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Apple and Amazon are being taken to task by Conneticut's Attorney General over what he refers to as 'anti-competitive' ebook pricing deals with publishers.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has requested that representatives from Apple and Amazon attend meetings at his office to discuss the ebook pricing issue.

Blumenthal refers to their deals with major book publishers such as Macmillan and Simon & Schuster as "most favored nation" arrangements.

MFN deals and anti-competitiveness

"The net effect is fairly obvious," writes Blumenthal in an open letter to Amazon, "in that MFNs will reduce the publisher's incentive to offer a discount to Amazon if it would have to offer the same discount to Apple, leading to the establishment of a price floor for ebooks offered by the publisher."

Blumenthal hopes that through a discussion with the two tech giants that Amazon and Apple will find an acceptable way forward to "allay his concerns".

Apple's arrangement with publishers is to offer them a 70 per cent royalty while keeping 30 per cent to cover the costs of running its iBookstore, requiring publishers to guarantee that prices elsewhere will not be higher than those charged by Apple.

"MFN clauses - especially when they are offered to two of the largest e-book retail competitors in the United States - have the potential to impair horizontal competition by encouraging coordinated pricing and discouraging discounting," the Conneticut Attorney General wrote to Apple.

"Of course, the concerns are compounded, and hence potentially more troublesome, since this arrangement appears to be something that will be agreed to by the largest ebook publishers in the United States and two competitors who combined will likely command the greatest retail ebook market share."

Amazon has unveiled its latest Kindle ebook reader, promising that the UK books market has been significantly improved for the latest device.

The new Kindle - which is 15 per cent lighter and 21 per cent smaller - will cost £149 with the free 3G (supplied by Vodafone) or £109 for a Wi-Fi only version.

The device includes a web browser that critics have already labelled clunky for traditional browsing, but does offer an article view which works better.

27 August

The new UK Kindle store will be launched on 27 August with more than 400,000 books on offer.

The new device will be seen as a reaction to the growing threat of tablet devices; specifically the Apple iPad which has sold superbly worldwide and, although significantly more expensive, offers a very different experience.

Digital growth

Apple's iBooks store has also proven popular for the iPad, and with Amazon's latest results showing just how important Kindles and ebooks are, the threat is very real.

Speaking to the BBC News, Steve Kessel, the vice president of Kindle, said: "In coming years I do think that the majority of books sold will be digital."

"People prefer the reading experience, you have your library in your hands and can think of a book and download it 60 seconds later," he said.

Amazon may have sold 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardback books in the past month, but despite the burgeoning new market the company's quarterly results did not please the financial world.

Even with growing sales and profit, shares in Amazon took a major hit after the online retailer's numbers came up short of expectations.

Amazon announced revenue of $6.6 billion for the second quarter of 2010, a 41 per cent rise year on year.

Profits were also up, with Amazon declaring a 45 per cent rise from the same quarter in 2009 to $207 million.

Shares down

But it wasn't enough in the world of high finance, and the company's share price tumbled because the numbers did not reach predictions.

The Kindle ebook reader featured heavily in Amazon's financial report, with the company stating that sales of ebooks were rocketing.

"Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books," stated Amazon's release.

"Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, the Company has sold 143 Kindle books.

"Over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, the Company has sold 180 Kindle books."

"This is across Amazon.com's entire U.S. book business and includes sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition.

"Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher."

Borders' new electronic bookstore went live this week, with the US bookselling giant confident that it will soon catch up with Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble and other competitors in this fast-growing market.

Apple's iBooks app has most recently captured the imagination of iPad owners, while e-book manufacturers such as Amazon and Sony are currently engaged in a price-cutting war on dedicated electronic reading devices.

Not a device maker

Mike Edwards, President of Borders Inc, bullishly told Reuters this week: "We'll take market share just by turning it on.

"A lot of people have said, 'You're kind of late to the game,' and I'm saying, 'the game actually just started'."

Edwards added that he was "ecstatic that we decided we're not going to be in [the device] game… We are not a device maker -- we're a bookseller."

Borders has personal buying data and e-mail addresses for over 38 million customers registered to its loyalty program, in addition to a huge network of 700 bricks-and-mortar stores across the US.

The new Borders e-bookstore will offer 1.5 million titles, including free out-of-copyright titles for download.

Borders recently launched its own apps for Apple's iPhone and iPad, Blackberries and Google Android smartphones (which are US-only right now).

People have been reading and writing books for hundreds of years, and in that time very little has changed.

Although techniques and technologies have let us produce higher quality books cheaper and more quickly, the book of today – characters printed in ink on a series of paper pages bound together along one edge – would be remarkable to a 16th-century person only for its sheer quality. However, things may be about to change completely…

We've been teased with the promise of ebooks (novels and similar works presented not on printed pages but on a dynamic screen) for years, but it looks like the industry is about to make good on that promise. So, what's changed?

