Ray Kurzweil’s Blio E-Book Launch Met With Confusion, Controversy

Updated at 5:30 p.m. Eastern to add comment from K-NFB.

This week, K-NFB, an e-reading company founded by Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation for the Blind, launched its much-anticipated Blio reading app and e-book store. Blio was immediately and widely panned by publishers, developers and readers.

“Many of the failures are fundamentally at odds with the one thing that Kurzweil was touting above all else: accessibility,” wrote Laura Dawson, a digital reading industry consultant, formerly of BarnesAndNoble.com. K-NFB initially promised to make e-books more accessible to blind readers; yet Windows, currently its only enhanced books platform, has known text-to-speech conversion issues.

K-NFB and Kurzweil responded by saying the software had been released before a fully-accessible version was ready, and that they plan to release an improved version next week.

“People understandably have very high expectations,” Kurzweil said in an interview with Wired.com Thursday. “We believe Blio is very usable and has many features other book formats don’t. And there are many features that we want to add.”

In addition to bug fixes and other tweaks, an accessibility release scheduled for October 25 will work with Freedom Scientific’s JAWS, screen reader software for Windows specifically tailored for blind users. The 1.0 version released Tuesday relied on Windows’ built-in text-to-speech capabilities.

K-NFB spokesperson Peter Chapman acknowledged the problems with Blio’s text-to-speech in an interview with Publishers Weekly, but blamed the platform, not the books: “the TTS software on most Windows machines isn’t very good.” Yet many Windows XP users were unable to even install Blio’s software. (This has since been resolved.)

K-NFB also confirmed that an iOS 4 version for iPhone and iPod Touch is currently in private beta, and that an iPad version will shortly follow the iPhone, probably sometime after November’s release of iOS 4.2. Android and Mac OS X versions are also in development.

Users weren’t the only ones frustrated with Blio. Hadrien Gardeur, founder and CEO of free e-books site FeedBooks, complained on Twitter that Blio was offering downloads from FeedBooks’ catalog without permission: “Hey Blio, next time that you add our OPDS [Open Publishing Distribution System] catalog to a commercial product, send us an e-mail first.”

In a follow-up e-mail, Gardeur noted that FeedBooks only allows other systems to include their catalog under the following conditions:

  • full support for the EPUB standard (Blio converts EPUB into its own format and can’t support EPUB with other companies’ DRM)
  • support the entire OPDS catalog (Blio only includes some of FeedBooks’ feeds)
  • Add other OPDS catalogs to its library (Blio can’t do that)
  • allow payment for commercial content through open standards (Blio doesn’t)

For these reasons, Gardeur asked Blio not to include FeedBooks’ content in its initial launch; according to Gardeur, K-NFB went ahead and included part of Feedbooks’ OPDS catalog anyways. Since FeedBooks has a planned system update forthcoming, it will most likely break Blio’s access to the catalog.

Kurzweil stated Thursday that K-NFB was continuing to work with Feedbooks and other free book providers; he credited the dispute over Blio’s use of their feeds to a miscommunication.

Finally, as we noted earlier this week, Toshiba launched its own branded version of the Blio application, store and e-book catalog called Toshiba Book Place. Toshiba is offering 6,000 titles at launch; Blio 11,000. This puts Blio at a distinct disadvantage against the 700,000 e-books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers for sale from Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s library of over 1,000,000 e-books.

It’s not precisely clear why there’s a gap in the number of books offered by Toshiba and Blio. But the brand and store fragmentation is another confusing component of a deeply confusing product launch. It’s especially troubling for those who have been hoping for serious innovation in making e-readers accessible to users of all abilities.

Image via Blio.com

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The $50 Hole: Photojojo’s Body-Cap Pinhole Conversion

To convert your SLR camera into a pinhole camera, you need only to take the body-cap and drill a tiny hole in it. This option, which uses the protective cap that came with the body, is free, and highly recommended for some photo-fun.

