Sure, it’s only sold under 200K since it’s been announced, but maybe this will help things along.

The digital comic book reading landscape is beginning to make nerdy pants very tight. Longbox, which  has long been billed as the iTunes of Comic Books, released their public beta recently. Unfortunately, the overall interface of their Mac beta has a very Windows 95ish feel to it. When compared to the Graphic.ly beta I was able to install last week, Longbox would need to go back into the oven for a few more hours. This is, however, a public beta.

Conversely, Graphic.ly, which runs on Adobe Air, is a beautifully designed digital reader that runs seamlessly inside of OS X. The design of their app is very reminiscent of the popular Twitter app, Tweetie for Mac. Simply put, it’s gorgeous.

The reading experience takes many cues from ComiXology’s ‘guided view’ process. They also seem to want to incorporate a social experience while reading your books inside of their app. You can update your status, rate books, and unlock achievements while you peruse your library/collection.

With that said, it’s questionable how often I’d want to read comic books on my desktop/laptop. I’d much rather read them on my iPhone and in the near future, my iPad. The mobile platform of the aforementioned apps is a bit murky. Longbox has been coy about their future in mobile reading, while Graphic.ly not only has an iPhone and Android app in the words, but also a Windows Phone 7 Series app. 

ComiXology is running away with that market, and PanelFly and iVerse are right behind them. It may not be a bad idea to shore up the desktopOS market of digital reading while they can.

nerdcast.29 from 03.15.10 (DL | iTunes | Zune) 

YEA! Slim used a Palm Pre Plus for a week straight, sans iPhone! He drops a review like it’s hot. Armagamin Round 3 ended as we went live, and we went through the results….and it got ugly. Playstation Move got announced, and the world yawned…just like our friend Dave! Todd Tizzle called into the show to pump his podcast on our own podcast. What a jerk. NNNz!!!

Thanks for not voting for NBA Jam, jerks.

Netflix app for Windows Phone 7 streams movies via Watch Instantly. 

Holy shit.

Two of the maps aren’t even new. 

David Finchs Batman #700

Once can only hope. I’ve been using the shit out of multi-tasking on the Pre Plus for a few days and it’s delicious.

As I sit here charging my Palm Pre, it’s quite disheartening to read these numbers. 

In the interest of science, I’ve kicked my beloved iPhone to the curb. We’ve had some good times. In fact, we’ve had some awesome times. Downloading podcasts, streaming radio and beating my girlfriend in Air Hockey thanks to the biggest comeback in history. (I was down 1-6 for those interested).

I’ve taken several of my friends to task for owning a Palm Pre. And rightly so, I think. Do you know anyone that has a Palm Pre? Of course you don’t. Do you have any friends, at all? Don’t answer that. Why take the chance on a company faltering hard in front of the country at large? Why put yourself through the misery of owning a phone that such a small percentage of phone owners even know about?

Thanks to my deep connections in the tech world, and Palm in particular, I’ve come into contact with a brand new Palm Pre Plus from Verizon. For the next 7 days, this phone will be my only form of mobile communication, unless you count a pen and paper. But let’s be serious. Who uses that crud anymore?

I’ve forgone my iTunes and iPod apps. Heck, even the Tweetie 2 app. What am I going to do without Twittering that I’m out of Boars Head pepperoni? Or worse, Pizza Goldfish?

If I survive this intense ordeal, rest assured there will be a stupendous blog post detailing the events in question. The world needs to know how an Apple Fanboy lived for 7 days without his beloved iPhone.

PS: Exchange ActiveSync support right out of the box. Stay hot, RIM.

(Check out either my @slim twitter, or the official @nerdcastONLINE version for annoying nitpicking updates. The full review will take place during nerdcast.28.)

xoxo