When The Truth Finally Comes Out, It Is Brutal

Ten reasons why an Android phone is not a phone for me.

This is excellent. The first truthful account I’ve read.

Some choices quotes:

For whatever weird reason the tech news scene tends to grant everything coming out of Google with premature praise.

Welcome to the Planet of the Tech Gadget Whores. It’s a rude awakening, isn’t it? They’ll open their mouths to any insertion by a large corporation so they can flaunt their early access to shiny things. That’s what matters to them — not you, the reader and potential purchaser.

I don’t consider it to be a consumer’s primary task to fix a flawed smart phone OS

Exactly! People shouldn’t have to fix something that’s supposed to be a tool. I’ve been down this road investigating the Palm Pre. People told me of all the shortcomings and all of these ridiculous patches that would “fix” them. Who in their right mind wants to have to deal with that? I’ve been down this road with the original Palm OS and hacks. Been there, done that. Go get lost now.

It’s Google’s freaking operating system and they should have imposed at least basic means of quality assurance to make sure that Android partners provide a consistent experience to consumers.

This is what Palm isn’t getting: they can offer that. Unfortunately, they’ve retreated into the crowded and cutthroat cellphone space instead of swerving and avoiding it altogether with a mini-tablet. They would have been well ahead of the game by now. The lust of the market would have caught up to them and they’d own the mini-tablet space right now instead of people looking at the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, the Camangi WebStation, and the upcoming Dell Streak, Notion Ink Adam, and the ICD device. Without having to devote resources to the telephony aspects of a device, they could have conquered all the current shortcomings in webOS and it would have been a superior product to what it is now.

Go read that post. It’s the kind of writing we should come across every damn day on the Internet. Instead we are constantly fooled by the hype of self-interested whores.

2010 In Review

Everyone has already told you what 2009 was like.

And some think they’re telling you what 2010 will be.

I will instead tell you what 2010 was.

First Picture Of Camangi Android Mini-Tablet In America!

Click = big

Judie has done an unboxing video that will appear at Gear Diary once it’s been processed by the elves at YouTube.

Previously here:

Judie Lipsett Gets First Camangi Android Mini-Tablet In America!
Why A 7-Inch iTablet Makes Sense
Sizes: Sony Reader Daily Edition Vs. Camangi WebStation
Get The Camangi WebStation Mini-Tablet Quick Start Guide For Free!
First Pictures Of Aldiko Running On A 10-Inch Screen!
Camangi WebStation Pre-Orders Are Go
Android OS/Archos 5 Internet Tablet Notes For Saturday November 28, 2009
Camangi Android Mini-Tablet: ePub Built-In
The Coming Android Mini-Tablet Flood

Judie Lipsett Gets First Camangi Android Mini-Tablet In America!

Click it to see bigger:

There will no doubt be a full review on Gear Diary. But Judie has promised me some eBook testing. First. Ahem!

Previously here:

Why A 7-Inch iTablet Makes Sense
Sizes: Sony Reader Daily Edition Vs. Camangi WebStation
Get The Camangi WebStation Mini-Tablet Quick Start Guide For Free!
First Pictures Of Aldiko Running On A 10-Inch Screen!
Camangi WebStation Pre-Orders Are Go
Android OS/Archos 5 Internet Tablet Notes For Saturday November 28, 2009
Camangi Android Mini-Tablet: ePub Built-In
The Coming Android Mini-Tablet Flood

Sizes: Sony Reader Daily Edition Vs. Camangi WebStation

I was looking at some pictures of the Sony Reader Daily Edition on Flickr and a light went off in my dim head.

This is very interesting (photos are not to scale):

5″ x 8-1/8″ x 19/32″ without cover
5″ x 8-1/8″ x 23/32″ with cover
12.75 oz

4.72″ x 7.87″ x 0.57″
13.75 oz

The Camangi is actually smaller! It weighs one more ounce, however.

