I’m interested because it’s a new business model in which the user doesn’t bear the communications cost.

Currently Nintendo DSi users can access the Nintendo store to download a variety of content via WiFi, but that requires that the user be within proximity of a signal and seriously hinders the purchase anytime, anywhere impulse.  Of course, this kind of delivery system would be implemented in the next generation of Nintendo DSes and would add some significant cost to the handheld device, something Nintendo may not be willing to do.

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So the early word is that, finally, we may have a Kindle killer on our hands, and it’s from a little known outfit called Plastic Logic.

The Que, as it’s called, will see the light of day for the first time ever at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (booth 11840, in case you want to know exactly where to go) on January 7th.

What’s interesting about the Que is that it’s less than a third of an inch thick, yet is WiFi enabled and can handle PDFs, Word documents, and Excel documents.  Plus, the battery life, according to reports, will be measurable in days, as opposed to hours.

The early reports that call this a Kindle killer have one significant hurdle in front of them–namely, answering questions about the price of the device.  The Kindle runs $279, and Sony’s model runs $199…but how much does the Que sell for?  No one knows yet, and we likely won’t know until we can hit booth 11840 for ourselves.

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Ohhhh boy.  Once again, the Aussies take it on the chin in the electronics wars.  Not only do they get their gaming content vastly behind everyone else, and often edited to boot, but now Amazon’s just gone on record as saying that Australians will be paying fully forty percent more for their Kindle content than the United States.

Never mind that Amazon was literally JUST on record as saying that “there are no additional fees for international customers”, they’ve backpedaled like someone rewinding a Tour de France DVD.

But what’s the reason behind the change?  Amazon was keeping pretty mum on that point–but one thing’s clear: this doesn’t bode well for Kindle sales in Australia, that’s for sure.  And with a superabundance of new e-readers ready for market in the next couple months, Kindle’s loss is literally everyone else’s gain.

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I was just perusing Amazon when I noticed an announcement on their home page stating that they’ve dropped the price of the Kindle from $299 to $259. What’s more interesting, though, is the addition of the Kindle International, which demands a $20 premium over the now cheaper Kindle but includes the ability to download books in over 100 countries. Otherwise, it’s the same old Kindle.

The International Kindle will ship October 19th, but they’re taking preorders starting today.

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That’s a strange thought to wake up to, isn’t it?  Well, it turns out they’ve got reason.  Read on:

Words like “clunky”, “slow”, and “a real pain” have come up, as students trying out the Kindle DX in classes are discovering that the ereader may not be the replacement for overpriced textbooks they’d hoped for.

One student found it awkward to hold down the “alt” key every time he wanted to type in numbers.  Since the Kindles have no page numbers, but rather, “location numbers”, students requiring source documentation find themselves typing out huge location numbers rather than simple two or three digit page numbers.  Plus, anyone working out of a regular book will be utterly lost by the Kindle’s location numbering system and be unable to crosscheck the reference without a Kindle of their own.

More suggestions emerged, citing that the Kindle needed page numbers, but also asking for improvements to note taking and highlighting.

So, okay–maybe the Kindle isn’t an academic’s dream gadget just yet.  But there’s every possibility that it will become so in the future.

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So there’s been an announcement that Best Buy means to sell the iRex book reader to compete with Amazon’s Kindle, among numerous others.  It’ll cost a whopping four hundred bucks, but come with an eight inch touchscreen (8.1, actually), connect to Verizon Wireless networks, but while Verizon itself is open to connecting other e-readers through its networks, it’s not willing to sell the iRex in its own stores, at least for the time being.

This is probably the best move Verizon can make, even if it isn’t exactly good news for Best Buy.  However, even Best Buy can get away with a little piggyback advertising with “Verizon’s network”, and of course, the first mover advantage will be a big help for the iRex.

Keep your eyes front, folks–this could be a real donnybrook, with plenty of new players moving for the Kindle market.

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Seems the competition for a piece of Amazon’s coveted Kindle market has already started to boil up out of the woodwork.  iRiver’s Story is one of the first off the block.

Formerly a major player in the Flash-based MP3 market, iRiver’s been having a lot of troubles in its home market of  Korea.  Thus, they’re looking to join in on the e-reader market and snag a little market share away from Amazon.

The iRiver Story has a six-inch LCD display, two gig of internal memory and comes in white only.  It’ll also play back MP3s, which is handy for those books on tape.  It’s not a bad little design, from the look of things, even if it really DOES look a lot like the Kindle.  So hopefully, it’ll manage to pull off a comeback.

