Ten millionth iPad sold

Ten millionth iPad sold. In nine months.
"It's just an over-grown iPod Touch, who will want this?"...

Pocketbook. Confusing market

Wow, the eReader market really is confusing now. New devices are avalanching on our heads and prices are all over the map. For instance, when I see the 7-inch color screen Pocketbook Android device at $160, I must  wonder how much the Samsung Galaxy Tab can really have to justify over three times the price... ?

... The first differences which fell to my eyes were a lower screen resolution and a higher weight, for the Pocketbook. And indeed user reviews seem to agree, user zetareticuli saying:

"I agree with your observations. The display and the weight of the device are the biggest negatives. The quality of the display is below average and the device is heavy for a portable e-reader. I still think it is a pretty good deal for the money.

Yes, there's a surely a difference, but the price difference is the one which springs to mind.

But at the very least, this tells us that already in the very first year of color tablets, we are finding products priced under $200, and that is quite amazing. When the iPad came out in early 2010, everybody was shocked that it was priced so low as $500. (Indeed I still consider that a good deal, I'm just sayin', things are developing fast.)

Kindle gift books

The good news is that you now finally can give a kindle ebook as a gift. (The ebook itself, not the reader device.)
The bad news is that so far it seems to be limited to the US.

I don't know what happens if you gift an ebook to somebody who don't have a Kindle. Can you read it in the free Kindle app on your computer (or device), or do you have to get a Kindle? Anybody know?

SmashWords, pushing ebooks

On my main blog, readers have often recommended SmashWords as an excellent source of ebooks. Smashwords is a distributor, not a publisher, and they are growing rapidly. They sell ebooks through their own site, and also through Apple, Sony, and B&N. They expect Amazon also soon. I think it is interesting, both as reader and writer. Here is an interview with the founder. And here is their page about how they distribute, written for the authors.

We need a LARGE ereader (updated)

I have just realized something: with the battle this month being between the 6- or 7-inch ereaders and the 10-inch iPad, we don't think about it much, but for many uses, the iPad is actually not large enough.

I can just hope that somebody will judge it commercially viable, but personally I would buy a Super-iPad (or Galaxy Super-Tab or whatever) in a second.

I would say it should have high resolution. Not necessarily as high as the stunning 326 pixels per inch the iPhone 4 has, but rather higher than the current iPad. And it should be... I dunno, maybe 15 inches. (These measurements are the screen only, and diagonally, like usual for monitors.)

Why? Art books. And comics. Me, I love comics, but I just can't bear to read them on a screen where I have to zoom into the panels and navigate around on the page in order to read and enjoy the artwork properly. OK, the software helps with the navigation of panels, but... I am sure that a super-display would be a totally different experience with comics. And the same with art books, photo books, graphically rich text books, atlases, etc.

In fact, thinking about those categories, it becomes obvious that this is a much-needed product.
The problem of course is mainly two-fold, cost and weight. But given a little time and technology, both have a marked tendency to come down. (And as for weight, actually there are many art books published which are too large and heavy to read hand-held.)

I don't think any other company has the guts or vision to do this until Apple has done it first, so I really hope Apple makes one, and soonish.

(PS: as if the Universe was underlining my statement, the minute I had posted this one, I got the announcement of an iPad story-book based on the Kung Fu Panda movie. If you have seen the movie, it is spectacularly visually rich, and a picture book based on it really deserves a bigger screen.)

UPDATE:
I almost forgot: if a larger tablet would gain a couple of features, like pressure sensitivity, it would become very strong competitors for design and art creation. And in fact for many, many forms of content creation. That actually, more than the reader aspect, practically guarantees the appearances of such devices, hopefully in a foreseeable future.

Readers in the wild

I went across the street today to the local junk electronics store, Curry's, to buy an iPod Nano for Jade for xmas. To my surprise, they not only had the Galaxy Tab on display, but also Sony's ereader, and at least two other brands (Samsung and... takamako...what's it called? It's not even on their site.). It seems ereaders for xmas is being taken very seriously by retailers.

It must say, some of the Sony machines are astoundingly small and light-weight. Go Sony! (Now go Sony and get out of this little proprietary format- and store cage you have locked yourself into.)

I really do love this new medium, and I can't wait to witness them getting better over the years. Just compare the new iPod Touch to the iPod 1st generation.
We have a good start, just look at this ridiculous spread.  (And typically, hardly two of them read the same format. Well, most read ePub. But the big gorilla, Kindle, does not. Crazy.)

