11:53 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It's time for another Palm Addict Newsletter. It covers everything that's been happening in the Palm realm for the past few days. -- It's also the birthday of PA joint-founder Andrew Wolstenholme and I want to send him my sincere congratulation.

On the off-chance that you haven't subscribed to PalmAddict's newsletter yet, simply drop an e-mail to Sammy with the word NEWSLETTER in the subject line.

11:24 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

According to research analysts at JPMorgan Chase, TV networks have been able to cash in big on iTunes video downloads of primetime series such as Desperate Housewives, CSI, and Lost. The Hollywood Reporter writes:

The content owners take from downloading is nearly the same that a commercial-fee TV series episode generates from a DVD boxed set, according to Nielsen Entertainment analyst Larry Gerbrandt, who has done the most exhaustive analysis of on-demand program economics to date.

Of every $1.99 in iTunes download revenues, the networks are making 70%, or $1.44. Between bandwidth, iTunes infrastructure, credit card fees, the studio's cut, and royalties paid, I wonder, what's there left for Apple?

Related: Mobile video is about to explode, Mobile TV is gaining viewers, The state of Mobile Video

[via Gizmodo]

04:51 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Nobody can question Picard's expertise when it comes to engineering the most advanced media player for Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices. The latest test version of TCPMP, V0.71i, adds Nullsoft Streaming Video container support and tons of bug-fixes:

• playlist shuffle mode fix
• buffering fix for very high bitrate movies
• avi audio timing fix with incompatible files
• PalmOS: pixel aspect option in preferences dialog
• WinCE: asf http streaming stream selection
• WinCE: XScale driver fix (for O2 Atom. still needs testing)
• WinCE: fix X50v WM5 black display after power on
• WinCE: telling "go online" to OS before http connection
• WinCE: better handling of special hotkeys (record, menu, green, red phone buttons)
• WinCE: ATI Imageon 3200 "Keep ATI driver active" option (maybe helps with crashes...)
• WinCE: DirectDraw mode fixes (+disabled with some devices...)

You can download TCPMP V0.71i from here.

Related: TCPMP V0.71b adds native AVC decoder

12:35 AM by Domokos in E-Book General | News

Rita Y. Toews is the author of various award winning e-books and also founder of Read An E-Book Week. E-Book authors are encouraged to contact their local media and drum up excitement about this form of publishing.

Fresh Voices - Fresh Choices For Readers

Each year Read An E-Book Week celebrates the fresh voices and fresh choices of electronic literature. There remains no doubt that e-books have gone from oddity to mainstream when the top 10 bestselling list for 2005 includes the Bible, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

Book lovers world wide have used their mouse buttons to send e-book sales soaring. A director of International Digital Publishing Forum, the trade and standards association for the digital publishing industry, stated: "eBooks represent the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry."

Read An E-Book Week (March 5-11th, 2006) was registered with Chase's Calendar of Events four years ago to educate readers about the advantages of electronic books and to promote the fledgling industry. In 2002 publishers were struggling with low sales and libraries reluctant to consider their books. Today many libraries carry e-books and even provide e-book readers to their patrons. E-book topics now range from dance instruction to science fiction, and from repair manuals to romance novels.

In the past e-book sales were hampered by unpopular reading devices. Sony has recently introduced their electronic ink reading device which closely replicates the experience of reading a paper book. Competing digital publishing platforms have also hampered sales. On February 7th and 8th the International Digital Publishing Forum will meet in New York to develop a standard for content that would allow publishers to produce only one format for entry into their distribution channels.

E-book sales continue to rise each year by 25%-30% which gives e-book authors and publishers reason to celebrate.

Help celebrate e-books during Read An E-Book Week. If you are a vendor why not have a sale? If you are a publisher - set up a display. If you are an author approach your local media for a personal appearance to promote electronic literature. This is an OFFICIAL week and you have the authority to promote it.

