Hasta La Gadget!

Joining Simon & Schuster and
Hachette Book Group (Stephanie Meyer, James Patterson) in delaying e-books months after their hardcover releases? HarperCollins, home to Neil Gaiman and the Lemony Snicket series. Beginning in 2010, five to ten books released each month will be given a physical head start lasting anywhere from four weeks to six months. Similar justification as before, the prevailing worry is that the cheaper digital copies so early in a title’s release will make for “fewer literary choices for customers” because publishers won’t be as willing to take a risk on new writers. It’s not necessarily the most sound of arguments, but still we can imagine some short term harm to the e-book industry. Question is, how long can these arbitrary delays last?

[Thanks, Joe]

HarperCollins now also thumbing nose at e-book industry with digital delay originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There was a definite moment of utter pre-launch confusion there, but it looks like the Barnes & Noble Nook is indeed shipping to customers — reader Peter just sent in this photo of his cold chilling on a desk. We’ll see if B&N can crank out the rest of its pre-orders before the holidays, but at least there’s hope now — and we can always tell you where Peter lives if that doesn’t work out.

[Thanks, Peter]

Barnes & Noble Nook now arriving to customers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The stranglehold E-Ink has had on the e-book market is slipping. We’ve seen the tantalizing promises of Pixel Qi, mixing a color LCD with a low-power reflective display, but in the here and now we’ve got a new LCD-based e-reader from Aluratek. Extensively dubbed the “Libre eBook Reader PRO,” the unit uses an unnamed 5-inch monochrome reflective LCD panel, with 24 hours of continuous use off a battery charge. Not as great as E-Ink, but it should be plenty for most people, and the resultant $179 price is hard to knock. The Libre is ePUB and PDF compatible, and comes with a 2GB SD card — just the right sort of barebones-yet-functional we appreciate. We’ll have to see how well that LCD performs in person before we pull the trigger, but for people looking for an alternative to the premium devices out there (or something with a faster page refresh rate), it might just fit the bill.

Aluratek Libre eBook Reader PRO sports monochrome reflective LCD, $179 pricetag originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can’t get enough of the Entourage Edge? We feel you. It’s easily a sight for sore eyes in the pool of me-too e-readers, and while we’ve learned that it has plenty of power under the hood to handle quite a few desirable tasks, we’ve yet to really see the software do its thing in any real capacity. Until now, of course. The video posted up after the break is as good a look of the inner workings as we’ve seen, and the company has contacted us directly to affirm that the Feburary 2010 ship date is still on track. To be honest, we’re really digging what we’re seeing on screen, but a premedidated demonstration and real-world usability are certainly horses of different hues. Here’s hoping we get a tick to play with a production unit ourselves at CES, but till then, you know where to head.

Continue reading Entourage Edge e-reader shows off its softer-ware side on video

Entourage Edge e-reader shows off its softer-ware side on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We already knew that a potent Marvell chip was under the hood of Spring Design’s Alex, but at long last the mystery surrounding the powerhouse within Entourage’s Edge is no more. The Armada PXA168 processor will be responsible for steering the world’s first “Dualbook” through the stormy seas that’ll be created once crazed consumers get ahold of this thing, and while we’ve no idea if the software will actually support this laundry list of capabilities, the chip should have no issue with “full-featured web browsing, multi-format video and image processing.” More specifically, we’re informed that “HD-quality video and 3D graphics” will be supported, which could obviously lead to some pretty interesting applications (you know, like actual web surfing on an e-reader). Hop on past the break for a brief look at an early generation model as well as a functioning version of what should hopefully hit shelves in early 2010.

Continue reading Marvell’s Armada chip bringing ‘HD-quality video, 3D graphics support’ to Entourage Edge

Marvell’s Armada chip bringing ‘HD-quality video, 3D graphics support’ to Entourage Edge originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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