Hardware

You might recall how I thought that Barnes & Noble's Nook ebook reader was a relabeled Spring Design Alex ebook reader. Then, we learned that...

Thought the Spring Alex and Barnes & Noble Nook eBook Readers Looked Similar? Spring Suing B&N

Both devices take market leader Amazon Kindle to task by adding a small color touchscreen display beneath the e-ink black and white ebook reading screen.

Maximum PC has an excellent collection of photos of the Spring Design Alex ebook reader in this article...

Hands-On: Spring Design's Dual-Screen Android Alex eBook Reader

The photos also include the unit partially disassembled to let you see how the ebook reader screen is connected to the main board.

Dedicated ebook readers do make sense for my personal reading frequency and habits. So, I'm bypassing this entire generation of devices favoring using my iPod touch and iPhone for ebook reading instead. But, if these dedicated ebook reader devices ever get below $100, purchasing one could become a consideration.

What if I told you I would like you to pay $99.95 for a mobile gadget that only works with one website and that you would have a $7.95 monthly charge ($95.40 annually or apparently $199 for lifetime service) on top of that? Would you laugh uncontrollably? Walk away without saying word? I suppose if you are a Twitter fanatic and that one site was Twitter.com, it might be more palatable. And, if it is, here's the device for you...

Twitter Peek

There have been similar products in the past that tried to focus on one aspect of net communications. You might recall some of the email-only devices from a decade or so back. Perhaps the most successful single function device was the early RIM BlackBerry devices that were wireless email devices.

Personally, I can't figure out who this device might appeal to. Kids really aren't tweeting and perhaps shouldn't without parental supervision. Teens already have phones as do adults of all generations. So, who's left?

Via the Wall Street Journal: The First Mobile Device Dedicated Exclusively To Twitter
Via CrunchGear: What, exactly, is the Twitter Peek?

Back on October 20, I noted...

Spring Design Dual Screen eBook Reader (1 grayscale, 1 color) + Web Browser Intrigues Me

...as well as...

Barnes & Noble Nook eBook Reader May be a Serious Kindle Competitor

Looking at the similarity between the Spring Alex ebook reader and the B&N Nook, I assumed that the Nook was simply a rebranded Spring Alex. Based on this BusinessWire item...

Spring Design Files Lawsuit against Barnes & Noble: Nook Violates Alex Intellectual Property

...I guess I assumed incorrectly. The second sentence of the first paragraph of this article reads: The lawsuit asserts Barnes & Noble misappropriated trade secrets and violated the parties’ non-disclosure agreement when it copied Alex’ features into its recently announced Nook e-book.

Ack...

I spoke with LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen Marketing Manager Karen Lee in Podcast 37. We talked about the LiveScribe company, the new 4GB model Pulse Smartpen, the 3rd party MyScript for LiveScribe ink-to-text transcription application, and some hints about using the Pulse Smartpen.

Karen gave me a great tip that solves a problem I've had for a long time: How do I record a podcast with someone using a conventional telephone (instead of Skype)? The solution is one of those simple-slap-my-forehead ones that I didn't think of trying. But, thankfully, Karen shared that tip with me. You can hear it in about the last third of the podcast.

This podcast is 27 minutes and 31 seconds long.

- You can listen to the podcast right now from your web browser by using the embedded player above.
- You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or this RSS feed.
- You can also point your smartphone's browser at mobiletoday.podbean.com to listen to or download the MP3 file over the air to your phone.

Photo courtesy of Medis Technologies

T-Mobile sells an interesting mobile device charging product named the...

Medis Xtreme Portable Fuel Cell Charger

This fuel cell based product sells for $24.95 and provides 20 Watt-Hours of recharging capacity. They say it is enough to recharge a small mobile device multiple times. This fuel cell product is not rechargable. However, it is recyclable and does not contain toxic or hazardous materials.

There's more information on the Medis Technologies site...

24/7 Power Pack Fuel Cell

However, I was surprised to learn that the HSN (Home Shopping Network) product page for a related Medis product had the most useful information for prospective customers...

Medis Fuel Cell Xtreme Emergency Kit with LED Flashlight

Here's what I learned at HSN.com...

