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Dual-screen Android Pocket eDGe (hands-on)

Sometimes, convergence between two devices happens so naturally that you hardly notice. You wake up, and your iPod and your phone are the same thing, and you wonder how you ever managed them as separate devices.

Some convergence is a bit more blunt. Case in point--the Entourage eDGe, a dual-screen tablet and e-book reader CNET reviewed in March of this year. In a perfect world, there would be one screen that offers e-ink readability as well as LCD features like color, photos, and video playback. Not content to sit and wait for this mythical color e-ink technology to arrive, Entourage literally links the two screen types together to deliver the best of both.

Is it an elegant solution? Nope. But it works, and it delivers the experience of marking and annotating e-books like nothing else on the market. Its biggest problem (aside from the $490 price) was its unwieldy size.

To answer this criticism, Entourage is now selling the Pocket eDGe--a scaled-down version of its original product offered at a scaled down price of $399.

The two connected screens of the Pocket eDGe include a 6-inch e-ink Wacom tablet on the left, and a 7-inch (800x480) resistive LCD touch screen on the right. Like the original eDGe, the Pocket version includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g, and USB sync and host ports. You also get a microSD memory slot to expand on the 3GB of internal memory, built-in microphone, and built-in 2 megapixel camera capable of video and stills.

During our hands-on demonstration of the Pocket eDGe, we noticed that the modified Android 1.6 OS performs much faster than original eDGe we tested in March. We're told the performance boost is entirely due to software optimizations Entourage has rolled out to users over the past few months.

Compared with any other popular e-reader on the market, the Pocket eDGe is still a little chunky at a half inch thick when open, and an inch thick closed up. Still, we have to admit, it's a much more portable proposition than its predecessor. … Read more

New parent for Diapers.com

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Amazon is buying the parent company of Diapers.com and Soap.com

Google tests a product to let you record Google Voice calls in Gmail

Google disallows Facebook from pulling Gmail contacts to find friends

The BlackBerry Torch is now available for $99 in black, red, or white

A Chinese company is set to unveil a color e-ink eReader

November 17 will be the day to unfriend your undesirables on Facebook

But don't unfriend the Queen of England because she just joined Facebook

The Hex band gives you a way to be … Read more

The company behind Sony's e-reader touch-screen technology

When Sony's latest e-readers were introduced recently, a lot of people wondered whether the touch-screen interface would be improved after previous attempts met with complaints of screen glare, contrast issues, and only so-so responsiveness. We expected it would be better, but were surprised by how well the touch-screen technology worked. So, what's the secret sauce?

Well, what's interesting is that Sony didn't use its own technology but actually licensed it from another company called Neonode. We're not saying that Sony never does this, but the company does take a certain pride in developing products with its own proprietary technology.

The latest Sony Readers, including the Pocket Edition PRS-350 ($180), Touch Edition PRS-650 ($230), and Daily Edition PRS-950 ($300), use a customized version of Neonode's optical touch-screen technology.

Neonode says its patented touch-screen technology, zForce, "supports high resolution pen writing in combination with market leading finger navigation including gestures, multitouch, sweeps and much more. zForce uses no overlay (like resistive and capacitive touch screens) on top of the e-ink display thus creating a 100 percent clear window free from reflexes and parallax effects and produces a true paper like experience."

The company also adds that its zForce technology is energy efficient and reduces the power consumption for so-called "low-power consumption" mobile electronics devices.

Neonode is a Swedish company that's been around for a while and even made some mobile phones, including the Neonode 2 in 2007. Back in 2008, the company filed for bankruptcy and many thought it had died but it's now become solely focused on licensing out its infrared-based touch-screen technology. … Read more

What the next Kindle will look like

After Barnes & Noble unveiled its Nook Color e-reader recently, I got a few e-mails from folks asking me what I thought Amazon.com was up to and whether Jeff Bezos had some sort of color device up his sleeve. I'd written an article a few months back about a possible Amazon Android tablet and they wanted to know whether they should opt for the Nook Color or wait for an Amazon tablet. Did I know if a Kindle Color was coming soon?

Well, for starters, I don't think we'll see a color e-reader from Amazon this year--or probably anytime soon. I think Amazon really sees the iPad as its color e-reader of the moment. A lot of people are using the Kindle app on the iPad (and iPhone), even though Apple has iBooks. Of course, Barnes & Noble also has a Nook app for the iPad, and Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo want their customers to know they can tap into one of these platforms from a variety of devices and share e-books across those devices. I can't tell you what percentage of iPad owners are using the Kindle app to shop for e-books, but I'd guess it's a fairly large number, judging from my informal poll of colleagues and friends and my own use (I rarely use iBooks and have both Kindle and Nook accounts).

