Files on Nook show possible future support for MMS and Speech Recognition

[CyberMage]

But does it even have a microphone for speech recognition?

MMS is Multimedia Messaging Service, which is what you use on your cellphone to send pictures.

Who knows if we'll ever see either feature though. The MMS may just be there for receiving some sort of notices from B&N. Speech recognition doesn't do much without a microphone, and I've seen no specs suggesting it has one.

Source:

http://www.macworld.com/article/1450...?lsrc=rss_main

[Klaatu]

I saw that article earlier today and didn't get a chance to post a link; you beat me too it.

I don't find it all that surprising that support for these technologies is there since Nook is running Android OS. However I think that just because something can be done, such as enabling MMS on Nook, doesn't necessarily mean it should be done. Ask yourself just how useful this feature on an eReader would really be? For myself, I don't see it being all that useful, nor do I really want it.

I don't want my eReader to be a multipurpose, or convergence device. I want it to do one thing really, really well: allow me to read ebooks. An added bonus is being able to purchase content wirelessly. I don't want to send email, or browse the web, or send SMS messages with my eReader. I have an iPhone and a laptop for doing all that.

Regards,
Michael

[ktrek]

I don't want my eReader to be a multipurpose, or convergence device. I want it to do one thing really, really well: allow me to read ebooks. An added bonus is being able to purchase content wirelessly. I don't want to send email, or browse the web, or send SMS messages with my eReader. I have an iPhone and a laptop for doing all that.

Regards,
Michael

I have to agree with Michael here. I bought the nook to read books. There are plently of other ways for me to communicate. I really think that while reading books I need as few other distractions as possible.

Kevin

[CyberMage]

I agree on most of those points - however I think reading web pages and reading books should go hand in hand. Yes I know it's entirely different and both have completely different technical hurdles, but if I can read purchased periodicals on it for news, I'd like to also be able to catch up on the major news websites through it as an information delivery device and not just an ebook reader.

Typically all information was in print. Getting the latest and greatest breaking news into digital format happened first simply because it was cheaper and faster to distribute that way. Books are catching up - but still take months to write, edit, proof, publish and market. Invariably the two will merge back into the same medium just like they used to be when everything was print. One mobile device to handle "reading" regardless of source. Cellphones, tablet computers, etc. don't fit the bill because of battery, screen and size (either too large or too small.) I can't even imagine reading anything but a text message on my Blackberry. I have a Nokia n800 and it's a better experience, but doesn't have the battery life. Even on my Dell Axim reading books was painful.

My first monitor was a greenscreen, so I know how technology changes. In a few years it stands to reason there will be a new eink technology without the refresh issues and perhaps even in color. I saw the other day that they've developed color eInk already - but at this point it's as a single color sheet, not a dot addressable screen. They mentioned using it to allow people to pick the color of their cellphone in the phone's software, and it changes color, or as a color changing fabric for coats. The only reason we put up with eInk ereaders right now is battery life and screen contrast / legibility. It's certainly not for the refresh speeds of 2 seconds.

So for me, it's about maximizing the hardware that's already in my hands, and a way to deliver website content to the device that requires no extra daily effort from me (i.e. Calibre and scraping) would be awesome. Nookdevs today tells me that using the Nook as a personal wireless access point is all but done, meaning you could tether your laptop to your nook. I'm sure AT&T will have something to say about that. It wouldn't surprise me if the only servers the Nook is allowed to talk to over the GSM are B&N's. That would explain the lack of web browser.

But like you I still lug multiple devices around. I have a Blackberry that play's MP3's but I carry an MP3 player because the Blackberry sound quality is bad and the interface is horrible. I have a text reader in the MP3 player (Cowon S9) but it's really useless for reading anything more than a page long - same problem with the Blackberry. My only convergence at this point is email and Twitter on my Blackberry, both of which are a perfect fit.