Invention Review

Critical and Objective Review of Interesting Inventions

Monday, April 19, 2010

Smart E-Book Readers: iPad, JE100, JE200, SmartQ V7, Archos 5 / 7

We know what is a e-book reader but what is a smart e-book reader?

1.0 Definition

As of Mar 2010, we accept that a smartphone is a mobile phone offering additional functionalities, or "PC-like functionalities."
  • Wiktionary states that a smartphone is an "electronic handheld device that integrates the functionality of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or other information appliance."
  • About.com explains that a smartphone should have these features: an Operating System, Software (eg. one that view MS Office documents), Web Access, QWERTY keyboard, Messaging, among others.
As for e-book reader "is an electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital books and periodicals and uses e-ink technology to display content to readers. The main advantages of these devices are portability, readability of their screens in bright sunlight, and long battery life." (Wikipedia).

Here, we propose that a Smart E-book reader is an electronic handheld device that includes the functionalities of an E-book reader, personal digital assistant or other information appliance. Furthermore, the electronic display is capable of being e-ink-like and LCD-like."

2.0 Smart E-Book Readers in Singapore



3.0 iPad, JE100 or JE200





If not for iPad, one may not put too much emphasis on the form factor, SmartQ v7 and Archos 5/7 are fine.

However, with the launched of iPad, that is pretty much the benchmark when one consider an alternative, in this case, an alternative Smart E-book reader. So far, only JE100 and JE200 can give iPad a run for the money.

JE200 is retailed in Singapore for S$360 while an iPad at this moment is about three times the price of JE200.

4.0 Software

JE200 runs on Windows CE 5.0 and there are thousands of compatible software that can be loaded on this device. I tried running both DOS and Windows XP software on this device and it did not work, otherwise we would have a lot more applications that is able to run on this machine than iPad/iPhone applications.

Software compiled by Jointech include:
  • MS Reader
  • SoftMaker Office 2008
  • ePub Reader
  • Pocket WinRAR
  • Foxit Reader (PDF)
  • Process TaskList
  • MobiReader for reading .Mobi and .PRC eBooks 
  • Haali Reader
  • AlReader v2.5.090627
  • MMCE Comic and eMagazine Reader
5.0 JE200 Hardware

JE200 looks very much like a mini iPad. At 300gram, this is a comfortable device to hold and the touch-screen is sensitive to both finger touch and stylus and is satisfactory.


6.0 JE100 & JE200 Retailers in Singapore

 7.0 Conclusion

This is an ongoing review, specifically on JE200.

    Saturday, April 10, 2010

    Business Innovation: Free (or not) Global Business Listing with "World Business Register"

    Introduction

    Globally, there are over 100,000 business method/model patents and this is a sample of over 20,000 granted business method/model related patents from the United States of Patent and Trademark Office. Business method/model patents falls under the US Patent Classification 705.

    What is a business method/model patent?

    Let's hear from Wikipedia:
    "Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking, tax compliance etc. Business method patents are a relatively new species of patent and there have been several reviews investigating the appropriateness of patenting business methods. Nonetheless, they have become important assets for both independent inventors and major corporations."

    We have just filed a new business model patent a couple of days ago, in the field of quantitative finance and more specifically for use in hedge funds - a separate topic for another day.

    The research topic for today is a non-patented business innovation from International Directories Group Ltd., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of BVI and their product is the World Business Register.

    Business Innovation from "World Business Register"

    Last evening, I received an unsolicited email from "World Business Register", with a pdf attachment. Below is the screen snapshot of the email.



    I originally thought that this is a novel method of soliciting email for spamming purposes. However, the curiosity got the better of me and I went ahead to check out the PDF document.

    "Wow" was my immediate response. I wondered if an email harvester would go so far as to require someone to fill in a form, sign it, endorse with a company stamp and post it through snail mail just to get a legitimate email address or even contact information? There seems to be more than meet the eye...

