2010
by John P. Falcone
If you're in the market for an e-book reader, the past couple of weeks have considerably changed your options, and for the better. Barnes & Noble's and Amazon's new products and price drops have made their e-book reader hardware considerably more affordable, and you now have excellent options available in the $149 to $199 price range. Also, a flood of new reading-centric apps continues to solidify the Apple iPad's position as the premium media tablet of choice.
With these new variables, now is a perfect time to re-evaluate the e-book reader landscape and figure out which product is best for you. If you're an experienced shopper, you can jump straight to our list of top e-book readers; however, everyone else can consult this quick guide, which boils the purchase decision down to five questions:
1.How much are you willing to spend?
You ask this same straightforward question yourself with every purchase decision. At the bottom of the price scale, you'll find lesser-known readers such as the Aluratek Libre and Kobo eReader that now cost as little as $119 to $129 (the latter price is if you factor in a $20 gift card from Borders). However, we strongly steer bargain hunters toward the Barnes & Noble Nook. The company's new Wi-Fi-only version of its Nook reader has an ultra-affordable $149 price tag.
If you want to step up to an e-book reader with 3G wireless that lets you download books and magazines anywhere there's AT&T cellular coverage, we recommend that you consider the Amazon Kindle or 3G Nook, which cost $189 and $199, respectively.
Amazon's large-screen Kindle DX and the Apple iPad dominate the high-end e-book reader market. The Kindle DX costs $379, while the iPad ranges in price from $499 (16GB, Wi-Fi only) to $829 (64GB, Wi-Fi plus 3G). Yes, both of these devices are considerably more expensive than the aforementioned readers, but the iPad is more of a Netbook or laptop competitor than it is an e-book reader competitor. The iPad offers a variety of step-up features--such as a color touch screen, full-motion video, and thousands of apps--that aren't available on more affordable e-book models.
We know there are a variety of competing e-book readers available that we didn't mention, including the trio of Sony Reader models, Entourage Edge, and the Alex eReader. That's because we don't consider any of them truly competitive with the Nook, Kindle, or iPad at their current prices.
2.How large of a screen (and weight) do you want?
Even if you plan to never leave home with your e-book reader, you should consider its size before buying one. Since you hold the device in front of you whenever you want to read, the weight and size can be an issue. The smallest and lightest e-book reader we've seen is the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, which has a 5-inch screen and weighs just 7.7 ounces. The Kindle and Nook models each have 6-inch screens and weigh 10.2 and 11.2 ounces, respectively, without their cases.
If you want a truly large (9.7-inch) screen, you'll want to buy the Kindle DX or Apple iPad. However, at 1.2 pounds and 1.5 pounds, respectively, some people find these devices to be too heavy to hold for long reading sessions.
Remember, all e-book readers let you adjust the font size of the content you're reading, so even a small screen can display much larger type than you're used to seeing in a book, magazine, or newspaper. In other words, a smaller screen does not mean you need to sacrifice readability.
3. What's your screen preference: e-ink or backlit LCD?
Dedicated e-book readers such as Nook and Kindle use an e-ink screen. However, e-ink screens have some drawbacks: They're black and white and the pages don't refresh as quickly as an LCD does. However, they do an excellent job of reproducing the look of the printed paper. With few exceptions, they're not backlit--so you can't read in the dark--but you can read them in direct sunlight, which is something you can't do on an LCD screen (just try reading your phone or laptop screen outside on a summer day).
In contrast, the iPad's LCD screen is a bright, colorful, beautiful display. It's also a full touch screen--the Nook has a small LCD touch screen that's used for navigation, but the larger e-ink display doesn't respond to finger swipes. But those advantages have trade-offs. The iPad's reflective screen makes it hard to read in bright light, and many people find the backlight tires their eyes over long reading sessions.
So, which screen is better for reading: e-ink or LCD? We can't answer that question for you. If you don't have a problem staring at your laptop or LCD monitor screen for hours on end--or if you enjoy reading in low light--you'll probably like the iPad's screen. However, if you prefer the look of newsprint or if you enjoy reading outside, an e-ink display is your friend.
