Who really benefits from putting high-tech gadgets in classrooms?
How much genuine value is there in fancy educational electronics? Don't let companies or politicians fool you.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, left, and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski speak at a Digital Learning Day event sponsored in part by Google, Comcast, AT&T and Intel. (Mark Wilson, Getty Images / February 5, 2012)
By Michael Hiltzik
February 4, 2012
Something sounded familiar last week when I heard U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski make a huge pitch for infusing digital technology into America's classrooms.
Every schoolchild should have a laptop, they said. Because in the near future, textbooks will be a thing of the past.
Where had I heard that before? So I did a bit of research, and found it. The quote I recalled was, "Books will soon be obsolete in the schools.... Our school system will be completely changed in 10 years."
The revolutionary technology being heralded in that statement wasn't the Internet or the laptop, but the motion picture. The year was 1913, and the speaker, Thomas Edison, was referring to the prospect of replacing book learning with instruction via the moving image.
He was talking through his hat then, every bit as much as Duncan and Genachowski are talking through theirs now.
Here's another similarity: The push for advanced technology in the schoolroom then and now was driven by commercial, not pedagogical, considerations. As an inventor of motion picture technology, Edison stood to profit from its widespread application. And the leading promoter of the replacement of paper textbooks by e-books and electronic devices today is Apple, which announced at a media event last month that it dreams of a world in which every pupil reads textbooks on an iPad or a Mac.
That should tell you that the nirvana sketched out by Duncan and Genachowski at last week's Digital Learning Day town hall was erected upon a sizable foundation of commercially processed claptrap. Not only did Genachowski in his prepared remarks give a special shout out to Apple and the iPad, but the event's roster of co-sponsors included Google, Comcast, AT&T, Intel and other companies hoping to see their investments in Internet or educational technologies pay off.
How much genuine value is there in fancy educational electronics? Listen to what the experts say.
"The media you use make no difference at all to learning," says Richard E. Clark, director of the Center for Cognitive Technology at USC. "Not one dang bit. And the evidence has been around for more than 50 years."
Almost every generation has been subjected in its formative years to some "groundbreaking" pedagogical technology. In the '60s and '70s, "instructional TV was going to revolutionize everything," recalls Thomas C. Reeves, an instructional technology expert at the University of Georgia. "But the notion that a good teacher would be just as effective on videotape is not the case."
Many would-be educational innovators treat technology as an end-all and be-all, making no effort to figure out how to integrate it into the classroom. "Computers, in and of themselves, do very little to aid learning," Gavriel Salomon of the University of Haifa and David Perkins of Harvard observed in 1996. Placing them in the classroom "does not automatically inspire teachers to rethink their teaching or students to adopt new modes of learning."
At last week's dog-and-pony show, Duncan bemoaned how the U.S. is being outpaced in educational technology by countries such as South Korea and even Uruguay. ("We have to move from being a laggard to a leader" was his sound bite.)
Does Duncan ever read his own agency's material? In 2009, the Education Department released a study of whether math and reading software helped student achievement in first, fourth, and sixth grades, based on testing in hundreds of classrooms. The study found that the difference in test scores between the software-using classes and the control group was "not statistically different from zero." In sixth-grade math, students who used software got lower test scores — and the effect got significantly worse in the second year of use.
The aspect of all this innovative change that got the least attention from Duncan and Genachowski was how school districts are supposed to pay for it.
It's great to suggest that every student should be equipped with a laptop or given 24/7 access to Wi-Fi, but shouldn't our federal bureaucrats figure out how to stem the tidal wave of layoffs in the teaching ranks and unrelenting cutbacks in school programs and maintenance budgets first? School districts can't afford to buy enough textbooks for their pupils, but they're supposed to equip every one of them with a $500 iPad?
"There are two big lies the educational technology industry tells," says Reeves. "One, you can replace the teacher. Two, you'll save money in the process. Neither is borne out."
Apple has become a major purveyor of the mythology of the high-tech classroom. "Education is deep in our DNA," declared Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing chief, at its Jan. 19 education event. "We're finding that as students are starting to be introduced to iPad and learning, some really remarkable things are happening."
If you say so, Phil. But it's proper to point out the downside to one great innovation Schiller touted, a desktop publishing app called iBooks Author. The app is free, and plainly can help users create visually striking textbooks. But buried in the user license is a rule that if you sell a product created with iBooks Author, you can sell it only through Apple's iBookstore, and Apple will keep 30% of the purchase price. (Also, your full-featured iBook will be readable only on an Apple device such as an iPad.)
Among tech pundits, the reaction to this unusual restriction has ranged from citing its "unprecedented audacity" to calling it "mind-bogglingly greedy and evil." Apple won't comment for the record on the uproar. Whatever you think of it, the rule makes clear that Apple's interest in educational innovation is distinctly mercantile. But that didn't keep Genachowski from praising Apple's education initiative as an "important step." (Perhaps he meant a step toward enhanced profitability.)
Of course Apple draped its new business initiative in all sorts of Steve Jobsian pixie dust, as if it's all about revolutionizing education. The company's most amusing claim is that iPads are somehow more "durable" than textbooks and therefore more affordable, over time. Its website weeps copious crocodile tears over the sad fate of textbooks — "as books are passed along from one student to the next, they get more highlighted, dog-eared, tattered and worn." Yet as James Kendrick of ZDNet reports, school administrators who have handed laptops out to students to take home say the devices get beaten nearly to death in no time. The reality is obvious: Drop a biology textbook on a floor, you pick it up. Drop an iPad,you'll be sweeping it up.
Some digital textbooks may have advantages over their paper cousins. Well-produced multimedia features can improve students' understanding of difficult or recondite concepts. But there's a fine line between an enhancement and a distraction, and if textbook producers are using movies and 3-D animations to paper over the absence of serious research in their work, that's not progress.
Nor is it a given that e-books will be cheaper than bound books, especially when the cost of the reading devices is factored in. Apple tries to entice schools to buy iPads in blocks of 10 by offering a lavish discount of, well, $20 per unit. They still cost $479 each. The company also provides a bulk discount on extended warranties for the device, but — surprise! — it doesn't cover accidental damage from drops or spills.
Apple and its government mouthpieces speak highly of the ability to feed constant updates to digital textbooks so they never go out of date. But that's relevant to a rather small subset of schoolbooks such as those dealing with the leading edge of certain sciences — though I'm not sure how many K-12 pupils are immersed in advanced subjects such as quantum mechanics or string theory. The standard text of "Romeo and Juliet," on the other hand, has been pretty well locked down since 1599.
