01:38 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

Revealed here is a pre-release version of a Sony document obtained by MobileRead. It is called "User’s Guide to Creating PDFs for the Sony® Reader", and as expected, the information contained covers how to prepare PDF documents that are optimized for the Sony Reader. We expect a similar version to be officially released from Sony in the near future.

While the instructions themselves are in a PDF, the file is not (yet) optimized for the Reader. Here, from the contents, is a list of the topics included:

I. Introduction
Portable Document Format / PDF Creation Software / Sony® Reader screen dimensions and specifications / Font recommendations for the Sony® Reader

II. Creating PDFs from Word Processing Documents
Create word processing documents with optimized dimensions and layout in Microsoft® Word and OpenOffice.org Writer / Generate PDFs with appropriate settings using Adobe PDF or PDF Creator printer

III. Creating PDFs from Presentations
Create presentations with optimized dimensions and layout in Microsoft® PowerPoint and OpenOffice.org Impress / Generate PDFs with appropriate settings using Adobe PDF or PDF Creator printer

IV. Creating PDFs from Professional Layout Applications
Create presentations with optimized dimensions and layout in QuarkXPress® software and Adobe® InDesign / Ensure proper font and image embedding / Generate PDFs with appropriate settings using Adobe PDF or PDF Creator printer

V. Doing more with Adobe® Acrobat
Reformat an existing PDF for use on the Sony® Reader 􀁸 Enhance navigation of your PDF with internal linking / Create a Sony® Reader-optimized PDF preset for streamlined PDF generation / Import an existing Sony® Reader-optimized PDF preset into your system

As we look at the font recommendations, for example, we immediately see that the document can at best hope to be some general guidelines. No matter what is recommended, there will be differences of opinion because individual tastes will vary. For example, I prefer a size 16 serif font like Times Roman. But Sony states general guidelines as follows: "A range of fonts and font sizes will display clearly in PDFs on the Sony Reader. As a general starting point, we recommend using Arial and Times Roman as base fonts at sizes of 7 points. Text is legible at 6 points, though at this size it can lose some clarity. Large fonts will tend to use up screen space rather rapidly given the maximum document dimensions." The idea appears to be that one should use a smaller size in order to maximize the words on a screen as much as possible, while allowing the Sony Reader to scale the text to larger sizes when desired by the user.

It will be very interesting to see how the recommendations are received when analyzed more carefully by the MobileRead community, but this is definitely a welcome addition from Sony. It is not just some casual document thrown together by novices, but is something that appears to be both informative and useful. Kudos to Sony for providing it as part of their commitment to the product.

04:46 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

In a press release today Adobe announced that they're seeking ISO standardization for their just-released PDF 1.7 specification. Quote:

"Today’s announcement is the next logical step in the evolution of PDF from de facto standard to a formal, de jure standard,” said Kevin Lynch, senior vice president and chief software architect at Adobe. “By releasing the full PDF specification for ISO standardization, we are reinforcing our commitment to openness. As governments and organizations increasingly request open formats, maintenance of the PDF specification by an external and participatory organization will help continue to drive innovation and expand the rich PDF ecosystem that has evolved over the past 15 years."

Before you get too excited (or not) about yet another proposed document standard (heck, if you want to believe Adobe, PDF is already the standard), keep in mind that it can take anywhere from 12-30 months for a proposed standard to be ratified.

[via Adobe Blogs]

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

Another week, another steady stream of mobile goodness here on MobileRead. Our authentic roundup of what's been going on:

E-book Devices, eREAD STAReBOOK
Exclusive: STAReBOOK Review Part I
STAReBOOK Review Part II
STAReBOOK vs. Iliad speed video!

E-books, News
Google working on e-book retail platform
PVI to release e-book reader in partnership with Les Echos
Nemoptic says our e-paper is better than others
Dutch school to launch iRex iLiad experiment

E-books, Reading Software
iSilo launched for Symbian S60 devices

Miscellaneous, Feedback
MobileRead newsletter - your input is needed!

Miscellaneous, Lounge
Do our mobile devices get more time than a significant other?
Microsoft will provide more years of support for Windows XP

Mobile Devices, General Talk
New mobile chip technology reduces power requirements up to 80%
Is voice control part of our mobile future?

