Amazon Kindle DX E-Book Reader

In spite of its larger size, the Amazon Kindle DX ($489 as of October 29, 2009) comes off as a surprisingly lean and elegant contender in the current e-book reader steeplechase. This enlarged version of the Kindle has a number of appealing features–including strong PDF support–along with a few missteps.

The shift to a larger-screen Kindle makes sense. Dominating the front is its 9.7-inch,16-grayscale E Ink display. The device measures 10.4 by 7.2 by 0.38 inches and weighs 18.9 ounces. Like the Kindle 2, the Kindle DX has a keyboard, but it’s awkward to type on. In my hands-on examination of the device, I came to appreciate many aspects of its design. Still, some roadblocks ahead could impede its widespread adoption. The most problematic of these are the reader’s price ($489, more than some full-featured laptops cost), and the fact that early newspapers available for the Kindle DX lack the visual design and appeal of physical newspapers.

In spite of its larger size, the Amazon Kindle DX ($489 as of October 29, 2009) comes off as a surprisingly lean and elegant contender in the current e-book reader steeplechase. This enlarged version of the Kindle has a number of appealing features–including strong PDF support–along with a few missteps.

The shift to a larger-screen Kindle makes sense. Dominating the front is its 9.7-inch,16-grayscale E Ink display. The device measures 10.4 by 7.2 by 0.38 inches and weighs 18.9 ounces. Like the Kindle 2, the Kindle DX has a keyboard, but it’s awkward to type on. In my hands-on examination of the device, I came to appreciate many aspects of its design. Still, some roadblocks ahead could impede its widespread adoption. The most problematic of these are the reader’s price ($489, more than some full-featured laptops cost), and the fact that early newspapers available for the Kindle DX lack the visual design and appeal of physical newspapers.

The Kindle DX’s design was strongly influenced by that of the Kindle 2: It has a white finish, a keyboard at the bottom, and navigation keys and a five-way joystick at the right (unlike the other navigation buttons on the Kindle DX, the five-way joystick and its associated Menu and Back buttons are similar in size to those on the Kindle 2). Gone are the left-hand navigation keys–a conscious design choice, according to Amazon. When you flip the unit upside-down, the screen automatically inverts itself and the navigation buttons respond appropriately, reflecting the new orientation. (Of course, the printed wording on the buttons remains inverted. Perhaps a future Kindle will solve that issue with invisible capacitive touch buttons that appear as needed, depending on the orientation.)

Like the Kindle 2, the Kindle DX has a minimalist design. The only port on the bottom is the unit’s Micro-USB 2.0 connection. The reader charges via Micro-USB, but the charging cable detaches from the outlet plug, so you can plug it into your PC’s USB port for data transfers as well. Direct-to-Kindle data transfers are more important with the Kindle DX, due to the PDF reader in the new device: PDFs of large, image-heavy documents can eat up 10MB, 20MB, or more. Since Amazon now charges 15 cents per megabyte for data you e-mail to yourself over the Kindle’s Whispernet service, fees could add up quickly if you’re an avid viewer of PDFs.

The top of the Kindle DX houses a power slider switch and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Like the Kindle 2, the Kindle DX has text-to-speech reading capabilities for handling content whose producers permit it. But whereas the Kindle 2 has a monaural speaker, the Kindle DX has built-in stereo speakers.

One major Kindle DX enhancement is the ability to reorient content. The accelerometer inside can adjust to display all content horizontally or vertically, or even at a full 180-degree rotation. This ability renders left-side navigation buttons unnecessary, and it’s great if you’re left-handed–or even if you just want the freedom to vary how you hold the e-book reader. And unlike the iPhone, the Kindle DX lets you turn off the autorotation (and anyone who has tried to read an iPhone at an angle while in bed knows how aggravating autorotation can be).

The other big enhancement–mentioned earlier–is the Kindle DX’s native PDF reader, enabling Amazon to target the professional market, where financial documents, reports, marketing flyers, and even PowerPoint presentations are commonly published as PDFs.

Of course, the Kindle DX also opens wide opportunities for textbooks and such highly formatted books as cookbooks and profusely illustrated books). In addition, newspaper and magazine publishers will have the opportunity to deliver targeted, customized content that takes advantage of this platform.

At $489, the Kindle DX will make consumers think hard before buying one (especially since highly functional netbooks can be had for substantially less). But it is also a very capable device that can benefit from a broadened scope. The more multipurpose Kindles can become without detracting from or minimizing their primary mission as electronic readers, the better-positioned they will be going forward.

