The Awkward Smart Phone Grows Up (New York Times)

By DAVID POGUE
Published: June 30, 2005 (Reg. req'd)

AND now, another episode of gadgetry's long-running corporate soap opera, "As the Palm Turns."

Previously on "A.P.T.": In Season 1 (1996), Palm Computing developed the smash-hit Pilot organizer. The company was swallowed by U.S. Robotics, which in turn was snapped up by 3Com. Frustrated, Palm's founders resigned and founded the rival Handspring. 3Com then spun out Palm as an independent entity once again, whereupon it soon split into two companies, PalmOne (hardware) and PalmSource (software), and PalmOne acquired the ailing Handspring.

In the latest exciting installment, PalmOne has bought back the name Palm from the struggling PalmSource, whose future is in doubt. By year's end, PalmOne will once again be called Palm, making you wonder if the whole thing was a nine-year-long dream.

Now, if you watch Seasons 6 through 9 closely on DVD, you'll see a minor character gradually rise to prominence: the Treo smart phone, introduced by Handspring in 2002. From the very beginning, the name reflected the Treo's triple goal: to combine an organizer, a cellphone and a pocket Internet terminal with as few compromises as possible. More than 1.7 million have been sold.

With its string of marriages and divorces behind it - at least for now - Palm has realized that the Treo is its future. The market for stand-alone organizers is cooling, so Palm has announced that it is "shifting its emphasis to the smart phone space."

pda, Palmone, smartphone, Treo

Grokster May Haunt Podcasting (Wired News)

By Katie Dean 02:00 AM Jun. 29, 2005 PT

Apple's new podcasting service could be in a sticky situation if podcasters post copyrighted material, thanks to Monday's Grokster decision by the Supreme Court, some experts say.

But others suggested Apple's new podcast hub could prove to be an ideal one-stop-shop for securing music licenses for homebrew radio shows.

Launched on Tuesday, Apple's podcasting service is built into its online iTunes Music Store. The new service encourages iTunes users to subscribe to podcasts -- self-published radio programming -- for free, and allows them to publish their own.

Like the iTMS, the podcast service features a list of the top 100 podcasts and highlights programs in different categories, such as public radio, morning shows and talk radio.

Apple, ipod, itunes, podcasts, podcasting

Google to offer SMS services

Google has SMS (short message service) in beta. SMS allows a user on a mobile device to query the web via text messaging to get weather information, short answers to questions, driving directions, local business listings, and more. You can get Google SMS help information sent directly to your phone by sending the word 'help' as a text message to 46645. For information on a question such as the population of a country, who wrote a certain book, etc. the user puts in a short query and Google goes to work to find the fact and a source for you with its search engine. Users can also do image searches and partner with google to make sure their website is indexed and added to mobile search results. Google even translates regular web pages on the fly to fit a small screen.

Altarama is a company out of Australia which has formed a virtual reference service using SMS for libraries. The text message is translated into an email question which is sent to the library's email address. The librarian sends an answer to the user which is translated back as a text message. The service can also be used to send other short messages to clients such as overdue notices.

Grading iPods in the Classroom (Chronicle)

from the Wired Campus Blog:

Duke University tracked the uses that students and professors made of iPods that the institution distributed to every freshman last fall and, in a report released on Wednesday, concluded that the electronic gadgets had educational merit, but not in every course. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

Technorati Tags: education, ipods

OverDrive announces video on demand and old time radio shows for ebook platform

OverDrive has just announced some major and exciting initiatives for libraries. Yesterday, they announced that they will soon be offering video on demand for public libraries. See announcement at http://www.overdrive.com/news/pr/20050615.asp.

They are also adding old-time radio shows which are very popular with senior citizens. These new services will be demonstrated at the ALA Conference in Chicago later this month.

One Book, Many Formats: The Magic of Multimedia

The Alliance Library System, the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center, and the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service are pleased to announce the second annual Audio Ebook Expo! The theme for the one day in-person and online conference is “One Book, Many Formats: The Magic of Multimedia.”