It's the sum of lots of tiny advances. Technology has improved and become cheaper, and indeed many hardware manufacturers are turning to a completely new display technology called E Ink that's easier on the eye than traditional flatscreens, and can make a battery charge last longer.

People are also more comfortable with the idea of buying non-physical goods on the internet these days, and, ultimately, there's more industry interest (either from a few progressive publishers themselves, or because of pressure from retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, to sell the technology).

And now, there's another factor: Apple. When it unveiled the iPad at the end of January, one unexpected announcement (unexpected only because Steve Jobs had been so apathetic in public comments about reading books) was an iBooks app that would enable you to buy books from Apple's store, to read on your iPad.

What's particularly interesting here is not so much the idea of reading books on the iPad. No, what's interesting is what Apple could do to the ultraconservative publishing industry.

Many would argue that Apple's iTunes Store was the single greatest catalyst in creating a sustainable market for legal music downloads, and it's eminently possible that we'll see a mini-revolution in book and magazine publishing in the next five years that can be directly attributed to Apple's App Store and new iBookstore.

Already, we've seen Amazon – no bit-part player – forced to back down over its aggressive new contracts and pricing structures. So, what's so great about ebooks? Why is E Ink so special? And how can you publish yourself without a literary agent?

Q. Why is an ebook better than a physical book?

Ebooks are, of course, 'smaller' than physical books. The 2GB Amazon Kindle, for example, holds around 1,500 books (in real book terms, that's around 80 stone in weight), which can be stored and carried around – ideal when commuting or holidaying.

You can also buy an ebook more easily and quickly than a physical book, so if you get a midnight craving for Jilly Cooper, you can satisfy it immediately.

In theory, ebooks ought never to go out of print. And because distribution costs are lower, ebooks could make it easier for small publishers and individuals to get into the market. Some stores will allow you to re-download purchased ebooks should you lose your reader – a lost paperback is truly lost, however.

Finally, some ebook readers can do stuff that's impossible in paper format: change the size of the text, read aloud, hook into the internet, sync your place in your book across multiple devices and more.

Q. Why is a physical book better than an ebook?

It's cheaper. While the price of an individual ebook is often lower than the hardback, you need to factor in the cost of the iPad, Kindle, Nook or whatever device you buy. Physical books are also more robust than those devices – dropping one on the floor isn't the disaster it would be with an iPad, say.

That robustness isn't simply in the medium, though; a book isn't going to stop working just because it's out of electricity, and no change in technology or politics will render your book unreadable, as might be the case in the fast-paced, DRM-laced world of ebooks.

And let's not forget that many people simply prefer physical books, either because they like being able to easily scribble notes and flick through the pages, because they appreciate the artistry of good typography and cover design, or simply because they appreciate books as objects. Oh, and you can loan and sell a physical book, which is hard to do with ebooks, though some have tried to implement systems that allow it.

Q. Why would I buy a Kindle that only does one thing, rather than an iPad that does lots?

All the current crop of ebook readers – from Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble and more – are really only good at one thing: reading books. It may seem obvious, but while some will offer a few other features, it's reading books that they excel at; their relatively small, relatively low-res greyscale screens aren't even that good at showing pages from newspapers or magazines.

They are, however, phenomenally good for reading books. It's partly because of their E Ink screens and epic battery life, but it's also refreshing to have a device on which you're not constantly tempted to check in with your email or Twitter stream.

That said, a dedicated device is an expensive luxury, and given that, for example, Amazon has made an app to let you read the ebooks it sells on the iPhone (we'd be astonished if it didn't have an iPad-native version soon), your choices about where you read your electronic books may be more flexible than you had imagined.

Q. What is E Ink?

E Ink, the display technology at the heart of all mainstream dedicated ebook readers, is very different to traditional backlit TFTs that we're used to.

In a TFT, a pixel is formed by shining a light through a dynamic polarising membrane that lets certain light through. In order to see the image properly, it needs that backlight; great for reading in the dark, but can be both tiring on the eyes, and requires constant power to maintain an image.

Each pixel of an E Ink display, however, is a tiny transparent capsule filled with charged white and black particles. To display an image, a positive or negative charge is applied to each capsule, causing the white or black particles to be pushed to the top, making them visible to the viewer.

Not only does the display look like paper but it requires no power to maintain an image, thanks to that physical state change that moved the particles permanently into place. E Ink is kind to the eye, but the iPad uses a plain ol' TFT.

Q. Where can I get ebooks from?

As well as public domain repositories for out-of-copyright books, such as the popular www.gutenberg.org, each ebook system has its own store. The Kindle has Amazon, you can buy books for Sony's range from Waterstones, owners of the Nook will shop from Barnes & Noble and so on.

Apple is launching its own shop for its iBooks app, the iBookstore. Saying that, for now it's launching it in the States only – there's no word on international launches yet. Despite everyone (except Amazon) betting on the EPUB format, don't expect to load books from one store onto another device, however.

Q. Are ebooks cheaper than normal books?

Currently, there's little difference compared to mass-market paperbacks, though ebooks are often cheaper than hardbacks, and some stores will promote cheap prices for books currently in bestseller lists.

