Divide to mutiply: selling books by the chapter

When Charles Dickens was writing his serialized novels, crowds used to gather at the docks in New York whenever a new chapter was due to arrive by boat. Today, Random House, the world’s largest publisher, has brought the practice back in electronic form, starting with the business communications bestseller ‘Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.’ Each chapter of the book, which had a hardcover print run of more than 200,000 copies, costs USD 2.99 and can be downloaded as an Adobe Digital Editions file, a format that is itself readable via a free download from Adobe.

Random House, a US subsidiary of German media giant Bertelsmann, explained that the chapter-by-chapter sale was intended for those who only need to glean one or two lessons from a book. The Wall Street Journal noted that the experiment follows the music industry’s success selling songs individually, and that it’s an attempt by the company to discover how modern consumers might want to receive publishing information, particularly at a time when cell phones, PDAs and other digital devices such as Amazon’s Kindle make it easier for them to read electronic documents anywhere and everywhere.

Who knows - maybe we will soon be buying Shakespeare by the verse, or Mozart by the note?






[Via Springwise]

Bedroom-in-a-box

Graduates of Köln International School of Design created a set of bedroom furniture.
It would not be so remarkable if not for the fact that the entire set fits into a box sized 80x120x90 cm. Watch the guys unfold the desk, bed, chair and other stuff in minutes.

A power of word

I reviewed a dozen of blogs recently. Some are indeed notable so I bookmarked them. Mostly I was interested in those run by people who are good public speakers and businessmen at the same time. Here are some that I would recommend:

• How to Change the World by Guy Kawasaki
• Prezentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
• Extreme Leadership by Steve Farber
  

What really strikes is how these guys' ability to deliver their ideas help their business. For some, actually, is IS their business ;)

Oh, and - happy Valentine's.

Use your shirt as a power generator... but don't wash it

U.S. scientists have developed a microfiber fabric that generates its own electricity, making enough current to recharge a cell phone or ensure that a small MP3 music player never runs out of power.

If made into a shirt, the fabric could harness power from its wearer simply walking around or even from a slight breeze, they reported in the journal Nature.

"The fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from the physical movement," Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who led the study, said in a statement.

The nanogenerator takes advantage of the semiconductive properties of zinc oxide nanowires -- tiny wires 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- embedded into the fabric. The wires are formed into pairs of microscopic brush-like structures, shaped like a baby-bottle brush.

One of the fibers in each pair is coated with gold and serves as an electrode. As the bristles brush together through a person's body movement, the wires convert the mechanical motion into electricity.

"When a nanowire bends it has an electric effect," Wang said in a telephone interview. "What the fabric does is it translates the mechanical movement of your body into electricity."

His team made the nanogenerator by first coating fibers with a polymer, and then a layer of zinc oxide. They dunked this into a warm bath of reactive solution for 12 hours. This encouraged the wires to multiply, coating the fibers.

"They automatically grow on the surface of the fiber," Wang said. "In principal, you could use any fiber that is conductive."

They added another layer of polymer to prevent the zinc oxide from being scrubbed off. And they added an ultra-thin layer of gold to some fibers, which works as a conductor.

To ensure all that friction was not just generating static electricity, the researchers conducted several tests. The fibers produced current only when both the gold and the zinc oxide bristles brushed together.

So far, Wang said the researchers had demonstrated the principle and developed a small prototype.

"Our estimates show we can have up to 80 milliwatts per square meter of this fabric. This is enough to power a little iPod or charge a cell phone battery," he said.

"What we've done is demonstrate the principle and the fundamental mechanism."

Wang said the material could be used by hikers and soldiers in the field and also to power tiny sensors used in biomedicine or environmental monitoring.

One major hurdle remains: zinc oxide degrades when wet. Wang's team is working on a process that would coat the fibers to protect the fabric in the laundry.







[Via Reuters]

Smart pen can see, hear and... write

In January 2008 at DEMO, a technology showcase in Palm Desert, Calif., a company named Livescribe unveiled its new Pulse Smartpen. The Pulse is a fully functioning 1.3-ounce writing instrument with computing power built in and up to 2 GB of flash memory onboard. If the idea seems familiar to the LeapFrog Fly pen, that's no coincidence. Jim Marggraff, who developed the Fly pen, is the founder and CEO of Livescribe (he left LeapFrog on amicable terms). But while the Fly pen is a highly sophisticated children's toy—using voice feedback and infrared-camera-based handwriting tracking, the Fly helps kids learn math, music and language skills—the Pulse is a far more sophisticated, transformative product. Like the Fly, the Pulse uses an onboard camera to track user's handwriting and page position by examining a tiny dot pattern on special paper. Unlike the Fly, the Pulse has an integrated microphone that can be used to record lectures, depositions, interviews, etc.