Oddities of the Galaxy

I really like the Galaxy Tab as an ereader. Primarily because it's about the perfect size for it (as a compromise for portability), and has a way, way better screen than the Kindle 3.
But also it's a good machine. Nothing beats the iPad yet, but, well, I have to admit, it's a pretty good machine.

Here's a typical little oddity of computers though: this evening I wanted to turn the Rotation Lock off, so I could read a broad text sideways. But I couldn't remember where I had set the lock, and I couldn't find it *anywhere* in Settings!
I tried the Search function, but very "intelligently", this only searched the web, not the machine itself!
And of course there's no user guide or help system on it.  Well, none came with it, I have since found on online, a smallish PDF with the basics. Why haven't they at least loaded this PDF on the durn machine, with a shortcut to it somewhere?
I finally had to google around until I found a review which happened to mention where that damn setting was. It was in the "shortcuts panel" which one can drag down from the status bar which sits at the top of most screens, full of oblique symbols. Well, the problem is that this is the *only* place it sits. It's quick when you know where it is, but...

This is what's making David Pogue rich, and the rest of us frustrated: the lack of explanation for the very complicated gadgets which are supposed to make our lives easier.

It's worth it, though. I'm reading Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight on the Galaxy Tab,  and it's a pleasure.

Tab and keyboards

Many people have problems connecting bluetooth keyboards to Samsung Galaxy Tabs.
I hear that Google says that Android is not yet really meant for tablets. I think that's a bit slow, the tablets have been coming for a long while now. But on the other hand, what marvels we'll surely see when it becomes so!! (That was only half sarcastic.)

Anyway, while I could not get the GT to work with the Apple Wireless keyboard, I did get it to work with the super-compact Think Outside foldable keyboard. Zippidy. The stealth writer lounges once more.

I got rubber grips (updated August 2011)

[Update 2015: Further on, I've found that often even better for a good grip is a simple strap, easy to make yourself.]

I've been, uhm, griping about grip surfaces (or the lack of good ones) on tablets and readers for months, and for almost as long, I have been searching for a good material to make my own. I have lost count of how many different solutions and materials I have bought and tried, but suffice it to say that none of them were all that good. (For example, electrician's tape made little difference. And plasti-dip paint is messy, and while it does make a bit of difference, it was not a lot. The latest was a roll of non-slip tape for floors, about $35! Perhaps robbery but sadly  not rubbery.)

But it seems I found just the thing finally. These self-adhesive rubber pads. (Called "Non-Slip Rubber Pad", sold by National Artcraft. I think they are not normally sold to the public, you get them 36 at a time, hand-packed in a plastic bag without print or labels. They were out of stock for a while, so git 'em now if you want them.)


As often happens, I had to import them from the US, and go via a re-shipper, because as also often happens, they won't or can't ship outside the USA. Good grief, a long trek just for some durn rubber pads. (They do ship the Waxman product overseas though.)

I just got them and did the job today, so it's too early to tell if they will stay on after much use (I think they will though), but one thing is for sure: it totally changed the experience of using and reading on my Samsung Galaxy Tab (see review below). My grip is now really secure with no effort at all. It feels great.

(Update: they don't stay well on the glass front, but stay nicely on the plastic back.)

It also protects the device to a degree, you can lay it down on any flat surface without any worries. 

Unlike most "rubber" materials, these pads actually are rubber. You can smell it. Your fingers may even smell a little bit of it after using the device. (Update: the effect lessens over time.)

Obviously you have to cut them to size. I did it just by eye, I'm sure one can achieve a more professional looking result by careful measuring and cutting. I recommend "washing" the device first with a damp cloth, damp from warm water with a tiny bit of dish liquid in it, and drying it with a soft, dry cloth.

I used six pads, and they are only $14 for thirty-six of them, so it's hardly an expensive solution neither. The Galaxy Tab is just the size of the Kindle 3.
The iPad has room for six, sitting neatly along each other. This makes for some little gaps, hardly a problem.

Update: It works just as well just putting a couple in strategic places. Also, I've found it aids the grip further if you fold up the middle of a pad to make a little ridge across it, the fingers rest well on that.