Publishers are trying hard not to let their authors' work get devalued in the same way as has perhaps happened with music, but we are getting a sense of déjà vu with the competing formats, pricing concerns and conservative position the industry is taking.

Q. How can I read ebooks on my Mac or iPhone?

There are loads of apps for both. The eReader platform has apps for both, the Kindle app is out for the iPhone and coming soon to the Mac. And there are many other apps for iPhone (such as Classics, Stanza, Eucalyptus and more) that let you easily read out-of-copyright works.

Q. Are ebooks the future?

It's hard to imagine a future in which works, already largely produced digitally, aren't consumed digitally as well, but it's as silly to think that paper books will be made obsolete by the iPad and the Kindle (compare it to the notion of having your meals in pill form…).

What's going to be interesting, however, is seeing authors and publishers play with the notion of a narrative, and exploiting the non-linear, connected nature of devices such as the iPad. The concept of the 'book' may change.

Q. Can I read MacFormat magazine on the iPad?

Subscribers can download each issue as a PDF from www.macformat.co.uk/subscriber, and those can be loaded onto an iPhone OS device such as the iPad using ReaddleDocs, GoodReader or another third-party viewer app.

Electronic ink (or 'e-ink') is now a mass market technology, following the successes of ebooks such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader range.

This week sees the latest demonstrations of the future of electronic ink and the devices that use the tech.

The news follows LA Times reports that experts have found reading on LCD screens – such as that found on Apple's iPad – cause insomnia "because direct exposure to such abnormal light sources inhibits the body's secretion of melatonin.

"Melatonin signals are sent through the brain as a response to darkness, telling the body to prepare to shut down for the night."

The future of reading

E Ink's Sriram Peruvemba has been showing off how the image quality of electronic ink is improving, in addition to the durability of screens.

"We are approaching paper-like quality now," said Peruvemba in an interview with Red Ferret. "It looks superb outdoors, that's the beauty of this technology… the more light the better, unlike an LCD... which always loses when it fights with the sun."

The new slightly flexible screens will be made available to E Ink's partners by Q4 2010.

The Guardian has shown off its first app for the Apple iPad – with Guardian iPad Eyewitness app showing off the paper's special pictures.

Although it's hardly going to blow anybody's mind, the Eyewitness App is designed to showcase the Guardian's centre-page special pictures that have proven to be a popular feature in the newspaper.

The pictures will come with 'pro tips' from the photography team.

Scale and impact

"We've been waiting for a chance to replicate the scale and impact of the paper's Eyewitness spread on the web, and I think this is it," said Roger Tooth, the head of photography at the Guardian

The app will provide a daily picture and rolling access to the last 100 pictures in the series, but you will only be able to access them when you have a Wi-Fi connection

It's free, as you may expect for a glorified picture gallery, but the pro-tips and quality pictures will no doubt make it a popular app among UK early adopters when they can finally get their hands on the Apple iPad.

Nvidia has moved quickly to deny rumours of a delay of all projects based on the new second-gen Tegra chipset.

The rumour emerged on Slashgear.com, with a report claiming that they had heard from a trusted source that all projects based on the Tegra 2 chip have been delayed and were not expected to arrive on the market before late August 2010.

This suggests that new tablet PCs from the likes of Asus, ICD and Notion Ink would be delayed till later in the year.

Serious issues?

The newest Tegra has "some serious issues" when it comes to stability, says the same un-named source, leaving tablet manufacturers waiting for Nvidia to solve the issues.

However, Nvidia has responded claiming that the rumors aren't true, and that "everything's on track" with Tegra. Stay tuned for updates.

Apple has added a section to its website which lists key sites which are 'iPad ready' – including the likes of CNN, Reuters, Time and People magazine.

Apple has produced a list of major mainstream content providers, and there is also a form to allow you to submit your site, with a how-to guide for webmasters.

Obviously the big no-no is Flash, which is still not supported on the iPad, despite claims from Apple that this is the ultimate gadget for surfing the web.

Desktop experience

"Safari on iPad is capable of delivering a "desktop" web experience," explains Apple's guide.

"iPad has a large, 9.7" screen and fast network connectivity, and Safari on iPad uses the same WebKit layout engine as Safari on Mac OS X and Windows.

"You can ensure that your website looks and works great on iPad, and even create new touch-enabled web experiences for your customers, by considering a few specific differences between iPad and other platforms."

Touching

Constructing for the touch interface is clearly a key factor for Apple – with the guide adding: "Although an external hardware keyboard is an option for use with iPad, the primary means of interacting with web content in Safari on iPad is through touch.

"The software keyboard appears in Safari on iPad and iPhone when a form control that requires text input…gains focus.

"Users should not be forced to rely on a keyboard to navigate your webpage."

So which media outlets will be featured on the UK Apple iPad site? We can hardly wait to find out.

