06:45 PM by sUnShInE in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Here's an interesting proposal for an internet-style emergency response system by former FCC commissioner Reed Hundt and Net guru Carl Malamud from AmericanProgress:

The United States should allocate a part of our spectrum to emergency responders. While there is a huge debate in Washington about how to divvy up the spectrum among the many competing uses, in this case there is no reason for any debate. Congress can authorize the FCC to dedicate a chunk of spectrum to an emergency response system.... After allocating spectrum, the government should specify the access mechanism. There is nothing to invent here: something like WiFi and the Internet is the obvious solution. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Instead, the government should simply ask the standards bodies that define specifications for WiFi and the Internet to specify which of their existing standards need to be used. The important point is that any standards used should be free from any patent, or licensing considerations that would hinder open source development efforts. What could you do with this spectrum? A look in any PC magazine or at the thousands of blogs devoted to hardware shows that a lot of what you want out of an emergency response system already exists in the wild on the Internet. Indeed, when the city of New Orleans needed to restablish communication with the outside world, a PC and an Internet phone call were the Mayor's only communications link....

When you think of the lives Wi-Fi or WiMax could have saved during and after the hurricane, it is truly mindboggling.

via Tim O'Reilly's blog

03:22 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

What's the biggest hurdle for mobile computing device adoption? Why doesn't everyone want a pda or smartphone, when it does all the things they want? Why are they more likely to get a phone that plays music, or an ipod?

The bottom line answer is simple. It's not primarily the capabilities, nor is it even due to the cost. The primary reason that people don't buy pdas and smart phones is the learning curve. Too much work is required to learn how to use the devices and making it fit their own needs. And along the way, it's very likely that they will run into problems or bugs or user error that turns them into debuggers. They are likely to either get stuck, have to ask a tech friend, or contact the company for help.

If you weren't independently attracted to the idea of using the technology, would you really want to waste your time and thoughts and efforts on such a device? I don't think so. It really makes paper sound good for the average person when you put it that way.

What's the solution? Simple, foolproof, simpler, and simpler still. At some point, it's not about the features. If it's too complicated, it doesn't matter how wonderful it is. Most people dread setting up a VCR. How much more will they dread working with a computer in their pocket? If it's not easy (or at the very least sound easy -- like iPod) it won't catch on.

Just think about the original Palm devices. They became popular like wildfire. But they were simple. Not necessarily really a great user experience because of the displays and batteries, for example. But they were simple, and that matters more. They're not simple anymore, and the market is limited. Make a simple and powerful pda, even with just the basic capabilities of current pdas, and I am convinced it will sell if you do it right.

But maybe it's not possible to create something like that which is simple. Too many variation on things like desktop platforms 3rd party software you say. Well, find a way to stick to basics that will remain compatible and let go of the heavy duty features. It will work as long as the technology sounds bulletproof and simple, not behind the times.

Are you listening Access and Microsoft and Nokia?

03:08 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Mobile Sites

You can now use Yahoo! Shopping search on WAP 2.0-enabled mobile phones.

02:57 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Some interesting developments regarding the OpenReader open standard: OpenReader is in discussion with OSoft to develop a working OpenReader model using OpenReader's standards and OSoft's ThoutReader framework. ThoutReader is currently Java-based and doesn't run on PDAs. But they've plans for cross-platform support by switching from Java to Perl or Python (although I am not convinced that any of these two languages would be any better for mobile devices).

More over at Teleread.

12:25 PM by Brian in E-Book General | News

Traditional news outlets and the print media are experiencing declining subscription rates and circulation as more people personalize their news online. Blogs and popular news sites are drawing readers and viewer away from newspapers, magazines, and TV news.

In an effort to attract the highly desirable "lost generation" of 18-34 year olds and help news outlets, the Associated Press will launch their asap service on September 19th, nearly 2 years after the project's inception. AP calls asap "AP's service for a younger audience".

asap is AP’s new multimedia service featuring original content designed to appeal to under-35-year-old readers, a coveted but elusive audience, and to connect with them – on their terms.

The exclusive content is unlike any you have seen before. A diverse team of AP reporters and editors produced original material with a fresh voice, style and presentation. In addition, asap taps the smarts and talent of AP bureaus around the world to offer a global perspective and on-the-ground coverage in ways nobody else can.

You can watch a promotional video about asap here (58 MB Quicktime download).

[via PaidContent.org]

12:04 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Who doesn't remember the basic lesson from Marketing 101, the four Ps - which I don't even need to enumerate? It seems at one point - the promotion of products - Palm must have been sleeping in class. A PalmAddict reader submitted some interesting thoughts on how Palm company missed the chance to convince us of the superiority of their handheld devices.

I just think its sad that a company (Microsoft) with unstable, not well thought out products (Windows Mobile & Windows Smartphone) uses their money to do some decent advertising and that a company like Palm just sits there. I'm forced to think about Linux. Microsoft didn't give a crap about linux until people started to here about linux from advertising through companies like RedHat, Dell, IBM, Suse, Novell, etc. Now Microsoft is scrambling around with their Get The Facts (aka: smear the little guy) campaign so as to not lose market share. Palm could be like linux. They could have Microsoft running scared and trying not to lose market share in the smartphone industry. Instead, it seems like Palm is just sitting around making new devices and focusing on their branding. Some advertising would go a long, long way.

An honest editorial, make sure you don't miss the rest over at PalmAddicts.

11:01 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

The term Wi-Fi is mainstream these days. Panera Bread, Starbucks, Kinkos and many more locations now have available Wi-FI, some free and some for a cost. On the surface, it seems like mobile nirvanna. But ComputerWorld says that "For many business travelers, public Wi-Fi hot spots are proving to be not all that hot for making remote connections to the Internet and corporate systems."

What's the alternative? For a laptop, you could try something like Verizon's broadband access card for about $100 and $60/mo in the US. The editor in chief of ComputerWorld, Don Tennant, likes this services and tells us about it here.

There's no doubt that connectivity will be around more and more in one way or another, but clearly we have a way to go before it's meeting user needs.

06:49 AM by Brian in E-Book General | News

LibriVox is an open source community project in which volunteers read and record public domain literary works in order to create free audiobook versions.

LibriVox is an open source audio-literary attempt to harness the power of the many to record and disseminate, in podcast form, books from the public domain. It works like this: a book is chosen, then *you*, the volunteers, read and record one or more chapters. We liberate the audio files through this webblog/podcast every week (day ?). LibriVox is a VOLUNTEER project: if you have problems with the quality of a recording, get busy and make another one; If you wish to listen, please enjoy; if you wish to record, please contact librivox.

Check out LibriVox if you're looking for a good source of free audiobooks. If you think you have a great voice for the spoken word, sign up as a volunteer!

[via Make]