04:43 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Researchers are working long and hard on our behalf to determine whether or not cell phones are safe to use. We know distracted driving is a problem. And we know that radio emissions are dangerous/are not dangerous/are dangerous... with results apparently depending on sunspot activity during the research cycle.

Well, now if you are in those tender developmental years, there's another new danger that has been discovered, and I'm happy to warn you in this public service announcement. Brace yourself.

"According to the latest cell phone-health related study, researchers claim cell phones make adolescents' hands sweat." Be warned! Fortunately, if you are an adult, you have escaped this dangerous situation. "According to the study, adults did not show significant changes before and after using cell phones."

But I'm ever suspicious of research results. I think they might have left out one variable in the study. I wonder how many adolescents happened to be talking to a member of the opposite sex that made them nervous just to pick up the phone? Heck, I can remember times as a teen that my hands would get sweaty just thinking about making a call to a certain important person!

From Textually.

03:26 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Nobody can question Nvidia's expertise when it comes to building high-end graphics solutions for desktops. So what's cooler than seeing them team up with Intel to provide a hardware multimedia platform for Windows Mobile 5.0-based devices. The all-in-one platform is a complete development kit containing the necessary hardware (based on the GoForce 5500 processor) and software components to provide

• true, fluid digital TV;
• DVD-quality video;
• high-fidelity surround sound;
• console-class gaming;
• premier 2D/3D graphics.

Devices that are already based on the Nvidia MultiMedia Platform include: the Samsung i310 8GB smartphone, the Modeo DVB-H smartphone, and iRiver's G10 "Wing" WiBro gaming device. Of course it's up to you how you justify HiFi surround sound on a handheld device, but I'm sure you'll find your use for it.

Read full press release

02:10 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Farecast is a new Web 2.0 service to find best deals on US domestic (and eventually global) flights. From TechCrunch:

Seattle-based Farecast, now in private beta, is an airfare pricing comparision tool that also uses a predictive algorithm to recommend when you buy your ticket. So the idea is to show the user not just who has the cheapest ticket, but whether or not waiting might make sense as well.

You can also read more about it here.

If you are interested in an invitation (I have 20 of them), reply to this thread and PM me your e-mail (if you post your e-mail here, it'll get spidered by nasty spam bots).

11:33 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

WSJ Tech Columnist Walter Mossberg gave the Motorola Q a spin, and his verdict on the slick-looking smartphone? Nice, but weak user interface and inferior to the Palm Treo 700p.

You might like the $199 Motorola Q because of its price tag or striking design. If you don't use email too much, or if you've never used another smartphone, you might not miss the more user-friendly features that the Treo 700p has to offer. We wish that the sleekness of the Motorola Q could be combined with the intuitive features of the Treo 700p. For now, we'll stick with what works best -- the newest Treo.

Moto Q Pros (vs. Palm Treo 700p)

• just half as thick
• more than one-third lighter
• price ($199)

Moto Q Cons (vs. Palm Treo 700p)

• clumsier implementation of Windows Mobile ("Its software is annoying, often requiring two clicks to do what takes one on the Palm")
• display is lower-resolution and smaller (320x240 vs 320x320)
• weaker battery life
• inferior keyboard
• inferior software (e-mail, office tools)

09:15 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam hits us with a thought-provoking article in which he argues that e-books don't live up to their hype and that pulp books are still way more convenient.

As it happens, the e-book is the solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Check out my Personalized Literacy Unit, a 2003 release from the Bantam Dell labs. It's an $8 paperback called "Persuader" by Lee Child , and it weighs the same as my stripped-down cellphone and less than my Palm Pilot . (A friend's reaction upon learning that I carry a Pilot: "How 1997!") I've used my PLU on an airplane, in the car, and in a few other places where you wouldn't take electronic equipment.

10:45 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The French publishing group La Martiniere is suing Google for "counterfeiting and breach of intellectual property rights" over its Google Book Search scanning and digitization project, according to BBC News.

The national publishers' union of France, Le Syndicat national de l'Edition, has repeatedly condemned the library project and threatened legal action. There have been concerns in France that the project will enhance the dominance of the English language. Last year, France and several other European countries received European Union backing for a rival book-scanning project for publications which are not in English.

The publisher is now demanding USD$128,000 for each of the about 100 books involved and for each day's delay. Not sure if sending out crooked lawyers will do anything to solve the deep psychological problem of some of the French with the already very real domination of the English language.

[via Unofficial Google Weblog]

10:25 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Once considered the final stage of software development, beta versions are taking on a life of their own, as companies tinker endlessly with their products in public. More than half a year after its first announcement, iAnywhere, the company behind the AvantGo mobile content service, made the availability of AvantGo for RSS official. From the press release:

This release expands the content available through AvantGo by including the millions of RSS feeds offered by bloggers and major media. Now users can:

• Easily sync and view new RSS items/articles;
• Save up to five RSS items per AvantGo RSS channel;
• Share photos, allowing users of photo sharing sites that offer photo feeds to use AvantGo as their mobile photo album;
• Personalize RSS channels to optimize feed subscriptions, set the maximum allowable size for the channel and whether or not to include images;
• Quickly subscribe to RSS channels on-the-fly with AvantGo’s AutoChannel™ bookmarklet for RSS; and
• Promote their own Web site or blog RSS feeds by creating a button that enables users to quickly add their site to AvantGo.

Click here to learn more or to subscribe to an RSS channel with AvantGo.

[via msmobiles.com]

10:07 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

Occasionally a nasty spammer and prankster finds a way to slip his unwanted messages to our forums. Unfortunately it also means that sometimes spam gets through to our full feed. We try to keep the situation under control, but if you want to make absolutely sure that no spam reaches your RSS reader, sign up to our frontpage feed instead.

List of our current RSS feeds: https://www.mobileread.com/rss.php