06:06 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book Formats | Workshop

Cold sweat when I need to convert Adobe PDF into another e-book format. I've tried many solutions, none of which worked too well, especially with formatted PDF content. I might as well try TinyStocks's PDF2Doc, an Adobe Acrobat plugin which allows to extract text from a page or several pages and to convert it to the Palm doc format.

You need the full Adobe Acrobat suite though in order to use this tool!

[via PalmAddicts]

05:25 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

We've seen that iTunes 4.9 was released with podcast support.I'd like to suggest something that could become an instant hit, especially with the teens... "Reverse Podcasts." That's a term I'm using to describe the ability of iPods to not just download podcasts and listen to them on the run, but to create podcasts on the run and then upload them for others to hear.

Sort of like an audio SplashBlog, if you are familiar with that Palm app.

Someone would have to host the content, but could certainly put limits on space if necessary. They could even provide software to normalize the sound levels and do some simple editing. Better yet, provide access controls to allow some to be private. It could even support an online message community, with groups that are able to share audio messages, and if you really wanted to be a splash, offer transcription services so that the audio messages you create on your iPod are uploaded, transcribed, and the written form is now available either publicly to your group or maybe even for you to keep, say on your pda.

That does sound a lot more like something Google would do than Apple. But just simply allowing short "reverse podcasts" or even just recorded comments for existing podcasts, to be recorded and uploaded has a lot of potential in my mind.

Just put a microphone in the iPod and you pretty much have a ready made client, don't you? (In addition to all the other handheld devices that can record and store audio!)

What do you think? Will we eventually see something like this?

12:27 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Plumbin Frenzy is PDAmill's new puzzle game released for Pocket PC. Pete the plumber fixes up the waterworks. Can you help him to solve some tasks with the pipes?

Related: PDAmill still runs its summer promotion where you can save 35% on Arvale, Snails and Flux Challenge (just redeem the promotion code 'SUMMERHEAT' in your shopping cart).

Update: PalmAddicts is also reports that PDAmill is working on Arvale: The Ocean of Time, a new fable in the well known fantasy world of Arvale.

12:16 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Another ROM update for Dell's X50 PDA series, only two months after Dell released the A03 ROM. The English A04 ROM image (X50v download, X50 download) includes the following two fixes:

• Improved the power-on mechanism.
• Enhanced the system robustness when changing the memory frequency.

As always, don't forget to do a full backup before you upgrade. Actually, unless you've experienced a problem with the last A03 ROM, I recommend that you skip this one since Windows Mobile 2005 is just in front of the door (ok, it won't be free, but don't tell me you could resist this forthcoming major upgrade).

Edit: Download links deliver 404 errors. Stay calm, I am sure Dell will fix these ASAP.

11:14 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

WSJ editor Walter Mossberg reviewed the PalmOne LifeDrive and he concluded that although the device makes a nice storage warehouse, its poor battery performance was a disappointing one:

The palmOne LifeDrive is a pretty fair little gadget for offloading important digital data that you want to keep with you while traveling or on a day-to-day basis. It would be especially handy for digital camera users who want a good way to offload photos when they can't get back to their computers to do so.

But it's expensive, it's bulky, and its poor battery life is really limiting, especially for people who will want to access their media and use the LifeDrive for Internet access over the course of a whole day. Until the company can improve battery life of the LifeDrive, we can't wholeheartedly recommend it.

Even if palmOne fixes the battery issue, it's not clear that the inclusion of the hard disk can revive the fading PDA category. Smart phones are also getting hard disks -- the first prototypes of hard-disk phones have already been shown in Korea and Finland. And once such hard-disk phones become common, they should be able to do everything the LifeDrive does and more, albeit with a smaller screen. So why carry a second, bulky device?

11:01 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Remember Sandisk's BookLocker, the USB stick with integrated DRM for carrying electronic student textbooks, we mentioned earlier this year? According to German Golem.de, the stick is now ready to hit the market under the name "FlashCP".

Based on the Cruzer Mini USB drive from SanDisk, the FlashCP is divided into two distinct memory areas: An open zone for the student's files, and a secure zone, which is used to store copyrighted content. The secure zone cannot be accessed by the student or operating system. Content is stored on a trusted server network using AES encryption. When the content is downloaded to a FlashCP device, it is encrypted with that device's unique hardware key. The server also keeps track of the number downloaded electronic textbooks. Publishers can get up to date reports on the number of electronic textbooks available and sold. When deployed at schools, school administrators and librarians can see how many books are in use and how many are available for lending to students.

Although yet another proprietary DRM is not really the stuff that my dreams are made of, at least in future our little tykes can bring home schoolwork without toting heavy books or knapsacks.

07:30 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Be sure to check out this article in The Herald with Ewan Spence from AllAboutPalm... http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/41907-print.shtml

How about that!

(Via The Podcast Network)

06:26 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

PalmOne's Zire 21 won the Design & Business Catalyst Award 2005 sponsored by BusinessWeek, rewarding PalmOne's "foresight in using the power of design beyond the actual design process."

The Zire 21, which was actually designed by NewDealDesign, sold more than 1 million units in its first 7 months, making it the fastest-selling PDA ever. By April 2004, the Zire sub-branded family of products had surpassed 3 million units. The design cut the number of parts and costs sharply, while maintaining Palm's easy-to-use experience.