08:38 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Reading Recommendations

Booksense has now published its Summer 2004 Paperback Fiction Picks, plus lists of the following categories: "Outstanding New Fiction", "Vivid Lives and Compelling Voices", "Captivating Nonfiction", "Wonderful Titles for the History Reader", "A Deeper Look at Contemporary Issues", and "Summer Picks for Suspense and Mystery".

04:10 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Guardian has an interesting article today on how new breakthroughs aimed at boosting phones' power and storage capacity could herald the technology's next great leap forward.

- the first phone with integrated hard disk storage is on its way (thanks to 1-inch hard disks - iPod made the first move)
- fuel cells powered by tiny hydrogen-based energy sources are being tested
- watching TV footage on mobiles by next year
- view programmes you've recorded at home as well as access Sky Plus-type functions, such as pausing live TV when the phone rings
- new technologies delivering fold-up screens

05:55 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

AvantGo for Palm OS5 5.5 and AvantGo for Palm OS4 4.2 were both just released. No changelog supplied.

05:25 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Taiwanese company GoDot refreshed its website, now offering some interesting details on the new GoDot M8370 and GoDot M8570.

The M8370 looks like a very well-done clone of the iPod to me, and at least its specs can also compete with Apple's masterpiece: it offers a 1-inch hard drive, 17mm thickness, Ogg Vorbis support, and USB 2.0. The M8570 looks more like a cell phone, and offers similar features like the M8370 (with a bigger 1.8-inch hard drive).

Do you think Apple will be delighted to hear about this?

02:16 PM by sUnShInE in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Cool news for Vindigo users. Vindigo is now offering its service, as well as that of many others including the NY Times and Mapquest, for mobile phones.

If you're an Alltell, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Sprint PCS, U.S. Cellular, or Verizon Wireless customer, head over to Vindigo to find out what services you can put on your cell. Please note that not all services, with the exception of Vindigo itself, are available from each of these providers and not all phones can receive the service.

Us TMo users seem to be SOL. Oh well. I guess I'll stick with the PDA version

04:28 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Tempo/Chicagotribune presents its second annual 50 Best Magazines list (requires free registration).

Their top 10: 10. Consumer Reports, 9. Jane, 8. Men's Health, 7. American Demographics, 6. The New Yorker, 5. Esquire, 4. Cook's Illustrated, 3. The Economist, 2. Real Simple, 1. Wired.

04:06 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

As I am currently writing a market study on the optical media market, I find the following article from WSJ more than just interesting: In fact, I find it fascinating, because it confirms my belief that the market is (not yet) ready for High-Definition DVDs (Blu-ray, HD-DVD).

Directly from the article:

At a recent private meeting with Hollywood studio heads and tech czars like Microsoft Corp.'s Steve Ballmer and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Carly Fiorina, Mr. Jobs argued that studios shouldn't license their movies for use in the planned "high-definition DVD" format until Hollywood is assured by the tech industry that the discs can't be copied by new DVD burners that will come along. High-definition DVDs are being developed as a successor to the current digital-video-disc format and are expected to be on the market by next year, along with high-definition DVD burners.

Mr. Jobs even suggested that high-definition DVD burners not be bundled with computers at all -- a scenario he said in an interview was "extreme" and one that "I hope we don't have to get to, but it helps to put the issue in perspective." He said it is up to the tech industry to prove to Hollywood that high-definition content can be adequately protected.

I think Jobs has a point. Besides, I believe that big consumer electronics makers such as Sony only want to keep introducing new formats to stay ahead of competitors in China and Taiwan who have become a huge force in supplying cheap players and burners. But are consumers ready again for yet another fight in the market between competing DVD (Blu-ray, HD-DVD) formats?

03:53 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

With the Oceanic H2OAudio Player you can now play your MP3's from the depths of the worlds oceans (e.g. Scuba diving, free diving, snorkeling), or other wet locations (e.g. in your morning shower). The player includes 64mb (USD $449.95) to 512mb (USD $649.95) of built-in memory to deliver from 2 to 16 hours of CD quality tunes.