We'd strongly recommend that you try a few devices before you buy one: iPads are on display at all Apple Stores and most Best Buys. Nooks can be found at Barnes & Noble bookstores and Best Buy. Kindles are available at Target. (Note that the Kindle and Nook displays are effectively identical, so either one will do for screen comparison, even if you intend to buy the other device.)
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2010
Our Office Manager here at SEG received this email this morning and it isn't the first time. To some of us, it is obvious it's a scam, but others aren't as fortunate to see through these thieves like the rest of us. Please read the email below and beware to delete and add sender to your block list.
From: jenny home
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 9:28 AM
Subject: HONEST SOMEONE
HONEST SOMEONE
During the civil and political crisis in our country, my parents together with my three sisters were poisoned by heartless elements. Fortunately for me, I was in school when this tragedy took place to our family. I was in coma for almost two weeks. But I thank the almighty God because I never knew that I could support the shock of losing almost my whole family. That is by the way. Right now I am still here in Cote d’Ivoire with but very unsafe for me. I’m living in great fear and bondage. I intend leaving this country as soon as possible but only one thing kept me back. My late father has deposited with one of the prime bank the sum of money, $5.2Million USD, for onward transfer to any bank abroad .But unfortunately he did not complete the transaction before he died. I have met with the bank director who has certified my claims to the money. I have all the documents concerns this money in the bank; I have mapped out 20% out of the total money for your help and assistance because it looks stupid for me trying to confide in a total stranger I never met before. By instinct I am convinced you are an honest person and you have the capacity to handle this transaction with me. As soon as it is done, I will come over to meet you and spend the rest of my live in your country. I wish to invest the money into estate business etc. I promise to greatly compensate you for any assistance you may offer us. I do not know how you may feel about this but I want you to take this very serious and confidential. Down here, I am living in fear because enemies of my parents are hunting for me. Please let me know your mind concerning my proposal to you.
Miss Jenny
BEWARE: THIS IS A SCAM. DO NOT GIVE OUT ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us here at SEG.
2010
By NICK BILTON
Is it a plane? Is it a car? No, it’s a super flying car-plane!
If you’ve ever had the burden of trying to decide between driving or flying to work, soon you’ll be able to do both. Terrafugia, a company based in Woburn, Mass., is building a car that can also fly. The company has recently won approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to move ahead with the project, even thought the car, called The Transition, is 110 pounds heavier than other planes in its class. The additional weight is needed so that the car can contain safety features required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Anna Dietrich, co-founder and chief operating officer of Terrafugia, said the F.A.A. gave the company an exemption from the agency’s rules to build the car. Many lightweight aircraft have to remain below 1,320 points to be approved for flight by the F.A.A.
“Safety is one of the biggest selling points,” Ms. Dietrich said. “Because The Transition is designed to operate on the road and in the air, we’ve incorporated all the safety features of a car into a plane.”
The standards and safety rules for cars are much stricter than those for lightweight airplanes, Ms. Dietrich explained. A car, for example, requires airbags, crumple zones for crashes and a protective safety cage; planes do not require these additional features.
So how much will The Transition cost? The company is anticipating a purchase price of $194,000.
The car is expected to begin delivery in about 18 months. Then, according to the company’s Web site, owners will be able to “simply land at the airport, fold your wings up and drive home.”
2010
By ERIC A. TAUB
There are a large number of antitheft software applications designed to protect laptops, smartphones and now, iPads. When your device is stolen, the application, which runs in the background when possible, does things like report its location, snap a picture with the device’s internal camera, display a message and lock the machine.
Recently, I took a look at GadgetTrak, a company that offers “advanced” antitheft software for Macs, PCs and smartphones. GadgetTrak distinguishes itself from its competition as a business that provides an antitheft “ecosystem,” offering customers the ability to track all devices, even those that don’t connect to the Internet. That last part is a bit of a stretch; the company will give you physical metal ID tags to attach to your printer, on the theory that if your laptop is swiped, your printer will be taken as well.