Amazon.com Inc has struck two new deals with major book publishers on the pricing of e-books

The Wall Street Journal reports this week that CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster and News Corp's HarperCollins will set their own prices for e-books on Amazon.com

Amazon versus Apple

Selected new best sellers will be priced at $9.99 (£6.55), though most new e-books will be priced between $12.99 (£8.52) to $14.99 (£9.83).

Most older e-books on Amazon.com from the two publishers will cost less than $9.99.

It is a similar deal to that made by the two publishers with Apple for the iPad's iBookstore application.

The Apple iPad, as you most likely know, launches in the US on Saturday.

While the debate about the future of ebooks rages on, with authors and book publishers alike concerned about how a well-worn business model is rapidly changing, a new academic study claims that giving away free electronic versions of your books can boost sales of the printed version.

The study has been conducted byJohn Hilton, a doctoral candidate in Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University who is researching issues around open education and open access.

Free ebooks for all

Hilton coauthored a study published in The Journal of Electronic Publishing titled "The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales," where he and his colleagues examined Bookscan sales for dozens of print titles before and after they were released online for free.

Hilton and colleague David Wiley had examined sales for 41 print and the BYU academics found that generally, a free ebook release is correlated with increased sales of the printed book.

"Of course the big elephant in the room is that whatever it'll be today, it'll be different three years from now, maybe even three months from now," Hilton told Bloggasm.com. "As people get more iPads, or something like a Kindle takes over, all of this could drastically change."

"Think of the educational benefit of making this resource available," he added. "I think there's a huge benefit to society by making something available for free. Recently I've been involved with another study with my dissertation, and this studied just eight books, and over a few week time these books were downloaded over 100,000 times, and sales increased moderately.

"But the point wasn't whether sales increased or decreased; here are 100,000 people who accessed works who otherwise wouldn't have. So my hope would be that this study would relieve people's fears that if they put books online for free their sales would tank, and they'd say, 'let's think about a more global benefit to having your works online for free.'"

Amazon has sealed as deal with the British Library to make a whopping 65,000 books available to Kindle owners and via CreateSpace's Print on-Demand service.

The books were digitised as part of a partnership with Microsoft's Livesearch, and just hours after agreeing a patent deal with Microsoft, Amazon has now launched a joint venture with the British Library for tens of thousands of 19th century philosophy, history, poetry and literature.

The content will be available on Amazon's sites in the United States, UK, France and Germany, bringing a host of unique content to the public.

Literary gems

Chief Executive of the British Library, Dame Lynne Brindley, said: "The British Library's deal with Amazon to make literary gems available through print-on-demand and the Kindle e-book reader is a landmark agreement in more ways than one.

"Unlocking 65,000 titles of 19th century material for new generations to discover, the deal also shows how innovative public sector institutions can keep moving ahead, even in a tough economic climate.

"Re-imagining our relationships with both private and public sector partners is absolutely essential for extending our ability to connect with our users.

"The British Library has much to offer major commercial organisations such as Amazon, giving us an opportunity to leverage the high value of our collections to ensure doors that might have been closed for lack of funding remain open."

The content will include work from the likes of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Arthur Conan Doyle as well as books like Strange Story by Edward Lytton.

Major book publisher Macmillan has demanded that its books are sold for more than Amazon's $9.99 special offer to its Kindle customers, forcing Amazon to now charge its customers $12.99 to $15.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

All of Macmillan's ebooks were removed from the Kindle store late last week, which immediately suggested something was up between the major book publisher and the online retailer.

It quickly emerged via communications from Macmillan that Macmillan is unhappy with Amazon's loss-leading $9.99 pricing for Kindle copies of new books.

Higher pricing for ebooks

From now on, Macmillan wants all e-book sellers to use an "agency model" (ie in which online retailers such as Amazon act as sales agent of Macmillan) and that Macmillan would set each book's sale price individually. Macmillan books would be priced at $14.99 to $15.99, with the odd $12.99 new title.

In a post on the Kindle forum, an official Amazon company statement now reads:

"Dear Customers:

Macmillan, one of the "big six" publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!

Thank you for being a customer."

Pictures have surfaced of the Asus DR-950 touchscreen e-reader – with the Kindle-killer hoping to lure people in with a 9 inch, 1024x768 screen.

The e-reader has 2-4GB of storage, which equates to significantly more books than you could possibly read on a long-haul flight, and it is apparently a shade under 9mm thick.

It's black and white – but can cope with HTML and has a web browser – a major bonus for those who like a bit of surfing when they can't get into the latest Stephen King novel.

Intriguingly, it also offers text-to-speech and all the connectivity you could shake a wireless stick at.

We spend almost a third of our life sleeping. Yet millions of us suffer from poor sleep and never learn how to manage and control our sleeping patterns properly.

Do you snore so badly that your partner has been known to physically attack you in your grumbling slumber? If so, there are hundreds of well-worn natural remedies and homeopathic hacks to ensure a better night's rest.

