Mac Tablet

Apple Mac Tablet killed twice by Steve Jobs

Apple Mac Tablet: watch out there's a Jobs about Steve Jobs' legendary eye for detail has led to two Apple Mac Tablet designs being scrapped. According to the Wall Street Journal, Jobs just wasn't happy with the finalised versions and shelved them.

The first Apple Mac Tablet was binned because of poor battery life while the second attempt was killed due to a lack of memory.

Since his return from medical leave, Jobs has apparently been hyper-hands-on with the tablet project. The move is reported to have not gone down too well with employees who've grown used to more freedom in his absence.

Excitingly Jobs has replied to the Wall Street Journal's speculation. Less thrillingly, his response numbers a curt 6 words: "Much of your information is incorrect." Hang on though, just "much" of it. That's daring close to confirming the existence of the Apple Mac Tablet. But maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Check out our list of things we want the Apple Mac Tablet to include and let us know what features you want to see in the comments.

Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts -PHONEREADER Library - - Jean-Philippe Pastor

Apple Mac Tablet

Steve Jobs on iPod Touch cameras, ebook readers and the iPod Nano 5G

Steve Jobs: he's back!We're happy to see Steve Jobs back in the black polo neck and on stage in San Francisco and it seems he's even up for interviews. The New York Times's David Pogue got a few minutes with him and it was quite illuminating. If, like us, you're reeling a little from the lack of a camera in the latest iPod Touch, Jobs has an explanation. For him, the iPod Touch has become a pocket gaming device and it needs to be affordable.He said: “We don't need to add new stuff – we need to get the price down.” Don't be surprised if we get a camera in the iPod Touch eventually though.

On the subject of the iPod Nano 5G and its new video recording smarts, Jobs blamed the lack of stills snapping skills on the sensor: “Sensors for doing video are fairly thin. The sensors for doing a still camera…and we'd really like to have autofocus…are just way to thick to fit inside the Nano.”Pressed for his opinion on ebook readers, Jobs was rather dismissive of standalone devices pointing instead to the convenience of general-purpose devices. It was a broad statement but could point to Apple's potential plans for the mysterious and possibly non-existence Apple Mac Tablet.

Another interesting hint on the future of the Apple Mac Tablet came in Jobs discussion of what went on at Apple in his absence: “A lot of things that were started before I left…were continually worked on…and there are some things I'm focusing a lot of attention on right now.” ??Steve, you tease! He continued, noting that the new products needed “polish” and that he doesn't think Apple will “miss a beat”. If you were disappointed by yesterday's announcements, I have a feeling you won't be next time.

(via The New York Times)

Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts-Enter Jean-Philippe Pastor
Labels: apple, device, ebook, reader
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Google struggling to get ebooks

Thousands of aspiring authors from around the world can now totally sympathize with Google—because the search giant is also struggling to get a book deal. Well, okay, so mostly they’re struggling to get regulatory approval of a book deal, and said book deal is more about licensing and ePub than actually breaking into the industry—but close enough, right?

Anyway, Google looks like they’re getting to the point where they’re willing to give up just about anything to get this book deal through the EU. The latest concession is to allow two non-US members onto a board to administer its digital books settlement. Bloomberg also reports that:
Books that are commercially available and under copyright in Europe won’t be considered out of print under a proposed settlement with U.S. publishers over the company’s book-scanning project, Google said in a letter to several publisher associations in Europe.

The deal is supposed to pertain to works that are out of print (but still in copyright) as well as public domain works. The European Commission “is seeking precise details on the exact scope of the settlement” and “how many European works or publications will potentially be affected.”
Coming up on eleven months after the agreement was first announced, Google is still facing widespread regulatory scrutiny, as well as some protests from author groups, Amazon (via the Open Book Alliance) and others.

However, Google continues to pursue the deal (even in the face of the DOJ in the US). I think this is more than just Google not wanting to back down from their deal—I think this is a sign of just how serious Google is about their pending eBook foray.

They already have deals with Sony and Interead, and either of those deals could also lead in to the hardware side of eBook readers. Now they need the content to back up those deals and really make a push to take on Amazon.
If they get the necessary permissions for the nearly 500,000 books they’re proposing, Google could stand to take on Amazon—but Amazon would still have an advantage in current bestsellers.

What do you think? Can old books from Google match up to Amazon? Just how much will Google concede to get the deal through?


Jordan McCollum

Google's Ebook revolution

This year, Google has made no bones about the fact that they’re looking to take on Amazon in the eBook arena.

First, they made a deal with Sony (maker of the Sony eReader, top competitor to Amazon’s Kindle reader) to provide more than half a million public domain titles. Then in June, Google “signaled its intent to introduce a program by that would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to consumers through Google.” A couple weeks later, Google Books came out with new viewing and embedding features, including mobile-compatible features.

But still, all the embedding and viewing features in the world aren’t much competition for the eye-strain–preventing, ultra portable, WiFi connecting Kindle. Without some awesome hardware, Google’s eBook revolution would probably remain just a pipe dream.

