News

If you're into streaming media, you've probably already heard of the Slingbox. If you haven't, it's a small set-top box that you hook up to a cable system and your internet connection, and it streams live TV to your personal devices. We recently reviewed one of the devices for our notebook site.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2698

Up until now, though, the Slingbox never had support for any handheld computers. As part of the CES festivities, the company has announced a portable client for Windows Mobile-based devices. The new pocket SlingPlayer supports Windows Mobile 2003, 2003 SE, and 5.0 devices, in both PocketPC and Smartphone flavors. It is not, however, going to be free. The company's press release declines to say how much they'll charge, but it states that pricing and distribution will be announced some time this quarter.

Okay, so they don't get props for selling what would in most cases be a free client. I should hope that at the very least, they make the client a reasonable price and bundle it with new Slingbox sales. Still, it's a very cool system, and you have to balance the added cost against the lack of a monthly fee.

The Slingbox was rated last year as one of the hottest new items at CES, and got similar accolades this year, despite its relative age. One of the reasons why is that unlike semi-competing services like MobiTV and other alternatives, the Slingbox allows you a full range of channels, and access to your own personal system and service--quite valuable if you're more attached to HBO than CNBC.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

Sony pushes ebook reader; Dan Brown sounds off

Well, they may be something of a twitching corpse, but ebooks are actually getting a little ink, no pun intended. One of the gadgets being shown off at the CES is Sony's new hardware ebook reader, cleverly named Reader. Oooh, that's sure to move some units. The most interesting feature of the device is that it uses electronic ink for its display. Unlike LCD screens, electronic ink doesn't require a backlight to be seen in many environments. It would, however, require external light to be read in the dark. The device claims to hold 80 average sized books (meaning 64 MB of internal memory) and has SD or Memory Stick expansion.

Of course, being Sony, they've also made sure to equip the device with a Kiss Of Death as standard equipment. Two, in fact. First, the device will have a retail price of around $300, which is absolutely insane if you want people to actually purchase the things. Second, the only two formats that the device reads are PDF and Sony's own proprietary ebook format. Just for good measure, you can only use a book on six different devices--or, more accurately, your ebook reader can only bork six times before it permanently destroys your book collection, and you have to purchase them all again. Isn't DRM wonderful?

Really, I fail to understand why, in this day and age, a company still thinks that a dedicated ebook reader will fly. Hint to Sony: this has been tried before. To quote a book, they tried and died. Rocket eBook? SoftBook? Nuvomedia REB? GlassBook? Franklin eBookMan? Did you people even do any research before you built this thing, or did an executive just decide that hey, that would be a nifty idea...?

http://products.sel.sony.com/pa/PRS/

In related ebook news, during the Sony launch, Dan Brown (no relation), author of the bestselling Da Vinci Code, talked about the future of ebooks.

"In 1997, my first novel, Digital Fortress, appeared on the first e-book bestseller list.  It was the number one selling e-book on the planet with about 12 copies.

"E-books offer me features that traditional books do not.  If I'm on a trip for research, I can bring an enormous number of books with me.  If I want a new book, I can download it even if it's two o'clock in the morning and no book stores are open.

...

"For the new generation, e-books will be as natural to them as television is to us. E-books are here.  I believe they are her tostay.  Welcome to the wonderful world of choice." 

http://engadget.com/2006/01/05/live-coverage-of-sonys-sir-howard-stringer/

Demos of rollable display, ultra-high-res LCD

They're not about to replace conventional LCD displays, but companies are actively researching plenty of new forms of displays that may eventually find their way into mobile devices.

Phillips has been working on how to make flexible displays, and showed off one of their creations during the CES. The 5" QVGA polymer screen is just 100 micrometers thick--that's about one 250th of an inch, or half the width of a human hair. The downside is that it's monochrome, and not touch sensitive, so it still has a ways to go before it will be seen in serious applications.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?ContentId=5708

LG, on the other hand, is more interested in resolution. They've built a 2.4 inch LCD panel with a resolution of 640 x 480. However, the LCD also uses sub-pixel rendering technology, which allows for greater resolution and sharpness than otherwise allowed. This permits LG's design to have an "effective" resolution of up to 1440 x 960. In 2.4 inches. Yeouch. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have that sort of option, but you'd have to use it right, otherwise you'll need a combination stylus and magnifying glass.

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-10938-VGA+SPR(Sub+Pixel+Rendering)+LCD+by+LG.html