TechCrunch has an article looking at an iOS hacking project that has the potential to be rather interesting. Whited00r is a custom version of OS 3.1.3, hacked to include features such as app folders and multitasking from later versions of the OS. It’s meant for older-generation iPhones and iPod Touches. Of course, it’s a jailbreak, which means losing access to some official Apple stuff such as the App Store and notifications. It looks like it might be fun to try out, but I don’t think it will fix one of my biggest annoyances with having a 1st-generation iPod...

A while ago, I wrote about the idea of using a MiFi to retrofit 3G mobile web access to wifi-capable devices (such as e-readers), and I also mentioned the TruConnect MiFi pay-as-you-go service that allows bite-sized prepaid-3G-wifi usage with no contract required. It has been a couple of weeks since I received my TruConnect MiFi for Christmas, and I’ve used it enough to get a decent idea of how well it works. I use the MiFi mostly with my iPod Touch and iPad, though I have had the chance to try it with my laptop as well. Fundamentally,...

Yesterday, when pondering whether newspapers might eventually use free Kindles to rid themselves of print costs, I was reminded that advertising revenue is one of the major issues tying newspapers down to the print format. Which is why I found it interesting when I noticed a Reuters report that the Financial Times expects its online content sales revenues to equal or exceed its print advertising revenues in 2012. The Financial Times is known for its successful paywall strategy in which it allows readers eight free articles per month but requires they subscribe beyond that. It recently launched an HTML5...

Publishing Perspectives has a brief piece on UK publisher b small publishing (which, like danah boyd, eschews capital letters in its name), which is producing multimedia parallel-text bilingual e-books to help young students learn foreign languages. The 32-page books feature a 16-page story divided into English and the language being taught (so far, French or Spanish), with read-aloud buttons to hear a native speaker read the story aloud in either language. The books are available as appbooks on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. [b small Managing Director Catherine] Bruzzone said, “Here at b...

Black Friday is almost upon us, and it bids fair to be an e-reader kind of holiday season. There’s no word yet from Amazon on any discounts on its Kindle products (though it seems to be discounting just about everything else), but Barnes & Noble has announced a special deal on a “Limited Edition” of its Nook Simple Touch e-reader—in stores only, it’s knocking $20 off the price. This brings it down to $79—on par with Amazon’s lowest-tier ad-supported Kindle price. Amusingly, one of its listed benefits is No Annoying Ads Reading...

Have you ever read on the toilet? I know I have. Indeed, the one-handed form factor of the iPod Touch means it’s perfectly suited for me to read with my right while I wipe with my left. And indeed, people have been reading on the toilet in real life and literary works for decades or even centuries. But have you considered whether it’s a sanitary habit? The Guardian’s books blog reports that one pediatric gastroenterologist was curious enough about the practice to issue a survey on the matter. Some doctors point out that the process can lead to...

Marco Ament, the developer of Instapaper, discusses a critical problem with iOS 5 that will affect any application that stores its own content—including e-book readers. It has to do with iOS 5’s iCloud backup system. Apple wants to reduce the amount of data that has to go out over wifi, and is asking developers not to store such data in Documents folders within the app itself that would get automatically backed up. Instead: Data that can be downloaded again or regenerated should be stored in the <Application_Home>/Library/Caches directory. Examples of files you should put in the...

Our sister blog Gadgetell reports that Samsung has started to sell the Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 directly through its website, for $229.99 and $269.99 respectively. Both devices have similar specs: 800 x 480 resolution on 4” or 5” screens (just a bit less than the current iPod Touch’s 960 x 640 at 3.5”, but certainly better than its prior 480 x 320), 8 GB internal memory with a microSD card slot for expansion, front-facing camera and 3.2 megapixel rear camera (compare that to the iPod Touch’s 1 MP camera), Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11 b/g/n wifi, and Android Market access. They...

CNet reports on some great deals Apple is currently offering on its first-generation refurbished iPads. For $399 you can get either a Wi-Fi + 3G 32GB model, or a Wi-Fi-only 64GB model. For $499 you can get a Wi-Fi + 3G 64GB model. Not a bad deal at all for those who don’t mind a few extra ounces and the lack of a camera. They will run the new iOS 5. Alas, Apple doesn’t have much to offer in the way of refurbished iPod Touches right now. It does have a 64 GB 2009 (3rd-generation) model for $249. Lots...

From an e-reader point of view, the Apple event today was a bit of a disappointment. The iPad is the best-selling tablet ever? We already knew that. One bright spot is that the entry-level iPod Touch price will drop by $30 to $199, basically equivalent to the price of the Kindle Fire which it outspecs in a few ways (camera, microphone, motion sensor, etc.). I wonder whether the new iPods are enough of a change from the old that the old will get an additional refurbishment discount when they launch. I wouldn’t mind having one of those retina display screens…...

Ten years ago, the original iPod came out, changing Apple inexorably from a snooty little computer company whose best days were seemingly long behind it to one of the greatest powerhouses of the consumer electronics industry. Today it seems likely Apple is going to kill off the last vestige of that original hard-drive-and-music-player-only device. Yesterday Gizmodo took a look at some of the complaints and erroneous predictions of low sales surrounding the original device, and pointed out a CNet review by Elliot Van Buskirk predicting that descendants of the iPod might replace the PC. The funny thing is,...

Wired’s Gadget Lab takes a look at the history of 7” tablets, and why Steve Jobs has been extremely dismissive of the idea. To Jobs, a 7” tablet is too small to accomplish anything worthwhile, and many would see the form factor as little more than a smartphone that’s too big to picket, too small to do much. But the fact that Apple is staying away from that market niche has been allowing others to exploit it without fear of competition—in particular, the Nook Color and now the Kindle Fire. They’re being marketed as media consumption devices rather than...