06:50 PM by NatCh in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Okay, so it's not mobile, and it's not reading either, but it still might be of interest to the community, so here you go:

'Commodore' to return to the high street

The first look at these will be at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany, on March 15. These are reported to be "high performance purpose-built machines" for playing the latest PC games.

Bala Keilman, CEO for Commodore Gaming, said, "25 years ago, Commodore launched the best selling personal computer of the late 20th Century, the C64, and defined the early computer games experience for millions of people worldwide. We are privileged and excited to bring the Commodore brand back to the gaming community and mark a new chapter in its history with this exceptional machine. We're sure that it will deliver what gamers need and want."

Full Story

06:04 PM by Alexander Turcic in iRex | iRex Developer's Corner

Our friend Matthijs from iRex posted a quick hack which allows you to enable WPA encryption. Although there is no GUI for it yet, you can enable WPA yourself if you have the latest iLiad firmware 2.9 and the shell execution script installed, by using the following command line:

wireless.sh start MY_WPA_SSID wpa "Very secret passphrase"

Encrypting your WiFi connection with WPA is highly recommended if you don't want your neighbor to sniff out your surfing habits.

05:40 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

So, you thought the iRex iLiad carried a bit of heft around the price tag, eh? Well check out this rugged $3,995 MedTab ET-100 E Ink tablet from Emano Tec. Full specs:

• powered by WinCE 5.0 with an Intel XScale 624 MHz CPU
• weight: 9.5 oz. (270g)
• dimensions: 5.5"x7.5"x 0.5" (140x190x12mm)
• screen: 8.1" (205.7mm) 1024x768, E Ink, 16 grey scales, touch-enabled
• connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g, bluetooth (optional)
• battery: Li-ion 1800mAh (runtime: 6 hours on one charge, 12 hours with optional larger battery)

The MedTab is obviously is not designed for you to consume your favorite Michael Crichton novels on it; rather, it's made for the technology-inclined hospital staff who needs to access information from anywhere in a clinic. And the good news: should you plan to buy more than 50 devices, you'll get a 50% discount ($2,000/unit).

(high-res photo attached)

Thanks to realityloop and Brian Gilbert who sent in the news.

05:04 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Microsoft and the Association of American Publishers go hand in hand by accusing Google of copyright infringement for the latter's Google Book Search project. Wall Street Journal has a story today that Thomas Rubin, one of Microsoft's top attorneys, is criticizing what he sees as Google's "cavalier approach to copyright":

Much of Mr. Rubin's speech focuses on Google's project to scan millions of books in university and public libraries so that they can be searched on the Internet. In 2005, that plan prompted separate suits by the Authors Guild and five major publishers, alleging copyright infringement; the actions were filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In his prepared remarks, Mr. Rubin says that after Google received "unfettered access" to the libraries, it then "basically turned its back on its partners" by making copies of copyrighted books without first obtaining copyright holders' permission. The approach, Mr. Rubin argues, "systematically violates copyright and deprives authors and publishers of an important avenue for monetizing their works.

Microsoft, the moral warrior for good against evil, might try to shut down competition by making claims of copyright infringement; but seriously, have you ever considered using the Microsoft's publisher-friendly Live Search Books portal (once it has launched)?

Read the full WSJ story here (subscription required).

03:44 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Sick of the bloat in Adobe Reader? Sumatra PDF is a new alternative open-source viewer for PDF documents. It doesn't require an installer, has no bloat, and renders pages quite fast blindingly fast even with complex PDF structures.

Click here to download the most current version of Sumatra PDF.

Alternatively, you may want to try Foxit PDF Reader, which is more feature-rich than Sumatra PDF, yet lighter than Adobe Reader, and also free as in beer.

[via Neowin.net]

02:01 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Today is the release of Ilium's NewsBreak version 2.0 Windows Mobile RSS feed reader. It is probably the most popular RSS reader for Pocket PC and Smartphone. Judie Hughes at GearDiary mentions that over 3.5% of her RSS subscribers are using NewsBreak on Windows Mobile, which may sound small, but is a phenomenal number when you think about it.

The software supports podcasts, vidcasts, wireless updates and various sorts of search and alert mechanisms to keep your time efficient. The web site is also promoting a limited time deal of $7.95 (reduced from $19.95) so it's a good time to jump on board. Yes, there is a trial version, also.

Main improvements in NewsBreak 2.0:
* Full support for audio, video, image, and attachment podcasts
* Individual download criteria for each channel that supports podcasts
* Microsoft Live Search included for adding new channels
* Save podcasts for later use
* Schedule podcast downloads separately from channel updates
* Choose the maximum memory usage for podcast storage
* Store podcasts in main memory or on a storage card
* Improved menus for one-handed navigation
* Set the maximum number of channels to save
* New keyword icons plus 6 additional icons and an updated appearance

Upgrade information for existing users is available at Ilium's upgrade page.

For additional material be sure to check out Judie's thoughts at GearDiary and an early review at ClintonFitch.com.

12:42 PM by NatCh in More E-Book Readers | iRex

iRex has released the Version 2.9 Firmware as of today, March 5th.

The latest software release 2.9 for the iLiad is now available for download from the iDS. This software release will introduce several new features like: Sort files, Share files and a number of other improvements.

Full details available here (PDF warning).

The sleeper on this one is they've also released a "Companion Software":

Together with the release of software version 2.9, we also introduce the iLiad Companion Software. This free software package will enable you to:

...* Automatically create a backup of your iLiad
...* Exchange files between your iLiad and Computer
...* Merge annotations together with the original PDF into a new PDF
...* Merge scribbles, notes or a series of images into a PDF document
...* Print content from your Windows Clipboard in optimized iLiad format

Download the iLiad Companion Software here.

Thanks to Village Reader for pointing this out!

09:17 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Recently, we heard that the secret project of Jeff Hawkins (Palm co-founder) was going to be revealed in 2007. Now we hear even better news via P.J. Arts, the Treo editor at Palm Addicts:

* Hawkins will drop "broad hints" about the product in May, at the WSJ D-Conference
* The product will be released by the end of 2007!

This information is reported to come from a personal conversation with Jeff Hawkins himself, and is certainly in line with previous rumors, although our early guesses have not always turned out to be very accurate.

So what does this do to your smartphone, PDA or UMPC purchasing plans? Are you more likely to wait until at least May to see how your options might be revolutionized, or is it just another point of curiosity for you?

Related stories:
* Breaking News: Hawkins' secret project coming next year
* Jeff Hawkins interview from PoderPDA Mexico
* Credible hints that Palm Inc is planning a new generation of Linux devices
* Palm Linux phone by end of year
* Palm's "Secret Third Business" isn't the LifeDrive
* Palm's Secret Plans Cracked
* Palm's Hawkins points to 'secret' product line
* On intelligence, by Jeff Hawkins