Install the GadgetTrak software on your PC, and then set up e-mail address notifications. If someone takes your laptop, you go to GadgetTrak’s Web site and turn on security protection. Then, the next time the laptop is used, the built-in Web cam takes a picture of the thief, automatically posts it to your Flickr account and sends you an e-mail alert. Using GPS service from Skyhook Wireless, the company says it can pinpoint your stolen device to within 10 to 20 meters of its location.
According to the company, the location information and photos will help police identify a suspect who may already be on their radar.
GadgetTrak, which says it has a customer base in the “five figures,” claims that with just one or two exceptions, 100 percent of devices protected by its software have been recovered. Assuming that statement’s accuracy, some of those products may have been recovered regardless of the software’s presence, or some may have simply been misplaced by its owners and later found.
On my MacBook, the software worked as promised. But I was never able to configure the product to send me an alert e-mail, even with the help of the company’s product manager. The photos of the purported thief (me) showed up on my Flickr account a few minutes after I took my laptop, but the location of the computer was not that accurate. It showed me to be on a nearby street that cannot be directly reached by mine.
The company said the location accuracy is better in big cities; I am in a suburb, and presumably most thefts occur in more populated areas.
Photographs are taken at 30-minute intervals and when someone initially logs into a user account; the interval cannot be modified. But when I tried to activate the software at a Starbucks using the store’s AT&T Wi-Fi, GadgetTrak failed to send a picture, even though the laptop’s camera light went on after access was authorized.
A company spokesman said that even if the picture was not sent, it was stored. And that is true. When I opened the laptop the next day at home, the picture was sent to Flickr. But the location information for Starbucks was not sent; instead, it sent my home location, which I guess would be O.K. if a real thief had the laptop.
But I took my laptop back to Starbucks another day. This time, the Gadgettrak software did upload a picture of me to my Flickr account; also, it very accurately pinpointed my location, right down to the correct address.
Will GadgetTrak work for you? It will cost you $24.95 per year for one laptop license to find out.
2010
By STEFANIE OLSEN
David Poger had planned to buy his daughter Maya a cellphone when she was 15 and in high school, but last year he and his wife caved when she was 11.
“There was a lot of nagging and pleading,” said Mr. Poger, who lives in St. Louis, Miss. But for his wife, Stephanie, and him, he said, “Safety was a big issue because she was walking downtown with her school friends, going to movies and roller skating without us.” He added, “I still think she’s too young.”
Many parents these days face the same struggle as the Pogers: at what age should you buy your child a cellphone? And when you do buy that first phone, what kind should it be?
About 75 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States own a mobile phone, up from 45 percent in 2004, according to an April study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, part of the Pew Research Center. And children are getting their phones at earlier ages, industry experts say. The Pew study, for example, found that 58 percent of 12-year-olds now had a cellphone, up from 18 percent in 2004.
Parents generally say they buy their child a phone for safety reasons, because they want to be able to reach the child anytime. Cost also matters to parents, cellphone industry experts say; phones and family plans from carriers are both becoming more affordable. Also, as adults swap out their old devices for newer smartphones, it is easier to pass down a used phone.
But for children, it is all about social life and wanting to impress peers. The Pew study found that half of 12- to 17-year-olds sent 50 text messages a day and texted their friends more than they talked to them on the phone or even face to face.
Experts say the social pressure to text can get acute by the sixth grade, when most children are 11 years old. Just ask Caroline LaGumina, 11, of New Rochelle, N.Y., who got her phone last Christmas. “I wanted to be able to text because my friends all text each other.”
So when is the right time to buy that first phone?
There is no age that suits all children, developmental psychologists and child safety experts say. It depends on the child’s maturity level and need for the phone, and the ability to be responsible for the device — for example, keeping it charged, keeping it on and not losing it. Instead of giving in to the claim that “everyone else has one,” parents should ask why the child needs one, how it will be used and how well the child handles distraction and responsibility.
