09:35 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

Not too long ago, we introduced the Gamepark GP2X to readers. It doesn't seem to have gotten much press, but I think it's definitely worth another look. In a way it's almost too good to be true, but there there is some coverage out there, so it appears to be legit, and simply in need of some marketing buzz.

A recent post at Engadget give a nice quick view of the Gamepark GP2x-F100 is "Linux-powered, 3.5-inch QVGA LCD, SD slot, USB 2.0, 64MB flash, 32MB RAM, plays back MPEG, MPEG-4, Dvix, XviD, WMV, MP3, OGG, and WMA)" You can always count on Engadget for great gadget coverage, but shame on them for not pointing out that it also looks like a great e-book reader!

The official site seems to make it easy to get in touch with them, whether you are just interested or whether you want to buy a wholesale lot of devices. A very interesting summary page helps us understand what it's all about, and which tells us (pardon the formatting... it looks much better if you take the jump to the full article)

To sum up the GP2X:

It can play games. It can play your Movies. It can play your music. It can view photos. It can read Ebooks. It runs on just 2 AA batteries - And it can do all this in the palm of your hand or on your TV screen.

Yes that's right, this handheld can connect to the TV, console style. Watch your DivX movies on the TV. Play emulated classics on the TV. Try big screen Quake. Or just play them all on the GP2X's large 320*240 backlit screen. You get the best of both worlds.

It runs the free Linux operating system. This means a whole world of Games, Utilities and Emulators are at your disposal. Quake, Doom, SNES, Megadrive, MAME, Media players and Applications to name just a few.

It's powerful - Two 200mhz CPU's with 64meg of RAM, custom graphics hardware and decoding chips. Takes SD cards and has 64M of NAND memory. Plenty to play with. One of the most powerful and advanced handhelds today.

That means it can play movies without any re-encoding. Just put them onto an SD card. Any size. Any resolution. No messing about. The GP2X scaling chip will resize to fit the screen. No other handheld can do that.

It's cheap. Just £124.99.

It's open. You want to develop your own games for the GP2X? Go right ahead. The SDK is included with the system free. Not since the days of the Amiga has a system been so easy to develop for, commercially and for fun.

The GP2X isn't just another wannabe be Gameboy. Its a whole different design. A whole new idea for a handheld games system.

But wait, we're not new to the scene. Heard of the GP32? An accidental experiment in an open source handheld that went right. Some 30,000 units were sold worldwide, mostly in the UK and parts of Europe. The machine has an astonishing following. The GP2X is the successor.

We hope you will enjoy it.

-Craig Rothwell

I'm not sure who Craig is, or whether he's part of the official GP2X team, but he does seem to be involved with the port of Doom, which seems to already be done.

For more information, the official site also points us to the following resources...
Centre of the community, massive GP2X and GP32 message boards
Covers all underground handheld news, often first with reports
Underground coding and mainstream news site, covers all formats
Massive GP2X and GP32 scene site in Spanish
A good summary of a unique handheld
A new page for the GP2X console, with information on the system background

One more site I want to add is myGP2X which I add with many thanks to Richard, who sent us a note to tell us about his site. Without his heads-up, I might never have taken this second look at such an impressive Linux device. Now I'm quite eager to hear lots more about this pathbreaking handheld which is doing its part to usher in the Linux in your pocket revolution.

As you know, I don't usually spend the time to gather this much information on many topics. If I do, I think it's either pretty amazing or pretty important. This little device could be both if people catch on to it.

The lack of press seems pretty amazing to me given the Linux approach, TV out and an amazing price/features ratio. And, think about it, even the novelty of e-book reading on your TV!

Hopefully this post will help raise awareness. If you have one of these devices or are an interested follower, be sure to keep us abreast of news to help us keep an eye on Gamepark devices!

06:56 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | News

This time we might really be onto something. Not too many details yet, but apparently Siemens has caused a stir at the Plastics Electronics trade fair by introducing a new low-cost electronic paper display.

"Siemens spokesman Norbert Aschenbrenner claimed the new screens, which are literally paper thin, can do everything a regular TV screen or computer monitor can do, but cost a fraction of the price."

"The firm says the low production costs could see the magazine shelves in newsagents come alive with moving images vying for the customers' attention as they move along the aisle."

"The Siemens spokesman said that one square metre of the material costs around £30, and scientists working on the screens said they should be available by 2007."

But if they were high resolution, low power, fast and bright would they really be focusing only on magazines, signs and newspapers? If I could control such a technology, I'd try very hard to roll it out to replace computer monitors, build displays into desk surfaces, create 200" televisions, make roll-up pda displays, etc. It will be interesting to hear more about the good and the bad. Anyone have a good link to share more details with us?

For now, you can read more here.

(via Slashdot)

08:14 PM by Brian in E-Book General | News

The Japanese company Voyager has created software that allows the user to drag and drop text from a website and convert it for viewing on a number of devices including cell phones, the PSP, iPods, digital photo storage devices, PDAs and even camcorders. Unfortunately, it appears that T-Time 5.5 is currently available only in Japanese. You can watch a demo of it in action in Japanese here (82.8 MB Quicktime Movie), which should give you the gist of it.

Related: Where's an iPod for text?

