(image courtesy of petitinvention) Welcome to the final State of the eBook for 2009! It has been a big year for eBooks, and I am going to do my best to cover a timeline of the high points, as well as a few things to look forward to in 2010. Rather than do a traditional timeline of events, I thought I’d break it down by the year in highlights per company/platform, and then a few predictions and news items to look forward to in 2010!
Judie: As you may recall, I received my Camangi WebStation yesterday afternoon. Other than downloading some of my eReader library to it, I wasn’t able to spend as much time with the tablet as I might have liked before previously made plans drew me away. This morning I was greeted with tweets and links pointing to Michael Smith’s review, where he calls the Camangi a “total fail” because (among other reasons) it isn’t as fast as his first gen iPhone and because it doesn’t browse the internet as quickly as the Hackintosh he likes to couch surf from. Michael has…
I wasn’t going to write a post about my experience with shipper DHL yesterday. Yes, although they told me on the phone twice that my Camangi WebStation was on the way it never came. Yes, I had to look on while Judie unboxed hers. I had to listen to her “ooh and ahhh”, all the time thinking that mine was on the way any second when, in fact, it wasn’t. Yes, my exchanges with their customer reps left much to be desired. But still, I had no plans to write a post about my experience. Elana just got off the…
It seems like it took forever, but my Camangi WebStation finally showed up today. Dan’s is out for delivery, so in the meantime, he is processing the raw video I’ve uploaded of my unboxing. While we wait for that, here are some pictures. I haven’t done anything other than unbox the Camangi, turn it on … and marvel at it before plugging it in So without further ado, here are some pictures. Video and more impressions from Dan and me will be up shortly. đŸ™‚
The Barnes & Noble nook eBook Reader has been touted by some as a Kindle-killer, and after what seemed like a ridiculously long wait, when mine finally showed up today I was ready to be wowed. It’s not that I don’t already enjoy reading eBooks on my Kindle DX (Kevin is using the Kindle2) and on my iPhone, it’s just that the nook was the “next new big thing”, and I allowed myself to be caught up in the excitement. I was perhaps a week later ordering mine than many were, because I found out that American Express Rewards offers…
Laws are continuously evolving to deal with technology and the potential hazards of using it while driving. As a consequence, it is now considered unsafe in many states – or it has been made illegal – to drive without some kind of hands-free solution when using a mobile phone. Many people are wearing headsets, but there is another option if you aren’t yet ready to embrace your inner Borg – a Bluetooth speaker system for your automobile. Say hello to the Motorola T215 Bluetooth Car Kit Speakerphone; let’s take a look at the hardware, and then I’ll tell you how…
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…
Actually, make that “Living With Motorola Droids.”  Yes, Droids, plural. My initial intention was to post my first impressions of the Motorola Droid after just a few days with it. However, the first Droid that I picked up started locking up and spontaneously resetting itself on the first day I had it, and it continued to do so two or three times per day. A few times it wouldn’t power on at all, and I had to pull the battery in order to get it to restart.  The upside, if there is one, is that none of the resets seemed…
Sometimes it’s the simple apps that really make a difference. That is what Toshl for Android does. Toshl is a simple expense tracker. It doesn’t have a tone of options and it’s not really designed for putting a expense report together for a business. However, what it is good for is tracking personal expenses. There are basically only two tabs. First is the Timeline. This shows your expenses you have already entered in descending order. The most current expense is at the top. At the bottom you have a add expense button. Tapping that gets you into entry mode.
I love tablets. I used a Windows Tablet PC for years and have been chomping at the bit for the Apple tablet. The iPhone and iPod touch have been and are awesome, but I have been longing for something a bit larger. When the Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android came along, I thought it just might be the ticket. Here was a slick slate tablet with a 4.8“ touchscreen with 800*480 resolution. The 32GB model is just thin and light and… it runs Android. I bit. It is an impressive device. But is it a “keeper”?
After using the G1 for about three months, I came to one conclusion. The battery life just sucks. You can’t get through a day with light use and if you are a heavy user, like myself, you will need to charge before you even get halfway through a day. The Kanex High Capacity Battery for the G1 solves this and gives a heavy G1 user like myself all day battery life.
