07:14 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Jon Lech Johansen, the infamous cracker of CSS (the encryption used for commercial DVDs), has done it again: He's been working on a software called PyMusique - The fair interface to the iTunes Music Store. Jon:

PyMusique is an interface to the iTunes Music Store that lets you preview songs, sign up for an account and buy songs. It is somewhat interesting from a DMCA/EUCD perspective. The iTunes Music Store actually sells songs without DRM. While iTunes adds DRM to your purchases, PyMusique does not. Another difference is that signing up for an account using PyMusique does not require you to sign/click away any of your rights.

Sorry for the picture which portrays Jon at his best time. I know how much it freaks some of you out

[via Corante]

06:45 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Sunrise

As many of you know, Laurens, the guy behind the wonderful Sunrise tool for Plucker, is working on his own e-book viewer.

If you are currently using Sunrise in conjunction with Plucker, and knowing that future (improved) versions of Sunrise won't be Plucker-compatible anymore, would you be willing to buy a single user license for Laurens' forthcoming viewer for $19.95? Too much? Too little?

This is a poll. Make sure to vote with 'yes' or 'no' and if you have a second, please comment your decision.

(In case it matters to you, I voted with YES).

06:34 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

It is true: in Japan you find people reading entire novels on their mobile phones. Although this is not exactly new (the trend has been around for a year), it is still noteworthy and begs the question why tech-savvy people living in the Western hemisphere haven't picked it up yet.

Your eyes probably hurt just thinking about it: Tens of thousands of Japanese cell-phone owners are poring over full-length novels on their tiny screens... In the latest versions, cell-phone novels are downloaded in short installments and run on handsets as Java-based applications. You're free to browse as though you're in a bookstore, whether you're at home, in your office or on a commuter train... people are using cell-phone books to catch up on classics they never finished reading. And people are perusing sex manuals and other books they're too embarrassed to be caught reading or buying. More common is keeping an electronic dictionary in your phone in case a need arises.

[Via Teleread and Associated Press]

06:06 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Even though palmOne gave a cautious outlook for its fourth-quarter earnings expectations, the stock rebounded and some investors (Bear Stearns) even upgraded the company. What's your opinion? Does palmOne still stand a change in today's increasingly competitive mobile device market?

A digest of news and responses to palmOne's Q3 FY05 results:

• palmOne Reports Q3 FY05 Results [palminfocenter.com]
• palmOne Manages a Bounce [thestreet.com]
• palmOne Conference Call Highlights [palminfocenter.com]
• palmOne upgraded by Bear Stearns (Briefing.com) [finance.yahoo.com]
• [video] PalmOne CEO: Smart phones key to the quarter [5.8 min] [us.rd.yahoo.com]
• palmOne's Hand Slapped (Motley Fool) [biz.yahoo.com]
• PalmOne Stock Retreats on Weak Forecast (Associated Press) [biz.yahoo.com]
• PalmOne stock down on weak Treo smartphone outlook (at Reuters) [us.rd.yahoo.com]

05:15 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Handango appears to be offering a free copy of Creative Notes for Pocket PC if you use the coupon code 12C7A8C from their discount page. Expires 3/21/05.

(From Aximsite via PDA247.)

09:07 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Tired of the endless discussions whether Palm OS or Windows Mobile is the preferred handheld OS? Perhaps you should consider buying a Linux-powered Sharp Zaurus handheld instead. Unfortunately, the default Qtopia desktop environment and the alternate OpenZaurus environment both lack the ability to run some specialized programs. The obvious solution is to install the X Windowing System on the Zaurus. The distribution Pocket Workstation is based on Debian Linux and can run in a chroot environment on a storage card, using the vendor's preinstalled native Linux system for most hardware access.

What's exciting about Debian Pocket Workstation is that you can run QTopia and a complete Debian distribution on the same machine. Switch back and forth as you need to. You can also build a complete cross-compilation tree on your own Linux computer, and compile and/or modify available open-source software for the Zaurus.´

A new version (updated 2005-03-16) is available. To stay up to date with this project make sure to visit the debian-handheld mailing list.

I cannot wait to play with the first Palm-OS based device running Linux.

08:30 AM by TadW in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

If you are interested in investing in palmOne stock, make sure not to miss the earnings conference call later today at 5:00pm Eastern time.

03:35 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Regarding the latest rumors of a new palmOne device, a PalmAddicts visitor writes this morning:

"Hi there Sammy!!! Rumor time again. Heard that somebody posted at Palm Addict about the Tungsten 2005. One thing that I know will be coming out this May is this: "I heard 4gb internal memory, bigger and a bit bulkier than the T5, NOT called the T6, and inbuilt wifi. Release end of April. Its not called the T6 though. Its a new sub-brand from palmOne."

I invite you to participate in our discussion on what to make of the latest palmOne rumors and if indeed this could be the new killer PDA device!

Once again, a major thank you to Sam from for the heads up! You rock!