12:00 PM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

I just stumbled over two interesting news updates regarding Convert LIT:

• Windows users can now download a more extensive GUI than the one that comes with ConvertLit 1.8 (3rd party)
• MacOS X 10 users can now download a compiled version of the ConvertLit binary.

In case you haven't heard of Convert Lit yet:
Convert LIT is a program which allows you to convert Microsoft Reader format eBooks into open format for use with software or devices which are not directly compatible with Microsoft's Reader.

09:37 AM by doctorow in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Since we recently had the discussion on DRM-protected e-books and whether or not it is OK for you to use cracking tools to remove the protection, I found this very interesting and relevant page at Standford University:

Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors

The article discusses four factors whether a particular use is a fair use or not:
1. the purpose and character of your use
2. the nature of the copyrighted work
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market.

Great read and it should help some concerned minds to decide what to do about their private use of e-books.

02:32 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Shhhhhh... don't tell anyone, but there's an aniversary celebration contest going on at www.tapland.com with a Zodiac1 package up for grabs!

A preview of the contest with some preliminary information is available at http://tapland.com/news_arc/?id=536 but you'll have to wait until tonite for complete entry and prize details. Contest ends Monday, 9/27 at 11:59pm EST.

...one lucky grand prize winner will be lucky indeed. The fine folks at Tapwave have generously donated the following prize package:
- Tapwave Zodiac 1 w/32MB RAM.
- Black leather play-through case w/white stitching (Brando Style)
- Tapwave Zodiac Cradle
- Tapwave Stylus 3 Pack
- 3 Games on cards: Duke, SpyHunter & THPS4.
- Command Play gaming grip (these haven't even been released yet!)

BTW, Tapland is a very nice site with some great PalmOS info beyond just the Zodiac world, and excellent editorials. Some of the inside scoop, for example, includes a story that shows some very early and very interesting original sketches of potential designs. Be sure to check them out every now and then!

Be careful... too much exposure to the Zodiac gaming handheld and you might just run down to your local CompUSA to get one!

11:40 AM by Mobipocket in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

New, on the Mobipocket eBookStore, you can now browse eBooks by Series. Nearly 100 series of eBooks available.

Also, when an eBook is part of a Series, you will see a icon in the eBook Description with the title of the Series and a link to browse all eBooks of this Series.

see the list of series.

Some examples:
Star Trek, The Next Generation (106 titles)
Star Trek, The Original Series (119 titles)
Star Trek, Deep Space Nine (56 titles)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (44 titles)
The Alex Delaware Novels (16 titles)
The Dragonriders of Pern (12 titles)
The Starfist Series (7 titles)

04:55 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

eReader.com offers for a limited time all three e-books of Neil Stephenson's Baroque trilogy (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) for the price of two ($39.90).

This is a great deal if you are interested in finding out more about Stephenson's magnificient portrayal of the 1714+ baroque era.

I bought The System of the World yesterday, and now I can hardly concentrate at work, so eager I am to finish reading it!

03:51 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

With tears in my eyes I read the news at Brighthand this morning:

Toshiba confirms that it is leaving the U.S. handheld market, plus according to enterprise customers in Europe, Toshiba representatives told them that Toshiba will be out of the handheld market by the end of the year.

It also means that Toshiba has no plans to release its e830 in the US. First Sony, now Toshiba. This leaves only Dell and Asus in the market for PPC with VGA displays. And who knows, maybe it is only question of time before they leave as well?

07:12 PM by Brian in E-Book General | News

There's a pretty good short article at PDAStreet about eBooks on PDAs picking up momentum, and schools are a huge potential market that is just starting to be tapped throught pilot programs.

It seems like eBooks (and PDAs for that matter) have apparently hit the bottom of the trough of disillusionment in Gartner's Hype Cycle and are starting their ascent up the slope of enlightenment.

Now if the DRM issues can be resolved in a way that affords owners the same privileges of real books (letting people borrow them, pass them on to friends or family members, trade them in, sell them, use them on your device of choice), they'll really pick up steam and reach their plateau of productivity much more quickly.

More mainstream PDA sites and media outlets that can inform and educate people won't hurt either.

05:20 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Fictionwise has just started another round of free e-book giveaways which will be available free through September 30th.

This is a follow-up to Bob's earlier news on free e-books from Fictionwise's