Items tagged with E-reader
If 2007 was the year of the notebook, and 2008 was the year of the HDTV, we think it's pretty safe to say 2009 is the year of the e-reader. Weird, right? Not in a million years would we have guessed that Amazon's highly covered foray into the e-ink market cause such a huge stir, but at this point, it's hard to think of all the e-readers on the market today. Without a doubt, there are far too many to count on two hands, but we suppose the competition is good for the consumer. Sadly, not a single reader on the market (or planned for the market) has a color display, but with competition as heated as ever, that could be arriving sooner rather than later. The latest company to come clean with its...
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Spring Design introduced a unique eBook reader today called Alex. Alex is based on the Google Android platform and features full browser capabilities as well as two screens. By offering two displays, Alex is able to provide the efficiency of reading on a monochrome EPD (electronic paper display) while also providing dynamic hyperlinked content on the secondary color LCD. The secondary color LCD is actually an integrated Android device that provides full Internet browsing over Wi-Fi or mobile networks. With two screens, Alex lets you use the Web as a reference library that can enhance or complement what is available on the EPD. Alex features a 6-inch EPD as well as a 3.5-inch color LCD, earphones,...
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Just when you thought Amazon may be falling behind in the e-reader race, this happens. The Kindle, which is widely viewed as the #1 e-book reader here in the USA, is finally making its international debut. If you'll recall, the Kindle has always relied on Sprint's EV-DO network to give owners wireless access to digital content wherever they are, but of course, the CDMA radio won't function in most overseas nations. In order to remedy that, Amazon has teamed with AT&T in order to sell a GSM-ready version of the device, one that's capable of downloading books in over 100 nations. Amazingly, it seems as if the roaming fees are included; if you buy an International Kindle, you can download books...
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IREX Technologies' new wireless DR800SG eBook reader will be available in select Best Buy stores at the end of next month. Other retailers will also offer the device in the first quarter of next year. First announced in August, the IREX e-reader features an 8.1 inch screen and supports multiple formats including industry standard ePub format and multiple DRM solutions. With support for a variety of formats, the device is able to interact with the Barnes & Noble e-bookstore and provide access to more than 750,000 titles as well as other open Internet e-booksites. Barnes & Noble expects its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks) to increase to over one million titles within the next year, including...
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It's sort of funny. It's as if Asus read In-Stat's latest report before it even hit the presses. Who knows--maybe they did, or maybe they've just got a great pulse on the industry after sitting back and watching the likes of Amazon, Sony and numerous other Asian firms attempt to nail the whole e-book reader thing.The research firm's latest report explains that the e-book market is still growing in the US and around the globe, with the main areas for improvement being longer battery life, Internet connectivity and e-mail. Sounds pretty elementary, but by and large, today's batch of readers only feature a few (or one) of those, and not all three. Take the market-leading Kindle for example. It has...
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If you were considering entering the e-reader market, it's pretty safe to say your window of opportunity has all but closed. Amazon already has a major chunk of the overall market share, but even overseas, companies like BeBook and Sony have perfectly acceptable options on store shelves. Now, one more player is entering the lion's den, and boy, they're sure packing quite the promise.While most e-book reader companies have competed on features and ease of use as early adopters generally ignored price points, Asus is making a stand and looking out for the bargain hunter. You heard right--Asus, the same company responsible for the Eee PC and the netbook revolution, is getting into the arena. According...
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When Sony introduced its Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition earlier this month, we definitely didn't see this coming. We knew the company was planning on releasing a connected Reader in the future, but evidently Sony meant "the near future." At an event today in the Big Apple, Sony introduced its newest and most attractive e-book reader to date with the Reader Daily Edition. The biggest difference between this Reader and every other one that Sony has unveiled is the inclusion of 3G. The device will utilize AT&T's network in America in order to let users download new material anywhere that AT&T has coverage, which is a big step up from the "plug your Reader into your PC" approach....