The Expo will be held at Alliance headquarters in East Peoria and as an online conference on Wednesday September 28, 2005 from 9:00 A.M. - 3:45 P.M. central time. Speakers and participants will explore all the exciting new formats for ebooks and audio books which create a personal and customized reading experience for all those who have trouble with regular print because of visual, physical, or learning disabilities. Books in these new formats also benefit and make reading more fun for children and adults who have trouble reading, who are learning English as a second language, or who just want to listen to audio books for entertainment.

Speakers include Geoff Freed from WGBH from the “Beyond the Text Project;” Bill Harroff, McKendree College; Charlotte Johnson, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; Judy Dixon from Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; Tom Peters of TAP Information Services; Steve Potash from Overdrive; Paul Cappuzzello from OCLC/netLibrary; and Sharon Ruda from the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service.

For more information on the program and to register, go to the conference website at http://www.mitbc.org/audiobookexpo/index.html. For those attending in person, there is a $10 registration cost to cover lunch. There is no charge for talking book readers. There is no charge for online attendance. For more information, contact Lori Bell at the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center at lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com.

MAKE ebooks for your iPod guide

from Make:Blog:

There’s a somewhat little know and often-unused function of iPod called "Notes" which can actually be quite handy for storing and reading text, creating a locked "kiosk mode", quizzes, games as well a full-length ebooks. The Notes reader is located in Menu > Extras > Notes. Only the more recent 3G and 4G iPods, including the iPod photo and iPod mini both have the iPod Notes application. Here’s our how-to on making them!...

[via BoingBoing]

audiobooks, ipods

palmOne LifeDrive Review Roundup

• BargainPDA
• CNET
• DavesPDA
• MSNBC (Gary Krakow)
• MobileTechReview
• New York Times (David Pogue)
• Palm Boulevard
• PalminfoCenter
• PC Magazine
• Pocket Factory

palmone, pda, handheld, lifedrive, palm

Online Interview on netLibrary/Recorded Books

Join us on OPAL for an online program on netLibrary Recorded Books.

Monday, June 13, 2005 beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 2:00 p.m. Central, 1:00 p.m. Mountain, Noon Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:
Interview with Paul Cappuzzello and Gillian Harrison regarding the digital audiobook service from netLibrary
In January 2005 netLibrary and Recorded Books LLC launched a new digital audiobook service. The WMA (Windows Media Audio) files can be checked out, downloaded, listened to on a computer, and transferred to a portable playback device. Paul and Gillian will describe how the new service works and answer questions from Tom Peters, the interviewer, and from the audience.

To participate, go to the online auditorium at
http://67.19.231.218/v4/login.asp?r=67955673&p=0
type your name in the box and click enter. All that is needed to participate is an internet connection, sound card and speakers. You can interact with a pc microphone although it is not required or text chat.

For more info on the program, contact Tom Peters at tapinformation@yahoo.com

Library Journal has new website and new TechBlog

Library Journal has a new site up at http://www.libraryjournal.com and has also launched a new Tech Blog at http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/670000067.html

Blog authors include ring leader Dodie Ownes, Blake Carver, Aaron Schmidt, Michael Stephens, Chad Haefele, Robin Hastings, Jacquie Samples, Lori Bell, and Brian Kenney.

There are also room for comments and questions.

Digital Talking Book Standard Approved

from LISNews.com:

NLS/BPH: Press Release: The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) announced today that the national standard for the Digital Talking Book (ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002) has been approved. A Digital Talking Book (DTB) is a collection of electronic files arranged to present information to the blind and physically handicapped reader via alternative media. The most common medium will be human speech. However, a DTB produced in accordance with the new standard can include a file containing the contents of the document in text form, thereby permitting output via synthetic speech, refreshable braille display devices, or visual display in large print.

Amazon to Launch Own Digital Audiobook Service

In a note to publishers on its e-Books & Documents Web page, the retailer wrote: "Amazon is developing a new store to offer downloadable audiobooks to our customers. If you are a publisher of audiobooks or other spoken audio content and would like your products to be included in our store, please e-mail us."

Amazon currently partners with Audible to provide this service.