Latest Technology Trends

These bags are specially designed to protect your smartphone, camera, MP3 player or other small and sensitive device. Use them during your travels or if you don’t pay too much attention to your gadgets.

The soft and flexible bags are made from wetsuit, so your devices are safely hidden from rain or other wet events. The dominant color is grey but there are lines of various bright colors (red, yellow, green, orange) so you can never lose track of your valuable objects. Designed by Erdem Design probably for people who are aware of the importance of their devices.

Related Unique Gift Ideas:

• The Jelly Fish Lamp by Erdem Design

A Gift and Gadget Blog

• Amazon is going to keep track of the individual library patrons who check out Kindle ebooks and even store their notes in the hope that they’ll later buy the ebooks from Amazon.  Isn’t this a violation of libraries’ privacy policies regarding patron information?  
• Is the Nook an eReader or a tablet?
• Amazon is going to keep track of the individual library patrons who check out Kindle ebooks and even store their notes in the hope that they’ll later buy the ebooks from Amazon.  Isn’t this a violation of libraries’ privacy policies regarding patron information?  
• Do you forsee Amazon changing their file types to ePub standard?

You can also chime in on Twitter. The hashtag is #libgadgets

Links to Resources that Jason Mentioned today:

Comparison of eBook formats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats

Library eBook vendors
Overdrive – http://overdrive.com
NetLibrary – http://www.netlibrary.com
EBL – http://www.eblib.com/
SpringerLink – http://www.springerlink.com/
MyiLibrary – http://www.myilibrary.com/

Useful eBook sites
Feedbooks – http://www.feedbooks.com/
Project Gutenberg – http://www.gutenberg.org/

Tools
Calibre – http://calibre-ebook.com/

The preliminary readings for this workshop were:

Jason Griffey, Gadgets and Gizmos: Personal Electronics and the Library, Chapters 1 and 2:http://alatechsource.metapress.com/content/u2w721l2m73u/

The Enterprise Deployment Guide for iOS: http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/enterprise/

Buffy Hamilton’s blog entries about rolling out Kindles: http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/category/kindle/

Meredith Farkas’ Fine Print: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/practice/read-fine-print

Jason Griffey, blog post on DRM: http://jasongriffey.net/wp/2010/08/25/ebooks-filetype-and-drm/

Jason’s Slides:

• How accessible are tablet and mobile devices for people with disabilities? Is there a particular manufacturer that stands out?
• How are libraries handling the problems posed by multiple users using these personal devices – for example clearing an iPad in between users to ensure patron privacy and securing content, etc.?
• Are there shortcuts for building a mobile app for your library, or companies that cater to the library market?

You can also chime in on Twitter. The hashtag is #libgadgets

Links to Resources that Jason Mentioned today:

Devices
http://www.google.com/phone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices

Management
http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/
http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/integration/
http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/10/bring-your-phone-to-work-day-managing.html
http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/04/putting-android-to-work-for-your.html

Development
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/developing-apps-for-ios-sd/id395631522
http://developer.android.com/index.html
http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

Reader Apps to check out

iBooks (Apple iBookstore & PDFs)
Google Books (Google Books online)
Kindle (Amazon Kindle store)
Instapaper (web text)
ComicZeal4 (comics)
Inkling (textbooks)
KoboHD (Kobo books)
Nook (Barnes & Noble books)
Goodreader (All sorts of documents, does PDF Annotation)

The preliminary readings for this workshop were:

Jason Griffey, Gadgets and Gizmos: Personal Electronics and the Library, Chapters 1 and 2: http://alatechsource.metapress.com/content/u2w721l2m73u/

The Enterprise Deployment Guide for iOS: http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/enterprise/

Buffy Hamilton’s blog entries about rolling out Kindles: http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/category/kindle/

Meredith Farkas’ Fine Print: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/practice/read-fine-print

Jason Griffey, blog post on DRM: http://jasongriffey.net/wp/2010/08/25/ebooks-filetype-and-drm/

Jason’s Slides:

We’re really excited to announce another ALA TechSource Workshop, Gadgets in the Library: A Practical Guide to Personal Electronics for Librarians with our very own Jason Griffey.

Jason is a guy who needs no introduction. If you work at a library, you’ve probably heard his name in connection with a discussion on gadgets in their role in the future of libraries. Maybe you’ve read his many blog posts that cover the topic. Maybe you read his issue of Library Technology Reports. Maybe your one of the thousands of people who’ve seen him speak at a library conference or in a webinar. The bottom line is this: if you want to learn about how to use gadgets in your library, Jason is your guy.

From the iPad to eReaders, gadgets are everywhere. As these personal electronic devices become more and more ubiquitous in everyday life, it’s essential that libraries are fluent in the language of these devices. Whether your library wants to make use of these items in its services or purchase them to lend out to patrons, this interactive workshop will give you the foundation you for bringing your library into the future through gadgets. 

