05:02 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

Audible.com and Sprint PCS have announced a co-marketing program that allows you to listen to audio e-books on cellular phones.

As part of the agreement, each new AudibleReady Smart Device from Sprint will include the AudiblePlayer application with introductory audio content loaded into the device ROM. The first such phone, the Sprint PCS Vision Smart Device SP-i600 by Samsung, is already available US-nationwide in various Sprint Stores ($469.99 after savings).

Of course, you can also use your Treo 600 to listen to Audible.com content. But I think it is interesting how cell phone technology is heading towards the information-rich online world.

03:26 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

According to CNet News and various other sources, Sony confirmed on Wednesday that it is working to add native MP3 support to its portable music players--a major strategy reversal that could help it compete more effectively with rivals such as Apple Computer.

So finally, though VERY LATE, Sony listens to its unhappy customers and ends its long-standing insistence on the proprietary Atrac format. Not only does Sony plan to add MP3 support to some of its new flash-based players later this year, but also is it also working on software upgrades, so owners of current models could play their songs in the MP3 format.

10:27 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

In a press release nVidia yesterday unveiled the GoForce 3D 4500, the world's first 3D Wireless Media Processor (WPA).

The graphic chip will be first used in the much anticipated Gizmondo game pad to offer mobile gamers superb 3D video and imaging capabilities. From the press release:

The GoForce 3D 4500-powered Gizmondo, runs under Microsoft Windows CE.net platform and features a Samsung ARM9 400Mhz processor. The Gizmondo game pad will deliver arcade-quality 3D gaming, courtesy of the GoForce 3D 4500’s dedicated geometry processor, which offloads the main processor to conserve battery life.

Sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it?

10:02 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Bitstream has just announced the release of its WiFi web browser ThunderHawk wireless V2.0 for PocketPC.

New users, as well as current ThunderHawk 2.0 Preview Edition users, can download the 30-day free trial of the product release or subscribe to ThunderHawk for $49.95 per year or $5.95 per month.

ThunderHawk 2.0 Pocket PC Edition provides:
- Effortless scrolling. Fast, fluid Web page navigation, as if you were browsing on your desktop.
- A more user-friendly keypad.
- Increased speed. Download ThunderHawk directly to your Pocket PC for the fastest mobile Web page speeds available.
- The ability to read information on-the-fly. ThunderHawk's compact transport format and progressive rendering creates a fast, positive user experience.
- Seamless connectivity. With ThunderHawk 2.0, a dropped connection is re-established immediately, along with any data you previously entered.
- The ability to copy and paste text, among other editing functions.
- Proxy authentication support.

Thanks to Brighthand for bringing the news first!

06:22 AM by Laurens in Archive | Sunrise

I just released Sunrise 0.3.3. This version adds the ability to send only the selected part of a web page from your browser to Sunrise.

More info: Sunrise News

11:03 PM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | Reading Recommendations

Bottom Line Rating: 8/10
This is a fun and informative book worth reading. It achieves its mission simply and admirably. A great introduction to things you can do with a Palm PDA.

Detailed Book Description:
Lose The Laptop is a guide to mobile computing on a PDA. In very simple terms, he points the reader in the right direction to do many of the things that a laptop can do -- work with MS Office documents, read eBooks, do presentations, listen to music, etc.

As he points out, most users of PDAs never load any software other than what comes with the PDA. This book will really open the eyes of some PDA owners to the kinds of things that are possible, and will give them what they need to pursue it further. For the most part, there is not a lot of dry step-by-step instructions, and where detail is provided it is not intrusive to the flow of the book.

He is very careful to organize the book in a fashion that allows the reader to easily jump into just the part that is relevant for his or her skill level and interests.

The book includes a lot of information helpful to a beginner with PDAs in addition to the main focus, which is doing basic laptop-like activities on a PDA. There was an impressive amount of material covered even though it all came across as simple and clear.

As a relatively experienced PDA user myself, I can't say I learned a lot from the book (and Larry suggested that this would be the case as it's not aimed at PDA-pros), but I still had fun reading it! I think that every Palm fanatic is always thinking about how they use their Palm and trying to figure out better ways to use it. This was a nice way to kind of kick start some ideas in my head.

The eReader version I was reading from can give a small delay when turning pages on my older and slower Sony Clie SJ33, but it didn't really hamper my reading. The pdf version would be good if you have a larger display because it would help you see more context as you read and allows you to more easily skip around based on your interests.

I'm thrilled to see Larry writing this book. I hope that he continues to devote himself to helping Palm users and smartphone users to better understand the capabilities of their handhelds. The more he can educate, the larger our hobbyist community will grow, and the more business users we'll see in the Palm world. I'd have to say that PalmOne/PalmSource are not exactly the best at marketing the potential uses, so it's really up to people like Larry and us fanatics to spread the word. Larry certainly has my best wishes for continued success with his work.

Author:
Larry Becker is an author and speaker with impressive credentials. He appears as the trainer in Sony’s Clié companion DVD. At Palm Inc.'s request, he developed a training program for new Palm employees. He does training worldwide, writes for tech publications and teaches at University of South Florida in Tampa. More complete information about the author is available on the web site given below.

Web Site:
http://www.losethelaptop.com/

Formats:
eReader and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

Purchase Cost:
Sneak Preview Electronic Edition $9.98
(available now for a limited time)
Upcoming Paper Version will be $19.95.

Disclaimer:
This review was based on a complimentary review copy of the book provided by the author. This review reflects the opinions of this reviewer, not an official position of MobileRead.com.

09:36 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Mike Rohde sent me a note today about the recent takeover of the old "palmtipsheet.com" site by a Microsoft ad. He did sell the site, so they can do as they wish, but he still has rights to the issues that he wrote for the site.

He's preserved them at http://www.rohdesign.com/palmtipsheet/
and more details about it are available at http://www.rohdesign.com/weblog/archives/000424.html

They are available in a variety of formats... HTML, Palm Doc, iSilo and Plucker.

When I was first learning about Palm PDAs it was a nice discovery and I found it very interesting reading. Even though some of the materials are a bit dated, I suspect people will still find it interesting to browse.

09:49 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

One of our members posted today information on some serious screen defects he has been experiencing with his Archos AV420 device.

According to the user, after recording for around 20 minutes at room temperature, a patch of moisture with 1.5 cm in diameter and oil-like rings surrounding the patch develops as the AV420 heats up. Making it worse, the patch is located in the very middle of the LCD display (photos posted in the original thread).

It appears that the defect is not an isolated event: Our member was able to exchange his AV420 three times; yet, each time his device displayed the same screen quality annoyance.

We are waiting for feedback from Archos.