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Ever wondered why the phone you bought is known as a smartphone? Well its because it can do a lot more, such as listening to music and watching videos. But today, we will be looking to the next best thing you can do on your phone, reading of ebook and web content.

Your choice when it comes to ebook are plenty, and they are available in many formats, but today we will be looking particularly at converting pdf into pdb format for reading on your smartphone. The illustrations demonstrated are from a symbian phone but it works well on a windows mobile too.

STEP 1: Converting your pdf to pdb format

This is a two step process. First, we will convert our pdf book to html format. This process can be achieved by using the Advance PDF to HTML Converter. When using this program, do note that images are not needed, and under HTML options => Frames and Navigation => Check the “No frame - Page content only”. After this, just press “Start Conversion” and you should have an output html file to work with.

Next is to convert the html to pdb format. To achieve this we will be using iSilox. After running through your html through isilox, you will be left with a .pdb format ebook.

STEP 2: Install iSilo on your phone and start reading

Choose and download the appropriate version of iSilo and install the application on your phone. Transfer your pdb book over to your phone and start reading!

Screenshots above shows you what you can expect. So enjoy reading….

If reading books is not your cup of tea and you prefer to stay up to date with current affairs, then Avantgo is for you.

Sign up for an account at Avantgo, its free for a basic account, and should you need more storage, you can get a pro account. However a basic account will do just fine. Once you have signed up, you can choose to add channels from the Avantgo list or create your own custom channels. These channels list you created will be synced to your phone when you are online, and be available to you when you are on the go, with no internet access required.

That’s it. With these two applications installed, precious time will never be wasted and you can keep up to date on the latest happenings be it in the toilet or while traveling. No more lunging around your phone of fiddling with newspaper on the train.

Now the next step will be to look for ebooks that is of interest to you. If you need any help with where to source for ebooks or the applications mentioned in this article, drop a comment and I will get back to you. ( $$$ )

Updates - 20/04/08

Look at what I found (^_^)

1. Freakonomics - Steven Levitt
2. The Age of Turbulence - Alan Greenspan
3. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
4. The Warren Buffett Way - Robert G. Hagstrom
5. Wikinomics - Tapscott & Williams