Barnes & Noble has been smart enough to price its "reader's" tablet at $249, which is pretty reasonable. However, while that's half the price of the entry-level iPad, the fact is that Apple is still going to sell a ton of iPads this holiday season and Amazon will be quite content to have those buyers download the Kindle app. After all, it's much easier to deal with software than hardware, and if you have the design geniuses at Apple serving up the hardware for you, it's a win-win. Next April, Apple will have a new iPad--presumably with a better screen--and despite Steve Jobs saying the company wasn't doing an iPad Mini, there's still the distinct possibility of a smaller iPad, perhaps with a 7-inch screen.

So if Amazon appears willing to let others do much of its hardware dirty work for it, what's the road map for Amazon-branded Kindle devices? … Read more

LCD vs. e-ink: The eyestrain debate

As most people know by now, Barnes & Noble is releasing a new Nook Color e-reader in a few weeks, and that e-reader's color screen is an LCD. As soon as the company announced that its new e-reader had an LCD and not some sort of more exotic screen technology, some readers cried foul. In fact, the first comment out of the gate on our Barnes & Noble unveils Nook Color post was about eyestrain.

"It's very neat-looking, and the price point seems aggressive enough to make an impact for sure. That being said, is eyestrain an issue? I thought the benefit of e-ink was a combination of ease of reading, outdoor or well-lit reading, and battery life..."

A little farther down, another commenter wrote: "LCD technology for an eReader is going backwards for me. It's not that reading on an LCD is so horrible for me, but rather reading on an e-Ink display is so much more pleasing to my eyes."

Other readers came down more favorably on the side of LCD, saying they stare at a computer screen all day and it doesn't bother them. However you look at it, though, the Nook Color hasn't even hit stores yet and the debate over eyestrain is already raging. We got some of this when the iPad came out, but the discussion is more amped up because Barnes & Noble is calling the Nook Color the "reader's tablet," whereas the iPad hasn't been marketed first and foremost as an e-reader.

When we asked William Lynch, Barnes & Noble's CEO, about the potential for eyestrain with Nook Color screen, he said the company had done extensive research on displays and discovered that eyestrain with LCDs was not the huge issue many people were making it out to be. Furthermore, the company is also using a high-resolution next-generation panel from LG that's backlit with LED.

Now, it's not that I don't take Mr. Lynch at his word, but I thought I'd put in a call to an impartial third-party who might be able to shed some light on the issue. So I dialed up my ophthalmologist, Dr. Mark Hornfeld, who has a practice in Manhattan. I said, hey, Mark (yes, I call him by his first name), do any of your patients talk about reading with the iPad, Nook, and Kindle? Are people concerned about eyestrain when using these new e-readers? What's the deal?… Read more

Blast aliens in a notebook

Simplicity is the name of the game in this side-scrolling, alien-blasting, shooter from Chillingo. The unique artistic style of InkVaders HD takes advantage of iPad's amazing screen, combining retro-inspired "doodle chic" animation and live-action hand interactions.

In this game, you get to use three different weapon styles--futuristic energy guns, everyday physical attacks, and the always exciting grenade launchers--to guide Generic Marine (or G, to his friends) in his quest to destroy Martians left and right. InkVaders HD has an easy-to-blast interface, which means you'll be working your way through aliens in no time.

Three play modes (… Read more

All Apple news

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: Apple's new iPods iOS updates included in Apple's Fall lineup Streaming AppleTV Windows Phone 7 goes to OEMs Another blow to net neutrality New Sony e-readers

Apple severs ties with tablet-design firm

Apple has ended a nearly 10-year partnership with engineering-design firm SurfaceInk, after the latter showed off a tablet prototype of its own, according to The New York Times.

SurfaceInk CEO Eric Bauswell told the Times on Thursday that they parted ways after SurfaceInk recently unveiled a 12.1-inch, Linux-based tablet--a potential rival to Apple's iPad. Bauswell said that Apple viewed the product as a threat.

SurfaceInk, which also has a turnkey business that creates and licenses products, has enjoyed success in the tech world. According to its site, the company's clients have included Hewlett-Packard, Palm, and Belkin.

Apple … Read more

InkVaders HD: Blast aliens on your spiral-bound notebook

If you ever sat in third grade math class imagining that the doodles covering your spiral-bound notebook could come to life, InkVaders HD for iPad is for you.

Simplicity is the name of the game in this side-scrolling, alien-blasting, shooter from Chillingo. The unique artistic style of InkVaders HD takes advantage of iPad's amazing screen, combining retro-inspired "doodle chic" animation and live-action hand interactions.

You'll get to use three weapon styles--futuristic energy guns, everyday physical attacks, and the always exciting grenade launchers--to guide Generic Marine (or "G" to his friends) in his quest to … Read more