    What is "World Business Register" business model?
    I did a quick search and was educated in many aspects on what "World Business Register" is about. in brief, the details is actually in its fine prints of the email attachment. Click on the scanned image below where I have highlighted the essential fine prints. 


    Noticed the additional reference to their Terms and Conditions? Do check it out as it is easier on the eyes but not the wallet.

    In essence, while "World Business Register" seems to promise a free update (is it 1 update or unlimited?), the catch is that the applicant will need to pay an up-front fee of 995 Euros first and this commitment is for a period of 3 years or 2985 Euros!

    There are already several sites that analysed this business model in detail and the links to those sites are:
    If you happen to complete the form and send it back to them, what would you expect next? The letter below (Courtesy of Mukaumedia) is to be expected:


    Is this a new business innovation? Apparently not. Check out:
    More from this website: http://stopecg.org

    How many Asia countries are in this Business Registry?
    • Within Asia, at least 1000
    • Within Singapore, at least 13
    • Within Malaysia, at least 11
    • Within Thailand, at least 64
    • Within Indonesia, at least 53
    • Within Philippines, at least 17
    • Within Taiwan, at least 21
    • Within Hong Kong, at least 14
    • Within China, at least 111
    • Within India, at least 236
    • Within Korea, at least 11
    I would not be surprised if one or more of the listings are unsolicited as well, that is, the compani(es) are added into the country so as to give some level of comfort to prospects in their country.

    As of 10 Apr 2010, what are the Singapore companies that are listing in World Business Listing?

    • Al Noor International (Singapore) Pte Ltd
    • Allianz Se Reinsurance Branch Asia Pacific     
    • Bartec Pte Ltd     
    • BOC Aviation     
    • Business Continuity Management Institute
    • BCM Institute Australia Pacific
    • BW Furniture Pte Ltd
    • Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home     
    • Choice One Manufacturing Pte Ltd
    • Chun Cheng Fishery Enterprise Pte. Ltd.     
    • CPD Oilwell International Pte Ltd
    While some companies may be unwilling but able afford to pay World Business Register, I suspect that "Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home" is/was in big distress.

    Conclusion
    Fellow readers, if you are one of those who are in distress due to this business innovation, I found the pointers given in stopecg.com under the section "To Pay or not to pay" to be applicable to how you may want to handle this situation.

    Like ECG, World Business Register will likely be transformed into another form in due time. Would the new  form be Global Business Guide? Global Business Listing? Global Business Directory? World Business Directory? Best Business Guide? Best Business Directory? ... will update this space again when the time comes.

    As always, read the fine prints.

    God bless and best wishes.

    Monday, March 15, 2010

    E-Book Readers in Singapore

    Touch Screen Models: Keyreader, Hanvon N518, Oaxis, iRiver Story, Oaxis W960, Hanlin V3, Hanvon N516, Cool-ER, Jetbook, Eco Reader, JE100, JE200, SmartQ v7, Archos 5/7.

    1. As observed by some industry colleagues, 2010 may go down as the Year of the E-book Readers [1, 2].

    2. There could be a convergence of the E-Book reader (eg. Kindle 2) and the Tablet (eg. iPad) in the future, however as of today, there are sufficient distinguishing features/strengths/weaknesses for both E-Book reader and the Tablet. In this article, we confine ourselves to the traditional E-book Reader (those that use e-Ink).

