05:53 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Some pooh-poohed the assorted colors of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod mini as frivolous, but the digital music players are a smash hit and have become fashion accessories in and of themselves, says Duncan Martell from Reuters.

Too bad those sleek gadgets still take more than six weeks to be shipped (from the time the order was placed). And on EBay Inc., iPod minis -- sealed and in the box -- were listed for auction with multiple bids topping $300 (regular price is around $250).

Only time will tell if the iPod mini has indeed "resonated with the digerati", as industry analysts like to predict.

06:50 PM by TadW in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The update is initially only for those who own a Sprint version of the phone, with other carriers still in the process of testing the update on their networks.

The Sprint update is downloadable now, while updates for other carriers such as Cingular, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile are listed as "coming soon."

Among the issues addressed with the Sprint release are enhancements to the browser and e-mail program as well as enhancements designed to improve the device's audio-quality reliability.

06:15 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

I enhanced our RSS feed support. If your RSS Reader supports RSS2.0, use the following feed in future:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/external.php?type=rss2

or, if you only want to be updated on frontpage articles, use:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ext...forumids=front

New: Article content, links, images, etc. are preserved.

If you don't have a RSS Reader yet, I heartly recommend FeedDemon (MS Windows), which costs $29.95, and is the best Reader I've seen so far. If you run Mac OS, NetNewsWire is your choice!

09:06 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

A Polish-Egyptian team has found what it believes to be the site of the Library of Alexandria, often described as the world's first major seat of learning.

This is not just any library: Two thousand years ago, the library housed works by the greatest thinkers and writers of the ancient world.

It was at the library that Archimedes invented the screw-shaped water pump that is still in use today. At Alexandria Eratosthenes measured the diameter of the Earth, and Euclid discovered the rules of geometry. Ptolemy wrote the Almagest at Alexandria. It was the most influential scientific book about the nature of the Universe for 1,500 years.

The library was later destroyed, possibly by Julius Caesar who had it burned as part of his campaign to conquer the city.

Makes me wonder what researchers will find in 2000 years from today: a moldered computer labelled 'New York Public Library'?

04:59 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

My second post on a new Sony gadget today. Sony deserves my respect, therefore I decide to name it the most innovative company of the day
The VGF-AP1 features a 20Gb harddrive and is capable of displaying digital photos through its 2.2 inch 320x256 color LCD display. Digital cameras may connect via USB to the player's cradle to transfer images.

With its body of features, the Sony VAIO Pocket VGF-AP1 weighs in at 195g with a USB 2.0 interface. Sony claims maximum of 20 hours of battery life.

Sony has developed a unique input button grid dubbed "G-Sense." G-Sense offers up touchpad navigation where users scroll through a list of files simply by gesturing their finger toward their selection. The selected song is played by the click of a button.

The VAIO Pocket VGF-AP1 is capable of playing MP3, WMA and WAV audio, but, alas, first converts the formats to ATRAC3.

To me the VGF-AP1 doesn't look that hot with the dark grey case, but who knows, maybe Sony will offer other designs as well.

04:04 PM by Colin Dunstan in More E-Book Readers | Legacy E-Book Devices

Just a month ago, Sony launched the Librié 1000-EP, arguably the world's first true electronic book. Now, it unveils its second coup: a keyboardless PC which is not a Tablet PC, but the world's smallest full-function Windows PC, a pen-operated, wireless-enabled computer pitched at mobile media consumers.

According to The Register, driving the U70 is a 1GHz Ultra-low Voltage Pentium M and Intel's i855GM integrated chipset - so yes, it's a Centrino machine. And, indeed, we find the machine has an 802.11g Wi-Fi adaptor built in. It also has a 20GB hard drive and 512MB of memory. There's a USB 2.0 port, and CompactFlash and MemoryStick Pro ports for expansion. The unit is powered by a slimline Lithium Polymer battery capable of providing around two-and-a-half hours' operating time. Japanese consumers will be able to up that to 5.5 hours, courtesy of an alternative, 'extended' battery. But it added 145g to the weight.

The size of the screen is five inches, which stands somewhere between a regular PDA and a Tablet PC. Since I found my PDA always too small for reading longer texts, that sounds like a good solution to me.

Only negative: Price is targeted at 1871 USD; even the cheaper version still costs 1595 USD

08:47 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

This year it's Spider-Man 2 duking it out with Van Helsing. Both are sure to be huge Summer movies and these are the official movie tie-in eBooks. Receive a 100% Micropay Rebate on either title when purchasing with a credit card. The Spider-man 2 eBook is a "pre-order" that is scheduled to be delivered to your bookshelf on May 25th.

Free after a 100% MicroPay rebate.

07:01 PM by ignatz in Miscellaneous | Lounge

http://theopencd.sunsite.dk/

Check out this great CD. It collects some of the best open source projects for Windows (including OpenOffice, Mozilla, Blender, etc) and compiles them onto a downloadable .iso file. It has a great autoplay navigator and makes installs very easy. It's a great intro to open source for those friends of yours who aren't yet familiar with the concept. I found a couple of things that I hadn't heard of, and I thought that I was pretty familiar...