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Guess who wants a piece of Amazon’s Kindle market?  As it turns out, a whole a lot of people.

The list is pretty wide and growing by the day, and includes names like News Corp (otherwise known as Fox), Hearst Publishing, and now, Time Magazine wants to change the way you read books and possibly even its own magazine.

At the rate things are going now, it’s not so hard to believe that dead tree publishing will go the way of the dodo within the next 20 years.  After all, who is really that interested in keeping giant cases full of books in their house when all they have to do is put their library down on the nearest end table at night?  Taking a paperback book with view to the grocery store or jury duty or to a doctor’s appointment is a pretty cumbersome task unless you have deep pockets or a handbag,  and you can really only carry one at a time. But imagine the possibilities of being able to take your entire library with you. And why stop at yours? Why not the entire Library of Congress?

Maybe print-based books will have longer than I think they do to live.  But with the sheer amount of competition coming for them, it won’t be an easy fight.

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So it’s making the rounds on the web that, should you lose your Kindle or your iPhone or your Sirius receiver, you can pretty much forget about getting any help from the company.  Well, now you can take matters into your own hands and mete out cyber-vigilante justice to anyone who sneaks off with your stuff.

It’s the TenBu Technologies’ nio (that’s not a typo–it’s all lower case) and it serves as a kind of wireless hub for all your various devices.  The nio connects to the Bluetooth tag in your devices, and sets a certain “zone” around itself.  Say, for example, fifty feet.  If your gadget ever leaves that fifty foot zone, an alarm on the nio goes off and you know your device is either rapidly moving away or is on the other side of the building where you left it.

If the nio can prevent people from losing their devices in the first place, then it really doesn’t matter what Amazon, Sirius and Apple do.  Even better if it can stop some thieves in the act.

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Bet you didn’t know that Amazon, Sirius Satellite and Apple Computers can tell where you are anywhere in the world, did you?

Well, that kind of shocker revelation requires some background.  Most everybody’s felt the heartbreak at one time or another of a favorite gadget just “wandering away”.  Whether it fell or it was pushed, the end result is the same–your valuable gadget is GONE.  It might surprise you to know that most of these gadgets actually already come with the technology required to track them down remotely.

But the companies won’t actually use this technology to help you track down your wayward gear. In fact, just trying to get the companies to shut down your missing tech so that it can’t be used in the future requires a subpoena and a whole lot of dancing with lawyers.

Some say the companies themselves won’t bother because they’d sooner have someone out there use the product and occasionally buy new apps and services, while you have to go buy a new one, plus in some cases all the content you already paid for once.  The companies themselves, meanwhile, are being tight-lipped about the whole thing.

This doesn’t bode well for the gadget makers–unhappy customers are very seldom repeat customers.

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This is a development the folks at Amazon likely weren’t expecting.

Seems that some enterprising soul out there, whom you might recognize when I tell you it’s Jesse Vincent, managed to get his recently-released Kindle 2 ebook from Amazon to run Ubuntu 9.04.

He apparently did it for no other reason than 1. to prove it could be done in the first place and 2. to get some serious geek cred at Foo Camp last weekend, where he showed off his new, previously unheard of Linux Kindle.

The practical ramifications of this do escape me somewhat, but even I’ve got to admit, as a concept, it’s still pretty cool.

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It’s not every day that you hear that Sony is in the business of making any of their gear affordable, but today, the company officially introduced two new e-readers that are priced very competitively.

First up we’ve got the Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300), and like its name implies it’s built to slip into your pocket, sort of.  It rocks a 5-inch (800 x 600 resolution) e-ink screen and is available in navy blue, rose or a silver finish.  It can store up to 350 standard eBooks and keep the pages turning for up to 2 weeks on a single charge.  It will retail for a ground breaking – Sony’s words, not mine – $199.

Next in line is the Reader Pocket’s big brother, the Reader Touch Edition (PRS-600).  And yes, you guessed correct. This version boasts a larger 6-inch (800 x 600 resolution) touchscreen that allows pages turns at the swipe of a finger.  There’s an Oxford American English Dictionary that can be called up just by tapping on a word as well as a stylus and built-in keyboard for taking notes.  And to make sure Sony doesn’t engineer themselves out of success, they’ve installed a Memory Stick slot as well as an SD card slot for expansion.  The Reader Touch Edition comes in red, black and silver and will retailer for $299.

