It started out as a quick joke yesterday morning. I had seen Engadget’s post that the Palm Pre could be had for just $80. Coming so soon after  the release of the Pixi (and its discounted price), it struck me that with such rapid and steep discounts the writing is more clearly on the wall than ever.

So I sent around this image…

It got the team talking.

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It’s hard enough for developers to build apps and make money with the iPhone due to very low prices that the fierce competition has caused.  A large percentage of apps cost 99 cents, and 20% of that goes to Apple.

The saving grace is the huge number of iPhones in the market and the fairly well organized and promoted App Store.

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If the idea of carrying a pad of paper, an eBook reader, and a netbook sounds like two too many things to carry, then you might be the target audience for the Android based enTourage eDGe.

The enTourage eDGe is a dual-screen, WiFi-enabled device that has optional access to 3G networks for fast and easy data transfers.  The left side of the enTourage eDGe features a 9.7” diagonal e-paper display, serving as an e-reader or notebook that comes with many built-in applications.  The enTourage eDGe allows users to read e-books in PDF and EPUB format and take notes or draw diagrams for easy storing on the device while they are top-of-mind, such as during a class or meeting.

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The right side of the enTourage eDGe is a 10.1” LCD screen equipped with a touch screen interface to easily browse email, surf the Internet, watch movies or listen to MP3s. The enTourage eDGe supports Bluetooth® keyboards so users can conveniently type notes, emails and IMs.  These two unique screens also work together to help individuals access information faster. For example, a user can highlight a word from the e-paper screen, and drag it to a Web browser on the LCD screen to search for definitions, images and so forth. For increased access to documents, users can choose between email attachments, USB drives, direct PC drag and drop or web page download for moving files on and off the device.

The eDGe looks interesting, and I think it’s smart that enTourage already has an eBook store in place — albeit with a limited selection of current titles and steeper prices compared to the Amazon Kindle and the nook stores; time will tell if the prices get any more competitive. Of course, there are plenty of free ePub and PDF books available online as well.

The enTourage eDGe will be available in February 2010 for $490. Colors available will include piano black, midnight blue, ruby red, glacier white, and ice blue.

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The folks at Truphone are giving everyone in the US another reason to be thankful over Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, from midday through midnight (GMT) (translation: EST- 7am-7pm, CST-6am-6pm), MST-  5am to 5pm, and PST- 4am-4pm) ,  people can make free phone calls using their Truphone application.

From their web site:

Truphone is a free VOIP application that runs on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Nokia, and Blackberry handsets.   Click here to download the application.

via Geek.com

With Project Dark now shown the light, we thought T-Mobile would be keeping things on the down-low for a bit until the new line of Christmas phones would be coming out.  Not so.

T-Mobile has launched a new program called T-Mobile Complete.  With T-Mobile Complete, interested folks can pick from four cell phones, including a Blackberry CUrve 8520, pick their plan, and away they go.  This is the first time we have seen a prepaid Balckberry from these guys.  Phones will start from $60 with plans starting from $50/month.

No information is up yet on T-Mobile’s web site, but it won’t take long for them to remedy that.

It will be interesting to see if buyers will take the gamble on T-Mobile, especially with all the buzz surrounding Verizon and the Droid.  T-Mobile definitely has an advantage with the best customer service rating of all the carriers, but will that give enough people cause to give them a try.

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Its time once again for the Internet award season.  And what would we be without the Webby Awards.

From their web site: The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.

This year, the Webbys’  have honored the top 10 Internet moments of the decade.  With so much to choose from, its amazing it was narrowed down to ten.

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As was mentioned here yesterday, today was the  big developer and press Google Chrome OS event.  Today was the day Google pulled back the curtain and let the blogsphere know about the mystery that is the new Chrome OS platform.

Early adopters and developers alike can grab a copy of the  source code today to play with.  It has been released as open source.  So, if you really really wanted,  you could build your own Chrome OS.  Those of us who don’t have those mad skillz we will have to wait until late 2010.  I am sensing it will be a Google Chrome OS Christmas next year.

So what is Chrome OS really?  Well, from what was said and shown at the event, this isnt your mother’s operating system. Continue Reading

(image courtesy of Techcrunch)

Hello and welcome to another “State of the ebook!” We have an avalanche of news this week, from smartphone news to international expansion and beyond!

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It’s easy to get excited over the many announcements made during last week’s BlackBerry Developer Conference.  The second annual event unleashed big news for the platform.  Everything from more talk on a forthcoming WebKit browser to real 3D gaming to support for Flash and vastly improved developer tools to create a wider variety of applications. Mobile developers took notice.  RIM is actively looking to help anyone wanting to design applications for their devices. The big question, though, remains:  just how will these new services  actually run on a BlackBerry?

Is it possible to run 3D gaming, Flash, etc. on a BlackBerry’s limited device memory without causing memory leaks, forcing users to reboot the device?

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Can’t decide which operating system you want on the shiny new netbook you are about to get? Well this GearSponsor deal may be just what you are looking for. This Acer AOD250 has a 10.1″ LED display, 1.66 GHz Intel N280 Atom processor, 1GB RAM and a 6-cell battery. While those specs aren’t unusual for a netbook this one is… this machine Dual-Boots both the Android and XP operating systems.

That’s right, with this GearDeal you don’t need to choose which OS because it ships with two! And with $20 off at NewEgg you can grab it for just $329.99. The price even includes free shipping.

Acer AOD250-1613 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (9 hours battery) with Android/Windows XP via LogicBuy.

The rumor mill is buzzing about the possible launch of an Android handset that is actually designed BY Google. We heard this rumor before the launch of Android but now it makes much more sense. Here’s why…
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New Droid owners (and other Android junkies) rejoice!  eReader announced tonight via their weekly email newsletter that eReader for the Android platform is now available.

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The question was simple and straight-forward. The answers sometimes surprising. I asked everyone at Gear Diary the following…

Here is the challenge— you can choose one tech-related gift to either give or get. The only limitations are—-
-it must be currently available
-it must have an MSRP of $1000 or less

What would be on your super-short shopping list and why???

Here’s what they said.

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I like the Android platform a great deal. I find it relatively easy to use and quite powerful. The ability to run a number of applications in the background makes a tremendous difference in usability of the device. This continues to be one of the main shortcomings of the Apple iPhone. Add to that the tremendous integration of the device with Google’s various applications and you have a winning combination. Or so I thought.

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You have to feel badly for Palm. Even when they make some good moves they still can’t get any respect. And today no less than the New York Times took a swipe at them. In the article entitled “Is Palm’s Comeback Losing Steam?” author Saul Hansell notes…

Palm invented the category of a Web-surfing pocket-computer phone with its Treo line in 2002. But more recently it lost its way in the market as some of its rivals developed more innovative phones.

I mean, think about it, how many people are even TALKING about the $99 Pixi that just went on sale? Ask people about the latest smartphone and they will say… “Droid”.

Worse yet for Palm,

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