal. The V7 would only connect to the two monitors via their HDMI ports, not their DVI ports. The third monitor had just a DVI port and displayed a hash of the V7 desktop that was completely unusable. No amount of tweaking led to any improvement.

Okay, so the HDMI hookup is working and it's time to check out some video. I tried some WMV, MPG, and VOB files. All played via VLC on the V7 but with varying degrees of success. The VOB file is like those found on DVDs and was produced by a Sony DVD camcorder. It played very well. The WMV files played okay, too. The MPG file, however, had jerky movement throughout. The MPG was not a high resolution file but it was about 3GB in size and, like the others, played off a USB thumb drive (16GB). Next, I connected the V7 to an Acer T230H 1920x1080 display and started Tvout Gui. Once hooked up to the display, all video from the V7 caused the HDMI connection to crash. I'm not sure what testing SmartDevices did with this setup but it's alpha level at best and it should work much better than this. Perhaps a Linux expert could do better troubleshooting but there was no setting I found that made any difference. The HDMI setup always crashed when using VLC to play any of the files.

Would I recommend the V7? No. The main reasons to buy a V7 are the HDMI and the triple boot option. While the HDMI port works, it is very limited in usefulness. Android does not boot at all but Linux and Windows CE work just fine and are quite speedy. For $250 plus shipping, I expected more considering I can pick up a Windows 7 netbook this week at MicroCenter for the same price. Other buyers may have better experiences with the V7 but I'm going to return mine. My thanks to Alex at Eletroworld for letting me do a try and buy. I just wish all vendors were so helpful.

***Update 11/29/09***

Alex at Eletroworld is very confident that the problems I experienced with the V7 will be resolved shortly.
He asked me to hold on to the V7 and re-evaluate it after I install the yet-to-be-released firmware updates.
I agreed to do that because I want to treat SmartDevices and Eletroworld fairly.
I'll update this review after I get the updates and have a chance to test them.

***Update 12/03/09***

Today, Eletroworld put up a link to enable V7 users to download a version of Android 1.6 (Donut). Keep in mind that this version will be updated soon so the following is just a snapshot of a moving target. Warning: This release is not for the Q7.

Attached are some photos. The names of the files indicate the nature of the photos. Anyone who can translate Chinese should feel free to review the screen shots and post anything important I may have overlooked.

Overall, SmartDevice's Android 1.6 is still an engineering build and not a very usable one. The biggest disappointment is that it does not have Android Market. Also, I was not able to browse the Web even though I was able to connect to my wireless router. Finally, I'm not sure when SmartDevices plans on releasing an English (U.S.) version....

On a more positive note, it appears that HDMI output will be supported in this Android release. That's something that other MIDs only dream about.

I'm still highly impressed with what Covia was able to do with Android 1.5 on the Q5. If SmartDevices can get Android working on the V7 as well as the Covia Q5 version, I just may have to buy this V7!

***Correction 12/04/09***

"Finally, I'm not sure when SmartDevices plans on releasing an English (U.S.) version...."

The above statement is due to my inexperience with Android and inability to read Chinese.

Android is designed to support multiple languages. I found out how to switch to English (United States) by just tapping through the different screens. Now it's a lot easier for me to use the V7.

From the Android home screen on the V7, press the Menu hardware key and open Settings. Alternatively, open the Apps screen and tap the icon with the hammer and wrench. Scroll down to the 8th item. This is Locale & text. Tap to open. Open the first item. This is Select locale. Scroll down to English (United States) and tap it. You're all set.

Be careful in scrolling down the list. I inadvertantly hit English (Austrialia) first and had to try again to get English (United States). The touch screen on the V7 is a little more unpredictable than I like.

07:33 AM by ColdSun in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

Good evening everyone! I know my W1060 Review is late. I'm working very hard to finish it, and due to Thanksgiving festivities as well as some issues with Internet Explorer on the W1060, my review has been delayed a little longer than I expected. The good news is that it will be up tomorrow around noon Arizona time. Look for it then, and please accept my apologies for being late. The W1010 4.3" Slider review will be up about two days after this one. So let's talk about the MIDnite Xpress from MP4Nation! I really like the look of this device.