Both eReaders will go on sale this August and will be available at Sonystyle.com as well as Best Buy, Costco and other major electronic retailers.  Unfortunately, neither one appears to have a wireless solution and both include 512mb of built-in storage.

Full release after the ‘leap’

SONY ANNOUNCES TWO NEW ADDITIONS TO THE READER FAMILY; DROPS eBOOK PRICING
Affordable Pricing for Devices and eBooks to Open Digital Reading to Mass Audience

SAN DIEGO, August 5, 2009 – Sony is today delivering on its promise of making digital readers and eBooks accessible and affordable for consumers with the introduction of two new Readers.  Part of a new Reader line, the Reader Pocket Edition™ puts a library in your hands for as little as $199. Both the Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition™ will be available at the end of August, at SonyStyle.com, SonyStyle stores and select retail partners. Also, new releases and New York Times bestseller titles in the eBook Store from Sony will now be available for $9.99.

“We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “Our goal is to expand the market and provide greater access to what consumers want to read when they want to read it — whether they buy, borrow or get it for free.”

The Reader Pocket Edition sports a five-inch electronic paper display packaged in a stylish chassis and is available in a variety of colors, including navy blue, rose and silver. The Reader Pocket Edition is easy to navigate with one hand, and fits into a purse or jacket pocket. The diminutive device can store about 350 standard eBooks and provides up to two weeks of reading enjoyment on a single battery charge. It will be available for the ground-breaking price of $199, making it the most affordable dedicated reading device on the market.

The Reader Touch Edition features a responsive, menu-driven six-inch touch screen panel that enables quick, intuitive navigation, page turning, highlighting and note taking with the swipe of a finger or by using the included stylus pen. Users can take handwritten notes with the stylus pen or type with the virtual keyboard. All notes can be exported and printed out for easy reference. The Reader Touch Edition includes an onboard Oxford American English Dictionary that allows you to look up a word by simply tapping on it. The Touch Edition also offers five adjustable font sizes, as well as expansion slots for both Memory Stick® PRO Duo™ and SD card, making your portable library virtually limitless. It comes in red, black or silver and will retail for about $299.

Both models feature Sony’s award-winning industrial design and an E Ink® Vizplex™ electronic paper display that mimics the look of ink on paper. They will ship with an attractive protective sleeve and USB cable. Sony’s eBook Library software 3.0, which now includes support for many Apple® Macintosh® computers as well as PCs, makes it easy to transfer and read any Adobe® PDF (with reflow capability), Microsoft® Word®, BBeB® files, or other text file formats on the Reader.

Through The eBook Store from Sony (ebookstore.sony.com), users can also access more than one million free public domain books from Google. These titles, which Google has digitized as part of its Google Books project, are available in EPUB format and are optimized for current models of the Sony Reader. From Sony’s eBook Store, Reader owners with a U.S. location can download and transfer any of these titles to their Reader, while new, U.S. located eBook Store users can access available titles after setting up an account and downloading Sony’s free eBook Library software.

Sony is also committed to working with local libraries throughout the country as they make the move to digital books.  Sony Readers are compatible with the industry-standard formats that libraries use for their digital collections, so consumers can easily download perennial favorites and new releases from their local libraries and enjoy them for free.

The Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition, as well as available accessories such as AC adaptors, cases and covers with reading lights, will be available at the end of August at SonyStyle.com and SonyStyle stores. Book lovers interested in trying out a Reader in person will also be able to find them for sale at Best Buy, Borders, Costco, Staples, Target, Wal-Mart and other authorized retailers nationwide.S

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Although we’ve known for a few months now that Samsung had plans to enter the e-reader game, we didn’t know when the device would emerge.  Today the company made the device official and what was known as the Papyrus has now become the SNE-50K, at least as far as I can tell.

It sports the same 512mb of storage as the Papyrus, a 4320 continuous page view battery life, 5-inch screen, 6.5oz weight, lack of any wireless connectivity (everything must be downloaded from a computer iPod style) and costs about $270.  Right now it’s only available in South Korea, but Samsung says they’ve got plans to show off a prototype e-reader to international markets at CES 2010.

To put it in perspective, Amazon’s Kindle 2 offers a 6-inch screen, wireless connectivity and its very own e-book store.

