03:29 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | News

One more picture format along side JPEG probably wouldn't attract much attention if it wasn't from Microsoft, but when they push a new format you probably can't ignore it completely. The photo format is called Windows Media Photo, and claims to have the following features:
* Multiple color formats for display or print
* Fixed or floating point high dynamic range image encoding
* Lossless or high quality lossy compression
* Extremely efficient decoding for multiple resolutions and sub-regions
* Minimal overhead for format conversion or transformations during decode

With the increasing power of hardware, even in mobile devices, I'm not sure that JPEG really needs this kind of radical makeover for a general purpose format. Well, not unless Vista uses so many system resources that in the future we have to squeeze a little extra cpu power wherever possible!

Via Slashdot.

03:16 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Sam Krupa has written us about a "pro" version of iPodulator, the web-based software program that converts webpages to text for iPods. iPodulator Pro is a desktop application that automatically updates the webpages on your iPod. It also does away with the 4,000 character page limit.

Apparently, iPodulator Pro works on any iPod that has a "Notes" section under the "Extras" section.

Sometime you may only have your iPod with you, and that's no reason to be without some good reading!

09:08 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Around 1998, the computer was a commonplace item, but e-mail and the web was just getting started. Who could have imagined that almost everyone was going to be connected by the web, and that Google would make it the first place to look for information?

Business 2.0 says that we are on the verge of something new. We are connected at home, but soon we will be connected everywhere. (Consider the Treo 700p, for example, as a good start!) Wireless cell carriers, Wi-fi, Wi-Max and similar technologies promise to bring us an always connected mobile world.

"It's hard to get excited by the technology as it exists now," says James Enck, an analyst at Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe. "But when you look at everything that's happening, it starts to get really interesting."

Check out the full article to find links that give examples of some of the technologies that they consider to be revolutionary (but are already old hat to some of us bleeding edge guys and gals!):

* Productivity: The everywhere office
* Voice communication gets more flexible
* Beyond the map: Services that fit where you are
* Entertainment: Mobilizing the buddy list
* Tomorrow's wireless devices

Via CNN Money.

08:58 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

As we know, battery technology is often criticized for not keeping up with advances in electronics. But they aren't standing still either. Duracell has announced they will be shipping a new premium line of rechargeable NiMH AA and AAA batteries aimed at cameras and other portable devices.

In case you haven't been using this kind of rechargeable batteries, I'll just remind you that the two most common classes of AA/AAA batteries are NiMH and Alkaline. The advantage of NiMH is that they can provide more power. But they also have a shorter shelf life. I believe I read previously that they lose about 1% of their charge each day. The Alkaline batteries have a great shelf life, but not quite the same power output, so they don't provide as much muscle to power-hungry devices like digital cameras.

For the full scoop, check out the writeup at ExtremeTech.

07:55 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Amazon hopes to take a big bite out of e-book market with its latest feature, the Amazon Online Reader. When you buy a physical book from Amazon that's part of their new Amazon Upgrade program, for an additional charge you can get an online version of the book. Amazon Online Reader allows you to print pages, to search content, and to create highlights, bookmarks, notes and tags. You can not, however, download the book and read it in any other reader.

Example: CliffNotes Chemistry.

The very Ajaxy-feeling reader currently supports IE 6.0+, Firefox 1.5+ and Safari 2.0. Only US customers can take advantage of the Upgrade program right now.

05:45 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Mobile Sites

Frustrated travelers who want to know the truth on airplane seating should visit SeatGuru, a priceless online database with the ins and outs of each seat for several of the most popular airlines.

Next time you're in front of the check-in booth and want to switch seats at the last minute, use your Treo phone to visit the mobile version of SeatGuru. Even though it's optimized for your handheld, it still offers a wide range of features, including:

• Coverage of domestic and international airline carriers;
• Seat map graphics with color-coding;
• Seat Pitch and Width measurements;
• In-flight entertainment and Power Port availability;
• Location of Power Ports and adapter type.

[via jkOnTheRun]

07:21 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

I cringed when I read that Sammy McLoughlin had just dropped his precious Treo. Right now, there are really only three good protections for your device:
1) A good case
2) An insurance policy
3) Extreme care in handling

But in the future, Fujitsu hopes that a new impact-resistant polymer might provide some additional protection, maybe even as much as 50% better.

Portable Design is reporting that "In collaboration with Toray Industries Inc., a chemicals group with expertise in organic synthetic chemistry, Fujitsu Ltd. and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. have announced the development of a novel bio-based polymer that... [improves] impact resistance by 50%. Fujitsu says it has constructed a prototype mobile phone chassis using the new polymer, which was exhibited at Fujitsu Forum 2006 on May 18–19 at the Tokyo International Forum."

Let's just hope that products become so hardened that it no longer makes your heart stop when you drop your cell phone or pda.

07:09 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

You've all seen the technology that secures a hi-tech research room from intruders by using your eyeball (actually your Iris) as the key to enter. Sounds safe until you watch a movie where the intruder pokes an eyeball out of someone's head to get into the secured room!

But it all sounded like something that would always be "somewhere else." Until now, because there is a new portable iris scanning technology for camera phones from xVista.

Via Pocket PC Mauritius. (A very nice blog by one of our members that can also be found in his MobileRead user signature.)