05:37 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Also from Palm Addicts, there is news that Fictionwise is having a summer sale.

"Fictionwise is my favorite 'pay for' ebook site. I just got an email that they are running a sale: 'We do a big back to school sale every August but this year we've created even bigger specials that you will want to study, even if you are done with your homework! First, all Classics, Education, History, and Reference eBooks have huge discounts or Micropay Rebates.

Second, if you want to build your own digital library, now is the time: we've bundled ALL Classic eBooks published by Fictionwise into two packs and discounted them almost 90%.'"

05:33 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

We cannot confirm the legitimacy of this release, so please download at your own risk.

Palm Addicts is reporting that the Opera web browser is now available here. "Opera, one of the best browsers on earth has FINALLY released a version for our Treo. We now have Opera Mini for both the Treo 600 and the Treo 650. I downloaded and installed it on my 650, and have to say I am liking what I see so far."

03:43 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Check out all the mouth-watering screenshots in this first hands-on preview of the HTC Tornado aka Qtek 8300 smartphone. Specs: WM 5.0, TI 200MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 64MB ROM, miniSD, IrDA, Bluetooth 1.2, WiFi (!), USB, GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS class B, TFT 2.2" 240x320 65K, 1.3MP Camera.

02:53 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Mirko sent us word that you can now download the third issue of (IN)SECURE, a free digital security magazine published in PDF format. Make sure to read "PDA attacks: palm sized devices - PC sized threats" written by Seth Fogie of Airscanner. It is not a product-based article but rather a good illustration of the current security problems surrounding PDA devices. It also touches on the problematic malicious reset routine which made it into Pocket Mechanic once.

04:43 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Win one of three copies of TomeRaider, the excellent reference and e-book reader available on various platforms (e.g. Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Windows).

How to win: contribute a groovy story that we can post to our frontpage (it should at least somewhat relate to our content).

This contest runs from now until midnight US ET Wednesday 24th August September. The three winners will be chosen at random. Good luck!

From their Website:
Available for Windows, Palm, Pocket PC, Psion, Smartphone, TomeRaider is the world's most successful and powerful cross-platform reference and e-book reader. TomeRaider 3 is the newest incarnation. A total rewrite that has been 2 years in the making. Check out these amazing new features:

• HTML Support: TR3 now supports pretty much HTML verbatim, making it even easier to make TR3 files.
• Image support: Now images from the small to the massive can be displayed in TR3 files. It's about time.
• The Filter Builder: Never before possible filters and queries can now be constructed by anyone.
• Search Acceleration: Searching even tens of megabytes is now faster than you thought was possible.
• Super Compression: TR2 was good, TR3 is even better. The files are smaller and they work faster.

03:27 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

The team at IBM's Almaden Research Center is ready to commercialize Shorthand-Aided Rapid Keyboarding (SHARK), a pattern recognition technology to offer an advanced pen-based text input method for mobile devices. The new method promises a writing speed of around 60 to 70 words per minute, much faster than tapping out words with a stylus.

Instead of tapping out letters or writing a word on screen, you trace each letter in a single, fluid stroke. The keyboard on screen shows the shape of the word. The software works with a standard Qwerty keyboard, as well as IBM's experimental Atomik keyboard. Dr Zhai reckons that 100 patterns cover about 40% of the words most people write.

[via BBC News]

03:11 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Wired has a write up of how some UC Berkeley professors and graduate students want to save the world by equipping cell phones with radiation sensors and turning them into inexpensive distributed platforms.

They are working to develop cheap wireless sensors that, once fitted inside cell phones, could sniff out anything from biological weapons to traffic patterns. While the sensors might not be a typical cell-phone add-on, those involved in the research claim the sheer number of mobile phones in use could make such a system a boon for worldwide data collection and problem solving.

What a novel and worthwhile idea!

02:48 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

This probably won't impress e-book fans, but McGraw-Hill Higher Education and Zinio are teaming up to bring 150 or so digital textbooks to computer-savvy students. The digital editions are available at about 50 percent off list price and can be viewed online on any computer with an Internet connection or downloaded to an individual's computer (not both).

While online viewing allows access from any computer, you'll be given a limited set number of page-views of the book and only one free option to print it out in full. The second option, e-book downloads, requires Zinio Reader to be installed on your Windows or Mac machine. A downloaded e-book cannot be transferred to another computer. As far as it appears it doesn't expire. You will be able to print your e-book pages as often as you want, unless the publisher chooses to restrict printing rights. Some download Zinio books will offer flash, video and audio rich media content.

Zinio has a few samples online:

• Genetics: Analysis and Priciples
• Understanding Business
• Understanding Psychology

For more check out their Web site and also this Flash presentation.

Related: The doomed to fail e-book experiment at Princeton and some other schools which was announced last week.