I was very interested in this article, Electronic Papyrus: The Digital Book, Unfurled, in the New York Times about the Readius, a new type of digital reader anticipated for an early 2009 availability in the U.S.

The mobile device is being designed for reading books, magazines, newspapers and email, and is the size of a standard cellphone. “Flip it open, though, and a screen tucked within the housing opens to a 5-inch diagonal display.  The screen looks just like a liquid crystal display, but can bend so flexibly that it can wrap around a finger.”

The Readius is pocket-sized, but has a generous, supple screen, and “people with five minutes to spare in a taxi, bus or subway can use the dead time to open it, read a page or two of a book and then return the device to a shirt pocket,” said Karl McGoldrick, the chief executive of Polymer Vision, the company in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, that created the device.  The Readius will be introduced in England, Italy and Germany this fall.

Anyone who has used the Amazon Kindle will recognize the same easy to read E Ink technology on the Readius.  It will display about 22 lines of a book page, depending on the font, and changes from page to page in half a second at the touch of a thumb.  The rechargeable battery provides 30 hours of reading.

The new flexible screen technology of the Readius is anticipated in other products, as well.  “It’s an exciting example, but there are going to be a slew of other devices coming soon, too,” said Shawn O’Rourke, director of engineering at the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University at Tempe, which focuses on the technology’s future commercialization.

Mr. O’Rourke says flexible displays are unlike today’s cell phones and laptops with their traditional glass backings.  “These displays are thin, lightweight and rugged — and they bend,” he said. The underlying substrates that support the display are typically either plastic or metal foil.

Flexible displays will mean “easy, relatively inexpensive and safe shipping and handling, compared with conventional rigid screens, and are expected to spawn a new generation of portable devices that are mobile, but also have compelling user interfaces,” said Jennifer Colegrove, an analyst at the iSuppli Corporation, a market research firm in El Segundo, Calif.

Check out the interesting array of Readius features, including Global wireless connectivity, with the greatest coverage of any eReader (Tri Band/3.5G HSDPA), supporting ActiveSync and USB mass storage (USB FS),and allowing communication with accessories and other devices (Bluetooth 2.0).

The Readius weblog  says the device is the portal through which readers can select and manage content — some free, some subscription, some one-time purchases.  Content partners will be listed this fall and content can be downloaded to a PC, or transferred over-air, not requiring a computer.

Pricing has not been announced, but is expected to be more than the Kindle’s $359.

If you are in the market for some personal technology but are feeling the current pinch during this economic downturn, you’ll be interested in PC Magazine’s picks for the 20 best products (rating 3 or better) under $100.

Categories include:

• Mobile Phones and PDAs,
• interesting computer peripherals such as mice, flash drives, and video cams,
• digital photo and video equipment
• MP3 players and headphones,
• and printers.
  

At a hearing yesterday, advocacy groups and legal experts told Congress that it was unreasonable for federal officials to search the laptops of United States citizens when they re-enter the country from traveling abroad, reports the New York Times.

The federal government says the searches are necessary for national security.  In April, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Customs and Border Protection agency could conduct searches without reasonable suspicion.

“If you asked most Americans whether the government has the right to look through their luggage for contraband when they are returning from an overseas trip, they would tell you ‘yes, the government has that right,’ ” Senator Russ Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, said at the hearing of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

“But,” Mr. Feingold continued, “if you asked them whether the government has a right to open their laptops, read their documents and e-mails, look at their photographs and examine the Web sites they have visited, all without any suspicion of wrongdoing, I think those same Americans would say that the government absolutely has no right to do that.”

There is particular concern among civil rights advocates that believe certain ethnic groups are being targeted, especially Muslims, but there is also concern among companies with employees who regularly travel abroad.

“In today’s wired, networked and borderless world, one’s office no longer sits within four walls or a cubicle; rather, one’s office consists of a collection of mobile electronic devices such as a laptop, a BlackBerry, PDA, and a cellphone,” said Susan K. Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.  She said the seizures and searches meant that “you may find yourself effectively locked out of your office indefinitely.”

Read more at the Center for American Progress site.  Photo by lonelysandwich. Creative Commons license.

Five states, plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, ban talking on a cell phone while driving (or will as of July 1), unless you use a hands-free headset. Most of those states, plus 14 others, ban all cell phone use for novice drivers.

Text messaging, on the other hand, is only banned in Alaska, Washington state, Minnesota and New Jersey.  Maybe other states think drivers have enough common sense not to try texting while driving.  One wonders whether you can count on that.

California and Washington are among the states implementing the ban on holding a cell phone to your ear while driving as of July 1.  There is always the question about whether your brain is fully engaged in driving, even if your hands are, but I guess talking on the phone is just one more potential distraction among many that drivers face.

In the meantime, purveyors of hands-free devices, notably bluetooth headsets, are stepping up advertising, and a number of Internet sites are reviewing options for those of us who might now be in the market.

Wired describes four bluetooth headsets here, listing pros and cons and price range.

PC Magazine recently reviewed bargain-priced bluetooth headsets.

Of course you can find more reviews using a search engine.  Just be sure to check out the date of the review (as well as the source) so you get good up-to-date information.

Text message privacy ruling in Ninth Circuit case
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion in Quon v. Arch Wireless ruled that law enforcement needs a probably cause warrant to access stored copies of electronic messages less than 180 days old, whether you have already downloaded or read them. 

