07:30 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

We are delighted to honor Sammy McLoughlin and Palm Addicts on the celebration of their 8th Birthday! They are the grand daddy of Palm blogs, and an inspiration to us all. Eight years is quite an accomplishment!

Sammy is a long time friend of ours here at MobileRead and was personally a big inspiration to me in terms of participating in the online world. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but I believe that the first place any of my mobile device words appeared publicly was when Sammy had published it at Palm Addict. He has that effect on people... he really does inspire them and encourage them and help them out. He's a star contributer to the online community, and an all-around great guy. Put that together with a great mind and constant dedication, and it's no wonder he has been so successful. You can count me in as one of his biggest fans.

So to Sammy and all the folks at Palm Addicts.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

07:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

In case you've missed any MobileRead news from this week, here is our usual roundup:

E-book Devices, Sony Portable Reader
Index of downloadable books added

E-books, Content
Total HTML Converter free today only on GAOTD

E-books, Elsewhere on the Net
SteveJordanBooks.com now fully supports the Sony Reader

E-books, News
Should Software be Protected by Patent, or by Copyright?
E Ink reveals e-paper with video-switching speeds / iRex wins award
PVI scores with "MagicMirror" flexible E Ink technology
Bridgestone's super-thin e-paper adds luminance
New displays from Sony, NEC, Samsung
Another nail, but is it DRM's coffin, or the consumers'?

Mobile Devices, Handhelds and Smartphones
Astraware team is awarded UK Trade award
Palm podcast tutorial using Google Reader
New TCPMP plugin plays YouTube Flash video on Pocket PC
So, if AAA calls your keys -- do they already know to send a tow-truck?

Mobile Devices, Others
UMPC versus pen and paper - the battle rages on

01:24 AM by NatCh in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Nissan warns U.S. cell phones can disable car keys

Reuters is reporting that Nissan is warning U.S. customers that their Cell Phones may reprogram the 'Smart Keys' rendering them unusable, and converting Happy Nissan drivers into unhappy non-Nissan walkers.

Cellphones kept near Nissan's I-Keys -- wireless devices designed to allow drivers to enter and start their cars at the push of a button -- can erase the electronic code on the keys, rendering them unable to unlock or start the cars.

Here are some details:

"We discovered that if the I-Key touches a cellphone, outgoing or incoming calls have the potential to alter the electronic code inside the I-Key," Nissan spokesman Kyle Bazemore said.

"The car won't start and the I-Key cannot be reprogrammed," he added.

The problem has occurred in a "very small percentage" of cars sold, Bazemore said. He also said a new version of the I-Key would be available in the fall.

Bazemore said current owners have been notified of the potential glitch via mail and can get new keys from dealers if they encounter the problem.

Apparently this only affects Nissan's topmost line of cars. I remember my dad telling me as a kid that power windows were unreliable and they would usually fail when they were down, and it was raining. Now, power windows are ubiquitous, and they seem to be more reliable than the drive-trains of some cars. I guess luxury automobiles have a technological 'bleeding edge' too.

Full article here.

01:10 AM by NatCh in E-Book General | News

Managed Copy Spec for High-Def Discs May Be on the Horizon

E-Commerce Times is reporting that the new "Managed Copy Specification" for HDDVD and Blu-Ray disks that is expected to be released soon by the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), may allow for the consumer legally making a certain number of copies for "fair use." What a shocking concept. One of the things that appears to be delaying the release of the specification is that it's already being cracked -- yes, before it's been released.

The article spends a fair amount of time covering old ground about why providers want DRM and why consumers don't, old news to us here, then offers some examples of ways the managed copy spec might operate, none of which are surprising or particularly innovative.

One example is to let customers make a single backup copy that would require an Internet connection to a central site that would verify the copy and allow or reject it. Other options could be the ability to make copies for other devices at small extra fees, also with the likelihood of some kind of online verification and permission system.

Other examples include the ability to make a limited number of copies for friends or relatives, for example, by paying an extra price at the point of sale. Then there's the idea that ownership of the content is on the way out anyway, so any managed copying would have time-related limitations placed on it.

After that, it gets interesting with a few ... enlightening comments on their view of the purpose of DRM in this context:

"The real reason for DRM is the notion that people will permanently own this content, and we're not convinced that for consumers, that the majority of video and TV content is going to be the kind of content consumers will want to permanently own."

Previous subscription models haven't taken off, but the future of video content won't likely be a traditional ownership model, which is at direct odds with the DVD-related industry.

It's not clear from the article who this Mike McGuire is in the context of content and DRM, nor why what he says should be of particular interest or value. "Gartner" appears, from their website, to be some sort of IT consulting firm, presumably they have some connection with the AACS and this copying standard.

So, then this would appear to be another shift in the tectonics of DRM, but the question I have is whether it's a genuine loosening of the DRM grip on content, or just an attempt to figure out how tight the grip can be without the market slipping through its fingers? Is this another step on the road to DRM completely going away, or will DRM diminish only to a point that most folks don't mind it, and get used to it, so that it remains at that 'comfortable' level?

Full Article here.

12:28 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Linley Meslier has a nice bit of news over at Pocket PC Mauritius...

"Very often, I get people asking me if there is a way to play flash files on a Pocket PC [...] The good news is that this is now possible if you use TCPMP. A new plugin is available at http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...roup_id=196939. That will let you download Youtube video directly to your PPC and play the flash file without conversion."

12:16 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

As we all know there's more than one way to skin a cat. For those of you wanting to subscribe and listen to podcasts, Google Reader seems to be another option in addition to dedicated RSS feed readers with podcasting support (like Quick News).

Palm Addicts, has a nice tutorial on using Google Reader for podcasts on your Palm. No more excuses for not enjoying your favorite podcast on the go!

06:44 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | News

Developments in display technology are really heating up. For many of us, the news brings new hope for exciting new smartphones, handhelds and e-reader devices. Here are a few more...

• Sony has created the first flexible OLED display. See a short, but very cool video here, which shows one being bent while a video is playing.

• NEC has a new LCD phone display that gets 30 frames per second and less power consumption due to the integration of video processing and video memory into the display substrate.

• Samsung has a phone display with the following specs:
  - 2.2″ QVGA (240 x 320 pixel)
  - Credit card-thin
  - AMOLED (active-matrix organic light emitting diode) display
  - 262,000 colour output
  - able to display its image on both sides
  - one-third the thickness of current LCD displays (only 0.52mm deep)
  - 2.8″ version with 240 x 400 pixel resolution also coming

From PocketPicks.

05:08 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Everyone is working on flexible paper-like displays these days, and this also includes Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone. The company hit the newswire today with an updated version of their quick-response liquid-powder display (QR-LPD) technology. According to Tech-On, the latest version is twice as bright as earlier prototypes thanks to special color filters developed exclusively for e-paper.

Bridgestone intends to expand its product lines and reinforce the supply system in order to start full-fledged e-paper business. To satisfy diversified needs, the company has prepared four types of monochrome models with sizes including A7, A5, A4 and A3 for evaluation. Three models with sizes of A7, A5, and A4 are on display at the SID exhibition.

Despite what the photos suggest, Bridgestone's current e-paper (which can be as thin as thin as 290 µm) is still black and white, with the possibility to add tints of color to partial areas of the screen. Full color is on the roadmap, but not before 2008 (Heise).

Related: Hitachi surprises with Albirey e-paper display, Hitachi joins the league of e-paper manufacturers