Update:
Warning: after sitting a couple of months, these pads are hard to take off, and leave a thick layer of glue which is labor-intensive to take off (even using lighter fluid). And some precisely-designed iPad  cases (like the gorgeous Grove case) won't take the iPad even with these slim pads on (exactly two milimeters thick), so I guess one should think twice, they are clearly designed to be pretty permanent.
[Note: re stickers removal etc, I've been recommended Goo Gone, from reviews it sounds great.]

Unusually, they seem to have a thin layer of glue, then a very thin layer of plastic, then a thick layer of glue, and then the rubber itself. Trying to remove them the thing is to get hold of the thin plastic layer, not easy. Sticking a knife under would help, but it would scratch the iPad. I found the best way is to peel off the rubber, and then roll in the edge of the thin plastic disc with your fingers until you get an edge you can grab hold off to peel it off.

We need rubber grips

A little tidbit of advice to makers of readers/tablets: these things are difficult to hold because one is always likely to trigger some button or other. A good thing would be to make the buttons more distinct, harder to trigger by accident. Another good thing would be to make rubberized grip areas on the sides and the back. This would give you areas where you know you can hold without hitting buttons, and also it would give a much more secure grip. It would heighten the user-experience considerably.

Galaxy Tab, early review

Well, I got the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and I must say, it's very close to being what I had wished for: a Kindle 3 with a high-contrast screen. In fact it's almost exactly the size of the Kindle three, only a couple millimeters longer and thicker.
(Apparently those millimeters didn't suffice for the product to be able to support regular thumbnail-sized SD cards, you have to get Micro-SD cards.  Astounding.)

I'm still investigating the other things this small tablet can do (quite a lot, being a full Android machine), but I can say this: it's pretty close to being a perfect portable ereader. (I hope we will get two kinds of ereaders as the years go: this size for portable, and big ones 10-12-inch screens) for home reading and serious study, for art books, for complex pages, etc.)

But what were they thinking with the price?? $600? It's definitely not $100 more worthy than the iPad. In fact, the iPad's screen size is a definite plus (though not essential like Jobs claim). I'd say maybe $100 less than the iPad. Which would give us $400, more reasonable. And sell it for $300 in half a year, you have something.

The screen is great for reading.
I only wish the various reading apps gave us finer steps in regulating text size. For me it's pretty important to find the exact size which is the optimum compromise between readability and how often I have to change the page. But other than that, for instance Amazon's Kindle app  is mighty fine.

Another small wish is a bit more shaved off the weight. The Galaxy Tab is 400 grams. The Kindle 3 is 250 grams, which is wonderful.

I'm missing a good app for reading Instapaper articles (Instapaper saves web articles in readable format, to read later on a portable device), those I've found so far are not optimized for the big screen, only for phones. But it's not bad for web browsing at all. And it's excellent for RSS (web page feed) with Greader for example. In other words, one of the best compact ereading devices we have so far, methinks. If you can afford to pay Rolls-Royce prices for a Mercedes.

iPad OS 4.2, finally

Finally! Half a year after these features appeared on the iPhone 4, the iPad will now get sort-of-multitasking, folders for apps, and so on. 'Cuz iOS 4.02 has just been released.

iPad at $399?

iPad for $399?

iPad Tutorial: How to read your old (non-ePub) ebooks using iBooks

How to read your old (non-ePub) ebooks using iBooks, iPad Tutorial. 

The app "calibre" (Mac only?) is pretty amazing.  It will even fetch news from all kinds of web sites, format them in iPub, and transfer it automatically to iBooks in your iPad! Very nicely formatted too, readable and with chapters and links.
If your favorite web site is missing from the list, somebody on the mobileread forum can probably mix you up a "recipe" for it! I had it done for The Online Photographer amongst others. Highly useful.

Dell Streak download issues

Now my Dell Streak will not download at all from the Market (app store). It's incredibly frustrating. And not at all uncommon, a Google search gives nearly 22,000 results!

I've rebooted of course, no joy. And so far I've not found any help.

It's a pity, for otherwise this five-inch device is not a bad pocket-sized ereader.

Update:
Hurrah! I found the solution here. (It's not "options" though, it's "settings", in the menu from the home page.)
But I have to say that it's a really poor show that an update to the Market app will block downloading...

I even found an app (Hard Copy) which will let me read my Instapaper articles on the Dell, kewl. (Although it seems to have no options for changing text size, quite a disadvantage which I'm inquiring about.)