July 30th, 2009

Evernote announces PDF search capability

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 4:00 am

Categories: Mobile software, On the road, Tablet PC, Ultra portable PC, mobile services

Tags: Adobe PDF, Search Technology, Evernote, Matthew Miller

Regular readers here know that I am a big fan of the Evernote application that I use on my PC, Mac, and mobile phones. Evernote just announced an amazing new feature for premium subscribers (I have been a premium subscriber since day 1) that I am sure will be great news for many of you. Evernote now supports PDF Search capabilities so the PDF documents you upload to your account go through their search recognition technology engine servers and are fully searchable within minutes. Evernote will begin processing all of your existing non-searchable PDF documents within the next week so they will be searchable soon while new documents will be searchable right away.

Searching PDFs with the Adobe software is sometimes a useless endeavor since some PDF documents are not searchable. With Evernote and the desktop client you can run a PDF document through your premium account and then right click (on the desktop version) to export this searchable PDF. Even better, you can search right within Evernote to find the word(s) you are looking for in any document you have in your account.

Remember, this new searchable PDF support is a premium account holder benefit so check out their subscription model and seriously consider this option. I think it is well worth the $45/year and am happy to pay every year for my premium account.

July 29th, 2009

Novatel announces new MiFi 2372 for North American GSM networks

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 6:57 am

Categories: Gadgets, On the road

Tags: Novatel Wireless, Network, Advertising & Promotion, Marketing, Matthew Miller

One of the most popular mobile accessories that I have heard about from others who travel quite a bit is the Novatel Wireless MiFi. I personally have not tried one out because they have been available on Sprint and Verizon Wireless and I don’t get a good enough signal where I live with these carriers to pay for another mobile data service. Novatel Wireless just announced the MiFi 2372 HSPA device that is optimized for North American GSM networks and worldwide usage with a GSM carrier. There have been unlocked ones you could pick up from an importer, but this newest model also has other features integrated into it.

Novatel has opened up the Novatel Developer’s Lounge so that developers can download the MiFi applications programming interfaces and programmer guide to create new interfaces for the device.

There are no detailed specifications yet available on the frequencies supported with this newest MiFi (kind of important with an announcement such as this), but I imagine it will have 850/2100 MHz support for the US so that AT&T customers can use the device. It would be great to see T-Mobile’s 1700 MHz frequency supported as well. Since it is a global solution the 2100 MHz frequency for other parts of the world should also be present.

July 22nd, 2009

Dead Finger Tech: Amazon Kindle ebook reader

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 1:22 pm

Categories: Gadgets, Kindle, On the road, ebooks

Tags: Mobile, Smart Phone, Amazon.com Inc., Amazon Kindle, E-books, Smart Phones, Advertising & Promotion, Cellular Phones, Handhelds, Personal Technology

You may have heard the term Dead Finger Tech before and if not, it relates to that piece of technology that you find essential or important enough to you that someone will have to pry it from your cold, dead fingers. The ZDNet technical bloggers are posting their DFT posts over the next week or two and for the Mobile Gadgeteer blog I had to think about the best piece of mobile gear (not a smartphone) that I treasure. So many pieces of my mobile gear (GPS, MP3 player, video player, portable gaming machine, ebook reader, etc.) can all be integrated into my smartphones so it came down to what one function do I like to perform off of my high end smartphone. Thus, my selected Dead Finger Tech gear is the Amazon Kindle device.

I can hear the screams of mobile gadget fans everywhere wondering why in the world I would select a black and white display large device with a high price tag as my DFT item. I grew up as an avid reader who actually used to pass on movie nights with my buddies to finish a good book I couldn’t put down. I moved to reading books on my PDAs back in the good old days of Palm and kept that up for several years while still diving into paper books. I then discovered the Sony Reader and it changed my reading preference as I found the eInk technology to offer a better reading experience than a paper book and would only read a paper book if someone gave it to me as a gift and it was compelling. I was slow to try the original Kindle since I was satisfied with my Sony Reader, but then gave it a try and was immediately sold by the ability to discover new books and download them with ease without the need for a PC. I rarely use the Kindle to browse the Internet using the browser and have little desire to read work documents on the device. I am primarily interested in book content and that is why the Kindle satisfies me.

