10:58 PM by NatCh in More E-Book Readers | iRex

Don't know how this one slipped by us for 15 days, but it did.

4Dconcept partners with iRex Technologies and becomes the official distributor for the iLiad

We've been wondering for some time when the iLiad would get a distributor, as iRex has repeatedly stated their intent is to be a B2B provider, not a B2C one. We've also been wondering who that distributor might be. Well, this still doesn't answer those questions, but it does add a regional B2B distributor into the mix

PARIS, 21st March 2007 – The French company 4Dconcept, a document engineering and text and graphical content management specialist, and iRex Technologies, the Dutch leading creator of electronic paper announced their partnership in serving the French market at the 2007 edition of the Salon du Livre in Paris. With more than 17 years’ experience in the creation and delivery of documentary and editorial content, by partnering with iRex Technologies, 4Dconcept aims to integrate electronic paper into its clients’ existing documentary and editorial processes.

It would appear that 4DConcepts has specific clients in mind, which is a good thing for iRex if it's so. "Through this partnership with 4Dconcept, we are able to support the B2B markets in France thanks to the integration of the iLiad with the content management systems installed at current and future clients by 4Dconcept." Comment by Mike Van Thiel, iRex Technologies’ sales director.

But buried in the press release is this little gem, which I'm sure will be of interest:

Using the iLiad, 4Dconcept has developed an XML flow annotation upload module. In this way, information captured directly in the field and stored in XML format in the information system is a real added value.

"Real added value," indeedy deed. Wonder if they'll market that bad boy separately?

From a press release at e-ink.com. of all places! (PDF warning)

08:37 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

We got our crystal ball out of its magic cupboard to tell you that color e-paper may just be around the corner. Well, actually, we read the following in a Reuters news item:

Wilcox [E Ink president] said E Ink, whose revenues have grown at a rate of 200 to 300 percent annually in the last three years, is testing a color prototype that could be launched next year, potentially opening the technology to e-magazines and e-newspapers.

Before we get all too excited, let's remind ourselves that this is not the first color e-paper was announced with great fanfare. In 2005, E Ink demonstrated the prototype of an e-paper display with 12-bit color in a 400x300 pixel format, and at that time, they believed to start mass production in late 2006. We anticipated breathlessly, blogged about furiously, and drooled over mightily. Then... nothing. It's all we can do, sit and wait and hope that at least next year is going to be a sweet surprise.

Btw, the article is also quoting Sony Reader product manager David Seperson:

"More and more things are going online from Amazon and others," said David Seperson, a product manager of Sony's Reader. "We're seeing real growth in digital text. Also there is a potential shift in what people would consider reading. It used to be mainly books. Now there are blogs. And there's all kinds of Internet things which will work well because you can take that stuff off the computer screen, and take it with you to the beach and start reading."

Related: Color iRex iLiad in 2007, Where is the color E Ink that was promised to us?

04:15 PM by Alexander Turcic in Sony Reader | Sony Reader Dev Corner

Lo and behold, today Sony silently launched PRSLabs.com, a site providing official tools and documents for you to create unencrypted BBeB files for the Sony Reader. Registration is free and doesn't seem to require any prerequisites. Among the things you can find once you're registered:

• BBeB XML Format Specification
• Xylog Parser API Specification
• BBeB Metadata Guide
• BBeB Character Set
• BBeB ID Specification
• Xylog Parser (Windows DLL)
• Xylog Parser API Specification
• Sample Projects

07:45 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

I am sure this headline is enough to make your fresh milk sour, but editors of Computerworld in their eternal wisdom have named e-books - and the Sony Reader in particular - one of the 21 biggest technology flops that have "utterly failed to live up to their hype."

E-book readers started being sold about 10 years ago and are still being developed. The most recent entrant into the market is the Sony Reader. But they're still a flop. ... [T]he devices themselves just aren't good enough yet. Some folks find them unwieldy; others say they're difficult to use. And for many people, there's just no replacing the old-fashioned, reassuring feel of paper.

