09:33 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Thomas sent in this news that, after several delays, the long-awaited Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for the HP iPAQ hx4700 series finally hits shelves.

You can find the $39.99 upgrade burried here in HP's online shop. I cannot guarantee that the order process actually works, since on another page, HP notes April 01, 2006 as the official release date.

PS: More information on the upgrade here.

02:25 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Dr. Iain McCulloch of Merck Chemicals is the kind of guy you'd like to have a beer with. Between gulps, he will impart the details of how organic polymers really work. BBC runs a story how a bunch of academics including Dr. McCulloch invented a new low-cost plastic material based on the research of organic field-effect transistors (OFET). The team managed to tweak the chemical structure of the plastic to improve its efficiency in carrying an electrical current (traditional OFETs are much slower than silicon) and to allow it to dissolve in a solution to produce an ink.

These modifications give the material its edge over traditional silicon which must be processed at high temperatures and in vacuums. This is not only slow and expensive but produces a large amount of waste. Instead, the new polymer can be printed using traditional inkjet printers or techniques similar to those used to produce magazines and wallpaper. This means it can easily be printed on large flexible surfaces, making it attractive for use in electronic paper where rigid silicon cannot be used.

Being cheap in production, very flexible (unlike rigid silicon technology) and if desired transparent, this plastic may offer great opportunities in future electronics, especially for smart labels, flexible flat-panel displays, and - hear the drums roll - electronic paper.

[via Engadget]

09:39 AM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | Legacy E-Book Devices

Teleread contributor Ellen Hage posted a bunch of useful links to vendors offering battery replacements for your good ol' e-book reader (Gemstar, REB, Ebookman, Hiebook). On the downside, your refurbished reader won't get the same admiring looks from your fellow geeks like a tasty new E Ink device would get.

08:48 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Expect thousands of gadget-crazed technophiles to attend the Palm Addict meet-up event in New York City on Sunday, July 16th, 2006. This is your chance to meet Sammy in person and congratulate him for his wonderful site.

For more and how to attend check out this link.

08:11 AM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | HanLin eBook

Creating the perfect e-book device is no walk in the park, but China-based Jinke nearly reaches the market with the very promising Hanlin V8 and V2 E Ink readers. Thanks to our member CommanderROR who got in contact with "maple", one of the representatives of Jinke, you can now ask any device-specific question that comes up to your mind and have it hopefully answered to your satisfaction.

Some of the juicy details just reveiled: each of the two devices has a replaceable battery (same as in the Nokia 6100 handset), the E Ink-typical ghosting effect has been improved, refresh rate when turning pages: 0.9 seconds, boot time: 15 seconds.

Reminder: there's also a Q&A session going on the iRex iLiad reader (thanks to Nick Hampshire), another e-book contenter to become available soon.

Related links:

• Hanlin eBook Reader(eink) has been released
• Will Sony help the e-book market to grow?
• Sony Reader vs. iRex Iliad e-book reader

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

If you've been too busy to check out MobileRead this week, check out our usual roundup:

Current E-Books Trends
Google to sell e-books that you cannot download
The best e-book and digital library news

E-Book Readers
iLiad iRex to ship Spring 2006 in US
iRex iLiad: What do you want to know?
iRex iLiad first preview

General Chat
3 Steps to Highly Efficient News Reading
Amazon may be first with unlimited online storage... yes Amazon!
AOL In2TV - Broadband television has arrived!!
Can man or machine find the best news stories?
Docvert 2.0 converts MS Word files to clean HTML
Get your RSS feeds delivered via e-mail
Microsoft's latest stunt: On 10 dot net
New virus encrypts your data and demands $300 ransom
Tracking TV shows via RSS

New Links
Wikipedia Optimized for mobile devices

Other E-Book Resources
The Unbinding: New online serial novel in real time

Other Gadgets
Crackberries, come and chat on Google!
Gartner report says Origami needs better hardware
Origami Q&A
Sci-Fi-inspired Eurotech WWPC Wrist PC

Palm
A sample of news from Palm Addicts
Documents To Go V8.003 adds support for encrypted PDF
myKbd input system 1.20
Palm Addicts overview of PalmOS game emulators
Palm handheld celebrates 10-year anniversary
Palm stock splits 2:1 in premarket today
Palm Treo 700p rumored launch date: 05/28/2006
Pennovate Notes has been updated to version 2.4.4
Sprint Treo 700p photo may have leaked

Pocket PC
ActiveSync becomes Vista Mobile Device Center
Agile Messenger for WM 5.0 Alpha released

Portable Audio/Video
DRM drains your battery by up to 25%

Smartphones
Apple to introduce iPhone this year, says Barron's
Samsung SPH-B5200 phone slides both ways

WiFi / Bluetooth Technologies
Sharp introduces tiniest 802.11g/b WLAN module

05:51 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Unconfirmed and anonymous rumors state that this photo received by 1src may have something to do with the forthcoming Sprint Treo 700p. It reveals nothing new or informative that we haven't already seen, which means it could actually be real.

Yesterday it was speculated that the launch date of the Sprint Treo is on May 28th, 2006. Since we are getting tired of all these rumors, we hope that Palm Inc. will let the cat out of the bag when it releases its third-quarter earnings next week.

[via Palm Addicts]

04:27 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Heads up, Motorola! Apple is gunning for you. Barron's Tiernan Ray reports in an online exclusive (subscription only) that Apple could break up its relationship with Motorola to introduce it's own "iPhone" handset sometime in late 2006.

Speculation about an Apple phone is several years old, but analysts say the process is finally moving forward. Apple is working on "an iPod with phone functions" and could end up using Hon Hai Precision, a Tiawanese contract electronics manufacturer, to help them make the phone, says Johnny Chan, a J.P. Morgan analyst based in Hong Kong. Hon Hai has a big role in making the iPod Nano. But Apple still hasn't decided whether to give the contract for what's being referred to as an "iPhone" to Hon Hai or to another manufacturer, says Ellen Tseng, a Morgan Stanley analyst in Taipei. One analyst in Taipei who declined to be identified said Taiwan Green Point Enterprises, which makes plastic cases for the iPod, is in talks with Apple for a role in the phone. "The chatter about the product is all over the food chain," says Bill Shope, Chan's colleague in New York who follows Apple. He believes Apple will likely introduce a cellphone by the fourth quarter of this year.

If analysts believe that Apple is to embrace a billion dollar business by introducing its own iPhone product, in true Apple style unlike the horrible Rokr device, we very much like to believe it, too. But Barron's also mentions some of the steep obstacles that could get in Apple's way of attaining domination in the cell phone world.

To be sure, the challenges to Apple are steep. A cellphone is far more complex than a digital music player, where Apple has already achieved a bit of infamy for problems such as casings that easily scratch and short battery life. "The landscape is littered with carcasses of people who wanted to get into the cellphone business," says John Bucher, who follows Motorola for Harris Nesbitt Corp. in Los Angeles. Another big challenge for Apple: It doesn't have the relationships with wireless carriers, who subsidize the retail price of handsets, nor the experience in customizing phone software and casings. Apple could get around that by becoming its own phone company, a "mobile virtual network operator," or MVNO, albeit at the cost of subsidizing the phone's price out of its own pocket.

Whether you're the sort of Apple geek who has the company logo tattooed on your ankle or a reflexive Apple basher who's sick of the cult of personality around Steve Jobs, you have to agree that Apple's gadgets are about the sexiest on the market. And if the iPhone is going to be as sexy as the iPod, we'll predict a brilliant career for this rumored newcomer.

Related: Palm stock surges after takeover chatter