Day: 11 September 2010

The Kindle3 has everything I asked for…

Sony PRS600 vs Amazon Kindle 3

I’m going to sell my old Sony PRS-600 Ebook Reader for the Amazon Kindle 3. But why?

Well it kind of centres on a blog post I wrote a while ago when the iPad was unveiled to the world. In the blog post I touch on points which would make my perfect ereader. 2 of the main points are,

  • Add Bluetooth for file transfer, dialup, networking, etc.
  • Run an open operating system like a cleverly crafted Andriod on it
  • Add accelerometers, proximity sensors and some haptic feedback
  • Wireless 802.11b/g

Well although not all my requirements are met, the Kindle3 does have wireless and a operating system to support (as such) 3rd party apps.

Android would be great to have on there with a open marketplace so people can really develop for it. I don’t know if Android would work on a e-ink screen but you could imagine it wouldn’t take much to build a custom build just for E-ink screens. Bluetooth, Wifi and Accelerometers would open up a whole bunch of applications which the ipad has demonstrated. But the smaller screen would be much more mobile and friendly.

I assumed slightly wrongly that you would need android to have the ability to add apps, but actually Amazon have decided to go with there own OS and App platform. This might be a good idea because you don’t want apps made for a Lcd mixed up with the eink ones. Its also a good idea if developers are thinking about eink instead of building for Lcd and just converting down to eink. Battery life under ink is amazing, but I’d hate to see that going because some app took liberties with the eink technology. Kindle apps are certainly a new area with a fruitful future. I can think of some clever apps you could build with the eink screen.

I thought good and hard about swapping to the Kindle, specially with the 1984 uproar. But to be frank, I’ve never bought a ebook and won’t really be affected by this thing. I would have also perfected a open market place like Android but its the start, so who knows what may happen…

I also downloaded the kindle app on my android phone in preparation for my new Kindle (which has been ordered but I’m still waiting for stock). In the meantime I’m selling my lovely Sony PRS-600, so if anyone is interested drop me a message.

Evernote is back with Nevernote

I use to love evernote but when I moved to Ubuntu for my main operating system, I found out that Evernote was not going to be supporting Ubuntu or more generally Linux. (instead you have to use wine and the Windows version)

[[I can’t seem to find the quote in the forums, where the Evernote team diss linux saying just use Wine.]]

This wound me up big time. So I got use to using TomboyNotes and was very pleased when I hear about Snowy (now also Ubuntu One sync). I even suggested this could rival Evernote. I seeked other alternatives before, but having Tomboynotes (which runs on every operating system) built in is useful. I also tried getting on with Tomdroid but having to sync my phone every time over usb is a pain in the ass (to be frank). Someone did compile a version out of the repository which does have websync with Ubuntu One but it fails to work on my HTC desire.

So up till a few days ago I was using Tomboynotes and Tomdroid. I even considered writing a XSL to transform Sony E-ink notes to Tomboy Notes and back (although my next blog post will explain why this won’t be nee e.

However yesterday dale l, left me a note on my blog…

There is a LINUX version of Evernote – it’s called Nevernote and you can find it here:

http://nevernote.sourceforge.net/

There’s just a few requirements to get it running… follow the instructions and visit their forum!

You can choose between 32 bit or 64.

I got it working fine and it runs well…!

After that, you can add the evernote webclipper to your browser…

So without a further a do I installed Nevernote on my 64bit Ubuntu laptop and tried it out. It took a little while to setup but I finally got it syncing all my old notes which I had in my old Evernote account. I’m currently moving all my old notes over from Tomboy Notes. Of course there is a Android client already, so I’m also doing the sync thing with that too. (oh there is also a command line version – clevernote for you hardcore.)

I’m going to miss Tomboy Notes but to be honest without the mobile syncing I’m a little unhappy. Maybe once Snowy and Tomdroid is more mature, I’ll consider going back. don’t get me wrong Nevernote looks and feels like a dog but it does work and even better, I get all the goodness of evernote. So automatic text analysis, syncing, picture and rich data support. I’m also interested in the new feature – Evernote Trunk.

The Trunk is a showcase of great apps and products that makes your Evernote experience more awesome.

To access it, click on the new “Trunk” icon in today’s update to Evernote for Windows and Evernote for Mac (Evernote Web later today, iPad next week). Clicking it opens a window full of amazing intergrations. Today, there are nearly 100 items listed across five categories: Mobile, Desktop & Web, Hardware, Gear, and Notebooks (this one is really cool, more on that later).

Obviously Nevernote does not support the Trunk directly, but I guess if you set it up online, it will just work. So for example the speech to text will just work if you make a note with audio in it?