If you lack the skills to make a little hole in a piece of plastic, but somehow still have enough of a brain to have bought a camera and know how to use it, you could buy Photojojo’s $50 version, made from an actual Canon or Nikon body-cap. This pro-pinhole isn’t quite as dumb as it seems, but it’s still a little steep compared to Photojojo’s usually reasonable offerings.

The SLR Pinhole Body Cap has a small, countersunk hole at its center, and this hole is covered by a piece of opaque film. In the centre of this film is a tiny dot of transparent material. The advantage here is twofold: the tiny hole in the film is better than the ragged one you’d cut with your Dremel, and the fact that the hole is covered keeps dust off your sensor. The results can be seen in the gallery below.

I’m torn. On the one hand, this is a nicely made, fun accessory for your camera. On the other hand, you already own one, and $50 is a lot of money for something you could easily do yourself.

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SLR Pinhole Body Cap [Photojojo]

Photos: Photojojo

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Apple, Google, Facebook, Walmart, Toyota Back Microsoft in Patent Suit

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It’s like the saying goes, patent infringement suits make strange bedfellows. Or something like that. Microsoft has been joined by an impressive cast of companies, in its battle against i4i.

The software giant appealed to the Supreme Court back in August, in an attempt to reverse a $290 million award over a feature in Microsoft Word said to infringe on an i4i patent. The company is looking to redefine the way patents are validated–and it has some high-profile allies.

Some of the biggest corporations in the world (including a handful of Microsoft competitors) have filed amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs, including Apple, Google, Intel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Facebook, Walmart, and Toyota.

Microsoft is battling to lower the bar for the defense in such suits. Says SeattlePI,

During infringement lawsuits, courts apply the “clear and convincing evidence” standard to determine whether a patent — one already approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — is indeed valid. Microsoft, and other companies that deal heavily in intellectual property, would like to see the standard changed to “preponderance of evidence.”

The new rules, at least in theory, would help protect large companies from so-called “patent trolls.”

BMW shows off first ‘official’ iPad integration, convinces us to go aftermarket

Look, BMW — we appreciate that you were the first automaker to provide seamless iPod integration way back when, but seriously, did anyone on the design squad look at this abomination before shipping it off to France? As the story goes, the aforesaid automaker has demonstrated the first “official” iPad-vehicle integration setup at this year’s Paris Auto Show, and to be frank, it’s heinous. The idea here is to provide world-class rear-seat entertainment, while apparently destroying aesthetics in one fell swoop. It’s just about too hideous to be true, but the iconic “BMW” logo on the mounting brackets all but confirms the authenticity. Perhaps you folks should consult with any number of the skilled DIYers out there before shooting for the stars with version 2.0?

BMW shows off first ‘official’ iPad integration, convinces us to go aftermarket originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real Life Iron-Man Suit for Soldiers

When I saw this Raytheon XOS 2 suit, I immediately thought of the scene in Iron Man 2 where a poor “volunteer” soldier is almost broken in two, his body snapped and wrung by an experimental exoskeleton he is wearing. So you can see how surprised I was to see Agent Phil Coulson from Iron Man wearing it in this YouTube video.

The XOS 2 is an upgrade to the original XOS built for military use by contractor Raytheon. It is lighter, faster and uses half the power of the XOS, and – according to one of the uninjured test-soldiers – lets you press 200-pounds or do pushups with 150-pounds on your back without even feeling it. Check this thing out:

While the suit is clearly perfect for fighting, when it makes it into service in five years it will be used just like Ripley’s power-loader in the movie Aliens. A tethered, full-body XOS would be used for loading weapons and supplies (and, of course, fighting Alien queens in airlocks). A pants- only version, encircling legs and waist, could be used in the field to help troops carry heavy loads.

After seeing that soldier twisted like a pretzel in Iron Man 2, I have had an irrational fear of exoskeletons. But I’d love to take this one out for a spin. Imagine doing sports with this thing: you’d slug every ball out over the stadium walls.

For more on exoskeletons in the military in general, and suspiciously timely celebrity appearances in particular, check out the coverage over at our sister blog Danger Room.