[via if:book]

07:34 PM by Brian in E-Book General | News

The website if:book has an interesting article by Bob Stein about the notable absence of an iPod-like device optimized for text. Using the iPod as an analogy for a mass market device for portable reading, and iTunes with music, videos and podcasts an analogy for digital text and a delivery mechanism, the author makes a very compelling case that consumers and the industry are ready for an "iPod for text". The author also cites a recent New York Times article titled Forget Blogs, Print Needs Its Own IPod about how such an iPod for text could be the answer for the magazine and newspaper industries, which are both suffering a rapid decline in readership as more people read content online and visual media becomes more popular.

What will an iPod for text look like, and who will make it? Will it be a dedicated device like a Librie for the rest of us, or will it be a converged device suitable for audio and video content in addition to text?

Read the full article here.

Related: E-books: Man's second best friend

05:35 PM by Brian in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Still not convinced that mobile video is about to explode? Sony might be feeling a little ignored with all of the attention Apple has been getting due to the new video-capable iPods, so they're taking matters into their own hands. The latest firmware update for Sony's Playstation Portable, System 2.50 released today, adds LocationFree compatibility, which wirelessly streams video content to the PSP over a Wi-Fi connection.

What is LocationFree? How can I use it on my PSP system?

You never have to leave your home entertainment behind again. With LocationFree you can stream TV or movies from your home over broadband internet to your PSP system– virtually anywhere in the world. At home, simply connect you’re A/V components (TV, DVD Player or DVR) and broadband internet to your LocationFree Base Station. On the road, connect your PSP system to a wireless hotspot and click on the LocationFree icon to start streaming your favorite TV programs. Change channels, pause or record on your components at home with the onscreen universal remote. With LocationFree on your PSP system, you can enjoy your home entertainment beyond the living room. And, not only is LocationFree designed to provide the ultimate in entertainment on the go, but its wireless capability makes it perfect for use around the house too.

PSP users who want to watch LocationFree video will still need to shell out $350 for a LocationFree Base Station.

Related: Sony's new DVD Burner/DVR puts recorded shows on your PSP

04:42 PM by Brian in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

When it comes to putting computers in the classroom as a tool for learning, literacy, and replacing textbooks, schools have a number of options including desktops, laptops, PDAs, AlphaSmart devices, and $1,600 tablet computers, which are often cost prohibitive in times of tight budgets. Fourier Systems will be releasing a more affordable option soon - a tablet running Windows CE.NET 5.0 targeted at the classroom. It isn't the $100 laptop that Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts wants to buy for the state's 500,000 students, but it's more affordable than many of the other options currently available.

The ruggedized $399 Nova5000 tablet is being touted as a "Next Generation Student Learning Appliance" that offers a 7.5 inch 640X480 color touch screen in a 9.7”x 5”x 1.2” package weighing 1.8 pounds.

Nova5000 is designed to meet the primary computing needs of students. This includes standard needs such as: Internet access, word processing, spreadsheets, and email. In addition, the Nova5000 offers a complete measuring platform to enhance learning of science and mathematics in the classroom, outdoors and at home. Nova5000 combines the MultiLab multimedia data analysis software that includes graphical manipulations, multiple analysis functions and Lab report direct printing capabilities. By integrating the Fourier data logger into the Nova5000, Fourier offers both an ultra-low TCO computer and a powerful data logger.

Bundled software includes CE.NET versions of Internet Explorer, WordPad, Windows Media Player, ActiveSync, MultiLab. Microsoft Word and Excel compatible software is available as an option. Several sensors are available that work with the MultiLab data logging software, making the Nova5000 a powerful tool for science and math projects in the classroom and in the field. Add a good e-book reading application and the Nova5000 would make a great e-book reading device.

Related: Experiment how Tablet PC could replace school textbooks

[via TeleRead]

07:17 PM by Brian in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

After much speculation and anticipation, Apple has announced an all new iPod that plays videos. The new iPod sports a 2.5 inch 320X240 QVGA screen capable of displaying 260,000 colors and playing H.264 and MPEG-4 video at 30 frames per second. Over 2,000 music videos, Pixar's award winning short films, ABC and Disney Channel TV shows including Lost and Desperate Housewives are available at the iTunes Music store. In addition to paid content and video podcasts from the iTunes Music Store, the new iPod will also play free films courtesy of the Internet Archive, and free videocasts like NerdTV.

With Apple now embracing mobile video and offering legally downloadable video content, mobile video will surely start to gain in popularity. Their partnership with Disney, the parent company of ABC Networks, will likely be the first of many as more networks and content providers join forces with Apple to offer mobile video content on the iPod platform.

[Apple's iPod Page]

Related: Video iPod coming next week?, Mobile video is about to explode

12:57 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

No, don't panic. It's just the names. According to Brighthand the brand names Tungsten and Zire have been retired. The standard pdas are just "Palm." The Treo and LifeDrive lines will continue at least for now.

Kinda ruined my clever editorial... I was going to suggest that maybe the name T|X means the end of the Tungsten line. In a way I guess I was right. But you can count on Brighthand to dig into the story and give a nice account of the facts. Personally, I think it's really nice to have such a great variety of mobile device sites. From the grand daddy and ultimate in Palm news sources at Palm Addicts, to the consistently informative PDA24/7, to the very professional Brighthand and others. If you love to hear the news like I do, it's great to get such a nice variety!