Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Hoping to emulate the success of Paolo Coelho with his books after releasing them as free digital downloads, Wired managing editor Leander Kahney and his publisher Bill Pollock of No Starch Press have posted two Apple-oriented books on The Pirate Bay. Full electronic versions of the two books, Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, have been seeded via torrent on Pirate Bay and are now available for download.

“We want to see if giving away copies of the books will have any effect on sales.”, says Kahney.

MORE »

Sony and IRex Technologies are introducing Digital books that have the same resolution as the printed document, and also can make the “page” look like a real book, newspaper, etc.  As we mentioned back during CES, the Sony®Reader, (PRS-500) plays MP3’s but headphones aren’t included.  The Reader has a six inch screen and the font can be enlarged up to 200%.  According to Sony’s specs on the device, the rechargeable batteries (recharge time is 4 hours) will allow 7,500 page turns and holds 80 average sized e-books.  Books and more can also be stored on Sony’s MemoryStick or using an SD storage card.

The PRS-500 will be available this spring.  The price is not specified on their web site, but the devices are expected to initially cost $250 to $400.  I remember a few years back they tried to introduce a similar device, but the resolution on these early devices was not the same as the paper in real books.  It was reported that the screens caused eye-strain and headaches.  With the new screens, this should not be an issue.

Let me see… I pay about $35 per month ($420 per year) for a daily newspaper.  Why I pay for it I’m not sure.  Most of it can be viewed on the internet, but there is something about sitting on the couch or eating cereal while I read the paper.  I could purchase the Sony Reader and pay it back in a little more than a year.  Sounds like a great future for the Reader.  Add all iPod-type audio and video features, a cell phone, and internet capabilities and you have it all.

Read

Product: Playaway audio book
Price: $34.99-49.99 depending on the title
Rating: Excellent 8.0/10.0
Pros: Preloaded with audio book, excellent title selection, easy navigation, audio bookmarks, can attach FM transmitter
Cons: Expensive for a single title, single use, limited volume control, hard to read LCD screen
Overall:This is a great product for the less than technologically inclined consumer, without an MP3 player.

The Playaway unit is a digital book that is preloaded onto a MP3 player. This is the best option for those of you (or your mother, father, sister, grandma, dog) that doesn’t have the time, effort, knowledge, or desire you near by to fiddle around with a iPod or other MP3 player to upload an audio book. Playaway requires no other gadgets nor synching required.

The unit runs for twelve hours on one AAA battery (slightly less for me), that can be replaced. They wisely designed it with a pull tag to activate the battery, preventing the package from arriving with a dead battery (they even include a spare). The front of the unit has an hard to read LCD screen especially for older people (possibly the ones that this unit is targeted to) that shows the time, chapter, and actions when other buttons are pressed. It has a ten step volume control that can only be adjusted in series so it get much louder before you can lower the volume. It has three reading speeds, forward, reverse, and a bookmark function that lets you store up to 50 locations per book.

The device was very easy to use and not only supports any headphones (they do supply a pair) but also FM transmitters for use in your car. Playaway will sell very well in airports, train stations, rest stops, and more but be prepared to pay a chunk of change for it, prices start at $34.99 and go up. While convenience and simplicity is certainly worth something after only 5 books you could have gone out and bought a cheap MP3 player and some computer training classes to learn how to load books onto it. Hey, you can always try and sell it to a friend for them to give it a read listen once your done.