Unlike a smartphone too, I enjoy the uninterrupted reading experience on the Kindle and find a book light to be an essential accessory for reading in bed or in poorly litte public transportation environments. I also commute by train 2 hours a day and travel by plane often for business so the Kindle is a welcome companion that always gives me an assortment of content to enjoy. I generally carry about 30 books (and the Reader’s Digest) on my Kindle so I have never run out of content to read. In the past I would finish a good paper book and then have to find a store to pick up something else, but this is no longer an issue for me.

Any other readers consider the Amazon Kindle their piece of Dead Finger Tech?

July 22nd, 2009

Will pre-teens really adopt the new iPod touch as a VoIP phone?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:39 am

Categories: Apple, Gadgets, Rumors, VoIP

Tags: VoIP, Phone, Apple iPod, Apple iPod Touch, VoIP Phone, Digital Music, Digital Media, Telephony, Telecommunications, Personal Technology

I generally agree with my friend Andy Abramsom and greatly respect his opinion. He posted today on why he thinks the upcoming rumored iPod touch will be huge for VoIP and multimedia, but I don’t think it will have as big of an impact with the teen crowd as he indicates. This new device is rumored to have an integrated microphone, digital camera, and 64GB of memory. I agree that the savvy traveler may desire to use this new device to connect via WiFi and place and receive inexpensive VoIP calls. However, this same traveler can do this now with the iPhone and SIM card removed so I don’t think there will be a huge impact in iPod touch sales due to the microphone.

Andy sees disruptive uptake in the pre-teen who needs a phone, but cannot afford a contract. As a father of a couple of teen daughters, who have cell phones and an iPod touch, I honestly cannot see an iPod touch serving as a phone replacement for a couple of reasons. My girls text 90% of the time they use their phone and the only time they really place calls is to me and my wife. Also, in order to use the iPod touch as a phone they would have to be connected to a WiFi hotspot and the only place they really have that access is at home where they can just connect to their IM client and chat today. I would like to hear more about the basis behind Andy’s belief that pre-teens will use the iPod touch via VoIP. Another issue is the training and education needed to enable VoIP, but I suppose this can be a simple experience through applications like Truphone and Skype.

Given how much fun my daughters have with the Nintendo DSi’s rather limited camera, I do think that the addition of the camera can have a huge impact on iPod touch sales for those younger consumers. I imagine Apple or third party developers will also come out with software similar to what we see on the DSi so that people can have a lot of fun manipulating photos and video footage. We may soon see some crazy videos on YouTube, but I think it is also important for parents to keep an eye on what is being posted for the world to see from their kids. It looks like the iPod touch could add another item to a parent’s list of things to closely monitor as they seek to keep their children safe.

July 22nd, 2009

Plastic Logic Reader will connect via AT&T and WiFi

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:17 am

Categories: Gadgets, Kindle, ebooks

Tags: Plastic Logic, AT&T Corp., Wireless LANs, Wi-Fi, Wireless And Mobility, Matthew Miller

Larry posted the news on the Plastic Logic eReader device that will launch in early 2010 in a partnership with Barnes & Noble. We received news today that the Plastic Logic Reader will also connect wirelessly to the Internet like the Kindle, but through the AT&T 3G data network. Unlike the Amazon Kindle devices, you will also be able to connect your Plastic Logic Reader through WiFi as well as this AT&T connection.

I love my Kindle 2 device for reading books and discovering new books on the fly, but there are several features of this Plastic Logic Reader device that are even more compelling than the Kindle and I am fairly certain one will end up in my hands. Some of the unique features not found on the Kindle are:

• Support for PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents with no conversion required
• International support for wireless connectivity through the AT&T network
• WiFi support, including AT&T’s hotspots throughout the world
• Larger display (smaller than the Kindle DX) in a 8.5 x 11 size
• Plastic, durable touch screen display technology

It looks like the Plastic Logic Reader is the electronic ink reader targeted more towards the enterprise customer with all the native file support and plastic display. The different wireless radios also make it a device that can be connected just about anywhere in the world.

