Digital Lifestyles Reference Guide

Aug 27, 2004

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When you hear about eBooks and the death of printed matter in favor of electronic documentation, the next breath laments a lack of devices designed for reading electronically. While it's true there are few devices tasked with the sole responsibility of displaying text, we have millions of screens ready to feed us reading material (like the one you're using to read this). eBook readers are everywhere, from Smartphone screens, to PDAs, to Tablet PCs to the monitor on your desktop. Granted, some offer more portability than others, so below I examine the broad categories of reading devices and their supported formats.

Blackberry

As one of the most popular ways to remain connected to email on-the-go, Blackberry devices make sense as a alternative reading platform. Currently Mobipocket is the only company designing a reader specifically for Blackberry users.

Librie

Sony's Librie ebook reader offers great promise, designed for the specific purpose of reading text. There's currently only one place to find it in the US and the price is well into the $400 range. A great deal of engineering went into making the screen similar to reading paper, making the Librie one of the best screen reading experiences available. Available titles are somewhat limited, although MAKEzine offers a tutorial on creating your own eBooks.

Palm OS Devices

Whether you use a Treo 650 or the latest release in the Tungsten line, reading on Palm OS devices is a distinct option. Color screens are better suited for this purpose, providing a better contrast between the background color and text color, with further optimization through the use of custom fonts. Mobipocket, eReader, and PDF are all viable options for reading with varying advantages.

Symbian OS Devices

Nokia is the primary vendor for Symbian OS products. Most of the screens are on the small side when compared to Palm OS or Pocket PC, making screen reading potentially painful. On the other hand, it's very easy to scan text on a narrow screen, which improves reading speed. Mobipocket, eReader and Adobe all make reader products for Symbian OS devices.

Windows Mobile

Pocket PC and Smartphone vendors all get the advantages of Microsoft's ClearType to enhance readability. As mentioned in the section on eBook formats, most of the portable formats, including Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, eReader and Adobe Reader are compatible with some versions of Windows Mobile. Smartphone users are more limited in choices.

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