So it’s a darn good thing they’ve partnered with Interead, makers of COOL-ER eReaders. Designed as a cheaper eReader, the COOL-ER is an up-and-coming Kindle competitor. Of course, Google’s partnership with their parent company only extends to the public domain books in Google’s repository (the first such deal that will have effect outside the US).

The COOL-ER is a cheaper alternative to the Kindle—both in price, and, according to the reviews I’ve watched, in quality and durability. (If I’m going to plonk down $250 for an eReader, I might as well spring for the full-featured Kindle.) However, the COOL-ER has the greatest file compatibility range—19 in all, from PDF to EPUB to MP3. (And I’m most inclined to wait at least one more generation on any eReader, at the very least.)

The next logical step might very well be Google influencing the COOL-ER itself—and in keeping with the Google way of doing things, keep it affordable, make it accessible and make it quality. Also in keeping with the Google way—get someone else to do your hardware.

What do you think? Will this be Google’s back door into the eReader industry? Or are they only interested in selling the books themselves?

Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts -PHONEREADER Library - - Jean-Philippe Pastor

Sony has eventually found the clue with Ebooks

After letting Kindle dominate the e-book reader market for two years, Sony has fired a huge salvo in return – at least in the US.

The new Sony Reader Daily Edition adds wireless 3G, increase the size of the touchscreen to seven inches and supports a feature called Library Finder that will let users borrow e-books from their local libraries, at no cost.

The Reader Daily Edition will cost $400 and is expected to be in US stores in December. A spokesman for Sony said today that it intends to launch the device in the UK "when the market is right", but it has not yet planned a release date.

Reception for the new device in the US was very positive. "Sony has given the market what everyone was waiting for in terms of a wireless device," says Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester analyst who has been covering e-readers. "Not only that, they have gone one step further, and shown their latest product is no copycat of the Kindle."

Since Amazon introduced the Kindle to the US market in 2007, e-readers have become a surprisingly hot consumer product category. Though Sony was the first to launch an e-reader, the company has lagged behind its biggest rival. One key missing feature was wireless connectivity: until now, Sony Reader users who wanted to purchase or download books had to connect their e-reader to a PC using the USB connection. By contrast, the Kindle has always offered free over-the-air wireless book downloads. Amazon also aggressively pursued publishers, enabling the company to offer a wide selection of popular books for download.
Now Sony is fighting back on both the features and the content fronts.

The Reader Daily Edition offers portrait and landscape orientation. In portrait mode, about 30-35 lines of text are visible, offering an experience similar to that of a printed paperback book, says the company. The device has enough internal memory to hold more than 1,000 standard e-books, says Sony, and it has expansion slots for memory cards.
The Reader Daily Edition is the third new e-book reader in the company's line-up. The other two, which will be available for pre-order in the UK later today, will be a five-inch-screen device called the Sony Reader Pocket and a six-inch touchscreen model, the Sony Reader Touch. UK pricing is yet to be confirmed, but in the US they cost $200 (£120) and $300 (£180) respectively.

Aside from technical specifications, Sony Reader's second big weakness compared to the Kindle has been access to content. Amazon's position as a leading online retailer of books helped the company offer a wide selection of e-books to Kindle buyers that were competitively priced and easy to download.
To match that, Sony has partnered with OverDrive, a distributor of e-books to libraries, to offer its customers easy access to the local library's collection of e-books. Sony Reader customers can use the company's Library Finder software and check out e-books with a valid library card. Users will have to download the books to a PC first and then transfer them to the Reader. The e-books will expire at the end of the 21-day lending period.

Sony has also said it will adopt the open EPub format in a move that allows consumers to purchase or download books from the Sony store and read them on any EPub-compatible device. In contrast, Amazon uses a proprietary file format that only allows users to read books they've bought using the Kindle, or Amazon-sanctioned Kindle software.
"From the beginning, we have said that an open format means more choice for consumers," says Steve Haber, president of Sony's Digital Reading Business Division. "Now, readers can shop around for what interests them rather than be locked into one store."
Still, it won't be easy to beat Amazon, says Epps.

"Sony is number two in the market and though they are in a strong position to close the gap with Amazon over the holiday season, I expect Amazon to still be the market leader in early 2010," she says.

"Amazon has built a very strong relationship with e-book buying consumers that were the first wave of adopters of electronic readers," says Epps.

"Consumers are now split between the small pocket-sized devices with five-inch or six-inch screens and the larger screen eight-inch to ten-inch screen readers," says Epps. "But it is not over yet. The market is still evolving."


Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts -PHONEREADER Library - - Jean-Philippe Pastor

E-book with 3G Wireless

Sony Unveils Daily Edition E-Book With 3G Wireless

by Carol Mangis

Sony on Tuesday unveiled the newest version of its eBook Reader, the Daily Edition, which will have built-in free wireless capability via AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network.

