09:28 AM by sUnShInE in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

I'm listening to a piece on NPR this morning that PDA sales are down and dropping. According to an IDC press release, PDA sales are down 8.7% from the third quarter last year, and if a handheld device doesn't have voice capabilities, a growing number of users around the world aren't interested.

PalmOne's unit shipments fell 12.7% from the third quarter last year to 736,481. That left the company with 34.7% of the PDA market, down 6.9 percentage points from the second quarter.

David Linsalata, analyst in IDC's Mobile Devices program said, "It is crucial that vendors push handheld devices into new market segments through the integration of existing technology such as GPS bundles in order to energize this market and return it to a growth path.”

05:49 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

Join me in wishing our team member Ignatz a warm and loving ...

Happy Birthday!

Ignatz, I just want to thank you for all the wonderful effort you have put into this community. It simply wouldn't be the same without you!

04:04 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Because MyYahoo! supports the RSS format, you can now also add MobileRead to your MyYahoo page by simply clicking here. Then follow the instructions.

02:35 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Delphi XM MyFi Satellite Radio is the world's first XM2go satellite receiver. For $349.99 you get the player, a home kit, car kit and headphones. Click here if you want to learn more about XM satellite radio.

It supports two modes: A "Memory Mode", which can store up to 5 hours of fresh new XM content (while you listen, or when you schedule MyFi to record your favorite XM shows); and a "Live Mode", which offers over 130 digital XM channels live coast to coast by satellite.

The player also feature a wireless FM transmitter (which is, btw, not allowed in every country, e.g. not in Germany), which can transmit audio to any FM radio speaker system, car, home or portable.

Edit: Slate asks "Will XM's new portable satellite radio make the iPod obsolete?" Interesting read!

Does anyone have XM radio experiences they'd like to share?

02:04 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Walter Moosberg of WSJ wrote an interesting article about the Rio Carbon ($249), which hit shelves a month ago, the Creative Zen Micro ($249) and the Dell Pocket DJ ($199), both which will be available in November, and he compared them how they compete against Apple's iPod Mini.

According to Moosberg, they certainly have their advantages over the iPod:
- 25% more storage capacity -- five gigabytes vs. four gigabytes, or about 1,200 songs at standard recording quality, vs. the 1,000 Apple claims for the Mini.
- longer battery life than the Mini, which runs up to only eight hours -- the Rio Carbon boasts up to 20 hours.
- work with the numerous online music stores that sell songs in Microsoft's copy-protected file format

Yet, the iPod Mini contenders have failed again, he follows, mainly because they "lag behind badly in simplicity and ease of use":
"[A]spects of the user interfaces were more awkward than Apple's[...]Worse, synchronizing the players with the music on a PC was a real challenge."

Each player has its own short-comings. The Rio Carbon looks like a makeup case, with a small display that is dimmer and has smaller type than the iPod Mini's. It's jog dial is clumsy, the menu structure confusing, and sound quality was disappointing. The Dell Pocket DJ has navigation buttons that make your fingers ache and a hard-to-reach hold switch. And finally the Zen Micro, which at least comes in different colors, but makes you deal with a scrolling device that is so sensitive that you will end up selecting the wrong songs to play.

07:31 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

I know I've promised you to work on a mobile MobileRead module for offline-browsers like iSilo. For some reasons I haven't found the time for it yet (I will eventually, really!!); in the meantime you may want to try this link:

https://www.mobileread.com/avantgo/mo...ad_mobile.html

Link-Depth is 1 in iSilo (make sure you don't go over 1, otherwise you will end up leeching my entire forum - which wouldn't make me a happy camper!)

Always open to suggestions.

07:02 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

Another realm formerly occupied only by PDAs is now under attack by the latest smartphone generation:

Ebooks Corporation today announced it has entered into a five-year distribution agreement with Nokia to distribute a growing range of popular books via a new generation of Nokia smartphones. The deal means that users of Nokia mobile devices will be able to find, buy, download and read books directly from their handsets.

Stephen Cole, CEO of eBooks.com said, "This arrangement will make it very easy for Nokia mobile device users to find and read their favorite authors. Our customers are especially tech savvy and very mobile. They will appreciate the ability to access their library anywhere, any time."

Via Geekzone.

06:20 AM by Colin Dunstan in More E-Book Readers | Legacy E-Book Devices

It seems someone has finally made it. I am not talking about cracking the restrictive DRM e-books Sony is trying to sell. I am talking about converting your own e-books and reading them on the Librie. How wonderful does that sound?

Someone named 'scythic' was able to convert HG Wells' The Time Machine from text to LRF (Librie's book format without the DRM). Even better, he uploaded the Windows binary and source code for the conversion tool as well (not GPL though). There are still a few issues to be solved, such as pagination and formatting, but the core work has been done: the Sony Librie has been cracked!

Now could someone be so cool and send me a Librie to the States? I know a lot of you guys have partial feelings for a dedicated e-book hardware reader, but I'd be happy if I personally owned one

Btw, I also attached the conversion tool to this thread.