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

Just in case you've missed anything, here is the list of our frontpage news this week.

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• New Sony model to be called PRS-300 and PRS-600

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• August 2009 Mobile Read Book Club Vote

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• Welcome Verencat to the team!

10:09 AM by igorsk in E-Book General | News

A poster on Sony Insider forum discovered two service manuals for models named PRS-300 and PRS-600.

Both manuals mention "US, Canadian, UK, French, German, Netherlands Model"

Approximate specs:

PRS-300: 5" screen, no touch screen, no audio output, no card slots, ~440MB user partition, 220g.
PRS-600: 6" screen, touch screen, audio output, SD/MS slots, ~380MB user partition, 286g.

Manuals mention silver, red and black colors for both models.
No built-in lighting or wireless connection seems to be present in either one.

via the-ebook.org.

10:58 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

Ladies and gentlemen, it's with great pleasure that I welcome Verencat as the newest member to our team! She will be officially in charge of our newly launched Facebook Fan page, which, I may add, has already grown quite respectfully.

Please, if you like to share your thoughts or comments on the fan page (like, what you would like see more, what you would change, etc.), don't hesitate to contact Venercat directly.

Venercat, we are all truly happy to have you on board!

07:32 PM by pilotbob in Reading Recommendations | Book Clubs

For for the Aug 2009 eBook for the Mobile Read Book Club. The poll will be open for 7 days. We will start the discussion thread for this book on August 26th. Select from the following books.

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy
"The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up more than a century later. He finds himself on the same spot (Boston, Massachusetts) but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the U.S.A. has been transformed into a socialist utopia."

The Road Home by Rose Tremain
"In the wake of factory closings and his beloved wife's death, Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to London, seeking work to support his mother and his little daughter. After a spell of homelessness, he finds a job in the kitchen of a posh restaurant, and a room in the house of an appealing Irishman who has also lost his family. Never mind that Lev must sleep in a bunk bed surrounded by plastic toys--he has found a friend and shelter. However constricted his life in England remains he compensates by daydreaming of home, by having an affair with a younger restaurant worker (and dodging the attentions of other women), and by trading gossip and ambitions via cell phone with his hilarious old friend Rudi who, dreaming of the wealthy West, lives largely for his battered Chevrolet. Homesickness dogs Lev, not only for nostalgic reasons, but because he doesn't belong, body or soul, to his new country-but can he really go home again?"

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
Jules is a young man barely a century old. He’s lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer “ad-hocs” who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, it seems the “ad-hocs” are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It’s only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it’s war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes.

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft.
From user hudson on Feedbooks: "One of the best longer Lovecraft novels, a story of a doomed antarctic exploration party that uncovers the eldritch nightmares buried and sleeping under the snow." I've been reading a lot of Lovecraft recently, but haven't read this one yet.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to "help people with problems in their lives." Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement.

01:19 PM by Barcey in E-Book General | News

Last week the Canadian Government began a nationwide consultation on copyright modernization. There have been a couple attempts in the last couple of years to update the Canadian copyright laws and last year's Bill C-61 was widely criticized because it was perceived to have been written only with backroom consultation from lobby groups. This time the government has started a website where the public can participate and they are also having public meetings across Canada.

The Government of Canada is hosting a nationwide consultation on copyright modernization.

The government believes that all Canadians have a stake in this dialogue. That is why the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, and the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, are encouraging Canadians to join the discussion and to express their views throughout the consultation period, from July 20 to September 13, 2009.

This website will help Canadians find important resources about copyright and the modernization process to date. It will record the progress of these consultations so that you can follow the major issues shaping the conversation. You can stay in touch by following our RSS Feed.

Hopefully Canadians will take this opportunity to voice their opinions.

http://copyright.econsultation.ca/

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

Previously at MobileRead:

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• Barnes and Noble announces upcoming eReader
• BeBook mini to hit stores within 4 weeks
• calibre 0.6.0 released!

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• August 09 Book Club Nominations

E-Book Formats - ePub

• The Official Motion for Introduction of the Epub Dictionary Format

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• First Toronto (Canada) MobileRead Meetup, 15 August, 2009
• First MobileRead Meet Up in Montréal, August 8th

11:36 PM by kovidgoyal in E-Book General | News

Hi All,

Finally, after a two month long beta process, I've released calibre 0.6.0. It has tons of new features and bug fixes, some of which you can read about here http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/new_in_6

A big thank you to all the calibre code contributors, translators and beta testers, without you, this release would not have been possible.

Now that I have 0.6.0 out of my hair, I should be going back to the one release per week development cycle you've come to know and love

There is also a nice video tour of calibre at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/downloads/videos/

Enjoy!

11:25 AM by Verencat in Miscellaneous | Announcements

I am extremely happy to announce that a Canadian Meet Up will be held in Montréal on August 8th !

From Thursday, August 6th to Monday, August 10th, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Montréal, and what better excuses could we have to gather up, exchange on our wonderful devices, eat out and have the best of times!

After the event, those interested are welcome to join us to enjoy Montréal's Fireworks Internationals on St-Laurent river banks.

Need we say more? This reunion will be one to remember!

Details:

Date: Saturday, August 8th
Time: 6 PM for drinks and dinner, 10 PM for the fireworks
Place: Pub St-Paul, in Montréal's Old Port

Leave a message to say you'll be there and get more information in this thread.

You can also RSVP to the event on Mobile Read Facebook page here.