05:12 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Adobe has silently updated their Adobe Digital Editions e-book software to add support for Mac OS 10.4.9. Previous beta releases were restricted to running on 10.4.8.

Link to the download: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/d...tions/install/

Related: Adobe launches Digital Editions for Mac, updates, Adobe Digital Editions Beta 3 released, Adobe has new hope for e-books with Adobe Digital Editions

06:23 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

The appearance of UMPCs, and the resulting discussions about mobility have caused me to rethink the whole concept of "portable" devices. What do we really care about when we say we want a device to be mobile?

For example, at one time a small notebook computer was the perfect example of wonderful mobility in computing. I used an older Dell notebook at work, and I can tell you that it's not my idea of easily portable. It didn't have an integrated optical drive. The battery life was appalling. It didn't have built-in WiFi. And if I carried it around, it really needed to be in a protective case. So what appeared to be a wonderfully portable and mobile solution was miserable.

The tiny, sleek notebook computer by itself was wonderful. But I had to add an optical drive, shell for the drive, AC power cord, network wire, WiFi card, heavy and bulky laptop case, etc. Now my portable computer was not so portable after all.

So what does this mean? Everyone has different needs, but let me point out some of the key concepts that I think are repeated over and over to describe portability, but are outside the usual concept of actual product dimensions.

I want to shake up the concept of (useful) mobility by presenting it in these terms:
1) Battery Life
2) "The Whole Package"
3) Size
4) Value

Let me explain...

1) Battery Life
You might think it odd that I put this first. But I think it's number one. Even a regular size laptop computer would be more portable in my mind than a UMPC if you could get 8 hrs with the built in battery. You could grab it and go, maybe.

2) Critical accessories are built-in or easily "packaged"
Samsung has done us a great favor with it's Q1 portfolio case. It hold the Q1 and a keyboard, showing us that functionality is not always about what is built in to the device. It what we carry around and how convenient the whole package is. I personally prefer a convertible tablet form factor, but you can't deny the advantages of a slate with a keyboard/portfolio.

3) Size
Yes, I didn't ignore this completely because it's important. People understand the advantages, and the tradeoffs, of a pocket-sized device. But, so far, only a few of us are really grabbing hold of the advantages and tradeoffs of having a UMPC-sized device. I like this description from Vikram Madan, a UMPC development manager at Microsoft. "...a fully functional form-factor that fits in your hands, lets you take all your ‘digital stuff’ with you everywhere you go, keeps you linked to your world from anywhere, and enables you to make the best use of your precious time - irrespective of whether you are working, relaxing, traveling, sharing kids’ pictures with GrandMa, pitching ad-funded web startup ideas to VCs, getting sued for copyright-infringing-user-uploaded content, or just plain ol' trying-to-attract-the-attention-of-attractive-strangers-in-cafés."

Many of us used to carry around Franklin planners because it was worth the effort to have our information with us at all times. How cool is it to be able to do that now with all the additional value of a UMPC?!

But for some, a laptop will be sufficient, or a slate Tablet PC. Others will only use a desktop. As more form factors emerge, mobility is becoming a spectrum of choices rather than something you either have or don't have with a device.

That's a good thing.

4) Value (Usefulness)
We don't normally talk about usefulness as a criteria for portability or mobility, but if we are talking about whether or not a device has value in a mobile role, we had better include it, mustn't we? (Is that really a word?)

Smartphones are becoming quite capable, and it won't be too long before the true constraints are directly due to the form factor. Right now we are limited by the form factor (small screen no room for keyboards or big batteries, etc). But eventually, we will get down to a simple matter of space for features that interface with the user, like a keyboard or screen or holographic projection or whatever.

For some, that limiting factor will destroy its usefulness, and they will need to move to a UMPC with a full-fledged OS, and increased compatibility. What "full-fledged OS" means in the future is a whole different question, but let's just say for now that people like to be able to use the same OS as they would on a desktop. They want the device to be functional, comfortable to use, and compatible. Again, that's a big win for UMPC mobility.

But notice that it's about the tradeoff. Useful mobility depends on the value. We are "buying" mobility by sacrificing usefulness. (And in many cases, a lot of money also. Mobility is expensive right now!)