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Traditionally speaking, Sony has never been a company to follow publicly accepted norms. From Mini-Disc to ATRAC Memory Stick Pro to those UMD movies that nobody wanted for their PSP, the outfit has a long, storied history of forcing its own proprietary formats onto consumers. Of course, that same history includes the fact that most consumers simply don't want to cave to Sony's wishes, and formats such as MP3, Secure Digital and Compact Disc have absolutely garnered broader industry support. We tell you all of that in order to explain just how shocked and pleasantly surprised we were to read the latest press release from Sony. By converting its entire online eBook store to the widely adopted...
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As interest grows in the digital-textbook arena, one of the providers of e-textbook subscriptions has announced plans to make over 7,000 titles accessible via Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. The new applications that enable the eBook access will be free to subscribers of CourseSmart LLC. The apps let students access full electronic textbooks, read digital notes, and search for specific words and phrases. This isn’t the first instance we’ve heard of eBooks and eBook readers targeting college students—not long ago, Amazon announced its $489 large-screen Kindle DX e-reader. In combination with the announcement, Amazon is launching a trial program at seven colleges this fall that will experiment with...
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Barnes & Noble may have claimed to have the world’s largest eBookstore for a while, but Sony is right on its heels, having just announced that its eBook Store will provide access to more than one million free public domain books from Google. These books include classics such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, biographies, historical texts, romance novels, and hundreds of other genres. Google digitized the available titles as part of its Google Books project. Now, the titles are available in EPUB format and optimized for current models of the Sony Reader Digital Book. “We are committed to ensuring our customers have the freedom to discover and read content from the widest possible...
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You know, it makes sense, really. Considering that Barnes & Noble is gearing up to launch what it calls the "world's largest bookstore," it should probably make sure that a maximum amount of people have access to its in-store Wi-Fi network, not to mention test it out to ensure that it can handle the strain of a million digital bookworms sucking down new material at once.After Starbucks announced that its Wi-Fi HotSpots would be available gratis for iPhone users, B&N has stepped in to announce complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi for any customer that visits a Barnes & Noble bookstore nationwide. All customers shopping in Barnes & Noble stores can now freely download and preview any of...
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We're a little rusty on our "old sayings," but we're pretty sure one of them goes: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." With seemingly everyone jumping into the E-reader game these days, we guess it was just a matter of time before the consumer electronics giant known as Samsung jumped into the ring. Following the likes of Amazon, Plastic Logic and BeBook, Samsung Electronics has now announced an E-Book Reader of its own over in South Korea. Initially, at least, the reader will be sold exclusively in the company's home nation, with content provided by a local bookstore chain. The SNE-50K will be priced at around 339,000 won in South Korea, which equates to right around $270 in US dollars. The device...
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Amazon may have started the craze, but nowadays it feels like anyone and everyone is dabbling in the e-reader game. With the sector still blooming, companies are seemingly erupting from left field in order to toss their own Kindle rival into the ring, and one of the most promising we've seen is being crafted courtesy of Plastic Logic. The aforesaid company has been toiling away on its own reader for years now, and with "early 2010" just around the bend, it seems the ship date that digital bookworms have been yearning for is finally within sight.Just today, Plastic Logic has both confirmed the rumored time table and delivered the news that its 3G-equipped reader will be able to download new books...
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Barnes & Noble announced the launch of what it is calling the world’s largest eBookstore. The new Barnes & Noble eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks) supports a wide range of platforms including the iPhone and the iPod touch, BlackBerry smartphones, and Windows and Mac laptops. Barnes & Noble will also be the exclusive eBookstore provider for the upcoming Plastic Logic eReader device. The new Barnes & Noble eBookstore will offer access to more than 700,000 titles, including hundreds of new releases and bestsellers for only $9.99. The company expects to offer over one million titles within the next year, which will include every available eBook from every book publisher and every available...