Raytheon Unveils 2nd Generation Exoskeleton Robotic Suit [Raytheon]

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Google Dumps Nexus One Page for Android Phone Gallery

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Looking to hop on the Android bandwagon, but aren’t sure which handset will best serve your needs? Where better to turn than Google itself? At least that seems to be the thinking behind the site’s new Phone Gallery, available at Google.com/phone.

The URL is the former home of the HTC Nexus One, the eagerly awaited and ultimately sunned “Google Phone” that the company hoped would change the way people purchased mobile hardware. Google quietly discontinued that handset over the summer.

The new Phone Gallery now features 22 handsets, including the Droid 2, Samsung Epic 4G, Droid Incredible, and HTC Hero. Users can create charts by clicking on the handsets to quickly compare specs like battery life, Android version, screen size, and carriers. Google has promised to add more handsets as they’re made available.

Stem Cells can Reattach Teeth

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You know how your mom always told you take care of your teeth? Well, no more! Thanks to technology you won’t have to brush or floss ever again! Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have devised a way to reattach teeth to the jaw using stem cells.

The experiments took the stem cells of mice and used them to reattach rat molars to the jaws of gummy rodents. Between two and four months later the teeth grew new fibrous attachments between the tooth and bone, firmly adhering them to the rat’s jaw complete with new tooth growth.

This is a big advancement that could help millions. Aside from the usual suspects of tooth loss in the contact sport world, it could help those who suffer from tooth loss at the hands of gum disease or other ailments.

So, eat that chocolate bar, down that soda, and play that hockey without a mouth guard. Thanks to science, teeth are the new hair.

iRobot patents “Celestial Navigation System” for the Roomba

While Roomba’s automated approach to floor cleaning might’ve been novel for its day, its random bumbling is starting to look dated, particularly in comparison to laser-guided, ultra smart vacuums like the Neato XV-11. Well, iRobot is naturally not going to take this lying down, and the company has received a patent for a new “Celestial Navigation System” based on IR beacons bounced off walls and ceilings that the Roomba can track and calculate its position from. It doesn’t sound as fancy as Neato’s completely self-contained system, and it’ll require the setup of multiple beacons throughout the house to make the bot self-sufficient, but we’re guessing it requires less processing and gadgetry on board to pull off — which hopefully means Roomba can stuff this into bots cheaper than Neato’s $400 XV-11. Mint, which was supposed to ship this summer from Evolution Robotics, uses a similar system to the one iRobot is proposing and has a rumored price of under $250.

iRobot patents “Celestial Navigation System” for the Roomba originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple TV Teardown Reveals 8GB Flash Storage

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Well, here’s a surprise. During its customary new product teardown, iFixit discovered a full 8GB of on-board storage inside the second generation Apple TV, in the form of a Samsung K9LCG08U1M 8GB NAND flash chip.

That’s not a ton, granted (especially in light of the fact that its predecessor had either 40- or 160GB), but a bit more than expected, given the fact that the device isn’t designed to serve as a hard drive for media, in the way the first Apple TV was.

iFixit notes that the chip is the same as the one discovered during a teardown of Apple’s iPad. “This is a pretty remarkable amount of storage for a $99 device,” the site wrote.

The storage is most likely used to cache media streamed to the device, so you don’t have to deal with buffering, should there be a lag in your connection. Still, iFixit puts it best, “we wonder what else you could do with 8 GB of exploitable storage.”

Booq Intros the Boa Folio Case

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That useful iPad you love to carry around will become a whole lot more useful once you’ve wrapped it in the Booq Boa Folio case. The Boa Folio features a three-position design for typing, presentations, and desk work, making your iPad versatile and useful throughout your day.

The Boa Folio can be carried on its own or can slide into a backpack or bag. You can rest your iPad flat against your lap, elevate it slightly for screen typing, or put it nearly vertical for presentations and video viewing. The case’s interior features a large document pocket and a molded bumper to protect the iPad and hold it securely in place. You can pick one up in Nappa leather ($89.95; gray and sand or turquoise) or in ballistic nylon ($49.95; black and red, berry, or slate).