My Personal Preferences

*) "Pocket" mobility
I love my Treo. I carry it with me everywhere. Sometimes I even turn the phone on. I can watch video, listen to music or audiobooks, read e-books, look at documents or reference material, do word processing, browse the web, check the news, read the Bible, dictate for transcription, look up phone numbers, watch TV, scribble notes on the screen, get directions, find restaurants, look at maps, get the weather, play games, do email or IM, look things up in Wikipedia or a dictionary, and so much more. It "even" has an address book and calendar. I don't know what I'd do without it!

*) Franklin Planner mobility
This is the next great horizon that I eagerly await. It's "sort of" here, but processors and energy efficiency have a way to go. A small UMPC, with a nice on-screen keyboard or keyboard portfolio gives a powerful solution. You can do most desktop PC work on it, despite the small screen that is a small price to pay for convenience. You can take notes on it, keep your information and video/audio/pictures/e-books on it and you can run regular Windows software. Unfortunately, they are expensive, battery life is not 6-8hrs with standard batteries, they are underpowered, run too hot, the screens are hard to see in direct sunlight, and so forth. But I still want one, of course! And they will improve fast over the next couple of years.

I don't think most people would have wanted to carry a $1300 Franklin planner. But I bet that many people would be willing to carry a $500 UMPC. Time will tell, but I think it will be too convenient to pass up. For those of you with a Sony Reader, imagine full UMPC functionality on that form factor and keep the long battery life. It's so nice to think about. Almost too good to be anything but science fiction.

*) Desktop
Okay, so even a fanatic doesn't always demand mobility. A desktop computer is just what I want much of the time. The price, power and expandability is a wonderful option. Some people no longer need a desktop computer once they have a laptop. Some people will still want one. It's all about preferences and needs.

Conclusion

My goal was to help us take another look at what mobility is becoming and to help us break out of the mindset of pocket phone vs laptop vs desktop. Right now, it may seem like it's a new perspective. But in 20 years, everyone on the street will see things this way. Their perceptions won't be artificially molded by previous product sets like we are. It's a whole new world of mobile computing, and it's just around the corner. Let me know if I've succeeded.

BTW, the article photo is a reduced version of a picture in the UMPCportal.com gallery. They have some really nice pictures of the UW70x series of UMPC devices that we are eagerly awaiting on the market. Their gallery and site are well worth a look.

12:13 PM by HarryT in E-Book Uploads - Patricia Clark... | BBeB/LRF Books

"Sherlock Holmes Omnibus", containing the complete "Sherlock Holmes" stories (4 novels and 56 short stories) of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The contents are:

Novels:

• A Study In Scarlet
• The Sign of the Four
• The Hound of the Baskervilles
• The Valley of Fear

Short story collections:

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes
• His Last Bow
• The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

Edit: 28th March 07

Uploaded v2 of the book. Improvements:

1. Shortened titles so they show up properly in the TOC.
2. Replaced the "global" contents list at the start of the file by an initial "Book Index", with each book name linking to a "Contents" page at the start of that book. This makes navigation a lot simpler. If you're not sure which story is in which book, use the TOC.
3. Added a cover picture.

Edit: 9th April 07

Uploaded an additional file, "Sherlock_Holmes_Smaller_Fonts.zip" with smaller fonts than the original, for those who found the original font size too small. I've left the original file there, so you can have whichever you prefer.

Edit: 8 Nov 07

Uploaded v3. This is a complete re-issue of the book with dramatically improved formatting, better layout, and new and improved sources for some of the material. This was the very first eBook I created, and I've learned a lot about how to do it "right" since the original version was issued.

Edit: 19 Nov 07

As stated elsewhere, I've started a careful proofreading against a good printed edition. This version has "A Study in Scarlet" proofread, with literally dozens of errors corrected. Some are significant (spelling mistakes); most are errors in punctuation or capitalization - questions without question marks, missing or suplus hyphens, etc. Uploaded v4.

Edit: 27 Nov 07

Proofed and corrected "The Sign of the Four". Uploaded v5.

Edit: 14 Dec 07

Proofed and corrected "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Uploaded v6.

Edit: 13 Mar 08

Proofed and corrected "The Valley of Fear". Uploaded v7.

Edit: 1 Jan 09

Proofed and corrected "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Uploaded v8.

Edit: 20 Nov 11. v9 Uploaded.

