Ever since Barnes & Noble acquired the Fictionwise eBook store, we have been speculating as to exactly what they planned to do with it.  Now, there are rumors coming out of last week’s CTIA which may shed some light on the big box bookseller’s plans.

With no word on specs or details, Barnes & Noble is apparently planning a direct assault on the Kindle 2 with a standalone eBook reader of its own.  According to Engadget, Barnes & Noble plans to create its own wireless connection a la WhisperNet.  Talks with Verizon Wireless to host this connection apparently fell apart.  And this is where things get a little sketchy.  Barnes and Nobles’ next stop seems to have been Sprint who is interested in hosting the connection themselves.  Sprint, of course, is the backbone behind Amazon.com’s WhisperNet technology.  Not to be outdone, though, AT&T seems to also want a piece of this action, trying to host the wireless connection, whatever it may be, themselves. 

I have no idea whether there is anything to this or not. I can say, however, that the proximity of this news to the acquisition of Fictionwise gives it a ring of truth.  I can also say that a new eBook reader, backed by a solid eBook store can only be a good thing for everyone. 

We’ll keep bringing to more details as we learn them.  Oh and, incidentally, that is a picture of the Kindle 2 on top.  I couldn’t very well include a picture of a device which is not even confirmed to exist…

[Via Engadget and Slashgear]

Hang onto your tax returns, folks.  Rumor has it that the Palm Pre may not be waiting until summer as previously reported.  In fact, some folks are indicating that it could be out as early as Tax Day, April 15, which is right around the corner.  But before you go scraping the pennies out from under your couch, we should note that this one came to us second hand from a Sprint customer service representative.  These are the same folks who notoriously misrepresented a variety of ROM upgrades on numerous Windows Mobile phones.  Not calling anyone a liar, I’m just saying take this one with a grain of salt…and then some.

[Via IntoMobile from Everything Treo forums]

Clinton knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Windows Mobile devices – he’s been using them around 9 years and as we all know he reviews all kinds of hardware, software and accessories relating to WM.  So a few weeks ago I was pleased when he asked me if he could review our WriteSHIELD® Premium Screen Protectors.  And it’s not just a review…it’s a step by step installation guide!  You can read all about it here.

Mobile tech is really a cross cultural, cross ability unifier. We able bodied users don’t often become aware of the hurdles that significantly differently abled tech users have to face, to use the same technology that us so called normal people use. {Caveat: using the term “normal”, to describe any member of the JAMM team, could be misconstrued as misleading, and does not refer to any of the former or current team members}.

Question: What good is an eBook reader to a blind person?

Answer: Really good if it has text to speech function enabled!

The Kindle can read your eBooks to you if you want. but there is a function that can be built into the actual eBook software that can disable the text to voice function. Why though would you even think of that. Hmmm, seems money comes into the equation. Apparently the eBook, and specifically the Kindle 2’s ability to vocalise a book, is a threat to the National Authors Guild.

Oh, Amazon, you don’t want this kind of publicity. Today in New York the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and its partners in the Reading Rights Coalition will protest outside the offices of the Authors Guild. Their goal is to reverse the Guild’s threat to disable text-to-speech from e-books for the Kindle 2.
It seems that when Amazon introduced the Kindle 2, it announced that it would be able to read e-books aloud, a boon for the vision-impaired. But the Authors Guild had a problem with that, and so Amazon announced that it would give authors or publishers the ability to disable text-to-speech.

I really can’t make sense of the story and all of the background, or the politics involved. It is all revolving around a fear of losing profits I suppose.

What doesn’t make sense though, is that authors don’t want more exposure, in any media they can be conveyed in! This is probably an example of hierarchy gone wrong, but I do believe the blind should hear! Crack the link below for more info!

Amazon Kindle Has the Blind Seeing Red – Gearlog

Last week, Las Vegas hosted the CTIA Convention – an annual schmoozefest dedicated to the mobile wireless industry. I was supposed to go, but unfortunately work got in the way, so I now I get to bring you the news afterwards instead of how it happened

We just got some information about what went down at the show:

HTC’s latest messaging handset, the HTC Snap, made waves at CTIA Wireless 2009 as one of the slickest mid-range smartphones to rock Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard in quite some time. Before that, HTC launched the HTC Touch Pro2, at Mobile World Congress 2009, as the company’s flagship Windows Mobile Professional handset. Now, word has it that T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is looking to offer it’s customers the HTC Snap and the HTC Touch Pro2 in the good ‘ole U-S-of-A.

There’s also mention of a Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) CS8 handset launching on June 24th. Details are slim, but we’re seeing “8MP camera” and “Android” being thrown around.

Clicky right here for the information.
Sounds good to me, and of course, here at JAMM we’ll keep you updated on all of the latest developments!