July 21st, 2009

Review: e-Luminator2 book light and three M-Edge Kindle cases

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:00 am

Categories: Gadgets, Kindle, Review, ebooks

Tags: Dell Latitude, Amazon Kindle, e-Luminator, Latitude Jacket, Arm Length, Wrap-up M-Edge, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Matthew Miller

I thoroughly enjoy my Amazon Kindle 2 device and it now lives permanently in a M-Edge Prodigy Jacket along with an e-Luminator book light. I find the case to be extremely useful and think a case like this with securing tabs on the right side may be preventing my Kindle 2 from cracking like the ebook readers in the Amazon case with the unsecured right sides. The e-Luminator is a fantastic accessory so you can imagine I was pretty excited to hear about a second version, the e-Luminator2, with some nice improvements while still full compatible with existing Kindle cases. M-Edge also sent along a couple other cases for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX that I will cover in my thoughts below. Check out my image gallery of the e-Luminator2 and three other M-Edge cases.

	Image Gallery:A look at the new M-Edge e-Luminator2 and Kindle Jackets for the Kindle2 and Kindle DX.

M-Edge sent along the e-Luminator2 for Amazon Kindle 2, Latitude jacket for the Kindle 2, and Sleeve jackets for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. I thoroughly enjoy the M-Edge Genuine Leather Prodigy Jacket and if you are looking for a nice Kindle 2 case you can’t go wrong with this model. That said, I was willing to take a look at a couple of their other offerings as well to see if there was a need or use for something different. I don’t have a Kindle DX to try out the Sleeve jacket with, but will give you a rundown of this case too.

M-Edge e-Luminator 2 for Amazon Kindle

The e-Luminator2 book light is available now at the launch special price of $19.99 (regular $24.99) and to use it you will need some kind of carrying case that supports the mounting arm. Many of their cases support the e-Luminator light so check them out before buying the light. Here is a list of the new features found in the e-Luminator2 compared to the e-Luminator:

• Modified flexible neck design (bends at tighter angles for more custom locations)
• Rotating support base (allows you to rotate light arm up to 180 degrees)
• Two LED brightness levels
• Use of AAA standard battery (no more A23 battery!)

The AAA battery is reported to give you more than 20 hours of light usage while the LED bulb should never need replacing. As listed above you also now have Read the rest of this entry »

July 14th, 2009

First shot of the Zune HD Marketplace appears

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:49 am

Categories: MP3 players, Microsoft, Mobile software, Zune

Tags: Microsoft Zune, Matthew Miller

Engadget posted an image they found on Twitter (seen on the right) that shows the future Zune HD Marketplace on a Zune HD device. While the picture may not show a whole lot of what we can expect, Adam over at Zune Thoughts wrote up a few thoughts to consider regarding this new on-device Marketplace layout.

The Zune HD should be launching on 8 September so we shouldn’t have to wait much longer to get our hands on a Zune HD and check out the store for ourselves. My Zune 4GB is getting a bit old and the Zune HD is looking like a nice alternative that I may just have to check out.

July 13th, 2009

Can Apple launch a tablet device and do what it did with the iPhone?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 12:21 pm

Categories: Apple, Gadgets, Rumors, Tablet PC, UMPC, Ultra portable PC

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Inc., Tablets, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Matthew Miller

Both Andrew and Jason posted the news about the latest Apple tablet computer rumor that has the 9.7 inch device slated for an October release for $800. As a guy who tried a few Windows Tablet PC devices in the past, but rarely even used the touch screen functionality of the Tablets I at first just kind of shrugged off this latest rumor. Then I paused and thought a bit more about what Apple did with the smartphone market after launching the iPhone and now I think there are some real possibilities here for Apple to again demonstrate how something like a large screen tablet can be done right.

We have had Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Nokia, and Palm smartphones around for years when the Apple iPhone was launched. Those of us in the mobile industry and those in corporate environments were fairly familiar with wireless data access, but it seems that very few consumers fully understood what a phone could do for them. Apple changed the game with the iPhone launch and their huge marketing campaign that made people aware of what these devices could do. I actually think that Apple and the iPhone probably helped out every mobile operating system as it brought a level of understanding to the entire mobile phone community and then people started realizing there were more choices available.