Rita Y. Toews

03:00 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

The rumor mill has officially been kicked into high gear now, with Forbes citing Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck (conservative guy, just recently upgraded Google from hold to buy - when the stock already performed over 300 percent) in reporting that Google "is in the midst of creating its own iTunes competitor." What the analyst dubbed "Google Tunes" could be rolled-out as beta (we didn't expect anything else from Google) within three to six months. We are open for suggestions how Google could make iTunes better.

02:29 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

With Skype for Pocket PC you can make voice calls and chat for free, no matter where you are, assuming you have a WiFi or 3G Internet connection and a Pocket PC equipped with a decent CPU (min 400 MHz). Changes in 2.0.0.39 include updated graphics, contact-list sorting, and various important bugfixes.

Download the latest beta from here.

04:47 AM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

It doesn't look good for Research In Motion. On monday the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in their messy patent dispute with NTP, making it more likely that the popular wireless e-mail and voice service could be shut down. While RIM has argued that an "exceptional public interest" is at stake in keeping its business functioning, I like to disagree. There're plenty of alternatives, which includes Palm whose line of Treo smartphones has always been a favorite among hard-core users. While the Palm Treo 700w doesn't deliver true "push" e-mail yet in the sense where the server notifies the device upon incoming e-mails, it offers all the other bells and whistles, such as a comprehensive productivity suite, direct access to Microsoft Exchange Server, one-handed context operations, and fast EVDO for high-speed data transfers. Palm shares were up 3.5 cents at the close of trading on NASDAQ yesterday.

If you are a BlackBerry user, how fast would you be willing to make the switch?

12:30 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Sam McLoughlin from Palm Addicts is reporting a conversation with Ed Colligan in which he (Ed, that is) states once again that Palm, Inc. is commited to PalmOS and not abandoning it. And additionally, he confirms their commitment to WiFi technology. With the uncertainty associated with the Access purchase of PalmSource and the questions about the future of PalmOS for Linux, those words are reassuring in the short run, but certainly cannot calm all anxieties about the long run future of PalmOS.

Fortunately, the next year or so looks bright and we have expectations of multiple new Treo devices, including a likely PalmOS model parallel to the new Treo 700w. And in the long run, there's no telling what will happen anyway. For all we know, that secret "third business" will kick in anyway.

The irrelevance of thinking too much about the long run is captured in the saying, "In the long run, we are all dead." So much more true in the tech world, where there is really not much certainty in the future of mobile computing. Maybe the best we can really say is that it will progress in capabilities and connectivity, and someone will bring solutions that customers are demanding. The real long run picture probably looks a lot different than we would guess right now by looking at PalmOS, Windows Mobile and even Linux.

Jump on over to Palm Addicts to read about Sammy's thoughts on his conversation with Ed.

It's interesting that in the midst of all the uncertainty relative to PalmOS, somehow it always seems that Ed Colligan comes out proving himself to be an excellent leader of Palm, able to deliver some great devices, able to diversify into Windows Mobile, and still appears to have remained true to his word so far with regard to all his past assurances about Palm's plans. We are forever suspicious of him, and yet he has been impressively faithful to PalmOS fans.

I'd have to say that unless there are some unexpected negative surprises out there, that Ed is deserving of quite a bit of appreciation for his leadership and his commitment to delivering great PalmOS products. I know he hasn't really been seen this way very often in the mobile community, and I may shock you with my perspective, but I think he has earned "hero" status with the PalmOS community in a lot of ways.

Sure, there are plenty of things to complain about, but as we start to regain our perspective over time, I wouldn't be surprised one bit to see him universally viewed as a PalmOS superstar. Don't be surprised if we end up looking very fondly one day at the greatness of the "Colligan era" at Palm, Inc.

This is a treacherous time to be commited to PalmOS. And yet he has remained steadfast. I believe he has been faithful to PalmOS even beyond what was absolutely necessary simply due to revenue dependence on PalmOS devices. Who knows? One day he may even be considered the man that saved PalmOS.

I'm just getting carried away you say. Maybe. The story is still being written. But a few more good chapters and I think you'll find that these kinds of accolades may be not only well-deserved, but commonplace. Today you think this is naive. Tomorrow you might just be joining me in the chorus of praise.