Why is this so transformative? Because by associating an audio stream with handwriting, the Pulse can fundamentally change the process of taking notes. Here's how it works: If I am, for example, taking notes in a biology class, or recording an eyewitness account of a crime for a newspaper article, or taking minutes of a boardroom meeting, I would tap the printed record button that's found at the bottom of each page of the Pulse's special paper. Then, as I write on the page, the time code of the audio recording that the pen is picking up is matched up to the marks and words I write with the pen. When the conversation is complete, I tap the printed stop button at the bottom of the page, and then as I review my notes, I can tap on any word I've written and instantly cue up that part of the audio conversation. It's called Paper Replay, and it's an incredibly simple tool that takes seconds to learn. Yet it is capable of more sophisticated functionality. Any recording can be uploaded to a computer with the handwriting file associated to it. Livescribe is also setting up an online community where every registered user gets 250 MB of space to post and share recorded notes as a Flash file or PDF.

And recording is not limited to audio. Drawings can be recorded as well, then played back as a movie that shows the progress of your illustration. Plus, many functions similar to those of the Fly pen can be found on the Pulse. Put the Pulse in its calculation mode and you can simply write out a math problem; the answer will be displayed on its small but highly readable OLED screen. Livescribe has already released a software developer kit to encourage third parties to create applications for it. I tried a translation program under development that took my written English words and translated them to Spanish on the OLED screen and spoke the words over the Pulse's onboard speaker. By writing several key sentences on paper in English, I could carry my notepad around with me while on vacation and tap out each word in the sentences to speak with locals. Since the Pulse is essentially a new computing platform, there are countless potential applications not yet thought up that will probably evolve from the community of users and developers.

And that community is likely to be fairly large, since the barrier to entry on the Pulse is low. A 1 GB version holds 100 hours of audio and costs $150, and a 2 GB version costs $200 for double the capacity. Marggraff tells that pads of paper for the Livescribe should be cost-competitive with normal paper, but if you aren't interested in buying special pads, it can be printed using most inkjet printers. Furthermore, since the tiny dot paper technology that the Pulse uses can be integrated into the printing process, several books will be printed on this paper, including a Bible and a birding journal that will work interactively with the Pulse pen.




[Via PopularMechnics]

Battery-powered trucks

Back in 2006 we covered GoinGreen's G-Wiz electric cars. Recently, we've begun seeing several options emerge in battery-powered trucks, serving the business market.

In London, Electruc distributes the French-built Mega Multitruck, which is designed for inner-city use. With speeds up to 30mph and a range of up to 60 miles, the Mega Multitruck can handle payloads from 300kg to 530kg, depending on body type. The Mega Multitruck charges from a standard 13amp (3 pin) socket, and five body types are available, including modifications for espresso carts or mobile fruit stalls. As with electric cars, the Mega trucks are exempt from congestion charges and road tax, and they are eligible for free parking in many London boroughs. Pricing starts at GBP 45 per week, based on a 60-month contract; average yearly running costs are just GBP 215, or between 2p and 3p per mile, Electruc says.

On the other side of the Atlantic, California-based ZAP (which stands for Zero Air Pollution) sells a range of electric vehicles, including both cars and trucks. The company's 3-wheel Xebra Electric Truck, for example, offers speeds up to 40mph and a range of 25 miles per charge. Both flatbed and dump-truck styles are available, as are left- and right-hand steering. The suggested retail price is USD 12,500, and operating costs are between 1 and 3 cents per mile. This fall, Zap will also begin selling the Zap Truck XL, a 4-wheel vehicle with a payload of 770 lbs, maximum speed of 25mph and a range of 30 miles. Estimated MSRP is USD 18,500, and operating costs are about 3 cents per mile.

With their financial and environmental advantages, demand for vehicles like these will only increase. Transportation entrepreneurs: time to make "emission-free" your mantra!







[Via Springwise]

Travel lighter, shop ahead

With today's airline baggage restrictions and cramped cabin seating, travelling light makes more and more sense. A new service from Dubai-based Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts helps travellers do just that by allowing them to pre-order items from the hotel's retail offerings and have them waiting in their room when they arrive.

Founded in 1997, Jumeirah operates hotels in Dubai, London and New York, as well as 14 retail stores within those hotels. The company's new pre-arrival service allows guests to choose from a range of personal-care products in the online Jumeirah Collection—including sunscreen, toothpaste and baby wipes by familiar brands—as well as a selection of books by current authors for entertainment. Orders are wrapped and left in guests' rooms before they arrive, and the cost of the products is simply added to the room charge.

Parents of young children in particular would doubtless appreciate a wider range of products to choose from, including bulky items such as diapers and more items for kids, but Jumeirah's concept is a good one. Items in its retail collection are priced in a manner befitting the hotels' luxury clientele, so the pre-arrival service will enhance not just customer convenience but also the profitability of each guest stay. Other hotels: time to start thinking ahead!






[Via Springwise]