Sources: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Apple App Store Reaches 100,000 Apps

Apple has scaled yet another milestone, as its mobile app store now includes a whopping 100,000 approved apps, according to unofficial data revealed by the iPhone app directory App Shopper.

Although Apple hasn’t made any official announcement about reaching such remarkable figures, but App Shopper claimed that the iPhone maker’s app store is now home to around 102,000 standard applications.

The online store reportedly had around 65,000 apps in the month of August, and it took two-and-a-half months to reach the coveted mark of 100,000.

Of all the currently available apps on the company’s signature applications store, as many as 93,000 apps are actually available for download or purchase as of October 28.

The total count of apps on Apple app store has comfortably outnumbered the number of apps available on the rival’s stores, including Windows Mobile Marketplace, Android Marketplace, Nokia’s Ovi Store, and Google’s Android Marketplace put together.

Source: http://www.itproportal.com/

BlackBerry Storm 2 to blow in this week

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Storm 2 will be available to Verizon Wireless customers Wednesday, according to the carrier.

Like its predecessor, the BlackBerry Storm 2 will feature a touch screen. Unlike the BlackBerry Storm, though, the Storm 2’s SurePress “clickable” display doesn’t actually move (except for around corners). Instead, the display provides an electronic feedback that mimics the feeling of a click. It also features multi-touch support, allowing users to click two keys (like shift plus a letter) on the virtual keyboard at the same time.

Aside from a revamped touch screen, the Storm 2 offers built-in Wi-Fi and EV-DO Revision A. The Storm 2 provides global support, allowing users to make calls and get 3G data overseas, thanks to an included SIM card. The phone comes with 256MB of flash memory, and 2GB of “onboard” memory. It also ships with a 16GB MicroSD card.

The Storm 2 runs BlackBerry OS 5.0. According to Verizon, the new software will improve the device’s typing and selection accuracy. It also features more use of animations.

The Storm 2 has a 3.2-megapixel camera and video recording. The phone comes with BlackBerry Maps, which allows users to access turn-by-turn directions and maps, and to find local businesses. RIM has also included Verizon’s VZ Navigator service, which adds voice-guided directions, but costs an additional $9.99 per month.

Like some of the latest BlackBerry smartphones, the Storm 2 will provide access to the BlackBerry App World. It also supports Verizon’s tethering service.

The phone features a removable battery that, according to Verizon Wireless, will offer up to 5.5 hours of talk time. It asserts that the battery will last for 11 days on standby.

When the Storm 2 hits store shelves for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, both RIM and Verizon will be hoping that users have forgotten about the mistakes made in the original BlackBerry Storm. That phone’s touch screen and software annoyances yielded some unhappy customers. It also failed to break three stars in a CNET review last year.

That said, Bonnie Cha at CNET Reviews had an opportunity to check out a near-final version of the Storm 2 recently. According to Cha, the Storm 2’s SurePress touch screen is much improved over its predecessor. She was also happy to see Wi-Fi make its way to the follow-up smartphone. Still, she found that the software reset spontaneously at times and that, overall, the GPS performance was sub-par.

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Storm 2 will be available to Verizon Wireless customers Wednesday, according to the carrier.
Like its predecessor, the BlackBerry Storm 2 will feature a touch screen. Unlike the BlackBerry Storm, though, the Storm 2’s SurePress “clickable” display doesn’t actually move (except for around corners). Instead, the display provides an electronic feedback that mimics the feeling of a click. It also features multi-touch support, allowing users to click two keys (like shift plus a letter) on the virtual keyboard at the same time.Aside from a revamped touch screen, the Storm 2 offers built-in Wi-Fi and EV-DO Revision A. The Storm 2 provides global support, allowing users to make calls and get 3G data overseas, thanks to an included SIM card. The phone comes with 256MB of flash memory, and 2GB of “onboard” memory. It also ships with a 16GB MicroSD card.The Storm 2 runs BlackBerry OS 5.0. According to Verizon, the new software will improve the device’s typing and selection accuracy. It also features more use of animations.
The Storm 2 has a 3.2-megapixel camera and video recording. The phone comes with BlackBerry Maps, which allows users to access turn-by-turn directions and maps, and to find local businesses. RIM has also included Verizon’s VZ Navigator service, which adds voice-guided directions, but costs an additional $9.99 per month.Like some of the latest BlackBerry smartphones, the Storm 2 will provide access to the BlackBerry App World. It also supports Verizon’s tethering service.
The phone features a removable battery that, according to Verizon Wireless, will offer up to 5.5 hours of talk time. It asserts that the battery will last for 11 days on standby.
When the Storm 2 hits store shelves for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, both RIM and Verizon will be hoping that users have forgotten about the mistakes made in the original BlackBerry Storm. That phone’s touch screen and software annoyances yielded some unhappy customers. It also failed to break three stars in a CNET review last year.That said, Bonnie Cha at CNET Reviews had an opportunity to check out a near-final version of the Storm 2 recently. According to Cha, the Storm 2’s SurePress touch screen is much improved over its predecessor. She was also happy to see Wi-Fi make its way to the follow-up smartphone. Still, she found that the software reset spontaneously at times and that, overall, the GPS performance was sub-par.

