Book -- Engadget Mobile

book posts

Buy this book: Chris Ziegler's 'Palm Pre for Dummies'!

by Joshua Topolsky posted Oct 13th 2009 @ 7:03PM

Now look, we're not calling you stupid or anything -- but you don't really know what to do with that phone... do you? Why don't you make things easier on everyone and just pick up this handy tome, written by our in-house Dostoyevsky, Engadget Mobile lead Chris Ziegler. We don't want to ruin anything for you here, but by the time you're done with this sweet piece, you'll be so handy with a Pre, Palm will call you for tech support. Is that overselling it? Nah.

Mobile author pens 400-page opus on phone

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 25th 2009 @ 9:39AM

Peter Brett, not happy to simply bide his time on the daily commute with his Kindle, set about intead writing his own, on his iPaq smartphone. The trips between his home in Brooklyn and his work in Times Square were about 45 minutes, or, about 400 words each way. Over the course of two years, his 100,000 word novel took shape and is now in print, and apparently a bestseller in Poland and England. We've seen something similar in the past, but that 384-page effort pales in comparison, and content aside, he should give himself a pat on the back and a big glossy sticker for effort. Here's hoping HP catches wind and ponies up a new set to replace his current and most likely fairly worn device.

[Via Switched]

Google and Amazon debut cellphone e-books, eye strain

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Feb 6th 2009 @ 2:43PM

Sure, we pretty much figured that the V-Book (which is actually not a book at all) would be the final nail in the coffin of what was once known as "literature," but it looks like both Google and Amazon have other plans. Not only have their been rumblings of a new Kindle, but Amazon has announced that it'll soon be making the popular e-reader's some 230,000 titles available for your cellphone. The company hasn't said when the titles will be available or exactly what phones would be supported -- but we're guessing that we'll be seeing handsets with nice, big screens like the G1 and the iPhone on the list. If that weren't enough, Google's Book Search holdings -- about 1.5 million public domain works -- will soon be available for cellphone-based e-readers like Stanza. This is good news for people who need access to data on the go -- and really good news for anyone who would like to curl up next to the fire with a nice glass of wine and their Curve 8900.

[Image courtesy of Spacesick, Via Unwired View]

Knife Music e-book approved for App Store after language modification

by Darren Murph posted Jan 16th 2009 @ 12:37PM

We're not exactly sure what this says about the officially unofficial App Store policy on explicit content, but David Carnoy's Knife Music has just been approved for distribution in said marketplace after the so-called "objectionable content" was removed. Essentially, the author decided to submit a copy of the novel sans a few foul words, with him noting that it was "more important to have people check the book out -- along with the whole concept of e-books on the iPhone" -- rather than take some stance for personal liberties and whatnot. For those interested, it's ready for download as we speak at no charge, but if you're the indecent type, you'll have to manually add in those swears as you go.

E-book barred from App Store due to obscene content

by Darren Murph posted Dec 24th 2008 @ 4:13AM

Gee, willickers. More App Store madness. In case you needed even more evidence that the whole approval process in Cupertino was in complete disarray, David Carnoy's "contemporary medical thriller" has been rejected from Apple's App Store twice now. The first time it was returned to sender due to a few bugs in the coding; the second time, it was rejected due to the inclusion of "obscene content." Despite all of this, certain apps like iFart and Pull My Finger are allowed to remain, though it stands to reason that those programs are just as "obscene" as a few dirty words and sexual innuendos. Alexandru Brie, a developer and one of the first publishers of e-books to the App Store, feels that "each of Apple's reviewers can interpret the obscene, pornographic or defamatory content clause in a different way." Clearly, he's right.

Author taps out 384-page book using mobile

by Sean Cooper posted Jun 24th 2007 @ 12:25PM

We're usually pretty proud when we're able to crank out a few emails -- or mediate a discussion gone wrong in the comment section -- on our morning commute. Italian author Robert Burnocco has us trumped in style by actually using T9 and his mobile to cobble together a 384-page book in just 17 weeks. He was inspired to write his mobile opus, Compagni di Viaggio (Travelling companion) on the bus as apparently "In public transport, I realized that my imagination was productive and that the ideas abounded." We aren't sure what the buses are like in Italy, but we are usually just surrounded by lunatics and screaming schoolkids on our morning ride, hardly a top spot for creative endeavors.

[Via textually.org]

Epson working on mobile-to-printer e-books

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 6th 2006 @ 8:23PM

It may not have the same sort of high-tech impact as e-ink, but there's something to be said for reading stuff the old fashioned way with a nice, thick stack of paper -- and Epson would like us to use our phones to do it. The Japanese company has hooked up with Sammy NetWorks to include its muPass platform in printers and phones for managing DRMed e-book content via IrDA -- in other words, buy a book on your phone and beam it straight to your printer over an infrared connection. Epson and Sammy are thinking that the setup will be perfect for distributing periodicals (magazines, newspapers, and the like), individual articles, and out-of-print or limited audience material that can't be justified for a regular production run on the press. Integration should be a snap for phone manufacturers, since Sammy's now managed to cram the muPass system into software. War and Peace, anyone?