However, if you have tried all of that, if you've drank plenty of water throughout the day and taken no stimulants after 6pm and not looked at the internet or email for at least three or four hours before bed and have done everything else you can to make your brain and body relax throughout the evening and yet you still feel tired, then it might be time to look for some technological fixes to your sleepless woes.

As every professional sleep clinician will inform you, the key to getting regular good sleep is regular exercise, good diet and learning to manage stress and be able to 'switch off' at night. This can be particularly difficult for technophiles, what with the proliferation of online-connected smartphones and gadgets around us at all times. But if you can switch your attention from surfing the net and checking your emails obsessively to playing around with some of the following gadgets and new bits of sleep-improving tech, you may find some improvements to your day-to-day emotional and physical well-being and overall productivity.

1.The aXbo alarm clock

The new alarm clock from German company aXbo is a clock which offers the perfect solution to securing the most productive sleep pattern your body is capable of - by telling you exactly the right time to drag your sorry carcass out of your pit, to ensure that you have had the best possible night's kip in line with your sleep pattern.

The new aXbo clock could well help you and your partner wake-up more effectively

We've tested out the aXbo clock and it could well be the ultimate sleep hack, as it does actually appear to help you feel better in the mornings, measuring your sleep pattern via wrist sweatbands and waking you and your partner up at the optimal point in the sleep phase as close as possible to your set alarm times.

Just don't think you can hit snooze! Costs £180 for the couples' version over at www.axbo.com

2.The SleepTrek3

For those poor souls who really have suffered years of abnormal sleeping patterns the latest medical kit is the SleepTrek3 which is able to identify the exact reasons why you have a problem, measuring your airflow, snoring, respiratory effort, body position, oxygen saturation, and pulse rate.

"SleepTrek3 will make the benefit of sleep study available to many people who would otherwise not have been studied because they would not have met the high criteria to receive a doctor's order for a full-study in a sleep lab," says Everett Pizzuti, President and COO of Astro-Med, Inc.

SleepTrek3 is perhaps the ultimate medical sleep tracking device

Yet while SleepTrek3, supplied with sensors, wearable pouch, home carry case, and rechargeable battery, may well seem to be the ultimate solution to your sleepless woes, there is a catch. It carries a list price of just under $4000 (£2450)!

Still want one?! You can see videos and more detailing how the SleepTrek3 actually works over on the manufacturer's website.

3. iPhone sleep cycle alarm clock

There are hundreds of alarm clocks and sleep aid apps available for iPhone. The only real difficulty is finding one that works for you.

Lexware Labs' Sleep Cycle alarm clock does something very similar to the aforementioned aXbo alarm clock, but this time it measures your sleep cycles via the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement and thus know which sleep phase you are in.

Pop your iPhone under the sheets to use Lexware's latest Sleep Cycle alarm app

"This isn't really something new. These so called bio-alarm clocks have been around for years and work very well, but they usually come with a hefty $200 price tag," says Maciek Drejak, the programmer behind the application.

This 59p app could well be a god-send for UK iPhone users. For more info check Lexware's website.

4. OnlineClock.net video alarm clock

OnlineClock.net has recently released its new Online Video Alarm Clock, the latest version one of the most popular online wake-up tools, which lets you select YouTube videos as an alarm in your web browser.

Simply enter an (embeddable) YouTube video URL in the OnlineClock.net website to select a video alarm. Or use the Video Alarm Clock Bookmarklet.

Online Video Alarm clock lets you wake up to the glories of YouTube!

The Video Alarm Clock is customisable too so users can change the size of the numbers or the colour of the background. And, best of all, it is completely free. Just be sure to select a nice relaxing video and not the latest Rage Against The Machine remix!

5.iHome iPod docks

Just as with sleep aids and alarm clock apps, there are scores of iPod docks on the market fitted with alarm clock, internet radio and DAB functions. The problem is which one to opt for to ensure you wake up properly. iHome iPod and iPhone docks have been designed to work with a forthcoming app called iHome+Sleep.

iHome's new iPod and iPhone docks will work in tandem with its new sleep-aid apps

These "app-enhanced" alarms can track sleep patterns and gather data about your sleep habits. They are also fully customisable alarms and offer a number of options for you to integrate them with your favourite online social networks. The new iHome iA5 will be available by March and will cost $99 (£60) and the accompanying iPhone and iPod touch app will be free.

6.The Dreamhelmet

No, this is not something out of a Wim Wenders' Sci Fi epic. The Dreamhelmet has been designed specifically for sleep-deprived business travellers and for long-distance drivers as a short-term fix to a major problem on the roads. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates there are 100,000 sleep-related crashes per year in the USA and that an estimated 32 million Americans actually fell asleep behind the wheel over the last year.

You might look insane, but the Dreamhelmet is a godsend for truckers and travellers

This combination sleep-mask and sound blocking pillow is a patented sensory deprivation device and, while it may look rather bizarre, if it can help prevent accidents due to lorry drivers dozing off at the wheel, we are all for it. The Dreamhelmet even has two secret 'HiPockets' to hide car keys, credit cards, money, or matches.

