Sunday, November 25, 2007

Free ebooks from Gutenberb Project

I'm downloading a 4.2Gbyte Free e-book from the Gutenberg project
using bittorrent. This will take a few full days to complete.

While I'm still downloading, I shall upload/seed a Science Fiction
ebook CD of about 300Mbyte using bittorrent.

This science finction CD is very interesting. They are in various
formats. The most common is just plain text.

Many are in plucker format. I use VadeMecum for my pocket PC to read
these ebooks. I had just finished a book by Jesse F. Bone(1916-1986)
titled "The Lani People".

These are most probably unabridged format from the original books.
Many books that I read, were modified versions, such as those of the
Jules Verne series and Arthur Conan Doyle. Isaac Asimov is missing
because he is still alive.

I thought I have read most of the Science Fiction books but when I had
seen them on cinemas I tend to get disinterested in reading them.
However the Lost World may be an exception. I'd like to compare.

I missed many Science Fiction books that I had read recently,
especially about Intergalactic Wars. I had the books but they are
nowhere to be found especially when I need them. Too difficult to
store.

With ebooks, we can store as much as we like in a tiny Flash Memory
Card, with even the tiniest Micro SD holding 2Gbyte.

I've another rz1710 pocket PC that is not equipped with WiFi. It is
ideal as an ebook reader because it is light. I had just replaced its
battery, bought from ebay, and the battery lasted for a few hours,
sufficient for me to finish reading one ebook, the Lani people.

Ir. Hj. Othman bin Hj. Ahmad
Sabah is heaven. Beautiful shark-free beaches and mountains,
next to civilizations with no natural or man-made disasters,
except Malaysia. But how long will it last?
Disclaimer: I only speak for myself.
Homepage: http://othmanA.tripod.com
Blog: http://othmanahmad.blogspot.com

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http://www.technewsworld.com/story/60398.html

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/60398.html

ANALYSIS
Android Will Change the Game, Even if It Fails

By Frank Hayes
Computerworld
11/23/07 4:00 AM PT

Can Android still make a difference? Sure. Android doesn't even have to win. It just has to be in the game. What does Android promise? Lots of third-party applications and better Web browsing, mainly. That's what Nokia, Apple, Symbian, AT&T and the rest will be scrambling to match in the year before Android-based phones hit the market.

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Will the GooglePhone matter? Last week, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) officially unveiled its long-rumored mobile phone software. Dubbed "Android," the Linux-based software stack is being backed by more than 30 partners, including handset makers Motorola, Samsung, LG and HTC, and service providers Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and NTT DoCoMo.

But no Nokia. No AT&T or Verizon. No Apple or Palm.

No Symbian, Microsoft or RIM. Without them, will Android matter at all?

Hold that thought.

The XO Factor

The day after Google's Android announcement, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation said that its low-cost, Linux-based laptops for kids are finally rolling off the assembly line in China. The little green XO laptops, with their built-in mesh networking and low-power-consumption design, will start shipping to Uruguay and Mongolia shortly.

Two years ago, when MIT's Nicholas Negroponte first started showing prototypes of the XO, nobody in the IT business took it seriously. It was too small for adults to use comfortably, too toy-like in appearance, too underpowered to run commercial software. And it was being developed by academics who had never designed a real product, much less sold a single unit. There's just no market for it, the bigwigs said.

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) boss Craig Barrett went out of his way to sneer at the XO, calling it "the $100 gadget." Of course, Intel rival AMD (NYSE: AMD) was supplying the CPUs for the XO. And Intel had its own low-end laptop, the Classmate PC, which it was trying to sell to foreign governments to distribute to students -- without much success.

OLPC's Impact

Two years later, the XO's price has ballooned to almost US$200. And Negroponte, who circled the globe talking up the XO and getting handshake agreements from governments, has discovered that doesn't often translate into an actual purchase.

However, those two years have raised the concept of low-end laptops from an academic fantasy to a marketplace reality.

Today, Intel is selling Classmate PCs by the thousands at about $300 each (its biggest deal is 700,000 in Pakistan), has joined Negroponte's foundation and may use some of the XO's technology in its own products.

Meanwhile, Asustek is now selling an XO-like laptop called the Eee PC in Taiwan for about $250 to consumers. And in the U.S., Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has been selling Acer laptops for under $350.

U.S. and Canadian consumers can even get an XO -- as long as they're willing to pay $399, so a second XO can be shipped to a third-world student.

But before XO has even shipped, it's already a game changer. That nonexistent market for a low-end laptop for kids? Now it exists.

Funny how competition will do that.

Back to Android

Which brings us back to Google's Android. Let's face it: Google has about as much experience making mobile phones as Negroponte had making laptops in 2005. Sure, Google has money to burn, and it has lined up partnerships with major players in the mobile business -- but not the top U.S. players.

Can Android still make a difference? Sure. Android doesn't even have to win. It just has to be in the game.

What does Android promise? Lots of third-party applications and better Web browsing, mainly. That's what Nokia, Apple, Symbian, AT&T and the rest will be scrambling to match in the year before Android-based phones hit the market.

Winning for Losing

So those new capabilities will be out there anyway. And since Google makes its money from ads on Web pages, the 800-pound gorilla of dot-coms wins even if Android loses.

The rest of us? We get Android's benefits either way, too -- easier development, more usable Web apps, the things that can make smart phones better business tools.

All because Google isn't afraid to compete.

And there's nothing the matter with that at all.

© 2007 Computerworld. All rights reserved.
© 2007 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.