Source:- http://news.cnet.com/

Known as the B3310 in Europe

Known as the B3310 in Europe, Samsung has announced its latest full QWERTY phone as the Corby Mate in India

The Corby Mate sports a rather weird looking design, thanks to the numeric keypad seen on the left of the screen – quite unlike most other phones. The QWERTY keyboard, however, is a standard slide-out one. The phone will make an excellent mid range messaging phone and sports a 2 inch QVGA display and offers quad-band GSM connectivity.

It also offers easy access to social networking sites and e-mail. There is a decently specked music player with FM Radio as well. The camera is a very basic 2 megapixel one. With 40MB of internal memory and MicroSD card support, the device has enough space for all your multimedia.
There is no word as to when the phone will actually be available in India – nor there is an inkling of the price range at which it will sell in the country. For more on this, head to the Samsung Website.

Source: http://www.techtree.com/

Windows 7 hits the market

NEW YORK–Although the official U.S. launch event is still some hours away, Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system has hit the market, going on sale in a number of countries across the globe.

Executives from Microsoft have fanned out to celebrate the launch of the company’s core product upon which the rest of Redmond’s empire has been built. The software giant is counting on favorable reviews and new features to help Windows rebuilt its image in the face of a disappointing response to Windows Vista.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is touting the value of Windows in the face of a resurgent Apple. As part of the launch, Microsoft is celebrating seven days of deals in a number of key markets, including the United States. Among the specials is a $1,200 package from Hewlett-Packard and Best Buy that includes a Netbook, laptop, desktop, monitor and router as well as in-home installation.

“The Best Buy offer is a home makeover,” Microsoft Vice President Tami Reller told CNET News. “For the price of a Mac you have a new notebook, a new Netbook, a new desktop, and a new router to bring it together with the help of the Geek Squad.”

In addition to landing on new PCs, Microsoft will also sell stand-alone versions of Windows 7 that can be used to upgrade an existing PC. Although Microsoft still offers a half-dozen different flavors of the operating system in all, Redmond is focusing its energies around two versions–the Home Premium and Professional versions.

It will sell both a full version of the operating system that can be used on any hardware as well as an upgrade version to be used on existing PCs. Although both Windows XP and Windows Vista can be upgraded to Windows 7, only Vista can be done without backing up and reinstalling both programs and data.

A huge marketing blitz will accompany the debut of Windows 7, with Microsoft continuing its “I’m a PC” campaign, by featuring average users who point to various aspects of the new operating system as representing their idea.

Microsoft plans to formalize the launch with an event here with CEO Steve Ballmer (CNET News will cover the 11 a.m. ET event live). The software maker is also opening its first retail store, in Scottsdale, Ariz., as well as a “Windows Cafe” in Paris.

Steven Sinofsky, the divisional president who has spearheaded the development of Windows 7, is presiding over the Japanese launch of the product, while designer Julie Larson-Green is at an event in London.

Microsoft employees in Redmond’s Building 37 plan to remotely ring the bell to open Nasdaq trading on Thursday, while Microsoft and its computer maker partners will ring the closing bell.

The product has already gone on sale in Australia.

NEW YORK–Although the official U.S. launch event is still some hours away, Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system has hit the market, going on sale in a number of countries across the globe.

Executives from Microsoft have fanned out to celebrate the launch of the company’s core product upon which the rest of Redmond’s empire has been built. The software giant is counting on favorable reviews and new features to help Windows rebuilt its image in the face of a disappointing response to Windows Vista.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is touting the value of Windows in the face of a resurgent Apple. As part of the launch, Microsoft is celebrating seven days of deals in a number of key markets, including the United States. Among the specials is a $1,200 package from Hewlett-Packard and Best Buy that includes a Netbook, laptop, desktop, monitor and router as well as in-home installation.

“The Best Buy offer is a home makeover,” Microsoft Vice President Tami Reller told CNET News. “For the price of a Mac you have a new notebook, a new Netbook, a new desktop, and a new router to bring it together with the help of the Geek Squad.”

