01:41 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

I have *SIX* brand spanking new Gmail accounts to give to our Mobileread members.

This time, I'd ask you to visit our newly opened review section. Pick your favorite category and post a personal review on an item that you either love or hate (can be anything from your favorite Palm game to your worst MP3 hardware player).

The length of your review is up to you. If you want to supplement your review with images, you can use the forum's attachment function.

Please try to make it somewhat more interesting than just posting a one-liner text. For instance, you could explain why you like or dislike the product you have chosen for review.

The first six reviews will determine the winners. Each winner will immediately receive an Gmail invitation!

Good luck!

04:15 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

In honor of the Olympics (well, where is the honor with all the doping involved?), eReader.com is having a "Go For the Gold" sale.

They are offering 25% off all orders over $25 US. Just enter the promo code ATHENS2004 at checkout.

Thanks to Palm Addict and PDA 24/7 for bringing the news first.

02:59 PM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

I found a quick way how to receive the latest MobileRead postings on a mobile-enabled device.

Simply combine our RSS feed with the free service MobileRSS.net to receive the following link:

mobile link

Link-depth should be 0.

01:48 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Auvi Technologies from St. Louis, Mo. has some specification on its website of what it claims to be the smallest 1.8 inch hard drive player in the industry.

It is 3.8" x 2.4" x 0.5" hence only slightly bigger than an Apple iPod Mini. But you get a 40GB harddrive with it!

Before, I thought I would only consider an iPod as the right investment for a MP3 player. But since many iPod Mini owners have recently complained about several issues (such as clicking noises of the harddrive), it might be a good idea to check what the competition is doing. The SA1500 looks definitely good to me!

12:57 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Finally some great news from Sony. Sony has today announced its roadmap for the upcoming Memory Stick Pro devices. It includes devices with 2GB capacity, plus faster read and write options (up to 80Mbps).

The new "High Speed" Sony sticks are scheduled for October/November 2004 and will be available for $105 (256MB) to $700 (2GB).

08:31 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Science Fiction magazine Locus has an excerpt of an interview with Neal Stephenson. In case you don't know Stephenson... he is the cyberpunk genius who wrote Snow Crash, The Diamond Age and some other great works (all of which are available as e-books). Check out the interview (or just the excerpt which is free) if you want to find out more about his upcoming work.

Locusmag seems like a great place not miss; therefore I wrote a Locusmag RSS feed that you are free to use.

03:03 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

I was waiting for this to happen. Juicebox shows us how cool an E-Ink device can be if not manufactured by Sony. It is small (50x56x3.7mm), has a multimedia card interface, includes a MP3 decoder, and of course features the wonderful E-Ink panel.

The great thing about this project is that it gives the schematic and source code (alas excluding the confidential sources for the E-Ink display) for download. Btw, the smart guy behind the project, Holly Gates, has actually worked for E-Ink since 1998. Why on earth did they make E-Ink technology exclusive for Sony until now?

01:26 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Boeing is drawing new customers to its Connexion in-flight Internet service. Some 528,000 iPass users will have access to the service through the iPass global broadband roaming network, which includes more than 11,000 active Wi-Fi hot spots in 33 countries. iPass customers thus can access corporate networks, send and receive e-mails, and surf the Web while flying.

Read the full story at Newsfactor.

Alas, as far as I know, only business- and first-class jet-setters can currently surf the Net on the plane (for 20 to 25 bucks an hour).[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font] But I am convinced there will a time when Wi-Fi access on the plane becomes a basic commodity such as a can of soda. Good times are ahead!