Hasta La Gadget!

The guys and gals at MobileRead have scored hands-on time with the Cybook Opus and early impressions are good. They were smitten with the ergonomics of the device and its “gorgeous” 5-inch e-ink display, but oddly neglected to point out any weaknesses. Equipped with an accelerometer, 1GB of storage, microSD expansion slot, and a user-replaceable battery, the Opus is able to read PDF and ePUB files — with or without DRM — and organize them into folders. There are rumors of a €250 ($349) asking price, but the exact details of when and where it will be available remain unknown. Click through for a video of the reader doing its thing or hit the read links for more extensive coverage.

[Via Slashgear]

Read – MobileRead exclusive : sneak preview of the Bookeen Opus
Read – Cybook Opus: Discovering the reader, video

Continue reading Video: Bookeen Cybook Opus ebook reader gets handled and adored

Filed under: Handhelds

Video: Bookeen Cybook Opus ebook reader gets handled and adored originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elonex has been dabbling in small screen wares for quite some time now, so it’s not a huge surprise to finally see it join the likes of BeBook, Sony and Amazon by introducing its very own eBook reader. Design wise, the 6-inch reader looks an awful lot like that played-out OEM model that everyone seems to start with, but hey, you won’t find us kvetching about competition. The device is launching exclusively at Borders UK, and with that comes the new Borders eBook Download Store. With a 4GB expansion card, there’s room for some 8,000 ebooks, and the 9 millimeter-thin frame ensures that this one won’t bog you down too much. Interested consumers over in the UK can snap this one up right now for £189 ($311), and that price nets you 100 free ebooks, a charger, data cable and a great sense of pride.

[Thanks, Sam]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Elonex launches £189 6-inch eBook reader through Borders UK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon already sent a pretty clear signal that it has grander plans for Kindle than just its own devices when it launched its iPhone app earlier this year, but Jeff Bezos has now made those intentions clearer than ever, and dropped a few hints of things to come. Speaking at a Wired-sponsored conference yesterday, Bezos all but confirmed that Amazon sees Kindle books and Kindle readers as two separate businesses, and he even went so far as to say that “we are going to give the device team competition” by making Kindle books available on “mobile devices and other computing devices, although he obviously didn’t specify other e-book readers. Interestingly, Bezos also confirmed that Amazon had considered selling the Kindle with a monthly subscription plan to lower the cost, or require a minimum number of books purchased, but said that he preferred the simplicity of providing one flat up-front cost, which he says has helped account for the Kindle’s success.

Filed under: Handhelds

Bezos suggests Kindle books will appear on more devices, compete with Kindle readers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t say they look a whole heck of a lot different than the EB-300 and EB-100, but Netronix’s EB-600 and EB-500 are still a push in the right direction. Seen at Computex, these e-readers pack a battery good for 8,000 page turns as well as a 6-inch (EB-600) / 5-inch (EB-500) e-ink display. We were even told that the EB-500 may end up with a slide-out keyboard, but as of now, all we can do is sit Indian style, meditate on the hands-on shots down in the read link and dream of what may some day be.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Netronix EB-600 and EB-500 e-readers spotted at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’re probably wondering what’s been happening with that super thin, super sexy Plastic Logic e-book reader that we’ve seen floating around various tradeshows. Well, the device has landed at D7, and it’s got a few new features cooked up — most notably, built-in 3G data. There’s no specifics on what carriers or bands, but besides that WiFi connectivity, you’ll be able to go totally nuts out in the real world. Additionally, it looks like the company has seriously tweaked the UI, now providing a simple and clear interface for getting around your documents, and a page-turning gesture (don’t mind the green tint in the pic above, the screen is still very much grayscale). The slate is definitely lust-worthy, but we noted a fairly slow screen refresh (way slower than the Kindle), which is kind of a downer — along with that fairly distant 2010 launch date. Plastic Logic also made an appearance on Fox Business News today, and the video is embedded after the break.

Continue reading Plastic Logic e-book reader: now with 3G

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Plastic Logic e-book reader: now with 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 May 2009 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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