There's certainly an important role for technology in the classroom. And the U.S. won't benefit if students in poor neighborhoods fall further behind their middle-class or affluent peers in access to broadband Internet connectivity or computers. But mindless servility to technology for its own sake, which is what Duncan and Genachowski are promoting on behalf of self-interested companies like Apple, will make things worse, not better.
That's because it distracts from and sucks money away from the most important goal, which is maintaining good teaching practices and employing good teachers in the classroom. What's scary about the recent presentation by Duncan and Genachowski is that it shows that for all their supposed experience and expertise, they've bought snake oil. They're simply trying to rebottle it for us as the elixir of the gods.
Hiltzik, M. (2012). Who really benefits from putting high-tech gadgets in classrooms? Extracted from LA Times Jan 31, 2012 at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20120205,0,639053.column
Put Your Child in Your Children's Books!!
Those who remember the viral video of George W. Bush and John Kerry singing “This Land is Your Land” by the animation company Jib Jab, or have experienced their laundry list of personalized videos like “Star Wars by JibJab”, will be excited to know that the company has started a line of children’s books called Jib Jab Jr. Books.
The animation company uses a unique image-editing program to allow you to fine tune the cut-and-pasting of your face so that you can be the star of your own videos. JibJab Jr. uses the same technology to put your little one’s face into a storybook adventure. The first in the series, “The Biggest Pizza Ever” is free and you can buy additional books for $7.99, or you can join the Book of the Month club for only $3.99 per month.
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. --A 99-year-old Lake Oswego woman has rediscovered her passion for reading and writing thanks to Apple's newest gadget,Portland TV station KPTV reported.
Writing was always a big part of Virginia Campbell's life, but glaucoma recently made it difficult for her to read.
"I found recently that I wasn't even able to read large-print library books because there wasn't enough contrast between the print and the page," she said. "I could write them all right, but I couldn't read what I wrote."
When penning her passion became too difficult, her family brought the near-centenarian into the 21st century by giving her an Apple iPad -- the tablet computer with a touch screen.
"The type jumps out at me," she said. "Now I can read again and it's just opened up the world."
On Wednesday, Campbell said the iPad is "kind of addictive." The device's oversized type and the contrast between the bright background and bold letters help bring stories into focus.
The iPad even inspired Campbell to write a poem:
To this technology-ninny it’s clear In my compromised 100th year, That to read and to write Are again within sight Of this Apple iPad pioneer.
As she approached her 100th birthday, Campbell could only marvel at her longevity.
"When I was born in 1910, they barely had an automobile in any use," she said. "I'm only 99, but I consider myself in my 100th year."
Since Campbell's rediscovery of reading and writing, her son-in-law posted a video of her using the iPad on YouTube. It has since received 37,900 hits
In the latest salvo in the digital reading wars, Borders is making a push against competitors such as Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's nook, by offering five free ebooks. Anyone whodownloads a free Borders applicationtoday through Wednesday, July 14, can choose titles that include "Frankenstein: Prodigal Son," by Dean Koontz, "One Shot" by Lee Child, "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" by Julia Child and "Master your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels.
The offer follows the launch of the Borders-branded digital store, powered by Kobo, and the release of Borders' BlackBerry, Android, iPad and iPhone ebook apps. The app is also available for desktop comuters.
"We're committed to giving our customers the best possible value in digital books, independent of the device ... " Borders CEO Mike Edwards said in a news release. "To thank our customers for their continued loyalty to the Borders brand, we want to provide them a sample of the great content available on Borders.com."
Right now, the use of eBook readers and the digitally formatted eBooks has become all the rage. However, do they really hold benefits to the readers other than the obvious convenience they offer?
A study that contemplated the use of reading on the iPads, Kindles, PCs and printed materials show that they may in fact negatively affect the reading capacities of the users.
Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, a product development consultancy organization brought the facts to light in a recent usability study.
It was found from the study that the user’s reading speed went down by 10.7 percent on the Kindle compared to printed materials. Ernest Hemingway material was used for the study. It was also found that reading speeds declined by 6.2 percent on the iPad.
However, it was quoted by Nielsen that the results of the study were not “statistically significant because of the data’s fairly high variability”, and thus results should not be interpreted as saying for certain that users of the Kindle read much slower than they do on the iPad.
A few weeks ago, Pasquale Castaldo was waiting at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport for a delayed flight when a man sitting across from him pulled out an Amazon Kindle book-reading device.
"Gee, maybe I should think about e-books myself," thought Castaldo, 54.
He didn't have a Kindle, but he did have a BlackBerry. He pulled it out and looked for available applications. Sure enough, Barnes & Noble Inc. had just put up an e-reading program. Castaldo downloaded it, and within a minute, began reading Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."
As others are also discovering, the North Haven, Conn., banker found e-books quite accessible without a Kindle.
"The BlackBerry is always with me," Castaldo said. "Rather than just sitting there, if I can fill that time by reading a good book, I might do that, in addition to doing the other things I might do, like reading e-mail and Twittering."
Thanks to Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle, e-book sales are finally zooming, after more than a decade in the doldrums.
But the pioneering device may not dominate the market for long. As Castaldo found, many phones are now sophisticated enough, and have good enough screens, to be used as e-book reading devices. In addition, e-book reading on computers is already surprisingly popular.
E-book sales reported to the Assn. of American Publishers have been rising sharply since the beginning of 2008, just after the release of the Kindle. It's the best sustained growth the industry has seen since the International Digital Publishing Forum began tracking sales in 2002 -- a sign that e-books finally could be about to break into the mainstream.
U.S. trade e-book sales in the April to June period this year more than tripled from the amount a year ago, as reported by about a dozen publishers.
Total reported sales at wholesale prices were $37.6 million. That's less than 2% of the overall book market, but the number understates e-book sales because not all publishers contribute to the report.
The most well-known dedicated reading devices, the Kindle and Sony Corp.'s Reader, try to emulate the look of the printed page with a display technology known as "electronic ink."
While many find the result pleasant to read, e-ink also imposes limitations on the devices. They can't be backlighted like other screens. They can't show color. They're also slow to update, making them difficult to use for Web browsing or other computer activities.
The Kindle has a wireless connection directly to Amazon's store, meaning users can buy and download books to the device within minutes, much like Castaldo could do on his smart phone. The Reader lacks a wireless capability and thus needs to be connected to a computer to load books.
Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said that while the Kindle has sparked interest in e-books, downloads of e-reading applications for smart phones have far outnumbered the Kindles sold.