The MIDnite Xpress is based on a Chinese MID (Chuwi 3000) that was released a couple months ago but only in Chinese language. To be honest, before I received the W1010 4.3" Slider for review, I wasn't interested in a device with a smaller screen. My mind has been changed by a couple things. First, the screen on the W1010 is crystal clear and I can read just fine with it. Two, the form factor makes it easy to transport in any pocket. The resolution on the W1010 is 480x272 and the resolution on the MIDnite Xpress is 800x480, making the Xpress the clear winner for web browsing. Judging by the videos on the MP4Nation site, the device is speedy and the WinCE 5 implementation is flawless in English.

There are some great videos of the device here. Also, you can see a video of the device running the ColdSun Creations WinCE UI here (thanks to Raz at MP4Nation for the great video example of the UI). The videos go a long way for showing what this device can do. The device is on sale at MP4Nation right now for $149 (normally $169). MP4Nation is sending me a test unit for review, which means I'll be posting another review after the W1010. After that, there are more devices that I will be announcing for review soon.

Regards,

05:51 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

The International ISBN Agency has decided that it's time to reconsider the standard procedure for assigning ISBNs to ebooks. As a first step, they created a survey in order to collect feedback. You can find the survey here.

An ISBN is a 10 (or 13) digit number that's basically a serial number for books. If a book came out in multiple formats (paperback, hardback, etc), each format had its own ISBN. This applies to ebooks as well; an ebook has a different ISBN for each format sold (LIT, Epub, Mobi, etc). The ISBN Agency has decided to reconsider this decision.

08:38 AM by cbell in E-Book General | News

The Read Without Paper website will launch on Tuesday 1st December with over 110,000 eBook and Audiobook titles available for you to purchase.

Great titles from great authors:

Stephenie Meyer
Charlaine Harris
Dan Brown
James Patterson
Dean Koontz
Clive Cussler
Danielle Steel
Nora Roberts

...and we have Australian and New Zealand authors, too, including:

Colleen McCullough
Kerry Greenwood
Michael Faber
Nick Cave
Tom Collins
James Clavell
Thomas Keneally
Kathy Lette

eBooks are available in Adobe EPUB and Adobe PDF formats.

Audiobooks are available in OverDrive MP3 and OverDrive WMA formats.

All prices are quoted in Australian dollars and most titles are available to Australian and New Zealand based customers.

Special Offer:

To thank you for your interest and to celebrate the launch of Read Without Paper we are taking 20% off the price of all titles until 31st December 2009.

There will be regular special offers and discounts available to Read Without Paper customers so make sure you don’t miss out.

We look forward to providing you with Great eBooks from Australia & Around the World at great prices.

Read Without Paper

www.readwithoutpaper.com

I bought my first ebook from our test site today - it's working beautifully! Australian author Steve Toltz's "A Fraction of the Whole".

Usual disclaimer: I work for DA Direct/Central Book Services, the owners of the Read Without Paper ebook store.

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

Been away? Fear not! Here is your chance to check out what appeared on our frontpage this week:

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• New ebook reader -Simplicit.E.reader
• 100 links for ebook lovers
• Smashwords coming to the Kindle Store on 25 November
• Kindle update - PDF support, increased battery, and more
• Borders UK enters administration
• Aptara eGen: high-volume ebook conversion Software
• Hanlin V3 update just released

E-Book General - Deals, Freebies, and Resources

• Get Kindle 2 for $159 delivered from Amazon

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• December 2009 Mobile Read Book Club Vote

E-Book Devices - Sony Portable Reader PRS-500/505

• I just got my upgraded PRS-500 back from Sony

Miscellaneous - Lounge

• Mobileread Membership Reaches 50,000

02:55 AM by Lady Blue in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Congratulations Mobileread on a membership milestone of 50,000.

That's an increase of 20,000 just since February, an average well over 2,000 new members per month.

06:42 PM by sahmad88 in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Amazon (Audible's corporate parent) is offering $100 off Audible ready devices from Amazon for new members.

I think most people know what Audible is, but in case you don't, it is an online audio book club. You can join for as low as $14.95/month which gets you one credit per month. Most books are one credit.

I had cancelled my audible membership over a year ago and have been thinking of rejoining. This gave me a reason to rejoin.

Here is the link:

$100 off Audible ready devices on Amazon