The ruling also stops employers from getting the contents of employee emails or text messages from the service provider, even if they pay for the service, without the consent of the employee, states the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

EFF speaks out on telecom immunity
Congress is widely reported to have struck a deal on legislation to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that includes immunity for telecommunications companies that helped the government illegally spy on millions of ordinary Americans, reports the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“Whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called ‘compromise’ on immunity is anything but: the current proposal is the exact same blanket immunity that the Senate passed in February and that the House rejected in March, only with a few new bells and whistles so that political spinsters can claim that it actually provides meaningful court review,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. “We call on all members of Congress to reject this sham compromise and maintain the rule of law, rather than deprive the millions of ordinary Americans whose privacy rights were violated of their day in court.”

Apple introduced its new 3G iPhone which will go on sale July 11.  TechCrunch has the story and a video of the announcement.  

The new iPhone will run on AT&T’s high-speed 3G network, will give you an 8 gigabyte device with GPS, relatively long battery life, and all for only $199 (with a 2-year contract), as compared to the first iteration of iPhones which sell for $399.

Steve Jobs, making the announcement, said that 3G speed approaches that of WiFi, making web and email access more desirable.  In combination with the GPS chip, the increased speed makes many new location-aware applications possible.

Mobile picture books
Hot sellers in Japan are made-for-mobile picture books for kids.  One publisher plans to have 50 titles and 10,000 downloads by next September. [via iLibrarian]

How Americans use the Internet for purchase decisions
“The internet plays an important role in how people conduct research for purchases, but it is just one among a variety of sources people use and usually not the key factor in final purchasing decisions,” notes this Pew Internet & American Life report (PDF).

Among online Americans who use the Internet for product research, online resources make shopping more efficient by helping them explore options and compare features.  Although many use online resources to look for better deals, few actually make the purchase online.  Among the product purchases examined were music, cell phones, and new housing.

New instant copyright licensing services
In response to growth in blogging and social networking, iCopyright has launched two new instant licensing services – Instant PDF E-Prints and Instant Web Post – to help online publishers promote lawful reuses of their copyrighted content while protecting their rights.  See LISWire for details.

Amazon has reduced the price of its ebook reader to $359. When first introduced, the Kindle sold out immediately and was not available for months — now the deal includes a price reduction and free two-day shipping.

The Amazon Kindle allows you to purchase instantly and wirelessly over 120,000 books, newspapers, magazines and blogs. Wireless connectivity enables you to access the Kindle Store anywhere a cell connection can be established, but there are no wireless charges, service plans or commitments involved.

Kindle’s high-resolution screen looks and reads like paper, but unlike it, the size of the text can be adjusted to meet your preferences. You can download and read free book samples before you buy, and purchases are delivered wirelessly in a minute. Many New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases cost $9.99 — significantly less than paper versions. American and international newspapers and magazines can be purchased, as well. Free wireless access to Wikipedia is included.

The Kindle stores over 200 titles, while being lighter and thinner than a typical paperback book. Click on the Kindle image to access the site for a video demonstration and more details.

The 123,291 libraries in the United States are the nation’s single largest consumer of audiobooks, making up a whopping 32% ($295.4 million) of the total annual audiobook market (according to the Audio Publishers Association), says LISWire.

CDs are still the dominant audiobook format but the digitally downloaded audiobook format has been growing at over 50% a year since 2004, and modern libraries are leading the way when it comes to digital audiobooks.

I am not surprised at the numbers, being devoted to digital audiobooks and the free access I have to them through my library. 

A popular audiobook series called The Freeway Guides sold into libraries nationwide and Jared Patrick, owner, states, “two years ago we would never have guessed how many people would be downloading the Freeway Guides directly from their local library websites without ever leaving their homes.  Increased commute times, improvements in technology and the expectation of information on demand are driving this movement, and we are excited to see libraries leading the way.”

The industry’s leading magazine on audio trends, AudioFile Magazine, reports that audiobook use continues to soar.  Libraries offering digital audiobooks via their websites have expanded their patron base, they say, because of the 24/7 availability and ease of access.  Robin Whitten editor & founder of AudioFile states, “The amount of digital audio content purchased by libraries will only continue to increase.”

Digital audiobooks cover many topics and genres, including best-selling fiction and nonfiction.  If you haven’t looked for them at your library, you may be missing out.  The library audiobook services I am familiar with require an MP3 player rather than an iPod, but there are many players that are simple and inexpensive.  Audiobooks are perfect for those on the go.  On a recent trip abroad, I took 6 unabridged audiobooks with me on an MP3 player no bigger than a pack of gum.

Talk about the world around you with GeoGraffiti
This find strikes me as a unique way to capitalize on our social networking and sharing culture, as well as on the prevalence of cell phones.

GeoGraffiti now has a public beta of a free “verbal bulletin board.”  You can create location-speciific audio notes, called “voice marks,” from any cell phone.  Share them with the world and listen to and/or respond to other people’s voice marks.

GeoGraffiti says its mission is to organize the mobile phone community’s “wisdom of crowds” intelligence, and to facilitate the exchange of that location-specific intelligence by providing a voice-driven platform that is accessible from any phone and any place.

MobileCrunch says that once you have registered, “adding a new location through the site is quick and easy, but doing so over the phone is currently a bit of a chore. If you initiate the Voice Mark over the phone, its placement is only accurate to the zip code. After you record your Voice Mark, you’ll click your way through a series of menus to properly tag your recording - it’s easy to follow, but listening through the options takes a bit too long.”

The video demo shows how you can take advantage of GeoGraffiti.  [via TechCrunch]

Photoshop Express adds Flickr support
When we first posted about the new free online image editor, Photoshop Express, we listed the supported photo sharing sites and mentioned that Flickr was expected in the future. 

Now Lifehacker reports that Flickr support has been added so you can take images from your Flickr account, edit them with PS Express, and put them back, all without downloading anything. 

“It’s not full-on Photoshop”, they say, “but still a great web-based editor for your Flickr photos.”