The Stanza app for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, for instance, has been downloaded more than 2 million times since last summer, compared with Rotman Epps' estimate of more than 900,000 Kindles sold through the first quarter of this year.
"There will be a market for dedicated reading devices, but there's potentially an even bigger market for reading on devices that people already own, like smart phones," she said.
When Amazon recently removed copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from customers' de vices and digital lockers, I suddenly re membered why I prefer physical media over virtual versions: If I buy a book or a disc, it's mine forever and I can access it whenever I want. Amazon's actions prove that's not necessarily true of e-books. Amazon removed unauthorized editions of the books at the request of the rights holder. Later, company officials acknowledged that Amazon hadn't handled the issue well and said that it wouldn't automatically remove purchased copies of Kindle books in the future. The company issued full refunds to buyers of the titles. But how can customers know which e-books are authorized and which aren't? Since Amazon offers hundreds of thousands of titles, something like this is bound to happen again. Your protections are limited. The digital rights management (DRM) re strictions that Amazon places on content purchased at its store prevent you from downloading an Amazon book to a second, non-Kindle, e-book reader for backup. And you can download your copy a limited number of times (Amazon doesn't specify the number, as it seems to vary by publisher) among Kindles and iPhones. Always download and save any e-book you purchase directly to your PC (you're allowed to do this). When you want to read one, transfer it to your Kindle via USB. That way, your copy won't be living on the cloud (in your digital locker or on your de vice); if Amazon executes a sweep, the copy will remain on your PC. Such a back up will work only on that Kindle, though; if you make a switch to a Sony E-Reader later on, you'll have no access to that file. If you don't want to deal with Amazon or DRM hassles at all, download e-books from sites that offer public-domain works. They might not have the breadth of titles that Amazon has, but you can find some intriguing things.Project Gutenberghas thousands of e-book titles available for free download, from Ulysses to the Boy Scouts Handbook. Project Gutenberg is hosted byIbiblio, a collaborative project of the University of North Carolina that conserves freely available information about subjects including software, music, literature, art, history,Read more...
Three tech business titans have linked arms with an organization called the Open Book Alliance tooppose the pending settlementbetween the publishing industry and Google's Book Search program. The Google settlement wasreached in October 2008and is pending court approval, but before Google gets the nod and a good-luck slap on the back, theU.S. Department of Justice started looking into the matter.Now, giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo have publicly cocked their rifles and taken aim at the project, citing anticompetitive practices.
When I read that Microsoft was taking a stance against anticompetitive behavior, I snarfed my coffee. This has got to be some kind of joke, right?
Nope. And the Open Book Alliance -- which, to me, seems like it would be closing more books than opening -- is co-chaired by Gary Reback, a Silicon Valley lawyer who was heavily involved in the antitrust case against Microsoft a few years back. That's some serious firepower on the opposing side.
The impetus for disagreement stems from thefiner details of the book settlement. Google paid $125 million, plus investments in book search technology and operation, to be exempt from certain copyright laws. Google scanned thousands of copyrighted texts, and authors and publishers were peeved. Then Google defended itself from the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers by saying the full script of copyrighted texts were not available for free download, but only for search preview purposes in hopes of attracting buyers. Checks were written, hands were shaken, anda settlement was reached.
But Google's business savvy didn't go unnoticed. If the case went through the court system, Google might have won on the basis of fair use, and the doors would open to anyone with a similar ambition of selling eText. Perhaps the doors aren't shut forever, but in the meantime, Google has a muscled leg up in the race.
The Open Book Alliance is calling this advantage unfair, and now that Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo have chimed in, it's evident that theeBook business is burning hotand people want in. Read more...
Audible has released a player that givesBlackBerryusers to access to its wide selection of audio e-books. The new player allows users to sample, purchase, stream, and download over 60,000 titles directly to theirsmartphone.
For those who are unfamiliar with it, this company provides digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines, original programming, plusTVand radio subscriptions.
The new BlackBerry player comes with a free copy of Thomas Friedman's best-sellerHot, Flat, and Crowded, and also lets users explore this site free channel.
This software is compatible with theBlackberry Curve, Pearl, 8800, Bold, and Storm. An unlimited wirelessdatacontract and/or a memory card is recommended... Read More...
Hands On: New Cool-er E-Book Reader Turns Up the Heat
By Priya Ganapati
May 14, 2009 |
5:19 pm
One of the hottest category in consumer electronics currently is electronic book readers, which sees a new device launched every few weeks.
The latest kid on the block is the Cool-er, an e-book reader from Interead, a UK-based start up. A slim, lightweight reader, it comes in a choice of eight colors and is targeted at buyers who want an inexpensive yet full-featured device.
“We have created a reader that is light enough to fit into a jacket or a purse and attractive enough to be reading it publicly,” says Neil Jones, founder and CEO of Interead. “This is not just about technology but also about being a lifestyle accessory.”
The launch of the Cool-er comes barely a week after Amazon introduced a new Kindle model, the Kindle DX. Like almost all the major e-book readers available currently, Cool-er uses the black-and-white display from E Ink. But the device joins an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace that includes players such as Sony, Fujitsu, Samsung and Foxit among others. (See a recent e-books readers round up)
At first glance, the Cool-er seems like the Sony Reader’s twin. It is almost the same width as the Sony Reader and just a little taller. Where it differs is the weight. The Cool-er weighs 5.6 ounces–compared to 10 oz of the Sony Reader and 10.2 oz of the Amazon Kindle 2. That means the Cool-er is nearly 40 percent lighter than its biggest competitors.
Despite the light weight and thin form factor, the finish on the device isn’t tacky–though it does have a ‘plasticky’ feel to it. The Cool-er runs a Linux operating system and has a 1GB storage card slot.
A quick power-on button on the top turns on the device and shows some of the default titles available. You can browse through the titles using a click-wheel on the right. A button on the left offers the choice of a landscape or portrait mode, a feature that sets it apart from many of its competitors.
The buttons are probably the Cool-er’s weakest point. They are not soft-touch and require a bit of pressure to get them to ‘click.’ The user interface is fairly intutive allowing users to click through the different titles and choose what they want to read.
Unlike the Kindle, the Cool-er does not offer wireless connectivity. It connects to a PC or a Mac using a standard USB cable and also charges via the computer’s USB port . Users can download books from the company’s own online book store at coolerbooks.com.
