E-Book News
Dr. Peter Yianilos, Franklin's acting CTO, recently won the Techno-logy Award at the Inter-national eBook Awards in Frankfurt, Germany, for the eBookMan product line.
The devices use Franklin's proprietary software format, as well as other text-based formats, including TXT and HTML, in addition to Microsoft Reader. Specifications:
* $129.95 unit:
Weight: about seven oz.
Display: 240x200 pixell LCD screen
Memory: 8MB
Battery: requires 2 AAA
* $179.95 unit:
Weight: about seven oz.
Display: 240x200 pixell LCD backlit screens
Memory: 8MB
Battery: requires two AAA batteries
* $229.95 unit:
Weight: about seven oz.
Display: 240x200 pixell LCD backlit screens
Memory: 16MB
Battery: requires two AAA
Available from: Amazon.com, Staples, Office Depot and
more. For more info, check out: www.franklin.com/ebookman
PocketPC
While Microsoft's PocketPCs aren't dedicated e-book readers, the hand-held devices come equipped with Reader software with ClearType, the company's revolutionary new reading software, which closely mimics the look of a printed page. The white background is clear and bright, and the black type looks remarkably like ink on a page.
Other e-book device makers have begun put-ting the software into their units, as well. The program offers features such as instant find, a dictionary, and the ability to bookmark, highlight and adjust font size. The Pocket-PCs—which use the Windows CE operating system—also include scaled-down versions of Microsoft's Word, Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer and more. Several hardware manufacturers are now marketing the Pocket PC, including Casio, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard. Specifications:
Weight: six to nine oz.
Display: 320x240, 16-bit active matrix color display
Memory: 16 to 32MB
Battery: Lithium-ion
rechargeable (Casio and HP);
lithium-polymer rechargeable (Compaq)
Suggested retail price: $499
Available from: PocketPCs from various manufacturers are available from retailers nationwide. For a list, see the Web site: www.pocketpc.com
Free reader software can be downloaded at www.microsoft .com/reader or www.bn.com.
