By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Stick it in your pocket
Just arriving on U.S. shores this month, the PocketBook e-reader hopes to be a low-cost, feature-packed addition to the electronic book reading market.
This reader is being introduced to the U.S. by a local Jewish man, Leon Sheiman, an engineer and businessman who landed in Bellevue from Russia by way of Israel. So with several different e-readers emerging on the market in the past two years, all with similar e-ink capabilities and readability, where does the PocketBook differ?
First is in its compatibility: The operating system can natively read a ton of different formats, including .pdf, .epub and .doc, meaning files saved in Microsoft Word are viewable on this. The second is in its multi-language functionality. The PocketBook has 20 languages built in, including Hebrew, Russian, and most European languages.
“It’s a multi-format and multi-lingual device,” Sheiman says, and with Google’s Android operating system built in, he adds, “It’s a very user-friendly interface.”
Also on several models is its text-to-speech function that can actually read the book to you. We weren’t able to get our hands on a device before press time, so we’re not sure if the voice is more James Earl Jones or United Airlines customer service, but you can head down to the kiosk at the Westfield South Center Mall, by H&M, where its second U.S. location opened this week.
Prices range from $139 to $279, depending upon size and connection. A full-color version is available as well.
The online bookstore, including a catalog of 30,000 free public domain e-books, can be found at www.bookland.net. Find more information at www.pocketbook-usa.com.
There’s an app for this
For the person who has everything, chances are he or she hasn’t had dinner. Which is why one-time JTNews writer Deborah Ashin, now the Seattle restaurant reviewer for the high-end online site gayot.com, just released a new iPhone app, Seattle’s Best Dining. The app is a compendium of long-form fine dining reviews that covers more than 140 restaurants all over the Puget Sound.
When traveling, “I’d try to find an app that was specific to that city that was written by someone who at least pretended to have credentials as a restaurant reviewer instead of Yelp or Urban Spoon,” two popular user-reviewed sites, Ashin says. “I’ve always been sort of amused by the fact that people will read strangers’ reviews.”
Seeing an unfilled niche, Ashin partnered with a Silicon Valley tech company to create an app with Ashin’s reviews for a city that has come into its own, gastronomically speaking.
You can search by restaurant type, cost and neighborhood, with a mapping feature to find the restaurant. For several years, Ashin has volunteered at the women’s shelter housed at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, and as such, wanted to give back something to the community that has allowed her to be able to do this work, but relate it to food as well.
“I decided, I already eat so well because of Gayot, what am I going to do with my royalties?” she said.
So Ashin is giving half of the proceeds of sales from the app to
FareStart, the restaurant and nonprofit organization that trains homeless and disadvantaged people to work in the restaurant business.
$1.99 at the iTunes store.
And there’s an app for that
Tacoma native Alex Seinfeld wanted to be able to carry his Jewish calendar with him. But he also didn’t want to give up on those fact-a-day paper calendars that have brought laughs, wisdom and trivia to so many people for so many years. So he did what any self-respecting Jewish boy with a thirst for Jewish factoids that transcend denomination, level of observance or political leaning would do: He created an app. The Amazing Jewish Fact-a-Day Calendar teaches you stuff that you should have learned in Hebrew school but weren’t paying attention, has quotes from historical notables, and even keeps Shabbat.
Seinfeld says he wanted this to be accessible for anyone with the desire to learn something new and Jewish. So each day up pops a factoid, a nugget of wisdom, a lesson in spirituality, and plenty more. Not bad for only a buck!
99¢ at the iTunes store.