The device supports books in the ePub, Txt, JPEG and PDF format. Cool-er users can also listen to music and audio books. And they can choose from among red, blue, hot pink, violet, light pink, green, black and silver colors– which look surprisingly better than expected.
Cool-er supports eight languages including English, German, Portugese, Russian French and Chinese. Though many users would have preferred to have over-the-air wireless capability a la the Kindle, the tethering to the computer allows Cool-er to be used in any country, says Jones.
The Cool-er is priced at $250 and is available for pre-order through the company’s web site. The device is expected to be available to buyers from June 1.
Still the device faces a big challenge in distinguishing itself in a crowded market. The Cool-er doesn’t have any features that truly stand-out. It’s appeal is in that it is reasonably good looking e-book reader at an attractive price.
Interead is also hoping to strike deals with retailers. If successful, the company could further get the kind of volumes that it needs to drop prices down to $200. The company is also open to working with software develops to create apps for the device which runs the Linux OS and launch an iPhone-like app store for the Cool-er.
Published by Josh Wigler on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 5:09 pm.
The summer movie battle officially begins today as the newly released “Star Trek” film fires its photon torpedoes at last week’s adamantium-laced “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” But whether the J.J. Abrams-directed science fiction blockbuster sets a course for the top of the box office, there’s no denying one place it’s boldly going — towards comic books!
Rumors, fact and history-in-the-making collide both in the new “Star Trek” film and also amongst its talented cast and filmmakers. And since the members of the film’s roster have had their fair share of baggage when it comes to the superhero and comic book worlds — we’ve compiled a list of some of the paneled-page properties that the “Star Trek” crew members have beamed aboard for!
CHRIS PINE: Taking over an iconic role played brilliantly by William Shatner is no easy task, but relative newcomer Chris Pine has done so with ease. His reported excellence as the cocky James Kirk in “Star Trek” has brought the spotlight on the young actor for other roles, too.
ZACHARY QUINTO: While Pine’s job is certainly daunting, at least he doesn’t have to act againstthe man who made his role famous! In “Star Trek,”Zachary Quinto shares the screen with Leonard Nimoy as they both portray young and old versions of the beloved Mr. Spock.
But for Quinto’s television alter-ego, the nefarious Sylar on “Heroes,” the actor would merely need to bloodily examine Nimoy’s brain in order to imitate Spock with perfection. Even in light of “Heroes’” degrading quality, Quinto’s Sylar remains one of TV’s most delightfully watchable villains in recent memory.
KARL URBAN: Many a Trekkie “oohed” and “ughed” at “Lord of the Rings” star Karl Urban’s casting as Dr. Bones McCoy, but early buzz indicates that the actor perfectly evokes the spirit of DeForest Kelly’s original interpretation.
Still, given Urban’s performance in 2007’s “Pathfinder” — based on the Dark Horse graphic novel, mind you — it’s hard to imagine the young Viking warrior ever uttering a “Dammit, Jim!” when he could simply lop off your head with a single sword stroke.
With roles in science fiction epics like “Star Trek” and the hotly anticipated “Avatar,” Saldana’s star is glowing ever-brighter with each passing role — which is why Warner Bros. was smart to snatch Saldana up for their DC/Vertigo adaptation of “The Losers” now before her desired paycheck got too big! She’ll play Aisha, the lone female member of the vengeful black ops squad led by “Watchmen’s” Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
ERIC BANA: As the latest in a long line of memorable “Star Trek” villains, Eric Bana’s portrayal of Nero, a time-traveling Romulan hellbent on vengeance against young Spock, has been touted as one of the strongest and most subtle bad guys in the long-running science-fiction property’s history.
But is this reputedly awesome performance enough to wash away his tragic involvement in Ang Lee’s “Hulk” adaptation from our minds? Given that Marvel gave us a very good movie starring the Jade Giant just last year, it’s probably safe to let bygones be bygones.
SIMON PEGG: From “Shaun of the Dead” to cameos in “Grindhouse” and “Mission: Impossible III,” there’s no shortage of geek-friendly properties that Simon Pegg has involved himself with.
However, the actor, who plays Scotty in the latest “Trek” adventure, will make his first foray into comic book cinema with “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn” in 2010. And with Pegg’s longtime pal and collaborator Edgar Wright set to helm an “Ant-Man” adaptation for Marvel, maybe we’ll one day see the “Hot Fuzz” star shrink down for the role of Hank Pym.
J.J. ABRAMS: The gifted director of the latest “Star Trek” movie has been knee-deep in popular culture for several decades now. From bringing us lauded television shows such as “Alias,” “Lost” and “Fringe” to producing decade-defining films such as “Cloverfield,” Abrams is quickly becoming the Judd Apatow of genre fare.
That position will be further cemented when Abrams and “Lost” collaborator Damon Lindelof take on Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower,” the beloved novel series that Marvel Comics has turned into a franchise.
What other comic book connections can you find in the new “Star Trek” movie? Beam yourself into the movie theater today to check out the flick, then come back to the comments section with your findings!
Well E-book fans, and those still sitting on the fence, Amazon has done it again. In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new Kindle coming and this one is called the Kindle DX. While in most respects this new Kindle isn’t revolutionary it does bring some exciting new features to the table. Additionally, it holds promise in a few areas where the previous Kindle models may have fallen a little short. If you’re not familiar with the Kindle 2 and how that differed from the original Kindle, please look at my article on just that subject here.
Let’s examine the new Kindle DX and compare it with the Kindle 2:
9.7-inch screen (measured diagonally). This is the biggie (pun intended)! The original Kindle and Kindle 2 had a 6-inch screen. The screen is 2.5 times the size of the Kindle and Kindle 2 screens. This allows for better display of graphics, tables, and charts with no zooming or scrolling necessary. Total size of the unit is 10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38" and it weighs 18.9 ounces (Kindle 2 is 8" x 5.3" x 0.36" and weighs 10.2 ounces)
16 shades of gray. This is the same as the Kindle 2, the original Kindle only had only 4. The 16 shades make a very big difference when it comes to viewing graphics of all kinds. I wouldn’t have expected any less with the Kindle DX. Graphics will be very clear and bright on the Kindle DX with no zooming necessary.
1/3 of an inch thick. This is about the thickness of the average magazine. Again this is about the same as the Kindle 2 and it is quite thin, and a pleasure to hold.
Lots of memory. The Kindle DX is said to hold up to 3,500 books in its 3.3GB of available onboard memory (total memory is 4GB). This is up significantly from the 1,500 book capacity of the Kindle 2 which has 2GB of which 1.4GB is available.
