04:11 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

The Creative Commons Wiki started to catalog "some rights reserved" content, which includes a list of books by a few SF authors who have, in addition to publishing their books through traditional methods, released Creative Commons-licensed copies of their work.

If you know of more CC-licensed SF books or fiction in general feel free to add it (though not every freely available book is CC-licensed).

[via SF Signal]

02:16 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Oh what a tease. Check out these photos Peter took of the HTC Universal. And to leave us with no doubt of the beauty of this device, he also posted answers to the most important questions you might have about the HTC.

[via Scobleizer]

04:28 AM by Chaos in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Register is reporting that there's a possibility of an iPod phone next week. The much-rumoured iTunes/iPod phone has been much discussed over the past few months, including reports that it would be released in August (which, since August is over, evidently were false - there's, as always, a possibility that this isn't true either - but it looks more promising).

It's been an open secret for a while now that Apple wasn't going to let Sony Ericsson's "Walkman phone" become a market leader in the new market for a combined music/comms toy. Word on the street says that the new phone/player will be announced next week, Sept 7th.

Particularly interesting is The Register's analysis of the iTunes/iPod phone possibilities, including a rather sharp critique of the current music-playing phones, and their ease-of-use factor (or lack thereof), which the iPod is currently renowned for.

Not to put too fine a point on it, what makes the iPod different from other music players isn't the cool design; it's that clever navigation "wheel" plus (maybe less crucial) the big storage capacity.

Neither is possible in a phone.

[Get] any of the new generation of MP3-playing phones, and see how "easy" it is to find a particular music track. Hint: don't try this while driving. You will hit a tree.

12:14 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

According to the Register, "Norway's best known IT export, DVD Jon, has hacked encryption coding in Microsoft's Windows Media Player, opening up content broadcast for the multimedia player to alternative devices on multiple platforms."

It's a breakthrough that is probably viewed by some as a step toward chaos and anarchy, and a new roadblock for downloadable video paid content. But many others consider Jon Lech Johansen a hero on behalf of the consumer for his fight against annoying DRM schemes.

(via Slashdot)

06:46 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Palm Addicts writes that "Treo owners have been waiting forever for this and a lot of us, myself included, had figured this was just vaporware. But TeoBits is now selling the Enfora WiFi sled: 'The Enfora Wi-Fi Adapter for the Treo 650 allows Treo 650 Smartphone users to access Wi-Fi hotspots to surf the Internet and send and receive email at high-speed over wireless LANs....'"

The WiFi sled includes WEP capability, and costs $150. You can read more about it here.

07:54 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

There is a new address for Mobile Ministry Magazine... http://www.mobileministrymagazine.com/.

This is a site that merges Christian ministry with modern technology and manages to make the two work together very well. Give them a visit and let Antoine know how they're doing.

09:27 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The wait is almost over: Nokia is ready to send out Nokia 770 media copies for reviewers after receiving FCC approval last Friday.

Related: Does the Nokia 770 have sex appeal? (thread)

[via Nokia 770 blog].

08:48 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

It's not a secret that Creative Technology has been struggling to match the success of the iPod. Instead of making better MP3 players, the company could now simply sue Apple for using its recently patented technology for finding songs. NYT Online writes:

Creative Technology, a maker of portable music players, has accused Apple Computer of violating a newly granted software patent covering the way users navigate music selections. [It] said it would consider every option available to defend the patent, including possible legal action. Apple declined to comment on the patent.

So here is another example of how absurd software patents (covering laughably obvious ideas) threaten to devastate America's computer industry. Pamela Jones, who runs Groklaw said in 2004:

"Software patents will destroy the industry in the U.S.," wrote Jones on Sunday. "The rest of the world will out-innovate U.S. companies, because they won't be running with the patent ball-and-chain attached to their ankles, holding them back.