The new Reader, introduced during an event at the main branch of the New York Public Library, will hit SonyStyle stores and sonystyle.com in December and will retail for $399.
The Daily Edition will feature a seven-inch touchscreen, and a high contrast ratio with 16 levels of grayscale; you can read in either portrait or landscape orientation. It will have enough onboard memory to hold over 1,000 standard ebooks and is also expandable via Memory Stick/Duo and SD card slots.

Sony also had a number of its newly available Pocket and Touch Readers available to try out. Those readers, priced at $199 and $299, respectively, are available now for purchase. Each of the Sony Readers employs the E Ink Vizplex electronic paper display.

Steven Haber, president of Sony's digital reader business division, emphasized the importance of access, content, and affordability for ebook readers. He mentioned that Sony is moving from a proprietary ebook format to ePub's format, which will streamline the publishing process immensely.

Sony also announced its Library Finder app, developed in partnership with Overdrive.com. Users of Sony's eBook Store will be able to easily locate their local libraries online and download free ebook content using their library cards. When the lending period is up, the content simply expires.

One of those libraries will be the New York Public Library, which currently offers about 40,000 downloadable titles, with the goal of goal of digitizing over one million titles. That effort has been facilitated through the library's partnership with Google's book-scanning initiative.
"We believe it must be delivered free," said Dr. Paul LeClerc, president and CEO of the NYPL.
Also new is a Web site for book lovers called Words Move Me, a social networking site of sorts where readers will be able to connect and post favorite passages from literary works. Eventual Facebook and Twitter integration is promised.

For images from the event, and a video interview with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who will be participating in a panel on ebooks at the NYPL later today, head to Gearlog.
Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts -PHONEREADER Library - - Jean-Philippe Pastor

French language Ebook

ARCHAMBAULT Launches First French-language ebook Site in North America

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Aug. 26, 2009) - Archambault today launched Jelis.ca, its new French-language ebook site, the first engine of its kind in North America. Archambault announced its new digital strategy at a joint press conference with Sony Canada, which unveiled its new Pocket EditionTM and Touch EditionTM digital reader models.Archambault is pleased to join forces with digital pioneer Sony for the introduction of the Jelis.ca site and the new Sony Digital Book models.

The Jelis.ca download engine, combined with the new Sony Readers, will give Archambault's customers a new way to enjoy books. Puneet Jain, Director of Marketing, Sony Canada, said: "Sony is happy to partner with Archambault for the Quebec launch of the new Reader models. Working with Archambault, an established and respected retailer, we are making digital reading and ebooks more readily available to Canadians." That goal is a common cause for Archambault and Sony.Jelis.ca, a unique service"Archambault has always been focused on meeting its customers' needs," said Denis Pascal, Senior Vice President, Retail Group, with Archambault Group. "Jelis.ca, the first French-language ebook downloads site in North America, opens the door to digital reading for Quebecers." With more than 20,000 titles currently available for download, the new Jelis.ca service will offer Francophones a broad selection of books of all kinds: novels, Quebec literature, general literature, travel books, cookbooks.

Jelis.ca also provides an excellent opportunity for Quebec publishers to position themselves in the digital landscape and offer their audiences a new reading experience at an advantageous price.Users of the Jelis.ca download engine and the Sony Readers will be able to take hundreds of French-language books with them wherever they go, without having to worry about their bulk or weight. The new technology promises to boost business for publishing houses, to make the works of Quebec authors more accessible, and to increase the amount of time Quebecers spend reading. Imagine being able to consult your entire library anytime, anywhere. Archambault is determined to be the first to offer Quebecers this world of new possibilities. Archambault's two literary spokespersons, Christine Michaud and Caroline Allard, agreed to be ambassadors for the new way of experiencing literature by downloading files to their Sony Readers at the press conference. During the next month, they will share their impressions of digital reading on Archambault's http://www.coteblogue.ca/ blog.In the digital age, Archambault is taking literature to new places in order to serve consumers who are excited about both reading and hi-tech.

And since Archambault cares about all of its customers, it is taking advantage of the service launch to support new learners as well. For every digital book sold in the next year, Archambault will donate a physical book to the Literacy Foundation, which will distribute the volumes to organizations involved in basic education. "We are very grateful to Archambault for this initiative, which will help promote literacy education," said Maryse Perreault, CEO of the Foundation.Archambault, the culture of entertainmentArchambault, a Quebecor Media company, is a leading provider of cultural entertainment products. Archambault is the largest retailer of CDs in Quebec and a major retailer of books, DVDs, newspapers, magazines, musical instruments, sheet music and gift ideas. For 10 years, Archambault's http://www.archambault.ca/ e-commerce site has been the largest French-language online store in North America. Archambault's http://www.coteblogue.ca/ site is a meeting place for people interested in all things cultural.Archambault operates 15 stores across Quebec. For more information on Archambault Group,

visit http://www.archambault.ca/.

Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts -PHONEREADER Library - - Jean-Philippe Pastor