Auto-rotating screen. This is a new feature being introduced with the Kindle DX. This will be extremely handy for easy viewing of large graphics, charts, etc. Just turn the Kindle DX from vertical to horizontal and the orientation of the screen changes automatically from portrait to landscape and back again as needed.
Built in PDF Reader. This is a very cool new feature. With either previous Kindle you needed to have Amazon convert the PDF to Kindle format. Sometimes the results were far less than perfect. This will be a great way to read personal and business documents, as the PDF format is so universal.
Words per line control. Unlike the previous Kindles where you could only adjust the type size, the Kindle DX also gives the user control over how many words appear on a line. Not earth shattering, but nice.
Text to speech. This was introduced with the Kindle 2 and it’s here again with the Kindle DX. The gotcha here is that the publisher can deactivate this feature in any given book so it is no longer universally available for every book purchased. This applies to the Kindle 2 as well.
Battery life. With wireless turned on you can read for four days without recharging. Two weeks of reading are possible with the wireless turned off. This is the same battery life as the Kindle 2. This is a significant increase over the original Kindle.
EVDO connectivity. Amazon Whispernet utilizes Sprint’s high-speed wireless network for fast and easy downloading of books, blogs, newspapers etc. This is the same on all three Kindle models. This is one of the greatest feature of all the Kindles. No computer is necessary to use the device. It is a fantastic user experience to browse the Kindle store, read descriptions, reviews and download book samples.
USB 2.0 port. This is used for charging as well as hooking up the Kindle DX to a Mac or PC. This is optional as here in the US content can be purchased wirelessly through the Amazon Kindle Store or emailed to the device (for a nominal charge). This is the same port and charging scheme as on the Kindle 2.
Audio. There is a 3.5mm stereo audio jack as well as stereo speakers. These are useful for listening to music or Audible recorded books. This is the same as on the Kindle 2.
It’s kind of interesting that Amazon introduced the Kindle DX when they did as the Kindle 2 shipped as recently as February. I’m guessing the DX wasn’t quite ready back then and Amazon is probably assuming the customers interested in the Kindle 2 may not be the same customers interested in the Kindle DX.
Some very interesting aspects of the Kindle DX go beyond the feature set:
The large screen will make it much easier and more convenient to read newspapers. As we all know, many newspapers are struggling to survive. Many people have stopped reading conventional newspapers because by the time the paper is printed the news is old. Obviously, the news you can get on the internet is timelier and this is the cause for the downward trend in newspaper readership.
The previous Kindles partially addressed this by providing newspaper subscriptions that are updated throughout the day. They have proved fairly popular but there is still some resistance due to the small screen of the Kindle and Kindle 2. Now, with the Kindle DX this is being addressed. Photographs will look much better and there will be much less scrolling through the articles. This should make for a much more pleasant newspaper or magazine reading experience.
Several newspapers: The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe will be rolling out pilot programs for the Kindle DX. While the details are still sketchy, there is talk of reduced prices for long-term commitments on subscriptions. I’m guessing that a yearly subscription will cost substantially less than what is currently being charged for a monthly subscription. We’ll have to wait and see the details on these pricing plans. It does sound like a good idea to me and it certainly couldn’t hurt the newspapers to do this.
Perhaps the greatest impact of the Kindle DX is in the area of academics. The larger screen has opened the door to the device being used as a substitute for textbooks. This is huge on many levels. In fact, I’m not the only one who believes this, as three textbook companies (unnamed at this point) and five universities (Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, Reed College and University of Virginia) have signed on to try pilot programs with the device. Again, details are sketchy, and there are even whispers of controversy as to what these programs will consist of. Stay tuned.
What I think will be the biggest potential impact will be on textbooks in a couple of ways. First, the most obvious, if all the textbooks a student needs are available on the Kindle think of how much weight and bulk will literally be lifted from the student’s shoulders. Cost of the books should go down as well.
The second aspect is quite interesting and quite a boost for textbook publishers. Currently when a textbook is new and introduced into a curriculum sales are quite strong for a semester or two. Then, as far as the publishers are concerned, sales plummet. Why? Used book sales. A widely adopted Kindle DX would be a huge boost to textbook publishers as it would eliminate the used textbook market. The Kindle DX books would not be able to be passed from student to student or be sold as used. The net result would, in my opinion, be lower textbook prices to the students while the publishers increase their sales. The only losers in this scenario would be the bookstores.
In conclusion, the Kindle DX is in broad terms just a larger Kindle 2. Yes, there are differences that go beyond the bigger screen but the bigger screen is really the big news here. Should you buy a Kindle DX? That depends on a variety of factors. As I see it, I’d say yes if you read lots of newspapers, use PDFs, or read graphically intensive materials. Of course, if you don’t want to “turn pages” as much it would be a good purchase as well. If the above scenarios don’t apply to you and you’re happy with your Kindle or Kindle 2 I’d say there isn’t a hugely compelling reason.
What am I going to do? I love the idea of the large screen, that’s all it took to get my attention. I’m thinking a Kindle DX for home use and my current Kindle 2 for travel. As soon as I have an extra $489 (the cost of the Kindle DX) burning a hole in my pocket I’ll probably get one.
What do you think? Will you buy your first Kindle now or perhaps a second or third? Please leave a comment.
For all the discussion and debate aboutGoogle's controversial (andpotentially anti-competitive) plan to digitise millions of books, little has been known about how the company is actually doing it.
The audacious plan involves scanning many millions of books, through a system that Google has said is light years ahead of the flatbed scanners we're all used to - systems that inevitably proved unreliable or destroyed the books they were intended to preserve. But Google's never been keen to share the details of how it manages this feat: even when Ivisited Oxford's Bodleian Library a couple of years agoto find out more, I wasn't allowed to see the scanning room because the machines were considered trade secrets.
Now, though, NPR has managed to uncover the details behind the company'spatented book scanning system- and found that the secret is 3D infra-red cameras:
Google created some seriously nifty infrared camera technology that detects the three-dimensional shape and angle of book pages when the book is placed in the scanner. This information is transmitted to the OCR software, which adjusts for the distortions and allows the OCR software to read text more accurately. No more broken bindings, no more inefficient glass plates.
With so many newspapers and magazines ceasing publication, you may be asking
yourself if print will survive. I don't have the answer. And, I'm not even sure
it's the right question. Even when the global economy turns around, it's
unlikely that we'll see the same number of magazines or newspapers. So, how will
we consume print- or page-like content? Computers are the most obvious answer,
but I think products like the Amazon
Kindle 2 really point the way.