I stopped into my local Best Buy this afternoon and was amazed at the great selection of prepaid cellular phones. As recently as a year ago the prepaid phone aisle was limited to cheap plastic throwaways. Fast forward to now, and the shelves are lined with current model BlackBerry and Motorola phones available on no contract prepaid plans.  Boost Mobile has been one of the leaders in selling affordable prepaid phones that don’t make you ashamed to use them in public. Last week we looked at the i465 (great texting device and solid call quality). This week we’re looking…
To watch the commercials for the Verizon Droid, being released tomorrow morning, one might get the impression that this is the very first android handset to be released. It certainly has garnered more attention and excitement and previous devices, but there are already a number of android handsets on the market that are actually quite good. I recently had a chance to spend a week with Sprint’s version of the HTC hero, and I found myself more than a bit impressed. So with that in mind, I thought we might take a good look at a fantastic Android device that’s…
Since I got my G1, I have been interested in viewing documents on my G1. However that was not possible, except for PDF files. I was able to quickly find a good PDF viewer in IcViewer. However, there have been times that I would like to create a Word document or Excel spreadsheet. Since there is no Open Office port for Android, I had to make do with some note apps, bringing the text into a document once I got back to my desk. Once that was done, I either had to print to a PDF file to view it…
It’s great to see the new Android handsets trickling in, and as usual – HTC is leading the pack with a new cutie called the Tattoo. Of course, the minute a case is put on it, the cuteness factor will all but evaporate. So is there anything else that sets the Tattoo apart from every other matte black handset? According to HTC, “people [will be] able to design and purchase their own unique covers or search and select from popular cover designs, altering the look of the phone to reflect their mood or individual tastes.” It will be the second…
I have become increasingly disenchanted due to the nonsense being pulled by Apple and AT&T with regard to the iPhone and applications for it. Time and again they have actively limited the device reaching its potential by intentionally crippling or rejecting apps that make it more useful. When the Google Voice apps were pulled from the App Store — and Google’s own app rejected — I started looking around to see what other device options might be available. Ultimately, the HTC Hero seemed to be the best option. Sure, it lacks the US 3G but then again, I spend the…
I reviewed Sherpa yesterday. While it was very good, it was slow as molasses. Where GPS, or what most of my friends just call Where, is an app that does a lot of what Sherpa does and more. It does it very fast. At the core, Where utilities your phone’s GPS in almost every aspect of its operation. You can manually change to any location by entering in a Zip code, so you can use this for trip planning as well. When you first launch Where, it asks if you are still where you were the last time you ran…
One of the most touted apps on the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G is Sherpa. Sherpa gives you a unique way to discover things near your current location. Geodelic, the company behind Sherpa has put a lot of work into its interface, and it’s a very beautiful app for Android based phones. It is also now available on the Android Marketplace, so I installed it on my G1 and gave it a spin.
It’s been a month now since I posted my first impressions, and it’s time to fess up my thoughts on the HTC Magic. Truth be told, it has truly surprised me! User Interface The Android user interface is simple yet elegant, and was definitely designed with finger actions in mind. Unlike Windows Mobile, Android never makes you wish for a stylus. Icons are nicely sized, menus are large and the flicking motions to advance lists, web pages and menus become second nature as soon as you start using the phone. For some reason Android feels a lot nicer on the…
Spb is a name most users of Windows Mobile know well. From their Mobile Shell to Weather and Wallet and a host of other useful and entertaining utilities, these guys have done well by the Windows Mobile community over the years. Their latest release is a simple but challenging and fun game for Windows Mobile and Android – Spb Geo Game. This game is clearly in the ‘edutainment’ market, as it asks some challenging questions but makes it fun along the way. The game has two main modes – World Flags and World Capitals – and provides plenty of challenges…
The Motorola Rival A455 is one of the newest phones to be added to the Verizon Wireless handset lineup. This messaging workhorse gives you instant access to IM style texting, emoticons, a slide out keyboard, and an on screen touch pad right out of the box. I had the opportunity to use the A455 over the last two weeks, and here are my thoughts on this multimedia powerhouse.