06:03 PM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | iRex

Branko from Teleread figured out why the iRex ER 0100 (aka iLiad) e-book reader isn't suitable for surfing the Net despite wireless connectivity. One caveat of current E Ink technology is the relatively slow refresh rate of the display - current devices need between 0.5 and 1 second for a screen update - causing animated objects (such as drop-down menus) to blur or disappear. Nothing we can do about it except to hope for future third-gen devices to improve in this matter.

Another bummer: Although the iliad will run on Linux, only companies partnering with iRex will be able to develop third party tools for the reader. Given how Nokia is successfully using open source to give its gadgets (see Nokia 770) a first-mover advantage in the fiercely competitive consumer electronics market, it's totally beyond me why iRex would want to restrict access to the software development of its reader.

Related Sony Reader vs. iRex Iliad e-book reader, Build an eink reader, iRex Iliad will be available for around 400 Euro

05:02 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Folks, don't get me wrong: I'm not a BlackBerry hater. I am just fed up with these companies and their lawsuits, with one party always suing the other. Fact is, the BlackBerry has been an innovative device that is now likely to be replaced by a competiting product, should the endless feud between RIM and NTP not end soon. SearchMobileComputing has a quick write up of how senior executives are already planning for the switch, and quite successfully so.

At the American Indian-owned Viejas Casino in Alpine, Calif., BlackBerrys are an essential part of doing business in an around-the-clock environment, said CIO Moti Vyas. About 130 BlackBerrys are in use. The casino has been testing Microsoft solutions since November 2005, about the time it first heard about BlackBerry's patent battle, Vyas said. "First we upgraded our e-mail system to accept [Microsoft's Exchange Server] 2003, and then we bought two devices in December, Treo 650 and Treo 700. We are testing Treo 700, as we speak, and it is working. That device can send and receive e-mails, of course, and it is best on Windows Mobile operating system," Vyas said.

[via Palm Addict]

04:32 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Palm Addicts reports that PalmPDF, certainly one of the best Palm OS freeware apps and that allows you to read native PDF files without the need of converting them first, has been updated. Version 1.1 includes various bugfixes and adds the ability to view larger PDF files without out-of-memory crashes.

You can download PalmPDF from here.

04:23 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

mobileGlu is a new service aiming to provide a mobile hub for existing open API's, like those provided by del.icio.us and Flickr. Registration is free, and all you need to do is add your subscribed feed content and download a tiny Java-based app to your cell phone.

As a next step the developers are planning to add posting capabilities to the client which would be great.

You can find out more about mobileGlu on the developer's blog.

01:12 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It's perhaps the most shocking news of the day, but according to The Business Online, Microsoft took it upon itself to conquer the VoIP telephony market. The Redmond giant is said to integrate VoIP with the Windows Mobile version of its Microsoft Office Communicator software. The article quotes an analyst saying that traditional telcos like Vodafone will risk losing out if they don't adapt.

Cyrus Mewawalla, an analyst at Westhall Capital, believes VoIP, when backed by Microsoft, will have a more devastating effect on mobile operators than it did on the fixed-line operators, which saw their voice revenues slashed after the introduction of VoIP services such as Skype. "Internet voice does not even have to take market share to force traditional operators to cut their prices. The mere thought of free voice is enough to make customers push for price cuts," said Mewawalla, predicting a bloodbath for mobile operator stocks.

And what about eBay who spent the little fortune of $2.6bn (half cash, half stock) on the purchase of Skype last year? Will they perhaps ban the sales of any Windows Mobile-related product to prevent Microsoft from taking over?

[via Slashdot]

09:06 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a truly gifted individual who crafts something straight out of the movie Minority Report. Jeff Han and his colleagues from New York University have developed a large-format 36" x 27" touch screen that can sense simultaneous points of touch and allow real-time manipulation of objects by simple hand gestures.

Our technique is force-sensitive, and provides unprecedented resolution and scalability, allowing us to create sophisticated multi-point widgets for applications large enough to accomodate both hands and multiple users. Up Next: We'll be working with other, more interesting form factors (both larger and smaller). Wouldn't it also be nice to identify which finger (e.g. thumb, index, etc.) is associated with each contact?

Don't miss the video, it's brilliant.

[via YouTube]

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

Just in case you've missed anything, here is the list of our frontpage news this week.

Browsers
AvantGo 6.0 for Palm OS improves LifeDrive support
AvantGo exposed! How to use AvantGo with any (offline) browser

Current E-Books Trends
Study announced on the commercial use of e-paper

E-Book Webstores
eReader 10% discount on any e-book

General Chat
Mossberg on backing up phone contacts
Unpaper 1.1 book scan post-processor

Other Gadgets
Engadget Mobile

Other Readers
Mobipocket Reader Pro 5.1 now FREE
Read-in-Microsoft-Reader 1.1.3 add-in released

Palm
ACCESS Linux Platform announced - but don't expect anything before 2007
A new look for the #1 Palm site
More info about the new Access Linux Platform
Palm Addict Treo 650 musings
Screenshots and more on Access Linux Platform

Pocket PC
Microsoft's push-email under the hood
Minimo CE 0.13 released
Minimo CE 0.13rc1 released

Sunrise
Sunrise XP beta 1 released

06:22 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

Anyone who's ever been eight years old has wondered the same thing: How to make those darn AvantGo channels work without the AvantGo browser. AvantGo boasts a large selection of channels where the URL is kept secret, so official channels are available only to AvantGo subscribers. While trial and error had traditionally been the main method of finding out the URLs, this approach came recently to an halt with AvantGo restricting access to its sync servers based on a range of IP numbers or network addresses. As a consequence popular channels such as the mobile edition of Wired.com stopped working with non-AvantGo browsers.

The solution I present here is based on the customized RIM portal AvantGo offers to BlackBerry users. It works for both, online mobile browsers such as NetFront and Opera Mobile, and offline browsers such as iSilo. The only requirement is cookie support.