Verizon's Motorola DROID arrives Nov. 6 Verizon Wireless and Motorola today announced that its DROID device, a smartphone that uses the Android 2.0 operating system, will be available on Friday, Nov. 6. Features include high-speed Web browsing, voice-activated search, access to Android applications and connectivity to Verizon's 3G wireless network. Toshiba's fuel cell gadget charger The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) charger is a first of its kind device from a major consumer electronics maker. It was launched in late October in Japan. Sneak Peek: Motorola's Droid smartphone Motorola unveiled the Droid mobile phone on Wednesday, the first Android based phone offered by Verizon Wireless and according to the companies, the first smartphone powered by Android 2.0. Swine Flu app hits iPhone Doctors at Harvard Medical School have condensed their tens of thousands of pages of research into an easy to use iPhone app called HMS Mobile Swine Flu Center. HTC's 4.3-inch screen smart phone launches HTC launched the HD2 smartphone on Wednesday in Taipei. Astak EZ Reader PocketPro E-Book Reader The Astak EZ Reader PocketPro is about the same size as the Sony Reader Pocket Edition. Both have 5-inch, 8-grayscale E Ink screens and cost $199, putting at the small (and inexpensive) end of the e-book reader continuum. But some significant differences--pro and con--distinguish the two; and for all its extra features, the Astak's limited and rather strange font size options are a serious drawback. Sony Reader Pocket Edition E-Book Reader The Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300) is about as inexpensive as e-book readers corrently get: $199 for a slim gadget with a 5-inch, 8-grayscale E Ink screen. It lacks extras that some competitors (most notably the similarly priced Astak EZReader PocketPro) offer, and it's surprisingly heavy (7.75 ounces) for its petite dimensions (6.25 by 4.25 by 0.4 inches), but its top-flight design and usability amply compensate for the missing features. Interead Cool-ER E-Book Reader From its aspirational brand name (the ER in Cool-ER stands for e-book reader) to its hip tinted metallic case, the $249 Cool-ER clearly strives to distinguish itself from the black-and-gray competition--and to a large extent it succeeds. Skinny (0.43 inch thick), lightweight (6.3 ounces), and available in eight cheery colors, this e-book reader resembles an overgrown iPod--not a bad role model for industrial design. Foxit eSlick e-Book Reader Foxit's eSlick e-book reader is curiously named because the device is decidedly unslick, with a utilitarian appearance that lacks the elegance of competing e-book readers. Ultimately, though, its looks are less of a concern than its limited functionality. Amazon Kindle DX E-Book Reader In spite of its larger size, the Amazon Kindle DX ($489 as of October 29, 2009) comes off as a surprisingly lean and elegant contender in the current e-book reader steeplechase. This enlarged version of the Kindle has a number of appealing features--including strong PDF support--along with a few missteps. Sony Reader Touch Edition E-Book Reader The Sony Reader Touch Edition (PRS-600) is Sony's new flagship e-book reader, offers something we haven't seen in previous Sony Readers: a touchscreen and stylus for navigating and for creating drawings and handwritten notes. Whether this innovation enhances the e-book experience is open to debate, but the overall quality of the product is not: Except for its lack of wireless connectivity for purchasing books without connecting to a PC, the Touch Edition is a worthy competitor to Amazon's Kindles--and at this writing a significant presence on our Top 5 E-Book Readers chart. November giveaways Cisco Subnet is giving away free books on VMware vSphere security. Microsoft Subnet is giving away training from New Horizons and free books on Exchange Server 2010. Google Subnet is giving away free books on Android app development. Entry forms can be found on the main contest page. Trivia answers are revealed on each main Subnet page. Network World on Twitter? You bet we are |
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