    3. There are numerous 5", 6" and larger sized E-Book readers in the market. Figure 1 is an extract from an E-Book Reader wiki page [3]:
    Figure 1. Range of E-Book Readers in the Market (Global)


    4. At first glance, it seems that there are simply to many choices - good for those who are technical but probably mind boggling for the man on the street. However, when we start to filter down by Country, ie. whether the ebook readers are retailed in Singapore, as of Mar 2010, we have only a limited range of E-Book Readers :-(


    5. For many of us, the ability to write, underline, bookmark and even highlight on our physical books are taken for granted and one would expect to do such similar tasks on an E-Book. Filtering down the limited range of E-Books Readers with Touch Screen capabilities (either finger or stylus) would yield a Decision Tree similar to that of Figure 2.
     Figure 2. Five/Six Inch E-Book Readers Decision Tree


    6. Keyreader in a Nutshell
     Figure 3. Keyreader
    • Dimension: 196 x 121 x 10.5 mm (6" display)
    • Screen Technology: E-Ink Vizplex
    • Display Size: (90 × 120mm) 6" 600 × 800 pixels, 167 ppi 
    • Touch Screen Input: Wacom Electromagnetic resonance stylus input
    • Weight: 300g
    • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 
    • Built-in browser for Web surfing: Yes
    • Internal memory: 512MB
    • SDHC slot: Yes
    • Mini-USB port: Yes
    • Battery life: up to 5,000 page flip
    • Audio jack: 3.5mm
    • Note taking / highlighting / underlining: Through Stylus
    • Audio output: MP3
    • NLB Partnership: Access to 900,000 e-books
    • Price: S$399 (Basic), S$499 (with Wifi)

    7. Keyreader is a partially made in Singapore product from iCell Network. It was supposed to be available for sale during the IT Show 2010 but was unfortunately delayed till end of March 2010 (based on what iCell customer service told me, Tel: 65 6309-4525).

    Keyreader related links as at 14 March 2010 (Pre-sales / Pre-available) are:

    8. As of 14 March 2010, there is no Keyreader user review However, two good review proxies would be to look at reviews for "Onyx Boox" and "BeBook Neo", which are very similar to Keyreader.

    Onyx Boox Videos & Reviews:
    Bebook Neo Videos & Reviews:

    9.0 Intellectual Property & Patents
    We were expecting some related pending patents from Onyx International and to a lesser extent, from Endless Ideas (Bebook) and iCell Networks. The results turns out to be zilch. Am giving Onyx the benefit of the doubt the the patents are still unpublished at the patent office, be it in SIPO, PCT/WIPO, USPTO, etc. I would be surprise and concern for Oynx and to a lesser extent Endless Ideas and iCell Networks if there is no patent protection (be it self or in-license) for their E-Book Reader. Hope that their IP Strategist are on their toes.
    Globally, there are over a thousand of e-book reader related patents [4] and it is a question of time when we see more E-Book Readers patent litigation cases - just business.

    Some highly cited e-book reader related patents are:
    • US5484292, Apparatus For Combining Audio And Visual Indicia, Mctaggart; Stephen I, 1989-08-21 [4], Fwd Citation Count [5,6] = 79
    • WO1999045491, Digital Rights Management System, Nuvomedia Inc., Fwd Citation Count = 72
    • US6331867, Electronic book with automated look-up of terms of within reference titles, Nuvomedia Inc., 1998-03-20, Fwd citation count = 66
    • US5239665, Electronic book having several keys for changing pages and underlining certain portions of text, Kabushiki Kaisha System Gijyutsu Kenkyuusho, 1989-03-30, Fwd citation count = 65
    • WO1999049383, Electronic Book System, Nuvomedia Inc., 1998-03-20, Fwd Citation Count = 54
    One E-Book Reader litigation:
    • US5484292: Publication International Ltd. v. Golden Books Publishing Co. Inc., et al, Filed Oct. 9, 1996, D.C. Illinois, Doc. No. 96 C 6620 (DISTRICT UNAVAILABLE) | NOTICE OF LITIGATION Publications International, Ltd. v. Futech Educational Products, Inc., et al, Filed Jan. 13, 1997, D.C. N.D. Illinois, Doc. No. 97 C 236 ORDERS DATED 12/11/98

    10.0 E-books Retailers in Singapore

    11.0 Conclusion

    Will update this blog once Keyreader and Jointech JE200 is available for sale in Singapore.


    References