It will set you back $30 (a shade over £18) plus shipping costs from the US. For more check out the website at Dreamhelmet.com

7.Oregon Scientific i.Wakeup Sunrise Clock

Controlling the ambient lighting in your bedroom is essential to waking up well. Instead of the blaring blast of the traditional alarm clock, the Oregon Scientific i.Wakeup Sunrise Clock attempts to simulates the dawn in your room, using light to help you wake up in a natural and slightly more gradual way.

Oregon's latest glowing i.Wakeup Sunrise alarm clock

The device will start to increase its illumination half an hour before your designated wake up time. It also offers five5 different built-in nature sounds, or a bog-standard FM radio. The i.Wakeup Sunrise Alarm is launching in February 2010 at a cost of $130 (£79.60).

8.The Philips Wake-Up Light range

From £50 upwards, Philips' Wake-Up range offers what is perhaps the most cost-effective solution to the problem of how best to ease yourself into the day, featuring a soft, gently glowing light and soothing bird noise or wind chime sound effects to raise you from your sleep.

Philips adds an iPod and iPhone dock to its popular Wake-Up Light alarm clock range

As the lamp gets brighter (and the birds sing louder) you slowly slip back into daytime consciousness. More recently, Philips is launching a Wake-Up Light with Dock for iPod that lets you rise to not only soft light, but your favourite tunes.

The Philips Wake-Up with iPod and Dock retails for $200 (£122) in the US with Philips UK sending over details on release plans and UK costs shortly.

9.The Apnex System – banish snoring for ever!

The Apnex System is a new tech that is still under development in medical labs. It is designed to help problem snorers (and their spouses) solve their sleep apnea problems once and for all.

However, this is no mere magic bedside gadget. It is a tiny box about the size of a matchbox that is implanted in the chest that stimulates the muscles responsible for keeping the airways open during sleep.

Apnex is developing new tech to help snorers (and their partners) sleep again

Chronic sleep apnea affects three million Britons, so this latest medical tech could well improve the health of the nation no end when it hits the market sometime soon. For more info on how this new sleep tech works you can check out Apnex Medical's website.

10.The Dreamate Sleep Inducer

If you don't mind the idea of acupressure gadgets (too much!) then the Dreamate Sleep Inducer, an, might be the key to getting off to the land of nod.

Pop on the Dreamate and head to the land of nod...

Dreamate uses accupressure to gently massage what the company refers to as the "sleeping golden triangle" on the left wrist. Pop it on half an hour before bedtime and start to learn how to train your body to relax and sleep.

Dreamate claims that its device calms the body, lowers stress levels, and induces sleep. Beats getting addicted to sleeping pills! The Dreamate is available on Amazon.co.uk for £42.50

We spend almost a third of our life sleeping. Yet millions of us suffer from poor sleep and never learn how to manage and control our sleeping patterns properly.

Do you snore so badly that your partner has been known to physically attack you in your grumbling slumber? If so, there are hundreds of well-worn natural remedies and homeopathic hacks to ensure a better night's rest.

However, if you have tried all of that, if you've drank plenty of water throughout the day and taken no stimulants after 6pm and not looked at the internet or email for at least three or four hours before bed and have done everything else you can to make your brain and body relax throughout the evening and yet you still feel tired, then it might be time to look for some technological fixes to your sleepless woes.

As every professional sleep clinician will inform you, the key to getting regular good sleep is regular exercise, good diet and learning to manage stress and be able to 'switch off' at night. This can be particularly difficult for technophiles, what with the proliferation of online-connected smartphones and gadgets around us at all times. But if you can switch your attention from surfing the net and checking your emails obsessively to playing around with some of the following gadgets and new bits of sleep-improving tech, you may find some improvements to your day-to-day emotional and physical well-being and overall productivity.

1.The aXbo alarm clock

The new alarm clock from German company aXbo is a clock which offers the perfect solution to securing the most productive sleep pattern your body is capable of - by telling you exactly the right time to drag your sorry carcass out of your pit, to ensure that you have had the best possible night's kip in line with your sleep pattern.

The new aXbo clock could well help you and your partner wake-up more effectively

We've tested out the aXbo clock and it could well be the ultimate sleep hack, as it does actually appear to help you feel better in the mornings, measuring your sleep pattern via wrist sweatbands and waking you and your partner up at the optimal point in the sleep phase as close as possible to your set alarm times.

Just don't think you can hit snooze! Costs £180 for the couples' version over at www.axbo.com

2.The SleepTrek3

For those poor souls who really have suffered years of abnormal sleeping patterns the latest medical kit is the SleepTrek3 which is able to identify the exact reasons why you have a problem, measuring your airflow, snoring, respiratory effort, body position, oxygen saturation, and pulse rate.

"SleepTrek3 will make the benefit of sleep study available to many people who would otherwise not have been studied because they would not have met the high criteria to receive a doctor's order for a full-study in a sleep lab," says Everett Pizzuti, President and COO of Astro-Med, Inc.