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Price drop alert! Amazon today cut the price on their Kindle 2 E-Ink reading device.  It includes a 25% longer battery life, 6-inch sun bright readable screen, 20% faster page turns, weighs 10.2oz, wireless and is just a 1/3-inch thick.  It’s $359 – $60 instant savings + $0 S&H = $299 shipped!Similar Posts:

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When Amazon launched their latest Kindle, the Kindle DX, they weren’t exactly forthcoming about the actual ship date.  Now they’ve quietly added it to the product page, which is June 10th.  As always it’s ‘first come, first serve’, and costs $130 more than the 6-inch Kindle, $489.

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Well here it is, the Amazon Kindle DX.  While boasting a much larger screen at 9.7 inches with 1,200 x 824 resolution and 150ppi, it does load pages a bit slower.  Also the DX weighs about twice as much as the Kindle 2 (10oz vs. 18oz), but it is just a tiny bit thicker (0.38-inches vs. 0.36-inches).  Screen rotation to landscape mode is one of the major new features but adjustment time is slower at about 3-4 seconds.  Available for pre-order now at $489, the Amazon Kindle DX will ship this summer.

Read

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Well, that didn’t take very long.  Although the official Amazon Kindle DX press event is just under 48 hours away, images of the latest iteration of the e-reader have been leaked to the blogosphere.  Not all is known, but expect at least a 9.7-inch display (why not 10-inches), PDF reader and the ability to add annotations as well as notes and highlights (how are annotations different from notes).  And fitting the bill, you know because this version of the Kindle is supposed to be more newspaper friendly, the New York Times will purportedly be offering a discounted monthly subscription that will run $9.95 as opposed to the regular $13.99.

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On May 6th, Amazon will hold a press conference to announce something cool and Kindle related.  Amazon will holds its press conference at Pace University in NYC and rumors are abound stating that they will announce a larger, big screen Kindle tailored towards newspapers, magazines and textbooks.  Sounds like a good idea to me as the larger size will help traditionalists adapt to portable electronic media.  Stay tuned for when this rumor bears some actual fruit to taste.

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I hate to admit it, but I’ve never heard of the BeBook e-reader.  Nonetheless, they’re releasing an updated version of their reader next week, which will include a variety of improvements over its first iteration.  So what can we expect this go around?  Wifi, perhaps increased memory and something the Kindle 2 lacks, touchscreen.  Outside of that not too many details are known at this point, but I have a hard time believing it will rival Amazon’s e-reader.

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As expected (and leaked) Amazon unleashed their Kindle 2 e-reader today. The pics and price we detailed on Friday were 100% accurate, but now we’ve got the official details for you to salivate over.  This version of the Kindle is much more svelte, measuring a 1/3 of inch thick and weighing just 10.2oz, which is apparently less than most paper back books, at least as far as Amazon is concerned.  They’ve updated its connectivity to 3G enabling books to be delivered in under 60 seconds.  And while slimming down the e-reader, and rounding the corners,  they’ve managed to improve battery life by as much as 25% and increase ‘page turns’ by 20%.  Another big notable is the ‘read-to-me’ function that will fill the void in case Mom or Dad aren’t around to read you bed time stories. The Kindle 2 will be released February 24th and cost $359.  Kindle 1 owners will get first priority if they place their order by Feb 10th, that is assuming Amazon sells out to the general public. Ton o’ videos on the product page including a drop test, which makes the Kindle 2 look suitable for military application.

My only disappointment? No college/text book integration as first rumored.  Amazon could’ve been a major factor in the fight against Scoliosis.

Amazon Kindle 2 product page

Full specs:

• Display: 6″ diagonal E-Ink® electronic paper display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 16-level gray scale.
• Size (in inches): 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″.
• Weight: 10.2 ounces.
• System requirements: None, because it doesn’t require a computer.
• Storage: 2GB internal (approximately 1.4GB available for user content).
• Battery Life: Read on a single charge for up to 4 days with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for up to two weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content. In low coverage areas or in 1xRTT only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly.
• Charge Time: Fully charges in approximately 4 hours and supports charging from your computer via the included USB 2.0 cable.
• Connectivity: EVDO modem with fallback to 1xRTT; utilizes Amazon Whispernet to provide U.S wireless coverage via Sprint’s 3G high-speed data network (check wireless coverage). See Wireless Terms and Conditions.
• USB Port: USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) for connection to the Kindle power adapter or optionally to connect to a PC or Macintosh computer.
• Audio: 3.5mm stereo audio jack, rear-mounted stereo speakers.
• Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

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