Posts Tagged ‘EBook’
Owen E1 Ereader Suits Dirty-Fingered Readers [EReaders]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 31st, 2009
Yet another ereader has floated face-up to the surface of the pool, with Owen's E1 being one of the smallest around. The screen is a small 5-inches (compared to say, the Kindle, which is 6-inches).
I don't know if you've noticed, but apart from COOL-ER's crazy-colorful models, most ereaders tend to be white for some inexplicable reason. It's nice to see Owen has given a thought to the dirty-digited, with this sensible black one.
Internally, specs sound basic, though it does have MP3 player functionality. As to whether it'll launch outside of China, that remains to be seen—but for now, let's just hope that the other manufacturers take inspiration from this daring non-white or silver model. [PMP Today]
Paradigm Shift intros 5- and 7-inch readers with color (LCD) displays
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 31st, 2009
It looks as if we're still waiting patiently for color e-ink to become a reality (at least in a mass produced shipping product), but if you're kosher with low-energy consumption LCDs, Paradigm Shift has the ticket. Similar to Sungale's Cyberus ID700WTA, the outfit's 5-inch EER-051 and 7-inch EER-071WF are both e-readers with color, but neither boast e-ink displays. The former includes 1GB of built-in memory, an SD expansion slot, an integrated MP3 player and support for just about any kind of ebook file (non-encrypted EPUB included). The latter steps up to 2GB of memory, and thanks to the Windows CE operating system, it'll also handle Office files and the like when it's not flipping text. Both devices are expected to ship in February through Delstar here in the States, with the 5-incher available in a rainbow's worth of hues for $149.95 and the big boy in black or white for $50 more. The full release is after the break.
Continue reading Paradigm Shift intros 5- and 7-inch readers with color (LCD) displays
Paradigm Shift intros 5- and 7-inch readers with color (LCD) displays originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsDulin’s Books brings Onxy’s 6-inch Boox 60 e-reader to US shores for $349
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 30th, 2009
[Thanks, Jorge]
Dulin's Books brings Onxy's 6-inch Boox 60 e-reader to US shores for $349 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dulin's Books | Email this | Comments First Look at Blio, Ray Kurzweil’s Tablet-Friendly Ebook Format [Ereader]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
Blio, officially debuting next week at CES, lets you read your ebooks as they're intended to look on paper. Clearly, Kurzweil is signaling his choice of tablets over e-ink, and his first shots are definitely persuasive.
With apps planned soon for the iPhone and PCs, Blio's cross-platform functionality makes it a natural fit for something like the Apple iSlate, which along with other tablet devices should be perfect for reading cookbooks, children's books, and any other illustrated tome. It marks a natural evolution away from the current stock of ebook readers, which are bound by the drab black and white of e-ink.
E-ink has manifold problems, but maybe the greatest of those is that it's just for text, rendering it essentially useless for any book that requires rich illustration. Blio seems to solve that issue, while at the same time offering text-to-speech capabilities that turn your ebook into an audio book.
Blio will also likely be offering over a million books at launch. While that probably includes a lot public domain filler from Project Gutenberg and Google Books, there are at least a few best-sellers (Twilight, In Defense of Food, John Adams, etc.) on the list as well. Better still, the app is going to be free.
Kurzweil has spent a lot of his time envisioning the future, with mixed degrees of success. But he's also a highly respected inventor with a multitude of patents under his belt, meaning we should pay attention when he makes a move like this. Especially with tablets in line to potentially hit the mainstream next year, this is a product that fills a clear and present need, and fills it right now. Let's hope it lives up to the vision.
