Moderator's note: You can hear a just-recorded podcast of Scott Sigler's chat with his friend Mark Jeffrey, as well as Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti's podcast overview of her article below. Meanwhile here's the actual EarthCore podcast. A new podcast novel from Scott Sigler, incidentally, will be on the way in September--Ancestor. - D.R. The Scott Sigler Q&A By Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti Scott Sigler has done what some would consider unthinkable--or, at the very least, enviable. He has taken his e-book and podcast of his science fiction story EarthCore and, now, has received a contract deal for a p-book, as we call it. Amazon is already...

MP3 link here. Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti's written Q&A with Scott Sigler is on the way--by tomorrow morning, Eastern Daylight. Hear her podcasts regularly by pasting the TeleRead audio feed into your podware. And remember, she welcomes feedback. ...

Sony will start selling its portable game computer, the Playstation Portable (PSP) in Europe and the Middle-East on September 1. Sony had originally planned to launch in March, but postponed in order to be able to reserve more devices for American buyers. Meanwhile, Make Blog advises existing customers not to upgrade to PSP 2.0, as all existing mods will cease to function. Not owning a PSP in either incarnation, I couldn't tell if this version dance has an impact on folks who would like to use the PSP for reading ebooks. Earlier posts on Teleread discussed how to use the PSP for...

The Escapist is a magazine about computer game playing and development that is published electronically (as PDF or HTML). It is atrociously formatted (the HTML does not fit my screen and does not scale, the PDF refuses to print), but its articles shine. It is published weekly, and seems to be no older than a couple of months, though 'everybody' is quoting from it like it has been around and established for a while now. From the editor's note: "This issue of The Escapist, "Dungeons and Dollars," allows our writers to explore the various aspects of the economics of games. Greg...

Internet Tablet Talk and Postneo 2.0 both reported this morning that the Nokia 770 had received its FCC approval. "Expect the availability of the Nokia 770 any day now!" itT exulted....

In the Library of the Future, you won't need any buildings...

"The copyright holders are on the wrong side of history. Thanks to Google and to the many advances of the digital age, the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down. The sooner the better." - Graeme Philipson in the Sydney Morning Herald, via LISNews....

Details from EContent Magazine. Excerpt: OverDrive provides its own CD-burning software. But while the list of supported portable mp3 devices contains 500 different brand names, it is remarkable that the ubiquitous iPod, arguably the most popular mp3 device out there, is conspicuously absent. [NYPL publicist Tim] Farrell calls the Apple/Microsoft incompatibility "unfortunate," but doesn't see it as having a negative impact on the program's success—in the first week alone, 85% of eAudio holdings were loaned. Steve Potash, president of OverDrive, Inc., agreed, citing the fact that the eAudio demographic—typically users in their mid-40s—isn't the same for iPods. Says Potash, "According to...

"If a standards war breaks out, the loser could be everybody. Without standards, we may not have an e-book industry." - Then-Microsoft exec Dick Brass speaking to Wired in 1998. Actually Dick was close to right. Domestic e-book sales are in the tens of millions, a speck of the tens of billions that p-books sell. OpenReader, anyone? Later this week I'll do that essay on how Microsoft could honor Dick's vision--and how OpenReader could benefit Adobe and other companies along with Microsoft....

Details from Boing Boing. Also see CNET. Yes, Adobe's PDF-related software in its present form is hell on many e-book buyers, but I see some real opportunities for the company if Microsoft continues on its present path and if Adobe will change. Via Windows Vista, Microsoft is sucking up to Hollywood and at the same time trying to lock customers forever into its DRM, not merely Windows alone. Do hi-def video fans really want to buy new monitors just to please the the DRM-crazed MPAA and help Bill G's cashflow? Voila! An opportunity for a powerful Microsoft competitor...

Details from P2P.net....

Maybe publishers should think about switching to an ad-based business model -- use books to collect an audience that they sell to advertisers. Then why worry about "piracy"?...