I woke up this morning to some very disappointing news from Amazon.com, the real king of all media (it was actually posted yesterday).  Well, let me back up for a minute.  One of the features I really like on the Kindle 2 is WhisperSync, which is an easy way to get content of all types onto your Kindle.  all you have to do is email the document to a special address, and it will appear on your Kindle.  Sure, it was not always formatted exactly the way you wanted, so it does not fit perfectly onto your screen.  But you know what?  You just paid ten cents per document,n so stop that whining,

Well, this is about to change May 4.  Rather than being a flat fee per document,Amazon is changing the fee structure entirely.  It will now cost fifteen cents per megabyte.  And since all costs are rounded up, that means the minimum cost will be fifteen cents per document.  So, now, you will need to reach a little deeper into your pockets the next time you want that document converted.  Fortunately, you can avoid all of this entirely by using the alternate free conversion email (username@free.kindle.com). 

Hit the jump for the full press release (which also includes some information about new formats to be available for conversion).

(…)
Read the rest of Just when I Was Really Enjoying My Kindle 2… (220 words)

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Just caught this over at TechCrunch, and all I can say is Holy (you know what).  Apparently, someone let loose that a Palm Pre 2 (or related WebOS device) could be coming as soon as this fall.  Here is about all the information TechCrunch could offer:

The details are still slim – it’s a smaller device (and hopefully that means slimmer), but it will run Palm’s new WebOS operating system that everyone is raving about. We’re trying to determine if the device has a physical keyboard – no word on that yet.

Not a lot of detail, but it does offer quite a few areas of concern.  What could news like this, true or not, mean for initial sales of the Palm Pre?  A lot of people may hear this rumor and decide to wait for the new version (it is only a few months away).  I also wonder if Palm is not rapid firing their releases in order to essentially minimize the news cycle (or attempt to) of the upcoming iPhone 3. 

Finally, and more importantly, what the heck is WebOS going to look like?  How will it work?  Most of us have not even seen a WebOS device, and this already makes the initial offering look obsolete.  Rumors, innuendo, and speculation persist.  Let us know what you think.

[via TechCrunch]

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It’s funny how things go round in circles, especially in the tech world. I’ve written about “Pink” before, so I’m surprised today to see not one or two posts on other sites running with it again.

The Question is as always, what is Pink? Some have it that it’s a revived Zune phone, Others have it that it’s a new collaboration between Verizon and Microsoft to actually create an iPhone Killer, the most recent post I can find is saying Motorola is building it, I thought they were done with WinMo? The latest goes that the MotoSurf A310 from Motorola is going to be the iPhone Killer from Verizon, but hang on isn’t Verizon getting the iPhone?

This is just one of the round about, random, sorts of rumours I’ve seen evolve for a while, and to think it’s going to get bigger, and more exaggerated, will obviously happen! What is Microsoft Pink supposed to be, a hardware device produced by, who knows, to challenge the iPhone, and bring Windows Mobile to the fore front of consumer devices!

If you ask me do I have doubts? I’d say “I don’t know”

I’m ever hopeful, and not wanting to denigrate the Zune platform in any way, I just can’t see a device based on all of this speculation, emerging any time soon.

Via ZDnet

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Post tags: hardware, JAMM, just another mobile monday, microsoftt zune, peter murphy, pink, rumor

I guess the word ‘silly’ kinda tipped you off on what I think of Sony’s proprietary cartridge disc thing. It’s not that the games are way too pricey for physical copies, but rather that they can sometimes take years to load. The difference between booting a digital copy from my memory stick and loading the game from a UMD can be like night and day. But if we were to mention prices, I also like the fact that I can find certain games on the Sony Store for a mere $15.99 instead of the $20-30 they’d demand on store shelves.

But enough of my blabbering, you want to know about that PSP mockup at the top of the post. Rumour has it that the UMD slot is being ditched and being replaced with 8 or 16GB of flash memory, the controls will magically come out from under the huge sliding screen, and they’re still sticking with the one analog stick deal. As a PSP owner, I think that’s a horrible idea. One of the things I find that really holds the system back is the fact that there’s no way to tightly control movement and aim with only one stick. I understand that it might not  be as simple as adding a couple of new wires to magically enable the system to see new controls, but if Sony is aiming to make this a truly portable Playstation and not simply a Playsholder, then for the love of God of War, give us our second stick!

[news and pic from Slashgear]

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There is a real buzz about the Interwebs about the Palm Pre and its release date (would that be a Pre-release??)  In this corner, you have May 16, 2009.  A fairly plausible date, and only about two weeks from Monday.  On the other hand, rumors are starting to percolate now that we may have to wait until June 7.  That may seem like only a few weeks, but don’t be fooled.  Palm’s windows of opportunity may be narrowing significantly.  The closer it approaches to the release of iPhone 3 this summer, the more the Pre’s buzz will get drowned out by the legions of iPhone acolytes.  So, the best advice for Palm would be to release it as soon as possible in order to maximize the time before the iPhone buzz machine begins.  In fact, I am free today…what do you say, Palm.

[Via Precentral]

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HTC has been making smart devices for a very, very long time, but they’ve only started advertising themselves as a brand relatively recently. One of the folks that helps them get the HTC name into homes and onto computer screens is Eric Lin, global PR manager who holds all the newest, coolest phones in his hand. Akihabaranews recently cornered him for an interview and he discusses HTC’s current design focuses, their latest and greatest WinMo smartphones, and he almost, almost made me pre-order a Touch Pro 2 tonight. I pressed my iPhone to my forehead to wipe the sweat off and the sudden shock of its icy, metallic back was the only thing that kept me from completing an order. Dear god, those Touch phones look good!

You can check out the interview which starts here and ends here.

[news via wmwexperts via akhibaranews]

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