E-reader privacy policies compared: Big Kindle is watching you
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 27th, 2009
[Thanks, Tom]
E-reader privacy policies compared: Big Kindle is watching you originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |EFF | Email this | Comments Kindle most gifted item in Amazon’s history, e-books outsell physical tomes on Christmas Day
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 27th, 2009
We're still not about say the e-book reader industry has branched out beyond the infancy stage, but one of its flagship products certainly has reason to celebrate. Amazon has announced it's hit some pretty big milestones with the Kindle. The two bullet points it's currently touting loudest is that the reader has become "the most gifted item" in the company's history -- quite an achievement given the size of the online retailer, but what's missing here is any quantitative sales data to give us even a ballpark of the number of units sold. The other big news is that on Christmas Day (we're guessing not Christmas Eve, else the press release surely would've mentioned it, too), e-book sales actually outsold physical books. Those brand new Kindle owners needed something to read, right? It'll be interesting to see if that momentum is maintained through next year, especially with some major publishers starting to show some teeth with digital delays. The Kindle bits were all part of Amazon's annual post-holiday statistical breakdown, so in case you're wondering, besides Kindle, the company is claiming its other top-selling electronics were the 8GB iPod Touch and Garmin nuvi260W, and in the wireless department the honor goes to Nokia's unlocked 5800 XpressMusic, Plantronic's 510 Bluetooth headset, and AT&T's edition of the BlackBerry Bold 9700.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Kindle most gifted item in Amazon's history, e-books outsell physical tomes on Christmas Day originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Amazon | Email this | Comments Nook fails to communicate, download purchased ebooks
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 26th, 2009
[Thanks to all who sent this in]
Nook fails to communicate, download purchased ebooks originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |B&N book clubs | Email this | Comments Aluratek Libre Budget Ebook Review [Review]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 25th, 2009
Ereaders are still at the point where the price is slightly too high and the functionality is slightly too low to purchase on a whim. Aluratek’s LCD-based reader, however, offers a damn low price but sacrifices functionality in return.
The Price:
$180
The Verdict:
Relatively cheap, compared to the major ereader brands, but it’s probably the worst ebook reader we’ve tested.
Instead of going for an e-ink screen like the Kindle or the Nook, Aluratek went with a monochrome LCD screen. This is fine, in theory, because it keeps costs low and actually improves refresh rates, it also sacrifices battery life. For example, I could only make it through 80% of the 7th Harry Potter book before it demanded to be charged. You’re looking at a day or two’s worth of reading at best, and by that I mean reading on and off and not for 24 hours straight.
Performance is pretty horrible as well. Aluratek seems to have only put in a processor strong enough to turn the pages at a decent speed, because startup times, navigation and book loading times were atrociously bad. Granted, this won’t be an issue when you’re actually reading books, which is most of the time.
The worst thing about the reader is probably the button placement. There are three ways you can turn a page: using the page turn buttons on the bottom left, the arrow keys on the bottom right or the page toggle on the left edge of the screen. They’re all pretty clumsy. The bottom left and bottom right methods are too far down the reader for you to hold your hand in that position while you’re reading, so you’ll have to move it down every time you want to advance. As for the left hand slider toggle, those traction edges that they placed in there to make it easier to grip and scroll is actually too rough for my delicate hands, so I avoided using it when possible. Basically, they’ve got an ebook reader that’s difficult to turn the pages with.
Even if you go beyond the lousy controls, the sub-par performance and the LCD screen that’s not all that readable, you’ve still got yourself a fairly cheap ereader, and it’s somewhat compact as well. If you’re someone who actually doesn’t mind reading books on their computers, this is one—albeit tiny—step higher. [Aluratek]
Screen refreshes faster than e-ink readers
It’s cheap (relatively)
Slow
Awkward button placement
Lousy battery life
New Nook Orders Backed Up to February [Nook]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 23rd, 2009
If you've been promised a Nook for Christmas, no worries, it's in the mail. But if you're ordering one now, Barnes & Noble has stated, "Customer demand continues to be strong and new orders will be fulfilled beginning February 1, 2010." And there's no rush shipping in the world that can save that holiday wish.
Nook Firmware 1.1 Is Out, And It’s No Miracle [Nook]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 21st, 2009
According to those lucky enough to have a Nook, firmware 1.1 is live now. Forums are full of sporadic claims like faster page turns and tweaked file handling. Have you noticed anything special? Updated
Because in the words of our own Wilson Rothman, "It feels like not much has changed." The only thing he notices off the bat is that returning to the book you're reading, after going to the main menu, is quicker, though it's still just as slow to load a new book up. As for page turns, he's still seeing the 1-2 second page turns he saw before, and the highlights-and-notes bug he uncovered during his review seems to be unrepaired.
It seems the Nook—a beautiful piece of hardware in its own right—is still in need of one heck of a firmware update. [Teleread Thanks JP!]
Update: According to B&N spokespeople:
This week, we are conducting our first over-the-air update with version 1.1 software. Nook 1.1 enables seamless connection of a customer's Nook in Barnes & Noble stores, providing exclusive content and promotions over our free Wi-Fi connection. This update also begins to provide some core speed and performance improvements and enhances the customer's reading experience by enabling them to begin reading their content sooner. Information can be found at www.nook.com/support. As with any new software, we will continue to optimize and expand Nook's capabilities using seamless over-air-updates which don't require any action by the Nook customer. We expect to conduct a larger Nook software update early next year.
