Don’t Buy That Sprint Pixi!
Unless you really hate Verizon. Engadget broke the news that the Pixi has been cleared by the FCC for Verizon, and it includes WiFi!
Articles by Zek
Do-It-Yourself Book Scanning
Do you have a library of books that are not available in eBook form? Do you love combining power tools with classic novels? Then give this DIY book scanner a shot! Apparently it can scan up to 1200 pages an hour, depending on how fast you can manually turn the pages. I highly recommend watching the video, as not only does it explain the reasons why the inventor created his book scanner, but he also gives a succinct, persuasive argument for the proliferation of eBooks over paper books. Plus it’s always worth watching when the instructions for how to build…
What’s in a Name?
(image courtesy fromoldbooks) Welcome to another State of the eBook! To start off, the big news this week was publishers plotting to make eBooks second-class citizens by delaying their release. You can read all about it here. It isn’t pretty and it is time to let publishers know how we feel! Then there is the other big news… It’s NOOK WEEK!
Sony Store Moving to EPub
We have an official date for the Sony move to ePub… this Friday, December 11th. Going forward, ALL Sony eBooks will be available only as ePubs, and the proprietary BBeB format will be removed. If you did not opt into the PRS-500 upgrade/trade-in program, be sure to back up your library! Also on Friday, the Sony Reader software is coming to Macs and PCs, so presumably you can read your Sony content on your laptop if e-ink drives you nuts! Finally, Sony is renaming their eBook store the “Reader Store”, to better tie in with their Sony Reader line. What…
Gateway Gadgets
(Gates courtesy of JKMedia) We all had that one device that led us into the world of true gadget loving. It’s that one device that you obsessed over, read about, joined forums to discuss…once it starts it’s an addiction. Since it’s the holidays, I thought it might be a good time to head down memory lane and see what gadget was our first geek love…
Nooks, Kindles, eBooks, and Pirates, Oh My!
Welcome to another State of the eBook! First and foremost, a nook update: As Dan reported yesterday, Spring Design has been denied an injunction that sought to prevent B&N from selling Nooks! This is good news and will hopefully stimulate Nook availability. Teleread argues that if Barnes and Noble doesn’t get nooks out to stores, the backlash could undo all the goodwill and positive word of mouth they’ve built so far.
Questia iPhone App Review
When I first downloaded and played with Questia, I thought, “I don’t get it.” I understood that it offered access to loads of academic humanities texts, and had a free public domain section, but what was the value in it? You could hit up your university library if you needed to do research, and public domain books are available in loads of places. Then I had the chance to talk with Tim Harris, CEO of Questia, and that’s where I learned the true value of this application. “We are a research library, for people who want to access as much…
Chevy Volt Aims to Help the Blind
I bought a Prius over the summer. Halfway through the test drive, my fiancee asked the salesman if he was aware that electric cars have caused issues for blind pedestrians since they don’t hear the cars coming. His response (after an awkward silence where he no doubt considered whether his answer would lose him the sale) was “Well, it comes with a horn.”
Internet Immortality
Judie and I were discussing the concept of immortality this afternoon. She pointed out that our legacies live on long after we’re gone thanks to the internet. This, of course, led to a side discussion about how if you don’t show up in a Google search you are immediately a bit suspect. Why doesn’t Google know who you are? Even scarier, what does Google know about you? So I googled myself…and found one link that still has me laughing. Remember Barnes and Noble’s conference call about the nook? And Spring Design, makers of the Alex Reader, who are suing B&N over…
Year of the eBook?
Yes, it is that time of the week again. State of the eBook is back to bring you the latest eBook news and commentary, just in time for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.
The Brave New Digital World: An Interview with K.C. Blake
Welcome to another State of the eBook! This week we’re bringing in an expert to share some thoughts on eBooks, music, and movies, and where the future is taking digital media. Read on for Gear Diary’s interview with K.C. Blake of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California.
RoadID Shows Customer Service Isn’t Dead
I had to share this example of fantastic customer service. A friend of mine is an avid runner, and for her birthday I bought her a RoadID gift certificate, to be delivered electronically to Gmail account.
Amazon Kindle for PC Review
(courtesy of Amazon.com) Just a few short weeks ago Amazon announced the Kindle was coming to PCs, and today it landed! Windows-only for now, with Mac OS X support promised “shortly”, Kindle for PC represents Amazon’s first attempt to strike back against Barnes and Noble’s eBook expansion. Does it succeed? I’ve been playing with it all day, read on for my review and thoughts!
Backing Up Your Mobile Data
My father’s favorite phrase is “People don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan.” I’m quite sure a very expletive-laden version of this concept was bandied around Microsoft after the Sidekick backup debacle. So I posed the question to the Gear Diary Team: How do you back up your smartphone data?
eBook News Avalanche!
Welcome to another round of State of the eBook! There’s been an avalanche of eBook news and releases, so let’s dive right in! Barnes and Noble releases the nook upon the world B&N’s nook came out swinging, with a dual screen design and an Android foundation. Check out Gear Diary’s coverage of the nook’s release here, and commentary on a B&N conference call that answered some questions and raised new ones here. In related B&N news, Plastic Logic has announced that their Que reader will be not only using the Barnes and Noble eBook store but will also be sold…
Cellphones Recreate Tchaikovsky
This is absolutely fabulous. Check out the above video from Vodafone NZ; I’ve watched it 3 times today already! Engadget has more details on how it was made if you’re curious. Now to convince the team here to pool our vast cell phone collections and make something similar…maybe with something more modern like the Thong Song. Via Engadget
eBook Options, Options Everywhere
Welcome to another State of the eBook! This will be a short post this week, as it seems there will be some sort of exciting announcement this Tuesday.
Whac a Mole iPhone Game Review
I am 100% a child of the Jersey Shore…I have fond memories of begging my parents for a handful of quarters, which I then immediately blew on Skee Ball and Whac a Mole. Skee Ball was fun, but I have a terrible throwing arm, plus Whac a Mole would arm me with a hammer! So when Kiloo Apps offered Gear Diary the chance to review Whac a Mole for the iPhone, my inner 5 year old volunteered immediately! How did the iPhone game measure up to the real thing? Read on to find out!
Epic Fail from T-Mobile and Danger/Microsoft…Sidekick Users Beware!
If you use a Sidekick. DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR PHONE OR LET THE BATTERY DIE!!! That’s the message from T-Mobile and Danger/Microsoft. Apparently that data outage last week did more than just knock everyone offline…it also hosed their servers, which means everything stored there (calendar, contacts, pictures, emails, etc) is most likely gone. This is just a terrible situation, and it doesn’t look like there’s an offline backup solution. Hopefully, T-Mobile, Danger, and Microsoft can come up with a better answer than “Oops…all gone!”, but in the meantime make sure you don’t turn your phone off! And if you…
The Dark Side of eBook Popularity?
Welcome to another “State of the eBook”. We’ve got some quick news to review, and then a discussion of something that keeps publishers up at night; piracy in ebook-land. Is it an epidemic of music proportions or is it the straw-man argument that publishers use to justify high prices, digital rights management, and slow ebook adoption?
R-Rated Calculators…Only in the App Store.
What would you rate a calculator on the age-rating system in the iPhone/iPod Touch App Store? Does a calculator even NEED an age warning? Apparently, according to Apple it does…read on for details, and the absurd way this has been resolved… PCalc, by TLA Systems, was given a 17+ rating by Apple. Why? Because when you type 5318008 and flip the calculator upside down, it spells (WARNING: NSFW, do not read on if you are easily offended)