The screens are quite different in resolution: 600×1024 vs. 800×600.

On the other hand, the Camangi is color.

Perhaps most devastating: they are both US$399.00.

Yes, the Camangi lacks free 3G, but still.

I said the Nook at 12 ounces was too heavy for extending holding. The Sony Reader Daily Edition is heavier!

Updating the prior list now:

Nook: 11.2 ounces (actually 12!)
Cybook Opus: 5.3 ounces
Archos 7: 23 ounces
Archos 5IT: 6.4 ounces (32GB Flash)
Pocket Edition: 7.6 ounces
Touch Edition: 10.1 ounces
Daily Edition: 12.75 ounces
Camangi: 13.75 ounces

Amazon Japan Selling Camangi WebStation

It’s not in stock yet, but here is the listing:

Click = big

Previously here:

Get The Camangi WebStation Mini-Tablet Quick Start Guide For Free!
First Pictures Of Aldiko Running On A 10-Inch Screen!
Camangi WebStation Pre-Orders Are Go
Android OS/Archos 5 Internet Tablet Notes For Saturday November 28, 2009
Camangi Android Mini-Tablet: ePub Built-In
The Coming Android Mini-Tablet Flood

Barnes & Noble Nook 1.1.0: Liza Reports

Nook 1.1.0 firmware update report

Opening The People of the Abyss still takes a long time (about 30 seconds, enough that I initially thought it wasn’t going to work at all). Jumping into a chapter takes long enough that I get an OS-level error saying that the application is stalled (answering “wait” will eventually work).

* Going backwards into a previous chapter still shows no loading message, when loading can take time.
* Moving between chapters in this edition still takes 20-30 seconds.

It’s still sub-optimal.

I hope to have another post related to this sometime today.

Previously here:

Barnes & Noble Nook Vs. Archos 5 Internet Tablet: Round Two
Barnes & Noble Nook Gets Trashed By Archos 5 Internet Tablet

Get The Camangi WebStation Mini-Tablet Quick Start Guide For Free!

The Camangi WebStation is an Android-powered mini-tablet with a 7″ screen. It’s the first of the flood of mini-tablets to go on sale and anticipation for it has been high.

The Quick Start Guide just popped up on the Internet. It makes for interesting reading.

Two Vital Issues ALL Tablets Makers Are Ignoring

As I watch the flood of Android-powered mini-tablets begin, I can see that companies are making these things while ignoring two key issues that are vital to their success.

1) Weight. People need to be able to hold these things comfortably in one hand for an extended period of time for reading. The heavier a device is, the less comfortable it is. The Barnes & Noble Nook is too heavy for extended use. The more your device weighs, the less successful it will be in penetrating the eBook/digital book market.

2) Nighttime backlight mode. Everyone concentrates on how bright a screen can be to make colors pop when watching videos. But what about all those people who do nighttime reading while in bed? Aside from being able to hold a device for a long time while reading, the backlight really needs a super low-brightness mode so people don’t feel as if they’re staring into a flashlight while reading. JKK of jkkmobile prefers Aldiko over eReader for eBooks because he can dial down the backlight more on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Aldiko.

Since all of these mini-tablets will have touch screens, the issue of button placement is moot. Some might not have anything more than a button for On/Off and one for radios On/Off.

Accommodating those who read enlarges the potential market for these mini-tablets. The ones that are really reader-friendly will win.

Multi eInk eBook Device Fondle Report

Note: Crappy graphic for illustrative purposes only. Devices are not to relative sizes.

Last weekend I was frustrated in my attempt to fondle a live Barnes & Noble Nook. The only working unit was still locked away in an office and the person with the key wouldn’t arrive until 2PM that day (I was there at 10AM!).

This weekend, I went back to the same Barnes & Noble. What the hell, let’s see.

And they had two live Nooks.

After fondling the Nook, I went on to fondle three other eInk eBook devices and have drawn some conclusions some of you will find surprising.