In addition to landing on new PCs, Microsoft will also sell stand-alone versions of Windows 7 that can be used to upgrade an existing PC. Although Microsoft still offers a half-dozen different flavors of the operating system in all, Redmond is focusing its energies around two versions–the Home Premium and Professional versions.

It will sell both a full version of the operating system that can be used on any hardware as well as an upgrade version to be used on existing PCs. Although both Windows XP and Windows Vista can be upgraded to Windows 7, only Vista can be done without backing up and reinstalling both programs and data.

A huge marketing blitz will accompany the debut of Windows 7, with Microsoft continuing its “I’m a PC” campaign, by featuring average users who point to various aspects of the new operating system as representing their idea.

Microsoft plans to formalize the launch with an event here with CEO Steve Ballmer (CNET News will cover the 11 a.m. ET event live). The software maker is also opening its first retail store, in Scottsdale, Ariz., as well as a “Windows Cafe” in Paris.

Steven Sinofsky, the divisional president who has spearheaded the development of Windows 7, is presiding over the Japanese launch of the product, while designer Julie Larson-Green is at an event in London.

Microsoft employees in Redmond’s Building 37 plan to remotely ring the bell to open Nasdaq trading on Thursday, while Microsoft and its computer maker partners will ring the closing bell.

The product has already gone on sale in Australia.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/

Palm Pre set to outsell first-generation iPhone?

Better late than never, the Palm Pre finally hits town this Friday and more specifically, the O2 network. Will it sell? Well, according to a new TNS survey it will, eclipsing the original iPhone if those views translate into sales.

According to market research firm TNS, 26 per cent of users questioned said they would definitely or probably buy the Palm Pre, considerably higher than the 16 per cent who said they would buy an iPhone in 2007. Encouragingly for O2, that figure is even higher (27 per cent) when its own customers were surveyed. The poll of 1,003 adults aged 16-64 also found that 32 per cent of mobile users currently on other networks are likely to switch to O2 in order to get hold of the Palm Pre.

Kevin Evans, associate director at TNS Technology, said: ‘The Palm Pre is already being touted as the ‘iPhone killer’ and our research certainly suggests it’s going to shake up the market.’

‘The decision to offer the Pre free to those on a 24-month contract is in sharp contrast to the £269 price of the iPhone at its launch, while the launch timing capitalises on the fact that thousands of UK iPhone early-adopters are approaching the end of their 18-month contract period, while the next-generation iPhone is not expected until next June.’

But will it really hit those dizzy sales heights? The handset might be free, but only on a two-year tie-in and with a minimum cost of £34.26. And while many iPhone users might be ending their deals with O2, there’s no reason why they would dump the iPhone and grab a Pre instead. With the Blackberry Storm 2 also appearing around the same time, not to mention a steady succession of tasty Android phones and the usual selection of slimline fashion phones, there’s a lot of choice out there. The Palm Pre will certainly do well, but we’re far from convinced that it’s going to scoop up over a quarter of the mobile market overnight.

Sources: http://www.t3.com/

Apple releases iPhone firmware update 3.1.2

Apple has announced the latest firmware for the iPhone which should fix some nagging problems with the device.

The firmware update 3.1.2 launched last week and corrects three major issues reported by users. The bug fixes include:

* Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone to not wake from sleep
* Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart
* Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming

The firmware update is compatible with the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and the iPhone 3GS. Read more at the Apple website

Brian’s Opinion

Personally, I think that Apple has been pretty good with the bug fixes for the iPhone and the iPod touch. Typically there is not much time after a major firmware release before minor fixes are also addressed with updates. That’s a good thing since it means that Apple will keep its many iPhone users loyal.

We may even see bigger changes to the iPhone now that AT&T has announced that it will open up VoIP applications to its cellular network. Previously, these types of application only work over a Wi-Fi connection. That means we get to squeeze even more capabilities into the iPhone.

Source: http://www.geek.com/

Kingston release tiny MobileLiteG2 card reader

Card readers come in many forms and a single unit can cater for just about every card available on the market. But Kingston has one focus when it comes to its MobileLite range – making a card reader that is as small as possible while still remaining usable.

The company’s MobileLite Generation Two, or MobileLiteG2 for short, manages to offer SD, SDHC, microSD, microSDHC, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, and Memory Stick Micro compatibility in a unit that is just 62.15 x 29.4 x 16.4 mm and weight 18.9 grams.

Resembling a mini USB stick the USB connector and card reader area retract for protection and it also ships with a USB extension cable in case you have an awkward to reach USB port. It is compatible with all versions of Windows including 7, Mac OS X 10.3+, and Linux 2.6 onwards. You also get a two year guarantee.