Topic covered will include:

Session 1: Non-e-Reader Gadgets 
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 2:30pm – 4:00pm Eastern 

• Personal Electronics are Personal
• Operating Systems vs Devices
• iOS & Android
• Circulation & Policy

Session 2: E-Readers and More 
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 2:30pm – 4:00pm Eastern

• Types, differences, decisions
• Amazon, Nook, Sony
• Cataloging and Representation in Systems
• Summary and Conclusions

Registration for this ALA TechSource Workshop is available on the ALA Store. The workshop takes place on Wednesdays, April 13th and April 20th at 2:30pm Eastern/1:30 Central/12:30 Mountain/11:30am Pacific. Each session will last 90 minutes.

eReader
This particular space is getting really crowded, but there are still a couple of clear standouts. If you want to buy an eInk based eReader, I still like the Amazon Kindle 3rd Gen WiFi in Graphite. It’s the best hardware with the best eInk screen, and it’s backed by the eBook store with the widest selection. And after the recent price drop, it’s only 9. It’s one real shortcoming is the fact that it doesn’t play well with ePub files (ok, it doesn’t play at all with ePub files). This means that while you can get more titles for the Kindle than any other eReader, you still can’t borrow a library book on one. But between the wifi version linked above, and the 9 3G version, and I think that Amazon is gonna sell a million of these things over the holidays.

The other choice is the Barnes & Noble Nook…or the Nook’s younger, more colorful cousin, the NookColor. The NookColor I think is especially interesting, as it’s the first dedicated eBook reader to try and take a serious swing at using an LCD screen instead of an eInk screen. While we haven’t actually seen the NookColor in the flesh yet, the assumption is that it will have the same capabilities as the Nook, and will be able to deal with the typical library ePub with DRM solution provided by the likes of Overdrive and others.

Audio
Of the two suggestions I’ll give for audio players (both play more than just MP3, so I’m sticking with the generic “audio”), the first will come as no surprise. The 4th gen iPod Touch is the best value-per-dollar on the market, even if much of the value no longer comes from the audio part of it’s DNA. The iPod Touch is truly a pocket computer, not only providing great MP3 playback, but also handling video, photos, games, ebooks, and the latest generation even includes a camera for quick snapshots. The Touch is definitely the top of the line for this category, though…and has a price-point to match: 0 for the 8GB model. But you’re getting a lot more than just the ability to listen to the latest Katy Perry album with the Touch.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is my other suggestion for audio, for those who simply want something well designed that will take audio files and play them back: the Sansa Clip+. The Clip+ is a one-trick pony in the land of multi-taskers, but it does a great job of playing back any audio you throw at it, and doing it at a very high quality. Available in a range from 2 to 8 Gigs in capacity, the 2 gig model is available for .00 from Amazon.

Miscellaneous Gadget Fun
Here’s a couple of gadgets that I’ve been watching that I think are really interesting. The AR Drone is a quadricopter by a company called Parrot, and is a sort of 21st Century remote control plane. But this thing is so, so much cooler than any remote control plane you’ve ever seen. From it’s insane maneuverability, built-in cameras, and the fact that it can use an iPad as a remote control, it’s definitely not a toy. My favorite aspect of the AR Drone is that it can use the built in cameras to provide you with a Augmented Reality dogfight game, showing you “enemies” where there is, in reality, nothing, and having you hunt them and shoot them out of the air. Insanely cool…check out the demo video and see what I mean.

The second is a piece of hardware that isn’t available yet, but looks to be interesting. I’m also a complete sucker for good industrial design, and these look really great…the Jawbone Jambox. Jawbone is better known for it’s bluetooth earpieces, and this is its first foray into speakers, but they’ve wrapped a lot of functionality into a very small space, and intrigued me. The Jambox is a bluetooth speaker with an integrated battery that doubles as a speakerphone when needed. This connects to your phone, your laptop, whatever you have that is capable of pumping out stereo bluetooth, and acts as a speaker….a very loud and solid speaker, from the online reports. It also has a built in microphone that uses Jawbone’s patented audio software to reduce background noise and enhance the voice, making this a credible answer for a speakerphone when needed. I’m most interested in it’s ability to pair easily with my phone, and give me portable tunes when I travel. The price tag for portability is high, however…0 on pre-order, but I’m betting that once they hit the market you’ll be able to get them a bit cheaper via Amazon or other reseller.

Ok, so those last two are stretching it, but you can’t deny they aren’t interesting examples of the modern gadget…pretty, interesting, technically difficult, and just plain cool. Here’s hoping something as interesting shows up in your holiday goodies!