You see, we have to prepare ourselves for a time when the majority of written
works, whether in magazines, newspapers, short stories, or novels, are delivered
electronically. I don't imagine that everyone believes the computer screen and
Web page is the preferred format for the consumption of this kind of content. I
know that industry analyst Tim Bajarin made the argument in a recent column that
future
generations of e-book readers will offer color
screens (I guess that's a good thing), and he suggests that a copy of Harry
Potter might benefit from having an embedded video clip from the movie. I
disagree. When I want to read a novel, I want to read a novel. I don't need to
be distracted by multimedia, or even color, to help me imagine the story. My
mind is quite adept at painting a picture with the words I'm reading. For me,
that's the allure of a good, rip-roaring novel. The minute that publishers start
producing e-books with "enhancements," we'll witness the beginning of the end of
that format for the written word.
The good news is that we're not there yet. For now, there are stores and
libraries crammed full of paper books, and new ones published every day. The
e-book phenomenon is just starting to take hold, and the rare color model, like
the one from Fujitsu, is available only for pre-order right now. This means
that products like the Kindle 2 are still bleeding-edge curiosities that offer
their share of benefits and hurdles.
Recently, I took my first-ever magazine- and novel-free business trip. All
that was in my bag was a Kindle 2. Yes, I had a computer with me for editing
stories and writing a few of my own (like the one you're currently reading).
Many of you may have read my column, "Amazon
Kindle 2: 10 Things You Should Know." Consider
this a companion piece. Here I delve into what I've learned about all the ways
that reading on a Kindle 2 is and isn't like reading a physical book or
magazine.
Watch Those Buttons! Amazon significantly redesigned the Kindle for
version 2, and I think the device is better. Even so, there's no getting around
the fundamental differences between print and e-books when it comes to page
navigation. More than once I've grabbed the e-book by its side and inadvertently
changed the page. One time, I flipped through half a dozen pages. While reading,
I keep my fingers positioned over the next and previous page buttons (if I
don't, I have a split second in which to remember which button I push to get to
the next page—a very un-book-like experience). This led me to learn that finger
twitches can also result in page turns. None of this can happen with a real book
or magazine.
Too Much Like Technology As I mentioned previously, Amazon put a
lot of work into the Kindle 2 to make reading a very natural, book-like
experience. For the most part, Amazon got it right, but there are moments and
functional quirks that can take you right out of the experience. Because the
Kindle 2 lacks any sort of touch screen, or even a motion-sensitive pad, below
the e-ink page, I was wholly dependent on the buttons. I love that the Kindle 2
can store so much good content, but navigating through it with a joystick is a
little weird. I was often unsure about when I should push it or move it, and it
reminded me that this thing is a gadget. The Next and Back buttons worked
quite well, except that I realized you have to push on the inner edge instead of
the outer edge of the buttons to turn the page. This is so counter to anything
I've experienced with the print or digital worlds. Again, I was reminded of the
strangeness of reading on the Kindle 2.
When I turn off the Kindle 2, it always memorizes my position in whatever I'm
reading. However, if I lose my place, I can't easily find it again because there
are no page numbers. Print publications always have page numbers. Obviously, the
pages in the Kindle 2 do not exactly match the same pages in the original book
or magazine. Instead, for novels, the Kindle 2 offers a corresponding page
"location" range at the bottom of every electronic page. I appreciate this
intention, but it's useless. In magazines, the Kindle 2 offers no page
reference. That's disconcerting, to say the least.
Navigate by Intuition I'd say Amazon did its best to make the
Kindle 2 as simple to use as possible, but I'd often find myself using guesswork
to figure out how to navigate. For example, there's both a Home and a Menu
button. Home is the main interface of the Kindle 2, and Menu is for a small set
of Kindle 2 features. It's also used to navigate the content. That's pretty
confusing. When I worried about using up my battery power too quickly (because I
neglected to take the proprietary charger), I found out from someone that
turning off wireless would cut down battery use significantly. Awesome. Problem
was, I couldn't find that setting. There's no hardware button for broadband
wireless, and you can't access it through Home. Menu is the right choice.
Obviously, this is not a concern for physical books and magazines.
Like a Book but Not The Kindle 2 comes with a lovely carrying case,
or sleeve, that flips open like a book. However, if you try to hold the case
like a book and use the Kindle 2 at the same time, you're sunk. I tried this and
realized that I couldn't access the navigation buttons on the left-hand side of
the device. I had to flip the cover behind the device to use it effectively.
That's just another instance where the Kindle 2 is like a book—but not…at
all.
Restrictions Apply You know the drill: You get on an airplane and
when they close the doors, a flight attendant tells passengers gently, but
firmly, to turn off all electronic devices. On my flight, I heard the
announcement and wondered if this meant my Kindle 2. It's an electronic device,
so I had to assume yes. Instantly, I realized my miscalculation: I'd taken this
trip without any real books or magazines, and this meant that for the 25 to 40
minutes it took for them to close the doors, lift off, and reach cruising
altitude (and then the time it takes to land), I had nothing to read. I wonder
if we can convince airlines to make allowances for e-books. I should note,
however, that since you can turn off Kindle 2's wireless, it is an approved
device for the periods during flight when electronic devices can be turned
on.
Despite all this, I have come away with an abiding love for the Kindle 2. I
even got used to the minimal contrast between the words and background. What's
more, I liked that sunlight enhanced the image—like a real book—instead of
causing unsightly glare. Also, reading while eating (as long as you don't freak
out about getting a crumb on the screen or grease on the buttons) is actually
easier with a Kindle 2 than with a magazine or book. I needed just one finger to
turn a page, and I never had to flip or fold over a magazine cover. And there's
no arguing with the fact that I could have countless back issues of The New
Yorker as well as a few novels in the Kindle 2 without making my backpack
feel like a bag of bricks.
I share all of this with you so that you won't be surprised when you finally
try the Kindle 2. Trust me, you'll come to feel as I do: You can still have a
print-like experience in an all-digital world.When I turn off the Kindle 2, it always memorizes my position in whatever I'm
reading. However, if I lose my place, I can't easily find it again because there
are no page numbers. Print publications always have page numbers. Obviously, the
pages in the Kindle 2 do not exactly match the same pages in the original book
or magazine. Instead, for novels, the Kindle 2 offers a corresponding page
"location" range at the bottom of every electronic page. I appreciate this
intention, but it's useless. In magazines, the Kindle 2 offers no page
reference. That's disconcerting, to say the least.