Link: Full story

05:28 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

After receiving a less than stellar review back in October last year, the Sony Reader scores surpisingly well in a more recent hands-on by BusinessWeek's editor Cliff Edwards. His final verdict (emphasis mine):

The Sony Reader is a very good first foray into the electronic book market. While there's no substitute for the feel you get with a real book, with a few adjustments to the software, and as more books become available digitally, it could quickly turn into the device everyone wants to have.

• The Good: Can store up to 80 books, some blogs, and display black-and-white photos; long battery life
• The Bad: Ink hard to read in poor lighting; online site hard to navigate; Windows PC needed to buy books
• The Bottom Line: An environmental plus and a good way to lighten the load for frequent travelers

08:51 AM by NatCh in E-Book General | News

What's Brought Steve Jobs All The Way to London Today?

EDIT: EMI and iTunes have agreed to drop DRM on the EMI content (Still no Beatles music, though)

No, it's not reading, but DRM is DRM (and DRM is Bad), and the Publishing industry seems to be following the Music Industry's lead on it (sorta), so, here's the deal: apparently, Steve Jobs is in London today, meeting with EMI (one of the world's top four music labels, it seems), and everyone is expecting big news. What will it be? One rumor is merely that iTunes might be picking up a lot of Beatles music (piffle), but the more interesting one, and the one that the Wall Street Journal is touting, is that EMI and iTunes are about to drop DRM from a substantial chunk of their offerings.

From the tiny sliver that the WSJ (graciously, if I'm honest about it) allows out for free:

In a major break with the music industry's longstanding antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC is set to announce today that it plans to sell significant amounts of its catalog without anticopying software, according to people familiar with the matter.

From Crave:

EMI has previously experimented with distributing music on the Net without copy-protection. Late last year, the label released a track by popular artist Norah Jones completely devoid of DRM. The song was unprotected, meaning there was no barrier to pirating, and had to be bought from Yahoo's Web site. It sold incredibly well. This move was instigated by Yahoo, but it seemed that extracting DRM-free music from a major label was harder than pulling iron from your blood with a magnet. That might be about to change.

The resounding success of the small number of DRM-free tracks released on to the Net by major labels should only further highlight that most people are honest and will pay for the music they like, but they also want to use it in whatever way they see fit, on their computer or on whichever portable player they choose.

Only two months ago, Jobs himself called for the end of DRM, claiming "[DRM-free music] is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."

Crave further notes that the second most popular legal download venue (after iTunes, duh), eMusic, is totally DRM-free. While it does tend to offer music that is less mainstream than iTunes, it clearly manages to make enough money to keep its artists/labels happy completely without DRM, " ... because it recognises music fans will pay for music they could always pirate for free, and it doesn't treat its customers like criminals."

Crave's conclusion:

For these reasons, we think today's announcement from Apple and EMI could go one of two ways, if not both, and either would be met with voluminous applause by music lovers. Music without DRM would be a sensational success and EMI has the power to prove to the other three major labels -- and the world -- that music lovers are not crooks; they're devout and passionate people who will continue to support the artists they love by paying for music.

If it's only the Beatles thing, then the e-reading world might not be too excited (except, of course, for the Beatles fans among us ), but if it's the DRM-Dump, then we should have something to cheer about too -- if the music industry goes without in a big way, and succeeds (as we all expect it would), then the publishing industry won't have them to point at and tell us, "See? we have to do this DRM stuff to stay alive!" -- we'll be able to point to that same music industry and say, "See? No you don't!"

09:54 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Today, April 1, Google has announced a free in-home wireless broadband service, called Google TiSP.

"Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines."

Be sure to check out the entire "how-it-works" page to see how you can integrate hi-tech sewerage into your home computing environment!

Related story: Michael Mace brings us news of a new social networking service that transfers thoughts via Bluetooth!

09:15 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

If you are familiar with e-books, you are probably aware of Manybooks.net, a great source of free e-books. But you may not be aware that they have a mobile site, Mnybks.net.

The mobile version is self-described: "This site provides an easy way to download JAR ebooks to your Java enabled cellphone, or Mobipocket ebooks for devices with Mobipocket Reader. Search by Author or Title, or use a Book ID code to jump to a particular download page. Please visit http://manybooks.net for more information."

So if you have a Java enabled cellphone or can read Mobipocket ebooks, just download a file and start reading!

Via WapReview.