Mobile Devices, Handhelds and Smartphones
New tabbed browser for PalmOS coming this quarter
Free 3-D golf game for Windows Mobile

Mobile Devices, Others
Neat display-oriented laptop... but what is it?!

Web to Mobile, Mobile Sites
More mobile sites at Wap Review

04:16 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Voice recognition and control systems were frequently mentioned as the computer input of the future. It was supposed to replace keyboard input, and even was going to provide all your home controls for lights and appliances. But then we learned how hard the problem is, and how much of human listening is tied to our understanding of language and contextual information.

But with more realistic goals, speech input might have a place in our mobile future after all. Those who have used the newer versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking, for example, will have an idea of how far such programs have come. You can actually speak text and it will be recognized. Years ago, I played around with state of the art software, and it just wasn't worth using. Now it is.

With devices like the new UMPCs, we are finding that powerful devices are coming in smaller and smaller packages for computing on the go. Together with progress in voice recognition software, it is becoming evident that you might be able to control a mobile device with speech after all.

For an example of what I mean, take a look at this video demo of speech control of a Vista system. You can both see that it's not perfect, and that it has great potential. And apparently it's much better than what was included in early versions of Vista. Of special interest for mobile computing is the later portions of the video with web browsing using voice commands.

And don't forget that it doesn't have to be entirely voice controlled to be useful. We are happy to use both the D-pad control and a fingernail when using a Treo, so why not do a combination of voice and other inputs for mobile computing also? After all, you aren't always in a location where you can speak freely anyway, such as in a theater or library.

Speech control may not be like the movies in our lifetime, but it just might become a useful supplementary input method for many people in the next few years. And what voice recognition application could be easier than e-book reading? Surely any software can learn to recognize a "turn page" command!

03:55 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Mobile Sites

WapReview does a great job of searching for mobile friendly sites (primarily WAP sites for mobile phone browsers, but also useful in smartphone browsers).

The latest installment includes a new CBS Sportsline site which has "a new and very attractive site design. The old site was text only, the new one has images resized to browser widths and flashy image gradients. Content's not bad either."

Check out some more mobile sites in their latest post at next installment.

01:31 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

It's been a while since we heard from Darren, mastermind behind the e-book reading program iSilo, but thankfully he's come through with a new update adding the long-awaited support for Symbian devices. To be able to use iSilo, your mobile must run on Symbian S60 3rd Edition, be able to install and run unsigned applications, and have around 1MB of free storage and free program memory each.

Click here to download iSilo V4.33 beta for Symbian S30.

10:33 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

"Intel Corp. and IBM have announced one of the biggest advances in transistors in four decades, overcoming a frustrating obstacle by ensuring microchips can get even smaller and more powerful." Intel will be in mass production with the new technology by the second half of 2007. IBM will take until 2008, but they will be integrating it into it's next generation of even more densely packed transisters.

This breakthrough news has the potential for greatly reduced power consumption for mobile devices. The new chips will use an exotic silvery metal called "hafnium" which will replace silicon layers. Power leakage caused by the increasingly tiny layer of silicon in the part of transisters called a "gate", was the single biggest potential barrier to the continuation of Moore's Law. "The problem with the previous technology is that the layer of silicon-based material is now just 5 atoms thick, meaning lots of electricity leaks out, resulting in wasted power and shorter battery life." That meant that even smaller transisters might not be possible without another breakthrough. Fortunately, that obstacle is now gone.

So for mobile device consumers, it turns out that the new technology is not only the first major materials change in chip manufacturing in decades, but it is also expected to be capable of reducing power consumption by up to 80%.

However, I wouldn't count on this advance alone being able to give us UMPC devices with 14hr battery life next year. While the display and wireless capabilites may be getting more efficient, they still use quite a bit of juice themselves.

From Reuters and PhysOrg.

05:06 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Microsoft has extended the number of years it will be supporting Windows XP, even out to 2014, but how long depends on which version of Windows.

It looks to me like if you have XP Home Edition, you might find you only have 2 years of support after Vista is released, but it's hard to tell. If you have XP Tablet 2005, then you appear to have 2 years mainstream support plus another 5 years of extended support. According to PC Pro the dates might even extend further than that, and will include security updates.

At any rate, that's good news for those who are looking for deals on new computers during the transition to Vista. And it also gives some comfort to UMPC fans who want to buy a device right away, before Vista is available on them.

Via DownloadSquad.