- The fuel cell remains usable for about 18 months if left inactive until optimal temperature conditions
- Once activated the fuel cell can be usable for up to 3 months. However, Medis recommends that the fuel cell be used within 6 weeks of activation

The Medis Powerpack instructions add that its optimal storage temperature is 68 degrees F and that elevated storage temperatures shortens the product life. So, although I'm really interested in this product, I know it is not a good fit when you live in an area like mine with a year-round average temperature of about 80 degrees.

Does the soon-to-be-available Barnes & Noble "Nook" ebook reader make sense?

Nook

At $269 it has the same price as the U.S.-only version of Amazon's Kindle 2. B&N has a matrix comparing the two ereaders here...

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/compare/

The Nook has the following feature advantages according to this matrix...

- Small second color touch screen
- WiFi
- MicroSD card slot that enables adding up to an additional 16GB storage
- Ability to load and read PDF files
- Ability to lend an ebook once for up to 14 days
- Replaceable rechargeable battery

It lacks the Kindle's text-to-speech feature. And, more importantly to me, there is no mention of it having a full web browser or the ability to install and use Android apps. If it had a full web browser or the ability to install apps, B&N would have my $269 in a pre-order right now. Without either of those features, it is just another pricey ebook reader.

Image courtesy of LiveScribe

I bought the 2GB model of the LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen in May and have used it quite a bit since then. You can hear some of my early thoughts about it in this mini-podcast from May 11...

Mini-Podcast 9: LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen Sound Quality Sample & Info About Multi-PC Syncing

The 1GB and 2GB models had been out for over a year when I bought my pen. So, it is no surprise that LiveScribe is refreshing their product line for the 2009 holiday gift buying season.

Livescribe Expands The Pulse Smartpen Portfolio In Time For Holiday Gift–Giving

The 1GB model is gone. The 2GB model is priced at $169.95. Its priced dropped from $199.95 during the summer. The new 4GB model is priced at $199.95. There's also a 4GB model in a Pro Pack bundle for $249.95 that includes a Pro Charging Cradle that can charge the phone from an A/C outlet in addition USB. The bundle also includes a premium leather pen case and the MyScript handwriting-to-text recognition software. The new Pro Pack does not seem to include the 4-pack of notebooks and extra ink cartridges that were in the former Pro Pack bundle.

I vaguely recalled an announcement by SanDisk earlier this year (Feb. 2009) about their 4-bits per cell flash memory that they call X4 that lets them pack up to 64 gigabits (8GB) on a single die.

CNET reports that products based on this technology is shipping now in 8GB and 16GB SDHC cards and Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.

SanDisk ships 'X4' flash chips

SanDisk, however, appears to be hiding which of their products actually use their X4 technology. A search through SanDisk.com only reveals earlier press releases about the technology but nothing about products using it. Although it probably doesn't matter to the general public, tech geeks like to know about this kind of thing. What's the deal SanDisk?

I saw this article title....

Mobile device makers want common earphone plugs

...and almost laughed out loud as it brought back to mind the old tech geek joke that goes like this:

"You want standards? We got lots of standards! Just pick a couple!"

Then, I looked at my 3.5mm-less HTC Touch Pro2 which can't be used with any of the various headsets I've bought over the years and sighed. The announcement at CTIA by a group proposing to standardize around 3.5mm headset plugs as well as micro-USB ports in mobile devices gets my support. But, must they wait until 2012? This should have been figured out and acted on years ago!

YouTube video courtesy of NikonCOOLPIXeu

The...

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj

...is a $429.95 12.1 megapixel digital camera with a 5x optical zoom and a built-in projector. Yep, you read this correctly. It has a built-in projector.

So, naturally, the good people at iFixit.com decided to get one and take it apart...

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj Teardown

However, they took it for a test drive before taking it apart and noted, unsurprisingly, that the projector does not emit a bright image and produces a mediocre image. But, hey, this is a brand new feature for a consumer digital camera. I'm sure we'll see incremental projector improvements over the next few years. iFixit does note, by the way, that the speaker volume is quite good when in projector mode.

YouTube video courtesy of iFixitYourself