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For many, $359 is just too much to pay for an e-book reader. Even if that does include unlimited Sprint connectivity to download new titles practically anywhere. To that end, Amazon has whacked a full $60 off of the price of its Kindle 2 just half a year after it was first introduced in New York City. The price drop could be significant, as it lowers the entry price to $299 -- just a dollar under that "magical" $300 mark.If you'll recall, Amazon had no problem selling through stock of its original Kindle, but really, it was a first of its kind. Now, the e-reader is somewhat more commonplace, and the economy definitely isn't conducive for sales of luxury items such as these. What's most interesting,...
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Remember back in ancient computer times, say the late '80s and early '90s, when your only choice for a computer screen was black, with white, orange or green typeface?That model has long since been discarded in favor of full-color screens, which are much easier on the eye and, frankly, more attractive. But then the Kindle e-book reader came along, along with a few other similar devices (such as the Sony Reader), and everyone just accepted that they were monochrome. Even the magazine-sized Kindle released earlier this month was a monochrome reader.Later this month, at the Society for Information Display conference, E Ink Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., claims it will demonstrate a color "e-paper,"...
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Just as the rumors insinuated, Amazon has indeed launched a new Kindle. And yes, you're right in remembering that Amazon just launched a new Kindle right around three months ago -- crazy, right? In a very atypical manner, the e-tailer with a flair for making hardware has issued its second e-reader in three months, with the newest version boasting a larger screen, an unbelievably high price tag and little else. Called the Kindle DX, the device looks and feels almost exactly like the refreshed Kindle 2 from February. The biggest difference (literally) is the panel. Instead of the standard 6" screen, this device includes a 9.7" (diagonal) e-ink display which will supposedly enable newspapers and...
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It's official: the world is getting another Kindle. Whether or not it needs another Kindle remains to be seen, but you can bet the print media publications are all in agreement that we do. Not quite a month after we began to hear rumors that a larger screen Kindle was in the works, Amazon has officially scheduled a press conference for this Wednesday where it will unveil a new device in conjunction with at least a few major newspapers. The oddest part about all of this is that the Kindle 2 just came out in February -- three months ago! It took right around a year to go from the Kindle 1 to the Kindle 2, so this is definitely an accelerated lifecycle. Of course, it's not like Amazon had a lot...
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Look out Amazon (and Sony), there's about to be a new e-reader in town! During the same month that Amazon launched its revamped Kindle 2, Fortune has announced that another opponent will join the ring sometime this year, and it's an unlikely opponent at that.Hearst Corporation is the company behind all of this, and if you're curious as to why you've never heard of it, it's because that name isn't prominently displayed on Cosmopolitan, Esquire and the San Francisco Chronicle, all of which it owns. Reportedly, the company has developed (with some help from an OEM, most likely) a wireless e-reader with "a large-format screen suited to the reading and advertising requirements of newspapers and magazines."...
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Is the e-reader revolution finally upon us? Now, we know that demand for Amazon's Kindle has been remarkable, but it would still be a stretch to say that e-books were all the rage amongst the general populace over the past year or so. As Amazon apparently prepares to unveil its next generation Kindle on Monday at a New York City library, the e-tailer is also planning (or at least it appears that way) to offer up its e-reader software to smartphones. In order to stay lockstep with its rivals, Google has just announced that its vast online library of books will soon be made available to select cellphones. According to an excitement-filled post on Google's own Book Search blog, it is launching a...
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February 9th is still hours away, but there's little doubt about what Amazon will unveil this coming Monday at a library in New York. A whole gaggle of rather official looking press images have surfaced in the run-up to the event, and they sure look convincing. At this point, it would actually be a shock if Jeff Bezos didn't introduce the second Kindle to the world, and if these shots prove accurate, we'd guess this one will stay just as "sold out" as the original seemed to. Actual specifications about the next-generation e-reader have yet to be revealed, but it's obvious that the device is slimmer, sleeker, sexier and just more attractive than the existing Kindle. We're also told that the unit...
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