Basic eBook Standards
Hello and welcome to this week’s State of the eBook! We’ve got news and reviews, so let’s get started!
Editorials
News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM!
Hello and welcome to another State of the eBook! The end of the year hasn’t slowed the eBook world down; we have news, more news, and a bit of debate! Let’s get started!
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!
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.
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.
Palm’s Hail Mary Pass May Not Keep Them In The Game – A GearChat
It started out as a quick joke yesterday morning. I had seen Engadget’s post that the Palm Pre could be had for just $80. Coming so soon after the release of the Pixi (and its discounted price), it struck me that with such rapid and steep discounts the writing is more clearly on the wall than ever. It got the team talking.
My iPhone Epiphany: Why “Perfect” is the Enemy of “Good Enough”
Most would argue that the iPhone is the best smartphone out on the market today. I have disagreed in the past, however, my perspective recently changed… I have loved the iPhone since it first came out, but have been bothered by its lack of “advanced features”. You know the list of complaints. No copy and paste (until recently). No multitasking (still). No MMS. Multitasking specifically is a big gap in the iPhone’s capabilities in my mind. But that all seems moot to me now. You see, I was on a trip overseas to visit my wife’s family. Her sister wanted…
Why A Google-Designed Phone Makes Sense
The rumor mill is buzzing about the possible launch of an Android handset that is actually designed BY Google. We heard this rumor before the launch of Android but now it makes much more sense. Here’s why…
Has Palm Become The Rodney Dangerfield Of Smartphone Makers??
You have to feel badly for Palm. Even when they make some good moves they still can’t get any respect. And today no less than the New York Times took a swipe at them. In the article entitled “Is Palm’s Comeback Losing Steam?” author Saul Hansell notes… Palm invented the category of a Web-surfing pocket-computer phone with its Treo line in 2002. But more recently it lost its way in the market as some of its rivals developed more innovative phones. I mean, think about it, how many people are even TALKING about the $99 Pixi that just went on…
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.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: The Stark Reality for PC Gamers
The hype has been building for months, and Tuesday we get what some are calling “the most powerful entertainment industry launch of the year, outshining even Hollywood blockbusters.” The launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. But while millions of console gamers are eagerly awaiting the release, many PC gamers are mourning what they see as the loss of the core elements that has made the franchise great since it launched on the PC several years ago. Rather than detail all of them, here is a nice chart that shows the changes since the last Modern Warfare game:
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…
The Palm Pre through the eyes of a former Palm OS Treo Business User
I’ve been a business smartphone user since the category was invented. I started with Palm and have been loyal to them through the years as the market has developed from a niche geek market to the fastest growing segment of mobile communications. Analysts say it will easily overtake conventional cell phones in developed countries very soon. As a business user, I’ve always assumed the ‘next’ new device would be better than the previous device at getting the job done. That job being primarily communicating with colleagues via voice or text. Originally email was the exclusive text method, but of course…
Balloon Boy – a Timeline of Deception
Where were you when you first heard about the now-infamous “Balloon Boy” incident? On Thursday, October 15th, at a little past 2 p.m. Central Time, Dan and I were IM’ing when he abruptly told me to turn on CNN. Once I did, the screen was filled with the image of a large silver balloon speeding and spinning, thousands of feet above the Colorado countryside. The balloon supposedly carried a six-year-old boy, appropriately named Falcon. For the next hour, Dan and I chatted back and forth – with interjections from the Gear Diary Team as we all emailed about the situation….
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.
Learning a Language on a Budget: Week One – Getting Ready
photo credit: woodleywonderworks For a few weeks now, Judie has been writing about her experiences learning Spanish using the Rosetta Stone system. It’s a wonderful language learning system used by diplomats and business leaders the world over. But it has one big drawback – it’s really, really expensive! In these times especially, many of us are living on a budget and need more cost-effective options. So, I decided to pull-together some things I had already been working on and go on a mission to learn Spanish as well, but I’m going to try to do it on a more modest…
Seriously Live Messenger, What is the problem?
I am used to getting random spam instant messages through my Live Messenger account, but today has been a banner day, and I say that with total sarcasm. Today I have received at least five random IMs from a different address (which I immediately block after the message arrives), and each one has been completely trashy. I’m posting the least offensive here, and the truly offensive ones after the break. Bear in mind that I have my Live account set so that I am not supposed to get any messages from people who aren’t contacts, and yet…they keep coming, and…
Impressions on Windows Mobile 6.5 and the AT&T Pure Windows Phone
This is a joint review between Wayne and me. Wayne is primarily a Blackberry and iPhone user, and he has also dabbled in Android, Palm, Windows Mobile and WebOS. I am primarily an iPhone and Nokia / Vertu user, with an extensive background in Palm and Windows Mobile. We were recently sent the new HTC Pure Windows Phone to review, because it is one of the first of several new Windows Phones to use the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. Wayne’s comments will be the ones in black; mine will be in blue italics. Microsoft unleashed an upgrade to…
Get Your Caffeine on with Gear Diary
It started innocently enough. One morning last week Wayne sent an email asking if any of the writers liked Starbuck’s after he had accumulated a fairly large amount of points — $370 worth — on his own Starbuck’s rewards card. Then today Carly spotted a great deal on Woot! for a Breville 15-Bar Expresso & Cappuccino Maker for $179.99 (that’s it pictured above). These messages sparked an entire back and forth coast to coast between what gear we each used to quench our lust for caffeine. See what the team is using, and sound off in the comments on what…
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?