The Tablet PC and UMPC market never really took off for Microsoft and was a pretty niche market with a few selected areas of industry (primarily healthcare and field workers) that embraced the technology and devices. Netbooks swooped in at low prices and in form factors that people are used to working with and I think essentially killed off any possibility of Tablet PCs ever taking off. Tablet PCs and UMPCs were priced too high for consumers at $1,000 to $2,500+ with little real advantage over a much cheaper notebook.

If Apple can launch a tablet form factor device for $800, people may find a way to afford it. Apple is going to have to “tell the story” (something my buddy Michael Gartenberg likes to say) of why and how this tablet device can improve your life and be an enjoyable product. Apple will probably sell at least a million right off the bat to Apple fans, but they also need to go beyond that base to have a successful product. Given what Apple has done with the iPhone and the App Store I am actually excited to see what that looks like in a device of this form factor.

I don’t think they can just release a MacBook without a keyboard and a touch sensitive on-screen keyboard and have a product that everyone wants to own, which may be why it is taking so long to come out with a tablet Apple device. Will we see some new text input technology? Will we see some new way to manage and use your media content from the Apple tablet? Will social networking, Internet browsing, and sharing media with family and friends have a whole new look? There are some cool things Apple can do here with this form factor and we will just have to continue to wait and see if this rumored device ever appears.

July 7th, 2009

Google Chrome OS announced, It should just work

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 11:04 pm

Categories: Linux, Mobile software, Netbook, On the road, Ultra portable PC, mobile services

Tags: Google Inc., Operating System, Google Chrome, Netbook, Google Chrome OS, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Operating Systems, Hardware, Software, Matthew Miller

We knew it was only a matter of time before Google launched their own competing operating system and with all of the applications and services they have it was a fairly natural progression. Tonight, Google announced the upcoming Google Chrome OS is an open source operating system primarily intended to be rolled out on netbooks. Google stated that netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available the second half of 2010 so we still have about a year before we see it in action. I have a MSI Wind netbook and enjoy running Windows XP on it, but since I also thoroughly enjoy the Google Chrome browser and many of their services I am very interested in seeing Google Chrome OS running on this device.

Google stated that the OS is designed to be fast and lightweight so you can get to the Internet in seconds. It appears to be highly focused on the “cloud” which makes sense given that Google provides so many cloud services at this time.

I particularly like to hear this statement, “We are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.” Isn’t that what we all want?

Google also made sure to mention Android in their announcement and attempts to distinguish it from Google Chrome OS. Even after reading their statement (copied below) a few times I still don’t really see much of a difference between the two. It seems to me that people with Android smartphones spend most of their time on the web too.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

Competition in the mobile space is usually always good since it makes everyone who wants to compete push to turn out better products and I am excited to see what the Google Chrome Operating System brings us in 2010, are you?

July 7th, 2009

Sony announces $499 Vaio W netbook

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 6:50 am

Categories: Netbook, On the road, Ultra portable PC

Tags: Sony Corp., Sony Vaio, Netbook, Sony Vaio W, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Desktops, Hardware, Matthew Miller

Andrew wrote about the arrival of the 99 cent netbook yesterday and today we hear about the $499 netbook from Sony. The 99 cent netbook really is the much pricier model because you have to combine that with a whopping $60/month data access fee (you do get wireless data access from a carrier too). While the new Sony model is a bit expensive for a netbook today, it is actually the lowest price Sony laptop available. Sony previously launched their Vaio P ultra portable notebook, but that was priced at $899 and had a rather unique form factor.

The Sony Vaio W has the following specifications:

• 10.1 inch 1366×768 LED backlit display
• 160GB hard drive
• 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor
• 1GB RAM
• Windows XP operating system
• Bluetooth
• 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
• VGA out port
• Two USB ports
• Ethernet port
• Integrated webcam
• MemoryStick/SD card reader (of course)
• 3-cell battery good for reported three hours

The keyboard is listed as 86% full size. While Sony is known for high quality products, I am not sure the price will be competitive given that there are so many other high quality alternatives available in 2nd, 3rd, and more generation from ASUS, MSI, and others.

The Sony Vaio W should be available in August for $499 and available in pink, white, and brown. Thanks to Engadget for the press release and press image.