Navigate by Intuition I'd say Amazon did its best to make the
Kindle 2 as simple to use as possible, but I'd often find myself using guesswork
to figure out how to navigate. For example, there's both a Home and a Menu
button. Home is the main interface of the Kindle 2, and Menu is for a small set
of Kindle 2 features. It's also used to navigate the content. That's pretty
confusing. When I worried about using up my battery power too quickly (because I
neglected to take the proprietary charger), I found out from someone that
turning off wireless would cut down battery use significantly. Awesome. Problem
was, I couldn't find that setting. There's no hardware button for broadband
wireless, and you can't access it through Home. Menu is the right choice.
Obviously, this is not a concern for physical books and magazines.
Like a Book but Not The Kindle 2 comes with a lovely carrying case,
or sleeve, that flips open like a book. However, if you try to hold the case
like a book and use the Kindle 2 at the same time, you're sunk. I tried this and
realized that I couldn't access the navigation buttons on the left-hand side of
the device. I had to flip the cover behind the device to use it effectively.
That's just another instance where the Kindle 2 is like a book—but not…at
all.
Restrictions Apply You know the drill: You get on an airplane and
when they close the doors, a flight attendant tells passengers gently, but
firmly, to turn off all electronic devices. On my flight, I heard the
announcement and wondered if this meant my Kindle 2. It's an electronic device,
so I had to assume yes. Instantly, I realized my miscalculation: I'd taken this
trip without any real books or magazines, and this meant that for the 25 to 40
minutes it took for them to close the doors, lift off, and reach cruising
altitude (and then the time it takes to land), I had nothing to read. I wonder
if we can convince airlines to make allowances for e-books. I should note,
however, that since you can turn off Kindle 2's wireless, it is an approved
device for the periods during flight when electronic devices can be turned
on.
Despite all this, I have come away with an abiding love for the Kindle 2. I
even got used to the minimal contrast between the words and background. What's
more, I liked that sunlight enhanced the image—like a real book—instead of
causing unsightly glare. Also, reading while eating (as long as you don't freak
out about getting a crumb on the screen or grease on the buttons) is actually
easier with a Kindle 2 than with a magazine or book. I needed just one finger to
turn a page, and I never had to flip or fold over a magazine cover. And there's
no arguing with the fact that I could have countless back issues of The New
Yorker as well as a few novels in the Kindle 2 without making my backpack
feel like a bag of bricks.
I share all of this with you so that you won't be surprised when you finally
try the Kindle 2. Trust me, you'll come to feel as I do: You can still have a
print-like experience in an all-digital world.
Website Accessed on April 16, 2009 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345251,00.asp
Q:I'd like to read e-books during my commute, but I don't fancy spending $359 for a Kindle. Is it possible to turn my mobile phone into an e-book reader?
A:Sure - assuming that your phone has a big enough display to make it worthwhile. (Also assuming that you ride a bus or train and don't read while driving).
You'll need e-book reading software such as eReader from ereader.com or Mobipocket Reader from mobipocket.com. Both readers have versions for the BlackBerry and phones that use Palm, Microsoft and Symbion operating systems. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can get e-book software from ereader.com or amazon.com, which makes a version of its Kindle software for the Apple devices.
After downloading and installing the software (which is free), you can proceed to buy and download e-books formatted for your software. Both ereader.com and mobipocket.com offer a wide selection of titles. You also can get books in either format from booksonboard.com.
By the way, ereader.com lets you shop and download books directly to your phone, a la the Kindle.
Q:In December, I purchased a DLP television that seems to work quite well. And what I paid for a 60-inch set was far less than the price of a comparable plasma TV. However, I have seen no ads for DLP for a couple of months, leading me to wonder if they are being phased out. My question is, did I make a mistake by getting DLP?
A:If you like the picture and sound, I don't see a problem. But your observation about DLP is correct - its popularity is waning. The DLP format offers the largest screen for the money, but DLP sets, which use rear-projection technology, are bulkier and heavier than other formats. LCD sets, which are light and thin, are taking over the market.
In fact, some new TVs from Samsung have screens only about an inch thick. Samsung is calling them "LED" TVs, but they don't use OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology, which is being hailed as the next big breakthrough in TV. Instead, they have LCD screens with LED backlighting. The result is a better picture than conventional LCD, but not as good as OLED, which market analysts say won't be available in large, affordable screens for a few years.
Q:My eyes aren't what they used to be, and increasingly I am having difficulty reading text, especially on Web pages. I've heard that Windows has a "magnifying glass" that can be used to enlarge parts of the screen, but I can't figure out how to turn it on. Please help.
A:Help is what we're here for. The Magnifier is available in both Windows XP and Windows Vista. To find it, click the Start button, then go to All Programs and Accessories.
The magnifier is in the Accessories folder in XP; in Vista, it's in the Ease of Access folder inside the Accessories folder. The magnifier by default will follow the mouse around the screen.
When you open the magnifier it appears in a banner across the top of the screen. You can click your mouse on the magnifier and drag it anywhere you want it. You also can change its size and shape. To do that, move the mouse to a side or corner of the magnifier window and, when the mouse pointer changes to a two-pointed arrow, click and drag to resize the window.
Q:I don't have Microsoft Word, so when I receive an attachment via e-mail with the extension .doc I can't open and read it. Is there some way do that short of buying Microsoft Office?
A:Sure, there are several ways. The simplest is to use WordPad, the basic word processor that comes with Windows. You'll find it in the Accessories folder off the Start menu (see the question above). WordPad can open Word documents, so if that's all you need, then that's all you need. However, WordPad can't save a document in Word format. For that, you'll need a program that's Word compatible both coming and going. A good choice is AbiWord, a free download from abisource.com.
You can also use Google Docs to work with Microsoft Word documents. Google Docs, which is available at google.com, is an online word processor compatible with Word. You can upload a Word document and read and edit it in Google Docs, or create a document in Google Docs and save it in Word format.
Electronic device allows readers to download books with touch of a hand
BY STEPHEN TAIT TIMES HERALD • APRIL 5, 2009
Wilmont Kreis is writing the fifth book in his series of historical fiction novels based on his maternal lineage that dates back to the early 17th century.
Meanwhile, he is stepping to the forefront of the 21st century.
Kreis of Fort Gratiot is converting the first four volumes of his series -- called "The Allards" -- into a format that will allow them to be downloaded onto the Kindle 2, Amazon.com's very popular electronic-book device.