“You need to figure out, are your kids capable of following your rules?” about using the phone, said Parry Aftab, executive director of the child advocacy group Wired Safety.
Ruth Peters, a child psychologist in Clearwater, Fla., said most children were not ready for their own phones until age 11 to 14, when they were in middle school. Often, that is when they begin traveling alone to and from school, or to after-school activities, and may need to call a parent to change activities at the last minute or coordinate rides.
Patricia Greenfield, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in children’s use of digital media, cautioned that at younger ages, parents might miss out on what was going on with their children because of a cellphone.
“Kids want the phone so that they can have private communication with their peers,” she said. “You should wait as long as possible, to maintain parent-child communication.”
When choosing a phone for a child, experts say, a big consideration is whether to buy a feature phone or a smartphone. A feature phone generally has a camera, Web access and a slide-out qwerty keyboard, but not the operating system with the applications that can be downloaded on a smartphone. With some carriers, you can buy a feature phone and not get a data plan, but others, like Verizon, have started to eliminate this combination.
Parents should realize that buying any kind of phone with Web access essentially allows their children unsupervised access to content and tools, like social networking and videos, that they may forbid on the home computer.
“Most parents want to give a cellphone to keep them safe, but that ignores the great majority of uses that kids are using cellphones for,” said James P. Steyer, the chief executive of the nonprofit group Common Sense Media, which rates children’s media. He said that with those added features can come addictive behavior, cyberbullying, “sexting” (sending nude photos by text message), cheating in class and, for older teenagers, distracted driving.
Dr. Peters suggested that parents avoid buying children younger than 13 a phone with a camera and Internet access. “If they don’t have access to it, it’s just cleaner,” she said.
Parents who do not want to buy a feature phone or smartphone might consider an inexpensive prepaid phone — Nokia, LG and Samsung have models like this — that comes without a contract and is not part of a family plan. For as little as $10, parents can load the phone with 30 minutes of calls. The Pew study reported that 18 percent of teenagers used these plans and that teenagers who did were typically more tempered in their use.
If parents do choose a smartphone or feature phone, it is important to set use restrictions on Internet, texting and calls until age 15 or 16, when presumably the child will be more mature and also have greater autonomy.
Parents have several ways to set use restrictions. One way is to buy a plan through the carrier. For example, for $4.99 monthly, AT&T’s Smart Limits or Verizon’s Use Controls let parents set limits on minutes, restrict time-of-day use and even dictate whom the child can call or text. Parents can also request that their carrier block content or prevent a child from texting photos.
Parents can also buy software from other vendors like My Mobile Watchdog that can be loaded onto the child’s phone and will, for example, send a copy of a child’s texts or photos to the parent’s phone.
Some phones are made specially for children and include free parental controls, like the Firefly and the Kajeet, available online. But generally, the major wireless retailers focus on smartphones and feature phones, saying children’s phones have proved less popular.
Anyone with a teenager or preteenager knows that most children covet the kinds of phones adults have. “No kid wants a dumbed-down phone,” said Julie A. Ask, vice president at Forrester Research.
In a Verizon store in Berkeley, Calif., recently, store clerks pointed to several feature phones that they said were attractive to teenagers — like the $130 LG enV3 and the $150 Motorola Cliq.
Common Sense Media and CTIA, the cellphone industry trade group, both have sites with advice on children and cellphones.
Parents might also consider cellphone alternatives like the iPod Touch, which for $199 offers music, games and applications. Technically, it is not a phone, but through a Wi-Fi hot spot, children can download applications like TextFree ($5.99 or free in ad-supported version) and Skype, and then text or call their friends free.
Mr. Poger’s daughter Maya has an LG Rumor2 with a keyboard through his family’s Sprint plan. He asked the carrier to block downloads, and he and his wife have talked to Maya about responsible use. Now Maya’s sister, who is 6, wants one.
“She’s going to wait until she’s 11,” he said.
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