05:50 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

The Cowon (iAudio) X5 is headlines as the "ultimate portable media player"; in truth, however, it is only a digital audio player (MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV, FLAC) that comes with a 20GB or 30GB harddrive and also supports Mpeg4 images. Other than that it features FM radio listening/recording and supports recording through a built-in microphone or line-in input terminals.

If you are interested in Cowon products, make sure to read Ignatz's first-hand review on the Cowon iAudio M3 20 gig DAP.

According to Engadget, the iAudio X5 is due to be released in the US next month.

05:13 AM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | Legacy E-Book Devices

Sony has released a downloadable firmware upgrade (requires MySony ID) for its Librie e-book reader. The upgrade to firmware V1.2 is necessary to work with the updated Sony LIBRIe LE for Windows software, which finally supports BBeB-encrypted e-books from bookstores other than Timebook Town.

[via eBookSpot]

06:37 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

I've accidently stumbled upon a fun fact about Google's gmail site... they have a rolling counter of the size of email account storage, and it's growing continuously. Here's the latest quote from the front page... (If you are a registered user, you'll need to log out first to see it.)

[size=-1]2131.430241 megabytes (and counting) of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message.[/size]

It shows 2131 at the bottom of my inbox page also, so it seems that Google is growing the account storage allocations in some kind of slow incremental fashion. I like it!

04:30 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

CBS/AP are reporting "Microsoft Corp.'s plan to hardwire computer security into a silicon chip rather than relying on software alone will make its debut in the next release of the Windows PC operating system that will ship late next year. The technology, to be described by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates during a speech in Seattle on Monday, will protect the startup of PCs equipped with a security chip and ensure that sensitive files aren't accessible when someone tries to boot the computer using a portable hard drive or floppy disk."

This may increase security, but it seems that it will also shift the control of security. Not clear what that would mean for freedoms of users to control their data and applications. One advantage is that your sensitive data may remain secure even if the computer is booted from someone an alternative boot drive, like a jump drive.

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

A stable Wi-Fi broadband internet connection via satellite was successfully tested aboard a high-speed train – the Paris-Brussels route operated by Thalys. The record bandwidth attained was 4 Mbit/s downstream and 2 upstream at 300 km/h, comparable to the quality of an ADSL+ (asymmetric digital subscriber line plus) connection, a faster variant of DSL. This test was made possible with support from ESA (European Space Agency) and was implemented by the Anglo-Belgian operator 21Net with Siemens as technology partner. Siemens integrated the wireless broadband Wi-Fi network in the passenger cars and provided the complete management system including authentication and billing.

The 21Net system architecture is based on two-way Ku-band satellite transmission to provide connectivity between the internet backbone and a master server on the train. Direct reception of satellite television channels on the same satellite is also possible. A hub earth station provides the connection from the backbone (and from the network operations center) via the satellite directly to a low-profile tracking antenna on the train. GPRS and Wi-Fi access between the train and available networks (e.g. in stations and in tunnels) is also provided. On the train, Wi-Fi connections are used between the master server and customers with Wi-Fi enabled laptops and PDAs.

One major advantage of 21Net over Boeing's Connexion system is that the Ku-band antenna is considerably cheaper than Connexion's $1.3m USD phase array antenna.

Click here for the full press release, and here for more information on ThalysNet.

11:02 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Sammy, who is flying to Ireland later today, wrote an interesting PalmAddict editorial explaining how Palm OS is helping him to perform his everyday tasks. It doesn't matter from where you look at it. In the morning, when the alarm rings; later the day, when Sam is checking his e-mails (Snappermail), checking his agenda (Datebk), and polling RSS news feeds (QuickNews): this loyal companion called PalmOS accompanies him everywhere.

As a side note (a proud one) I should mention that Sammy is listing MobileRead as one of the three sites he checks first (like everyone else here I hope!) when he gets into the office.

06:50 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Today's poll is about the overall quality of customer contact with mobile device software companies. In my mind, I see a big split. There are an amazing number of developers that are individuals that care about their work and their customers and are very generous in their dealings.

But there are also a lot of companies that seem to hide behind a layer of impersonal contact. They don't reply to emails, they don't provide customer service, and sometimes the product doesn't even work all that well in the first place. Even worse, the "stores" (companies like eReader, Handango, PalmGear, PocketGear) seem to be very slow in responding to customer service requests.

So my question in today's poll is: Overall, how good is PDA software customer service?

What originally got me thinking about this topic? I recently a bit disappointed by a response I got from WebIS customer support. You see, I purchased a copy of Pocket Informant on Thurs, Oct 28, 2004. They have just released Pocket Informant 2005, and they offer a free upgrade to all customers who purchased a copy on Mon, Nov 1 or later. So I sent a note asking if they would give me the free upgrade as it was simply a matter of several days difference.

They simply replied "Sorry, we have to have a cutoff somewhere." I have to admit, that I was actually surprised that they weren't willing to accomodate me on this one. I believe they have decent customer service, and have an excellent product, so I can't really complain. They also responded quickly to my email, and the Nov 1 date seems pretty fair and generous. But, still, they didn't exactly please their customer.

So how do you find software customer service and support in general?

04:30 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

jkOnTheRun is pointing this morning to a website that offers detailed step-by-step instruction how to convert the complete Wikipedia to TomeRaider 2 or 3 format.

Be aware that currently image support in TomeRaider is still buggy so even after a successfull compilation many images may not show up.