While devices that allow people to download and read books that have been on the market for several years, some said the Kindle is on track to revolutionize the book industry much like Apple's iPod did for music.
The original Kindle was released in 2007, and the upgraded Kindle 2 was released about a month ago. Users said it leaves other such devices in the dust on several levels.
First, it doesn't have to be hooked up to computer or tapped into a wireless network. Books, magazines, newspapers and blogs can be downloaded in about a minute anytime, any place using a 3G network.
Plus, the device is smaller than others -- it's about as thick as pencil and about as big as a standard Steno pad.
The Kindle does, however, cost more than other such devices -- about $360 compared to about $300 for Sony's e-book reader. There's no monthly service fee, but it costs about $10 to downloaded bestsellers. Older books are cheaper.
For example, Dr. Ann Ernst, a self-described "techno mom" from Fort Gratiot, downloaded a copy of the Bible for $3.67. It's one of about 25 books she has downloaded since buying her Kindle 2.
"It is my favorite thing besides my iPhone," Ernst said.
An anesthesiologist who travels extensively, taking mission trips to places such as India and Belize, Ernst said the Kindle is perfect for her lifestyle. She can carry all the reading material she needs without taking up room in her luggage.
"I can have my Bible with me at all times," she said.
It's the first time Ernst has ventured into the e-reading market and acknowledges the Kindle isn't likely to replace bound and stitched books any time soon.
Jack Wolf, owner of the Trade-A-Book used book store in Port Huron, agrees. He said people predicted the doom of printed books decades ago when books on tape become popular.
That market, of course, has subsided.
"As far as competition, it doesn't worry me at all," he said. "I don't think anything will keep people from buying books. People have been buying books forever."
Wolf said the Kindle could help his business if it generates interest in reading.
"If it is an inducement for people to read books, that's fine by me," he said.
Ernst, who reads 12 to 15 books a month and also has a subscription to the New York Times that is downloaded onto her Kindle each morning, said she still buys printed books and will continue to support bookstores.
"There are certain books I would want to still own and touch and feel," she said. "But (the Kindle) makes my reading pretty seamless."
Kreis also is uncertain about how the Kindle will be accepted by the public at large.
"Are electronic books going to replace print?" Kreis said. "I kind of hope not."
It's clear that e-books are the future of printed works, even if right now Amazon's Kindle is the only device that demonstrates the power of the new medium. But with news that Rupert Murdoch wants in on the scene, and with Verizon being courted by e-book makers, it looks like the triumph of the new tech is assured.
Murdoch's interest in e-books surfaced via AllThingsD: His company is definitely investing cash into a new e-reader that has a "bigger screen" and four colors. It's clearly intended as a competitor to the Amazon Kindle, which has a fairly diminutive screen more suited for book reading than magazine-or newspaper-style content, and can just display black and white or grayscale imagery. That News Corp would show interest in e-books is actually not much of a surprise--the end of the printed-paper newsindustry is being hastened by the failing economy and advancing tech, and if News Corp wants to remain on top of the game it's only natural to embrace the next big thing. You can imagine similar discussions going on in newspaper boardrooms when color printing became possible.
There's also news that Verizon was approached by manufacturers of e-books on the subject of integrating a wireless downloading system into their technology. That's a direct parallel to the in-built Sprint connection in the Kindle and Kindle 2 that makes them strong gadgets: if you want a new book when you're out and about, you can just download it. Speaking at the CTIA wireless tech fair, Verizon's man in charge of access to "non-phone devices," Tony Lewis, noted that five companies approached Verizon. He wouldn't name them, of course, but he did suggest that some may be interested in offering content that Amazon currently doesn't--like college textbooks.
AT&T has also entertained similar requests, and the company's consumer services head Ralph de la Vega notes that due to its similarities to other cell networks across the globe, AT&T is interesting to e-book makers who have their eye on global markets.
With all this attention beginning to swirl up around e-books, it looks like they'll evolve from being the niche, mainly U.S. centric gadgets they currently are into a global phenomenon pretty swiftly. All that's required it seems are advances in e-paper/e-ink technology and a clever business model--two things that News Corps financial attention can definitely help with.
We've had a lot of CNET readers tell us they're waiting for a little color before they jump onto the e-book reader bandwagon. Well, as one might expect, a little color is going to cost you a lot of dough, as Fujitsu gets set to release its Flepia color e-book reader in Japan with a $1,000 price tag.
In the works for several years, the Flepia has a bigger display than does Amazon's Kindle 2--it has an 8-inch 1,024x768-pixel XGA touch screen that can display 260,000 colors (Fujitsu refers to its e-ink technology as "color e-paper").
The unit also has built-in wireless Bluetooth and Wi-Fioptions, an SD card slot capable of holding up to 4GB of storage, and a battery that, according to Fujitsu, is rated at 40 hours of continuous use (we assume that using Wi-Fi would drain it quicker, however). The Flepia runs on Windows CE 5.0.
A lot of e-book reader manufacturers are looking to Bluetooth connectivity as a way to counter the Kindle's built-in cell service (and Amazon is perhaps looking at a Bluetooth-equipped version of the Kindle for Europe to avoid country-to-country roaming-charge issues). You link your cell phone to the e-book via Bluetooth to access an online e-book store and a Web browser.
While the Google translation of the original post on Engadget Japanese is pretty garbled, the Flepia appears to have these features.
No word on when Fujitsu's color e-book reader might hit North America or Europe, but it's available for preorder now in Japan and is scheduled to ship on April 20. From the pictures, it appears that you'll get the choice of a black or white finish.
The summer movie battle officially begins today as the newly released “
CHRIS PINE: Taking over an iconic role played brilliantly by 
ZACHARY QUINTO: While Pine’s job is certainly daunting, at least he doesn’t have to act againstthe man who made his role famous! In “Star Trek,”
KARL URBAN: Many a Trekkie “oohed” and “ughed” at “
ZOE SALDANA: The beautiful and talented 
ERIC BANA: As the latest in a long line of memorable “Star Trek” villains, 
SIMON PEGG: From “Shaun of the Dead” to cameos in “Grindhouse” and “Mission: Impossible III,” there’s no shortage of geek-friendly properties that 
J.J. ABRAMS: The gifted director of the latest “Star Trek” movie has been knee-deep in popular culture for several decades now. From bringing us lauded television shows such as “Alias,” “Lost” and “Fringe” to producing decade-defining films such as “Cloverfield,” Abrams is quickly becoming the Judd Apatow of genre fare.
Murdoch's interest in e-books surfaced 
