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)

06:14 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

A reminder especially to our new visitors: you can follow all or just individual sections of Mobileread through your favorite RSS feed client.

For instance, subscribe to this feed if all you're interested in is our frontpage news. Perhaps you want to include all postings on e-books as well? In this case add this feed to your feed aggregator.

List of MR RSS feeds

05:13 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

In Palm's Windows Mobile Strategy, Kent explains why the introduction of a Windows Mobile-powered Treo devices would make sense for Palm company and why Palm OS has lost its importance on a field of larger players.

Where is PalmOS now? Somewhere near the bottom of the pile, and losing steam fast. The popular Treo line is the only element keeping PalmOS in the race. With tradional handhelds a declining segment, and a disintegrating list of licensees, PalmOS is not a horse to bet on.

05:02 AM by MatYadabyte in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Mat from Tomeraider is a nice person and I recommend you check out his link below -Alex.

We have just started releasing a new method to get ebooks. The idea is simple: You download a script that will convert an entire website into a neatly formatted e-book in TomeRaider format. Already we have some great sites ready for conversion, such as: eHow, How stuff works, BBC Medical, US City Travel Guide, Strange Stories.

The site is downloaded by your computer and processed on your computer.

I think you will agree that, though in the early stages, this is pretty revolutionary. Ware calling this process "metapublishing". If you know any sites you would like us to write a raid script for then just ask me via email or reply to this thread.