My new cell phone has one of those itty-bitty memory cards. Well, itty-bitty in physical size, but large in memory. I can put a 512 MB card in there, and I bought an adaptor to plug the card into an USB port. So now I transfer music files from my computer to the phone's MP3 player, instead of buying songs from the phone company (please don't tell them I do that).

But what I want in the phone is not music, but literature. The phone has a large-enough screen to read text messages, obviously. I have lots of text files that I've downloaded from Internet literature sites (I found that any computer screen full of text looks like I'm working, even when I'm Kipling). I can put the text files in my phone, now, with the card and adaptor. But I cannot read them. Yet.

I cannot text-message the files to the phone and read them, as messages have a size limit. I don't want to sign up for web-browsing at the phone company's rates. All I want is a way for the phone to access text files.

I'm not asking for an E-book reader. Just an application that lets me read text files in my cell phone. It would be easy to add to the phone's software, I'm sure.
-- baconbrain, Oct 15 2006

Cell phone hard drives Cell_20phone_20hard_20drives
I got the phone that he was wishing for . . . partly. [baconbrain, Oct 15 2006]

J2ME Text Reader http://www.getjar.c...oxReadeBooksforFREE
[theircompetitor, Oct 16 2006]

Halfbakery, low-res text version http://www.halfbakery.com/lr/
If you're using a PDA to access the halfbakery, you might prefer this version. [jutta, Oct 16 2006]

Cell phone book reader http://www.tx2ph.com
Reads books on cellphone via WAP [xipetotec, Oct 19 2006]

I'm not sure what the problem is. My phone has pocket Word and I can transfer the file to my 1GB card in the phone and read away.
The only problem is screen resolution, not software.
I can read Excel, notes , Powerpoint and PDF too. Failing that, Email the text either direct in an Email or as an attachment - although you will still pay for the download.
-- gnomethang, Oct 15 2006


The problem is that I'm out of touch with new developments, apparently. I've never heard of "pocket Word". I tried an Internet search for text-reader programs, but didn't even know what to use as search terms. It seems like an obvious application, so I'll try again.
-- baconbrain, Oct 15 2006


Yeah, my phone will do the HB, too, but it was so frustrating to use that I gave up on all web use before the end of the trial period. I could use my phone's browser to read book files, maybe, but it wants to connect to the internet as soon as I activate it.

I am well aware that the phone company would love me to buy minutes to find book files on the internet. I just think that since all phones show text, and have help files in text, and text files are compact, that the phones should let you add and read text files.

I looked up pocket Word, and got the impression that it is for PDAs and Smartphones. My phone can't use that, but it can show text messages and help files already. I just can't make it access text files.
-- baconbrain, Oct 16 2006


hey, let a guy make a living. And, see link
-- theircompetitor, Oct 16 2006


Yeah, that's true. I lost my five-year-old medium-cost cell phone in the Jakarta airport, or maybe the Tokyo airport. When I got back to the U.S., I bought the first phone the salesman tried to sell me, for much money, and replacement insurance for it. Then I carelessly ran that phone through the wash, and got sent a different, better, phone as a replacement.

So I have very little idea what phone technology is available, not having done any phone-shopping research for years. But I have what I thought was a high-end phone, which could serve as an E-book reader, very easily, but won't, dammit.

Well, if I can't read War and Peace, at least I can listen to the Spice Girls.
-- baconbrain, Oct 16 2006



random, halfbakery