Friday, January 08, 2010

Ray Kurzweil tries to build a better e-reader | CES 2010 - CNET

Check out the full article for a video demo/interview and more details.  Blio will be available next month as a free download; it will offer one million free books as well as enriched books for sale.  I think Blio is going to be a milestone e-reader (and, more generally, hypertext) innovation.

Ray Kurzweil knows a little something about e-readers.

The computing pioneer, who among other things helped develop modern text recognition software, has been working to use digital technology to improve reading for the past 30 years. After years of work on how computers can help those with learning disabilities, Kurzweil is now taking aim at the masses.

His latest project, Blio, is an effort to improve the emerging electronic book field with software that turns e-books into more than just a digital copy of the print edition. Blio, which is due out next month, is software that combines a full-color digital book with the ability to add Web content, video, and professionally narrated audiobooks.

[…]

Under the hood, Blio uses a number of Microsoft technologies, including Windows Presentation Foundation and the XML Paper Specification (XPS). Kurzweil said his company is also working on a Silverlight version of its software that will provide for Mac support.

 

Ray Kurzweil tries to build a better e-reader | CES 2010 - CNET

No comments: