tagged w/ Sony Reader
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I’ve decided to try reading on an e-book. I’ve been hesitant to make the leap, simply because I like the feel of a book in my hands, and I’m sure I’m not alone. I can’t imagine reading an iPad at the beach, or never again folding down a page to mark my place. But, I’m willing to give it a go.
I asked for advice.I’ve decided to try reading on an e-book. I’ve been hesitant to make the... more
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http://branddict.com/2010/07/24/ihome-ib969-a-charging-station-for-all-apple-products/
If you are one of the Apple product lovers ranging from the iPod, the iPhone until iPad then you should buy this stuff. iB969 is a universal charging station for all Apple products and also able to Blackberry or eBook Reader like Sony Reader or Kindle. In the charging station already exists three fruit docking for iPod, iPhone and iPad so you can charge it all at the same time and one existing docking can be used for synchronization to the computer or the application iTunes. In addition to Apple products, they also have prepared an additional cable to recharge the battery for Blackberry and Sony Reader or Kindle overall so that you can refill up to five gadgets at once.http://branddict.com/2010/07/24/ihome-ib969-a-charging-station-for-all-apple-products/... more
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Google and Amazon: Making Theft and Price-Fixing the Legal Default
By Alex Green
For the first time in American history, a single corporation is attempting to gain full ownership of an extraordinary number of books printed during the last century, effectively controlling their dissemination by default without the consent of those who still hold valid copyrights. In early September authors and their representatives ran out of time to invoke ownership of their own writing and opt out of a legally questionable settlement. The settlement, which is pending in federal court, reveals Google Inc.'s unprecedented attempt to invert the United States copyright structure and monopolize control of a huge swath of intellectual property.
The current agreement, reached in 2008 between Google, The Authors Guild of America, and the Association of American Publishers has touched off the most vociferous public battle between technology companies since the inception of the Internet. At stake is supremacy in the coveted marketplace of content ownership and book digitization. The Justice Department filed strong objections to the settlement last week, registering concerns that Google has violated anti-trust laws by gaining such broad control without legal supervision. Those concerns resulted in a request by all three parties this week for a postponement of the court’s ruling while they rewrite the agreement.
Online book retailer Amazon.com, Google’s non-profit rival The Internet Archive, Yahoo, Microsoft, and other media companies have joined an umbrella organization called The Open Book Alliance to combat Google’s advance. In recent weeks they have filed a barrage of complaints to the court and Congress. Their appeals and public statements have exposed for the first time large areas of legal uncertainty in an industry known for widespread avoidance of public legal battles and legislative interference.
In their legal assault, Amazon appears to have suggested its own involvement in business practices that have widely been considered unethical and potentially illegal. An Amazon spokesperson told the Associated Press last month that if Google were to gain control of the marketplace his company would no longer be able to obtain low prices for customers by, “playing one publisher off against another." Their statement implies the use of manipulative negotiating practices to receive books at lower wholesale prices than competitors despite the existence of legal precedents that restrict large companies from receiving disproportionately favorable discounts.
The Author’s Guild has also come under fire, with critics questioning the right of an advocacy group to negotiate on behalf of authors who did not seek their support. If upheld, such a broad invocation of representative power by a guild would be unprecedented in American history.
Compounding the problem is the prevalence of conflicts of interest among board members of nearly every party involved in the litigation. One particularly disconcerting example involves the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, & Byers which currently has three partners serving as board members or advisers to Google or Amazon, including John Doerr who is a board member at all three companies.
The triumvirate of Kleiner board members also includes former Vice-President Al Gore who is a senior advisor to Google. Gore’s presence is a reminder of the close proximity between the political establishment that first gave rise to broad Internet use and the now-powerful companies that benefited from government encouraged non-regulation throughout the 1990’s and into this decade.
The rise of these companies has created an institutionalized imbalance predicated on the absence of basic legal strictures in the technology sector. Without regulation tech companies have fed a decade-long ascendancy on a margin of profit derived from their near universal exemption from state tax laws...Google and Amazon: Making Theft and Price-Fixing the Legal Default
By Alex Green... more
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Secrets are apparently hard to keep in the tech world. After a leak last week of two new Reader models, Sony officially announced the PRS-300 and the PRS-600 along with a drop in e-book prices.Secrets are apparently hard to keep in the tech world. After a leak last week of two... more
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The digital reader rumor mill has unveiled two potential new Sony Readers that have not been announced yet. If the rumors are true, cross your fingers that the prices are reasonable.The digital reader rumor mill has unveiled two potential new Sony Readers that have... more
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E Ink the display maker for electronic book readers such as the Kindle and the Sony Reader, is now producing a display for watchmaker Art Technology who has extended the technology to timepieces, enabling the creation of a digital watch with a curved display surface.
Donald Brewer, CEO of Art Technology stated, “Our hope with E Ink was to take advantage of the high-contrast E Ink display and offer a curved look that we couldn’t have done with an LCD.”
E Ink has popularized electrophoretic displays that consume very little power, require no backlights and are easily readable in sunlight. E Ink’s displays are used in virtually every e-book reader on the market today, thanks to a crisp, readable appearance that is closer to the experience of reading ink on paper than any LCD screen.
For now, the watch introduced by Art Technology is the only timepiece to use E Ink’s display. The watch, called Phosphor, is water-resistant but otherwise light on features. It offers only five different modes, including digital time, analog time, date, alarm and calendar.E Ink the display maker for electronic book readers such as the Kindle and the Sony... more
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