08:28 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | News

Information Week has published an article by Cory Doctorow called "A Behind-The-Scenes Look At How DRM Becomes Law".

"Otto von Bismarck quipped, 'Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.' I've seen sausages made. I've seen laws made. Both processes are pleasant in comparison to the way anti-copying technology agreements are made."

It is hard to imagine anyone looking rationally at existing copyright and DRM laws, and coming away convinced that they are a complete, rational and effective solution for society. This article helps us understand why, and shows very clearly why there is such a gap between many of the practical, legal and moral/ethical considerations in the DRM debate.

Via DefectiveByDesign.

12:53 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

We can't deny that we wish it was our hands wrapped tightly around the HP prototype e-book reader gorgeously pictured here. Showcased at the HP Lab University event in Lisbon, Portugal, last month, it's the same device we had already talked about back in May. Only this time the cool guys from the Spanish blog Gizmologia got the chance to shoot a video for us.

Supposedly at a later stage, it is going to have a touch screen and WiFi connectivity. Well, we'll keep our eyes (and ears) open for updates on this one.

PS: I really like how the HP reader implements the "over-forty button"

12:14 PM by Adam B. in More E-Book Readers | iRex

Thanks to TheGreatGonzo for pointing this out.

From the Release Notes

What's new in the software release 2.10.2?

• 2.1 Mobipocket Dictionary Support The Mobipocket Viewer on the iLiad now allows you to open and search in Mobipocket dictionaries and lookup words directly from your Mobipocket books.
  Please see the updated Mobipocket User Manual for details.
• 2.2 Battery Life Resolved a problem with some new iLiads that have only 5 hours of battery life. Affected devices will now behave according to spec again.

For those looking for some free Mobipocked formatted dictionaries, I've created some here and here.

07:43 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

What an intriguing contest! Engadget is giving away a "super rare" e-ink watch. Pretty exciting. You enter by posting a comment here by Friday the 13th. (July 13th, 2007, that is.)

Via PaperGadgets.

07:35 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

As the UMPC market begins to grow, and new devices come onto the market, what has Microsoft done to help the e-book customers out there? Until recently, not much. But that has all changed now with the release of an Origami friendly version of Microsoft Reader.

On the Microsoft Origami Team Blog, a member of the MS Reader development team is reporting that many features have been added to make the software UMPC friendly.

Some of the new features include:
* Support for Windows XP Tablet PC edition devices
* Audible support for the newer audio formats
* Page navigation touch points on the left and right hand margins
* An enlarged screen in landscape mode
* An enlarged "riffle" control when you tap on the page number at the bottom of the page
* Context menus have also increased in size
* Supports Audible's newer audio formats

So if you've been avoiding MS Reader because you've got a small screen Windows device, now is the time to give it another try.

10:24 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Trolltech is interested in bringing developers to their smart phone platform, and they are willing to give away free phones to do it.

"Trolltech will provide free phones and SDKs (software development kits) to developers willing to target its Qtopia application development framework for mobile phones. The Qtopia Greenphone Grant Program will provide an unspecified number of awardees with Qtopia SDKs, along with Trolltech's open, Linux-based Greenphone target device."

Read more at LinuxPhones.

08:38 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | News

Our friends at JkOnTheRun are fans of e-book reading, and it's always interesting to hear what a Tablet PC guru has to say about the topic. Today, James Kendrick shares that he is giving MobiPocket a try on his new Blackberry phone, and he finds it to be quite good.

MobiPocket becomes more and more interesting each day as we hear news of their expansion into the market. Everything from the iLiad to the anticipated Amazon Kindle, to the Blackberry and more. With the importance of cross platform compatibility and with MobiPocket format's expected staying power after the acquisition by Amazon, MobiPocket is likely to win more and more fans.

It's interesting that given its market position, there has been proportionally less discussion about MobiPocket in the forums. Possibly, that has to do with the concerns and mistrust of the proprietary nature of the format, as well as the perceived cost and complexity of the document generation tools. These were the reasons I did not pursue MobiPocket further when I first took a look at it many years ago (as well as having limited free memory on my PDA to use for eReader alternatives). But, I suspect that there will be a lot more of us following in James' footsteps in the future unless we see the Adobe Digital Editions and the related new IDPF format adopted widely and quickly.

Interestingly, despite not being able to use eReader on his Blackberry, James still says that he is cautiously considering the move away from eReader. As best I can figure, it's not only because he already has a lot of eReader e-books, but because he knows that he is likely to be using a totally new device in a matter of months! Surely those guys can consistently bring us great information about so many devices partly because they can't stick with any one device for long!

In fact, I think we need to propose a new measure of time for those of us that are always eager for upgrades to newer and better devices. In the animal world, we measure time in "dog years", which pass at 7 times the speed of regular years. I think that "JkOTR tech years" is appropriate for crazy tech adopters. It represents a ratio of about 10 tech years per regular person year, i.e. it reflects the acquisition of 10 different new devices in the time a "regular person" has contentedly kept a single device!

So the question of the day is where MobiPocket fits into the future. eReader was once strong, but seems like it is following in Palm's footsteps and is content to milk the revenue still coming in from past achievements. Will MobiPocket become a leader, or will they be another in the forest of players in the market? With Amazon's deep pockets behind them, it appears to be as simple as asking how determined they are to make MobiPocket dominate.

01:17 PM by NatCh in E-Book General | News

A little over a year ago, Blackmask.com became the target of a copyright enforcement "example making effort." It's since been re-incarnated as Silk Pagoda and Munseys -- sans the Doc Savage and Shadow works that were the subject of that particular witch hunt -- but what really happened?

Clearly something must have come of it, but what's the story?

A fellow MobileReader, who seems to wish to remain unknown (please pipe up if I'm mistaken! I just got that impression from your PM ) has pointed us to a blog entry by the guy behind the Black Mask that explains the matter in some detail.

It's quite interesting and informative, but it is also written mostly in a stream of consciousness approach, so be ready for that, when you click here to read it.