SleepTrek3 is perhaps the ultimate medical sleep tracking device

Yet while SleepTrek3, supplied with sensors, wearable pouch, home carry case, and rechargeable battery, may well seem to be the ultimate solution to your sleepless woes, there is a catch. It carries a list price of just under $4000 (£2450)!

Still want one?! You can see videos and more detailing how the SleepTrek3 actually works over on the manufacturer's website.

3. iPhone sleep cycle alarm clock

There are hundreds of alarm clocks and sleep aid apps available for iPhone. The only real difficulty is finding one that works for you.

Lexware Labs' Sleep Cycle alarm clock does something very similar to the aforementioned aXbo alarm clock, but this time it measures your sleep cycles via the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement and thus know which sleep phase you are in.

Pop your iPhone under the sheets to use Lexware's latest Sleep Cycle alarm app

"This isn't really something new. These so called bio-alarm clocks have been around for years and work very well, but they usually come with a hefty $200 price tag," says Maciek Drejak, the programmer behind the application.

This 59p app could well be a god-send for UK iPhone users. For more info check Lexware's website.

4. OnlineClock.net video alarm clock

OnlineClock.net has recently released its new Online Video Alarm Clock, the latest version one of the most popular online wake-up tools, which lets you select YouTube videos as an alarm in your web browser.

Simply enter an (embeddable) YouTube video URL in the OnlineClock.net website to select a video alarm. Or use the Video Alarm Clock Bookmarklet.

Online Video Alarm clock lets you wake up to the glories of YouTube!

The Video Alarm Clock is customisable too so users can change the size of the numbers or the colour of the background. And, best of all, it is completely free. Just be sure to select a nice relaxing video and not the latest Rage Against The Machine remix!

5.iHome iPod docks

Just as with sleep aids and alarm clock apps, there are scores of iPod docks on the market fitted with alarm clock, internet radio and DAB functions. The problem is which one to opt for to ensure you wake up properly. iHome iPod and iPhone docks have been designed to work with a forthcoming app called iHome+Sleep.

iHome's new iPod and iPhone docks will work in tandem with its new sleep-aid apps

These "app-enhanced" alarms can track sleep patterns and gather data about your sleep habits. They are also fully customisable alarms and offer a number of options for you to integrate them with your favourite online social networks. The new iHome iA5 will be available by March and will cost $99 (£60) and the accompanying iPhone and iPod touch app will be free.

6.The Dreamhelmet

No, this is not something out of a Wim Wenders' Sci Fi epic. The Dreamhelmet has been designed specifically for sleep-deprived business travellers and for long-distance drivers as a short-term fix to a major problem on the roads. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates there are 100,000 sleep-related crashes per year in the USA and that an estimated 32 million Americans actually fell asleep behind the wheel over the last year.

You might look insane, but the Dreamhelmet is a godsend for truckers and travellers

This combination sleep-mask and sound blocking pillow is a patented sensory deprivation device and, while it may look rather bizarre, if it can help prevent accidents due to lorry drivers dozing off at the wheel, we are all for it. The Dreamhelmet even has two secret 'HiPockets' to hide car keys, credit cards, money, or matches.

It will set you back $30 (a shade over £18) plus shipping costs from the US. For more check out the website at Dreamhelmet.com

7.Oregon Scientific i.Wakeup Sunrise Clock

Controlling the ambient lighting in your bedroom is essential to waking up well. Instead of the blaring blast of the traditional alarm clock, the Oregon Scientific i.Wakeup Sunrise Clock attempts to simulates the dawn in your room, using light to help you wake up in a natural and slightly more gradual way.

Oregon's latest glowing i.Wakeup Sunrise alarm clock

The device will start to increase its illumination half an hour before your designated wake up time. It also offers five5 different built-in nature sounds, or a bog-standard FM radio. The i.Wakeup Sunrise Alarm is launching in February 2010 at a cost of $130 (£79.60).

8.The Philips Wake-Up Light range

From £50 upwards, Philips' Wake-Up range offers what is perhaps the most cost-effective solution to the problem of how best to ease yourself into the day, featuring a soft, gently glowing light and soothing bird noise or wind chime sound effects to raise you from your sleep.

Philips adds an iPod and iPhone dock to its popular Wake-Up Light alarm clock range

As the lamp gets brighter (and the birds sing louder) you slowly slip back into daytime consciousness. More recently, Philips is launching a Wake-Up Light with Dock for iPod that lets you rise to not only soft light, but your favourite tunes.

The Philips Wake-Up with iPod and Dock retails for $200 (£122) in the US with Philips UK sending over details on release plans and UK costs shortly.

9.The Apnex System – banish snoring for ever!

The Apnex System is a new tech that is still under development in medical labs. It is designed to help problem snorers (and their spouses) solve their sleep apnea problems once and for all.

