08:53 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

One annoying aspect of Windows Mobile is that it's often hidden to the user what processes are currently running and how much memory/CPU each process requires. Vidya Pocket Task Manager is a new task manager that not only shows you a detailed list of active processes, but also keeps a graphical history of CPU and memory usages. It's definitely worth a closer look.

08:12 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

When Alex broke the news on Princeton University Store offering crippled electronic textbooks, he probably didn't know how much of an impact it would have on the pilot project. Skepticism arose in various follow-ups where folks showed little sympathy for the ludicrous DRM scheme used in the project ("textbook activation expires after 5 months, ..."). Now a few days later, according to C|Net, some of the DRM restrictions have been eased somewhat:

The downloads will now last from 12 months to an unlimited time, depending on the publisher... MBS also said Friday that publishers have agreed to loosen restrictions on how much of a book could be printed and how often. That too will vary by publisher.

To coin Lenin's phrase, this is one step forward, two steps back. Textbook publishers apparently do not learn from their mistakes. Rightfully purchased e-books are ours to keep indefinitely, not just for five or twelve months. Come on, if I buy a traditional paper book, do I have to worry that it'll blow up in a cloud of smoke in a couple of months?

07:21 PM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

The cat is out of the bag: some inspired hackers have found ways to run a crippled developer-issued copy of Mac OS X on non-Apple machines (including Dell laptops, *gasp*). Instructions were posted everywhere on the Net this week; but what's really interesting is the fact that Mac OS X runs considerably faster on a standard Intel Pentium 4 PC than it does on a Dual 2GHz Power Mac G5. Wired.com says:

No one knows exactly why OSx86 appears to be running faster on the PCs than the Mac OS does on today's Macs.

"To be honest, we're not sure," said a hacker nicknamed "cmoski," who said he works for a large software company. "Some in the Pentium camp want to say, 'Because a Pentium is faster, of course,' some want to say (Intel chip architectures are better than Apple's) and some in the PowerPC camp just want to say that it isn't full OS X (running on the beta systems)."

What a blow this must be to Mac enthusiasts. And worse, where does that leave Apple who has always maintained control over its operating system by restricting it to hardware made and developed by the company only? Looks like future 'MacIntels' are going to be nothing but regular Intel PCs, available of course at the Apple-essential 50% price premium.

06:43 PM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Cameron Moll's 'State of the Mobile Web' series is a first-rate introduction to designing mobile-optimized websites. While part one of the series talks more about the status quo and the likely future of the mobile Web, part two takes a more practical approach by discussing various ways how a Web designer can best mobilize an existing or planned website. Two more parts will follow dealing with tips and coding techniques and real-world applications.

If you are looking for other useful mobile Web resources, this section of the css-discuss Wiki is a good place start with.

09:10 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

All SciFi and Romance e-books at Fictionwise are on sale through August 14. Multiformat e-books in these categories are 25% off, and encrypted Secure SF and Romance e-books have 25% Micropay rebates.

12:09 PM by Gatton in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

So says a BBC News article. Guess it's not really a shock since it's been controversial from day one. According to the text Google plans to resume the project "Google Print" in November to give publishers a chance to let them know which of their books they don't want included.

Link to article.

09:13 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | News

Just when e-book fans thought they were chasing a fixed target in paper technology, we find out that paper is getting better also. A researcher for Ecology, a chemical company based in Akron, OH has discovered how to make paper waterproof, while not turning it brittle or waxy, and leaving it as a completely writable surface.

So now we have to compete with waterproof books also?!

09:07 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Okay, so right now it's only a few early indicators and some pathbreaking companies considering the leap from laptops to handhelds. But if laptop users are only doing email, browser and IM then why pay all the extra expense of maintaining a laptop fleet?

C|Net has now exposed this concept to a large audience with a recent article, and hopefully many CIOs are reading and thinking about it. The article discusses an unidentified company that made the switch working with Accenture. "The company's CEO, tired of the expenses involved in buying and supporting notebooks, took them all away and gave the 700-plus employees desktops and 'smart' handhelds... A dozen other companies are in the midst of a similar conversion, or contemplating it"

The conditions are forming for a wide scale explosion of handhelds in business. It seemed like it would never happen, but maybe it's almost here now. Sure, it would probably in the form of smart phones, but we could be talking about mass replacement of laptops. Here are some of the reasons given and implied for why it makes sense now, when it didn't really seem to catch on in the past:

* The devices and data networks are much improved
* Corporate applications can be accessed from the handhelds
* Desktop prices have plummeted to the point that a desktop and a mobile device together are significantly less than a good laptop, especially when you consider that a laptop has to be replaced more often than a desktop.
* When the devices are smart phones, it also reduces all the miscellaneous phone expense report reimbursements.
* It's commonplace to see people typing away with a Blackberry. You're no longer the lone geek with everyone looking at you like you're out of place. In an ironic shift of perceptions, the handheld device is now accepted as a business tool, and laptops are sometimes viewed as entertainment devices.
* Battery life on handhelds is generally much better than for current laptops

The article concludes with an observation that we've been making for years. "The big barrier is the imagination of the users on how to add value." Handhelds can do great things, but that is not well understood by the general public yet, and functionality needs to be simpler for the average user. Fortunately there are resources like MobileRead to help show the way!

(via PDA 24/7)