In terms of price the MobileLiteG2 on its own will retail for $11, but Kingston also ship it with a 4GB SDHC card ($28.50) or a 8GB SDHC card ($46).

Read more at the Kingston press release, found via Gizmag

Matthew’s Opinion

In terms of size I don’t think you can get much smaller than the MobileLiteG2 and it’s the type of device you can just hook on to a set of keys or slip into your wallet. Being so small also means it will be easy to lose so needs to be attached to something you carry with you every day.

Card readers are more readily being included as standard on hardware meaning a separate reader is no longer required. In fact the last three laptops I have setup all had a card reader integrated into the casing. As they don’t take up much space and are cheap to make it’s an easy decision for manufacturers to take and offers a genuinely useful extra feature to consumers with other devices like digital cameras.

What I would like to see more of is the combination of card reader and storage device. Kingston could easily enhance the MobileLiteG2 by offering it combined with a USB stick in a single stick casing. That would not only increase the functionality on offer, but also allow the contents of the cards to be stored directly on the device. Add in 4 or 8GB of onboard flash memory and I’m sure it would sell.

Source: http://www.geek.com/

T-Mobile Sidekick Data Loss Disaster Hits

T-Mobile Sidekick users are in great danger (pun intended) to loose all their personal data on their Sidekick  phones or actually already lost it.

On Friday T-Mobile posted an official statement apologizing for the recent Sidekick data service disruption. On top of that Microsoft and Danger saying in the statement that personal information stored on your Sidekick – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos – that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/Danger.

Today Microsoft and T-Mobile plan to issue another statement about the status of the remaining issues caused by the service disruption including data recovery efforts. If you still have your data on your Sidekick you should not reset it by removing the battery or letting your

battery drain completely, as any personal content that currently resides on your device will be lost. What you should have done anyway before is to backup your data, but apparently this is not an easy option on the Sidekick. I am not a Sidekick user, but the Hiptop3 blog posted instructions to save your contacts that is requiring manual  emailing of each contact stored in the Sidekick – sick! In contrast Apple’s iTunes backs up your complete iPhone data for you.

This data loss is a huge disaster for everybody involved, especially Sidekick customers. An unconfirmed rumor on Hiptop3 points the finger towards an outsourced SAN upgrade. Apparently nobody thought about making a data backup

before the upgrade – unbelievable. We will see how open Microsoft will explain today what has really happened.  Reading some comments from Sidekick owners show that many did even know that Danger is now owned by Microsoft since a year. Now they know!

T-Mobile certainly is not happy about this image damaging situation especially as they are about to launch something big dubbed Project Dark soon.

For Microsoft this is just another very bad thing that adds to the weird stories around Project Pink and Danger.

Source: http://www.i4u.com/

Technology News: Windows 7 doesn’t boot faster

Although Windows 7 has been praised for loading and shutting down faster than prior versions of Windows, one software company says that, in many cases, the new operating system can take longer to get started than Windows Vista.

Iolo Technlogies, which sells PC tune-up software, said its lab unit found that a brand-new machine running Windows 7 takes a minute and 34 seconds to become usable, as compared to a minute and 6 seconds for Windows Vista. Iolo notes that it measured not the time it takes for the desktop to appear–which can be as little as 40 seconds on a fresh installation of Windows 7–but rather the time it takes to become fully usable “with CPU cycles no longer significantly high and a true idle state achieved.”

The results are also fairly similar to what CNET found in its testing of the operating system. A Microsoft representative was not immediately able to comment on Iolo’s findings.

Iolo plans to release more details on its findings and methodology next week. Although it remains to be seen just how it reached its conclusion, the report is clearly not good news for an operating system whose primary selling point is doing the basics better than past versions of Windows.

I will say that for my part, I have been using Windows 7 for months now and find myself rarely doing a full reboot and instead going in and out of sleep for days at a time–a process that moves particularly quickly.

As is often the case with Windows, Iolo found that things only get worse over time. It found that a three-month-old machine can take up to a minute longer to boot, or 2 minutes and 34 seconds. Windows 7 did outperform Vista at the three-month and six-month marks, Iolo said, but it generally “trailed the older version significantly” in its boot-up tests.

I plan to follow up on this on Monday, when more details about Iolo’s conclusions–and how they were reached–become available.

Updated at 7:20 p.m. PDT: On the plus side, Wall Street Journal reviewer Walt Mossberg is out with his review of Windows 7 and gives it high marks, saying Microsoft now gives Apple a run for its money.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/