However, this is no mere magic bedside gadget. It is a tiny box about the size of a matchbox that is implanted in the chest that stimulates the muscles responsible for keeping the airways open during sleep.

Apnex is developing new tech to help snorers (and their partners) sleep again

Chronic sleep apnea affects three million Britons, so this latest medical tech could well improve the health of the nation no end when it hits the market sometime soon. For more info on how this new sleep tech works you can check out Apnex Medical's website.

10.The Dreamate Sleep Inducer

If you don't mind the idea of acupressure gadgets (too much!) then the Dreamate Sleep Inducer, an, might be the key to getting off to the land of nod.

Pop on the Dreamate and head to the land of nod...

Dreamate uses accupressure to gently massage what the company refers to as the "sleeping golden triangle" on the left wrist. Pop it on half an hour before bedtime and start to learn how to train your body to relax and sleep.

Dreamate claims that its device calms the body, lowers stress levels, and induces sleep. Beats getting addicted to sleeping pills! The Dreamate is available on Amazon.co.uk for £42.50

With all the focus on Samsung announcing a projector-toting mobile phone, it was a surprise today when TechRadar stumbled across a mysterious pico projector hidden among Samsung's glut of new gadgets at this company's CES stand.

Fitting in your hand and light as a feather, the yet-unnamed projector boasts LED technology and looks to be the perfect thing to fling into your pocket and to whip out when an impromptu meeting takes place.

Samsung has decided to take a leaf out of Apple's book and style the mini projector's chassis a nice white. Connections on the thing included VGA and it seems to have an in-built speaker.

As for brightness, Samsung has opted for 30 lumens, which isn't bad considering pico projector companies like 3M Pro are releasing devises with brightness around the 15 lumens mark.

When it comes to controls, they are touch-sensitive and situated on the top of the device.

We have asked Samsung to shed some light on when the projector will be released in the UK, and have asked for more details regarding its name and exactly how big the images will be when projected.

It's an exciting time for the pico projector market at the moment, so expect a bevy of these diminutive devices to be released throughout the year.

This eBook reader is notable because it runs Android and features a second colour screen. What's more, that means the touchscreen can be used to navigate the web or access email and media. You can also switch the book display to the bottom screen if it's dark.

Manufacturer Spring Designs has partnered with Google Books (like Samsung with its new pair of readers) as well as Borders. Other formats including PDF are also supported. Price? $399 (£250).

Plastic Logic has announced its QUE proReader – billing it as more than an eReader and pitching it as 'mobile professionals'.

The 8.5×11 inch, 1/3 inch thick device offers what Plastic Logi is describing as a premium business reading experience.

"Today we are introducing two major advancements: the birth of a new market category, the proReader, and a milestone in the evolution of plastic electronics," said Richard Archuleta, CEO of Plastic Logic.

"The QUE proReader was built from the ground up for people who need to read. Starting today, mobile professionals can look forward to a paperless briefcase, a lighter load, and a better way to work."
The inspiration for the QUE proReader was apparently the humble piece of paper, and it is the size of a typical pad.

"Designed for more than good looks, QUE provides instant access to the content busy professionals need at their fingertips all day long – all their content anywhere any time: Read a newspaper over morning coffee. Review your appointments imported from Outlook. Have every document you need when you need it. And at the end of the day, relax with a good book, says Plastioc Logic's release.

"In addition to highly valued business and professional newspapers, periodicals and eBooks, QUE supports reading and annotating document formats business users need (including PDF files, Microsoft Office, ePub documents and more).

" With the QUE software, it's easy to quickly transfer content from your PC, Mac® computer or BlackBerry smartphone to your QUE. The standard 4GB QUE model can hold up to 35,000 documents or the equivalent of up to 35 filing cabinets worth of documents."

We haven't found out if there is a UK release or how much it will cost, but the US price for QUE will range from $649.00 for the 4GB QUE model $799.00 for the 8GB QUE model; so it's far from cheap.

We dropped by Nvidia's CES booth to get a closer look at the fruits of Nvidia's partnership with Audi – a full in-car navigation and entertainment system with a touchpad for easy data entry.

The touchpad enables you to spell out letters for text input while your hand remains on the gear stick. The centrepiece of the setup is a dashboard mounted display complete with Google Earth-powered navigation. Key instructions such as your next turn are also displayed in the instrument panel, too – so you can even stow the screen while driving along.

Unspecified Nvidia graphics technology powers the system in the 2010 product line, while the new Tegra 2 will roll-out with all 2012 model Audi cars and will be in the A8 in 2011. The technology will also roll out to other VW-group cars.

Nvidia also worked with Audi to develop a complete multimedia engine called Vibrante that serves as the media backbone of the system, called 3G MMI. The Vibrante multimedia engine enables passengers to watch DVDs; listen to music from an iPod, CD, SD card or USB memory stick or watch online video content.

The navigation system features 3D topography of buildings and cities, and real-time traffic reporting and navigation information

Audi says the system will lower power consumption for the entertainment and navigation systems by up to 10 times.