Major edit and re-arrangement of the book. All books within the omnibus are now presented in chronological order and, within the short story collections, the stories in "His Last Bow" and "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" have been re-arranged into publication order. Many illustrations have been re-scanned, and several missing ones added. "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" has been restored from "His Last Bow" to its rightful place in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (it was omitted from the first English edition because it was felt to be too shocking at the time of original publication). At the same time, the introduction to "The Cardboard Box" which had been (badly) appended to the start of "The Resident Patient" has been removed, and the original Strand Magazine introduction restored. Many hundreds of errors have been corrected, and italics, missing accents, etc, restored. The formatting has been significantly improved (eg letters, newspaper quotes, etc, are now indented and in a smaller font). The result of all this is an immensely improved and much more error-free book.

Edit: 21 Nov 11. Uploaded v10.

A number of people reported typos in the previous upload, so I thought I'd better get them corrected immediately. I've also replaced the cover by one that's consistent with the cover style that I usually use. Uploaded v10.

Edit: 17 Dec 11. Uploaded v11.

A number of MR users have reported small errors, about a dozen in total. Fixed these, and created a new version. Many thanks for these error reports - please do let me know if you find any remaining errors; I'm sure there must still be some!

Previous download count: 5291

Enjoy!

12:08 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Today is video day. VUNet was so fortunate to have Philips spin-off Polymer Vision visit their offices for a quick Readius e-reader demonstration. And fortunate for us, they made a video which you can download and view from here.

Links to previous Readius discussions: Polymer Vision Readius - first photo from 3GSM, Cellular Book: Rollup screen e-reader for 2007, Readius-Cellular Book > 600 Euro / not before Q3 2007

09:33 AM by Charbax in E-Book General | News

Cool video from CeBit of the iLiad and other e-readers. Deserves attention -> moved to the frontpage --Alex

You can watch my 25 minute video of the Cebit 2006 in HD DivX 3.5mbit/s quality from here if you have DivX installed and enough bandwidth to my server; if not, it is also available on YouTube.

In this video I am interviewing some Spanish sales representatives from a company called Caro Informatica. I guess they might just be resellers of E Ink and LCD e-book devices; perhaps they are in some kind of contact or perhaps they are even working on the actual software of the iRex Iliad. They provided me with an URL, xiancaro.com, which might be an R&D lab for iRex's software and hardware in China.

01:53 PM by Hadrien in E-Book General | News

I just came back from the "Salon du livre" in Paris, where French publisher M21 Editions presented a new book called "Gutenberg 2.0: le Futur du Livre" (Gutenberg 2.0: The Future of the Book). Written by Lorenzo Soccavo, the book is dedicated to e-books and the newer generation of e-reader devices.

Here's the table of contents:
1- Le livre n'est pas un produit comme un autre (The book isn't a product like any other)
2- De nouveaux appareils de lecture (New reading devices)
3- Le renouveau de la presse (The revival of the press)
4- Le livre 2.0, et après ? (Book 2.0, what's next?)
5- Réinventer la chaîne du livre (Reinventing the book industry)
6- La littérature à l'ère numérique (Literature in the electronic era)

M21 will release this book both as a paper book as well as an e-book (in Mobipocket format). Btw, iRex was present @ the same booth and guess what -- they showcased Mobipocket on the iLiad!

11:35 AM by NatCh in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

I saw this in PopSci last night, but they won't let me to a web version of their write up, so here's one at c|net, which is a better write up anyway, and they have a video!

What is it? It's a way to power small electronic devices wirelessly, via RF energy.

Powercast isn't just a replacement for a universal charger. Instead, it's meant to either continuously charge a battery or replace the need for them altogether.

It works like this: a transmitter can be placed anywhere--in a lamp, for example, that is plugged into the wall and sits on a table. The transmitter in the lamp sends out a continuous, low RF signal. Anything with either AA or AAA batteries set within its range--and equipped with a Powercast receiver, which is the size of your fingernail--will be continuously charged.

"Our solution is, if talk time (on a cell phone) is 5 1/2 hours, by trickle-charging (it) at work, now talk time is 10 hours because the battery never gets to dead," John Shearer, CEO of Powercast, said in an interview.

Here's a link to Powercast's site for those who want more details.

09:00 PM by RWood in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

According to a story in BetaNews, Palm has won the right to keep selling phones despite the lawsuit by NTP. This is the same NTP that reached an agreement with RIM over the Blackberry.

The agreement allows Palm to keep selling the Palm VII, Palm i700, Palm Tungsten, and the Treo line until the US Patent & Trademark Office make a ruling on the validity of the NTP patents.