The miBook is a $130 PDA with a 7" screen that teaches skills to people through step-by-step videos and other multimedia. Now, we don't like to reinforce gender stereotypes, but the pictures of each $20 title in the gallery below, such as cooking, gardening and home decorating show a woman learning the job—all except the diaper changing lesson, which shows a man. It's sold without onboard memory, but they must think women are pretty stupid if they expect to charge $150 for 128MB. The rest of miBook's specs are gender neutral:UPDATE: That's a typo in the spec sheet, the 128MB memory is a much more reasonable $1.50, but it's for retailers only.

It works as a digital picture frame and supports MPEG video, MP3 audio and SD/xD/MS/MMC cards for much cheaper storage. We're holding out for the guy's version, when we can learn how to clean gutters, take out the trash and scratch our balls. Coming soon, spec sheet and press release after the jump. [miBook]

Portable Take anywhere! Battery & AC capable
LCD Size 7" (16:9)
LCD Type New advanced TFT
LCD Backlight New LED! (same as on new high-end laptops, for amazing brightness & color accuracy) (not CCFL)
Graphic Interface Highly advanced - including hot spots, pop-up menus & file preview shots for fun, easy, graphic navigation
Player Controls Tactical switches
Remote Control Yes
Battery Yes, Lithium

Additional Features
Shows Photos All formats (jpeg, etc.)
Photo Zoom 5 zoom levels
Photo Thumbnails Yes
Photo Rotation Yes
Photo Aspect Ratio 16:9 & 4:3 modes
Image Controls Brightness, contrast, color
Shows Videos All formats (MPEG-I, MPEG-II, MPEG-IV, etc.)
Plays Music All formats (mp3, etc.)
Slideshow Music Simple click links desired music & photo files
Calendar & Clock Yes, incl photo display & alarm
Speakers Two
Headset Jack Yes
Computer Compact PC & Mac; usb 2.0 cable included
Card Readers SD/MS/MMC/XD (96% of mkt)
Built-In Storage No, add 128MB $150
Warranty 1 year
Phone Support Toll-free & U.S.-based

miBook, the First Multimedia Book, Launches

Portable multimedia book initially targets cookbooks and other "how-to" titles with help from Food Network, HGTV, the DIY Network and ParentsTV

CLEVELAND, OH 鈥? miBook, the first multimedia book, has begun shipping to retailers. miBook brings genres like cookbooks, parenting primers, and travel guides to life with video clips, images and sound, changing the way people cook, fix things up around the home, travel, parent and more.

Using miBook's slim 7" portable player, home cooks who have long struggled to translate recipes into meals can now follow step-by-step video clips showing exactly how a dish should look at every turn. Similarly, travelers long stuck with only a sentence or two to go on when choosing a restaurant can take a video tour and judge the ambience and signature dishes for themselves.
miBook titles, which come on memory cards that slide into the player, are produced in conjunction with television networks including Food Network, HGTV, the DIY Network, and Parents.tv. Initial titles, now numbering 25 but soon to top 100, cover cooking everything from quick and easy meals to party appetizers, home decorating and gardening, home projects and repairs, pregnancy, parenting, and travel to popular destinations. Individual titles have a suggested retail price of $19. 99.

Unlike electronic books that focus on text alone, miBook stands out in that it combines text with video and sound, fusing the strengths of books and TV. Why read it, when you can also see it? Like books, miBook titles are organized into distinct parts that users can access whenever they want and at their own pace, and like TV, they come alive with video clips, images and sound. Highly interactive, miBook stops automatically after each step, allowing users to easily follow the recipe or activity at their own pace. miBook鈥檚 charm is in its ability to bring subjects to life in new ways and make everyday activities easier. For example, in addition to letting home cooks see a dish at each step, miBook helps plan menus by instantly sorting recipes based on main ingredient, available time, cooking method, and nutritional concerns.

The miBook player, packaged with one or more titles, starts at a suggested retail price of $129.99. miBook is available at retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Bon-Ton, Borders, Circuit City, HSN, Linens 鈥榥 Things, QVC, and The Source.

miBook Title Topics

Cooking

Not since the Joy of Cooking was published in 1931 has there been a major update to the cookbook 鈥?until now. miBook takes the guesswork out of translating a recipe on the page into a feast on the table. Step-by-step, miBook shows home cooks exactly how to cook a recipe, including what the dish should look like at every stage and how to do everything from saut茅 to flamb茅. miBook stops automatically after each step to allow the cook to perform the action. When ready, the cook pushes play to move on.