New Gadget Reviews Coming Soon

Hey all – all 2 or 3 of you who know about this blog – I soon hope to be posting a few capsule reviews of some new gadgets I’ve been trying out lately. These will include the iPad 2, of course, the all new Nook 2 (or Simple Touch, or Second Edition, whatever you wish to call it), the Canon SX230HS camera, the Sony HX100V camera, the Logitech Wireless Keyboard for Tablets (iPad edition, currently typing out this post) and maybe even the new Mid-2011 Mac mini and the EyeTV HD.

So tune in soon for quick pros and cons reviews on some of these grown-up toys… uh, I mean productivity devices.

Reading Device Update

It’s been a little while. And I’ve settled into a comfortable preferred reading device pattern. For reading most books on the go and in bright light, like out in the sun, it’s still the Nook most times.

For web, newspapers & magazines at most times, and books in the dark, it’s still the iPad. iPad 2 now, actually. Ask my Dad about the iPad. Gave him my iPad 1 and he loves it. Shows it to everyone.

And now there’s a new e-ink Nook that shrinks it down a bit and adds a touchscreen for that touchy ease of use (hopefully not unlike the iPad). In fact, when it was announced, I emailed someone to say, “this thing looks a lot like what I might imagine a smaller 6″ iPad (or bigger 6″ iPod touch or… iBook) to look like from the front.”

We’ll have to check it out too.

New nook app for iPhone; Random House goes agency

A quick post about a couple of potentially related (sort of) happenings in digital publishing today.

First, as has been reported, Random House, the largest of the big book publishers, has announced that it will move to the agency model for selling ebooks starting tomorrow, March 1, 2011. http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/02/28/random-house Could this mean an announcement of Random House books coming to the agency model driven iBooks be happening soon (oh, say, on March 2nd)?

And then the iTunes App Store pops up an update to Barnes & Noble’s nook for iPhone app.  And what’s in the “What’s New” listings but “Sign up in application” among other minor tweaks.  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/barnes-noble-nook-for-iphone/id384910586?mt=8 . Could this be how B&N is handling the new in-app publishing/subscription rules? Some sort of in-app sign-up to access nook content?

Things are definitely rumbling these days. Interesting times.