Gadgets and Gizmos

E-Readers

• E-ink Technology - Prolongs battery life. Only black and white.
• Wi-fi or 3g access to online stores
• Most must be tied to an account and credit card to access online stores
• Variety of file formats readable by devices
• DRM (Digital Rights Management) different for each reader
• Three major players, but tons more around

File Types and Lending

• See a comparison of file types on Wikipedia
• Pay special attention to ePub (epubBooks)
• Library Lending and DRM "Overdrive" 
• NYPL and eBook lending

• wi-fi $139  3G $189 DX $379
• 14 day lending of ebooks enabled, if publisher allows (Check out the Kindle lending club)
• See NC State's Kindle lending page.
• No library lending program
• Built in dictionary
• Magazines and newspaper subscriptions
• Free E-books
• Medical books available
• Transfer files by "Whispernet" (charges apply) or USB cable 
• Kindle software - Android, iPad, Blackberry, PC,Mac
• File types -
  • Kindle (AZW)
  • TXT
  • PDF
  • Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX))
  • MP3
  • unprotected MOBI
  • HTML
  • DOC
  • JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

• E-ink with Color touch screen
• Wifi $149 3G $199
• Color Nook - Full color touchscreen $249 Wifi only. Battery life takes a hit.
• Built in dictionary
• Lend e-books to other Nook users for 14 days, if publisher enabled
• Free e-books
• MicroSD slot to expand memory 
• Library lending enabled using Overdrive DRM 
• Medical books available? NookStudy 
• Nook software - iPad, Android, PC, Blackberry, Mac
• File Types-
  • EPUB (including Non or Adobe DRM)
  • PDB
  • PDF
  • Graphics: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP
  • Audio: MP3

• Variety of different models and prices 
• E-ink screens
• Wifi and 3G model. Touchscreen model.
• Tied to the Reader Store
• Uses "Overdrive" for assisting users in borrowing from public libraries
• Built-in DRM so users can borrow from their public libraries.
• "Library Finder" helps users locate public libraries to borrow e-books from 
• Built in dictionary 
• Reader software for PC and Mac 
• Medical texts available?
• File types
  • ePub (Adobe DRM protected)
  • PDF (Adobe DRM protected)
  • BBeB Book (PRS DRM protected)
  • Text
  • RTF
  • Graphics: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP

Diffusing the dependency on an e-reader

• NOOKstudy
• Google Books
• Microsoft 
• Apple iBooks

Smart Phones

• 3 major players - iPhone, Blackberry, Android
• Operating system adoption - RIM still tops in overall use. Android growing quickly.
• Windows phone 7 
• App stores unique for each
• Each system has a unique development environment.
• Standard features - web browser, email, messaging, camera

What's the answer?

Platform agnostic information!

• Mobile sites
  • New York Public Library 
  • Ehrman Medical Library 
• QR codes 
  • Seely G. Mudd Library
  • SDSU Library
  • Catalog Searches

Tablet Computing

• iPad - Everybody's favorite. The only player for a while.
• wifi or wifi/3g models. $499-$829 depending on configuration.
• Not capable of playing Flash files.
• iPad in a hospital setting
• iPad 2 rumors abound

There are many challengers coming to iPads supremacy for tablet computing supremacy.

• Samsung Galaxy Tab - Android
• Motorola Xoom - Android
• Blackberry Playbook - RIM tablet OS
• Dell Streak - Android

Check iMedicalApps for information about upcoming medical apps for all flavors of mobile devices. Of special note is their look at EHR software.

Other miscellaneous gadgets

• Flip video cameras - Record HD video. Simple point and shoot. Relatively Low price point. No extraneous cables to lose.
• Voice recorders - many different flavors and prices. For podcast creation or class note taking?
• USB memory stick - useful for a variety of reasons. cheap.