Hasta La Gadget!

Do you happen to own an e-book reader? For those of you out there who are keen on getting ready way before the intended date, and want to prepare for the school or university year ahead, then check this out – Barnes & Noble has just announced that the NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight would receive a price cut, making this ideal e-book reader more accessible to the masses with a price point of just $99. Yes sir, don’t you think that at that particular price point, it would be more appealing to the masses?

At just $99 a pop, it is available at the nearly 700 Barnes & Noble retail stores nationwide as well as online if shopping via a digital platform is your cup of tea. The NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight is said to be the most versatile reader ever created, and it so happens to be the first designed to address E Ink customers’ number-one request – that is, the ability to read in the dark in bed without having to disturb the other person sharing your bed. Thanks to Barnes & Noble’s innovative lighting technology, the GlowLight is able to shine uniformly across the display, where it can be adjusted with just a touch, letting you control the amount of light that illuminates the device, regardless of whether you are in pitch black darkness or are in a dimly lit room.

Not only that, the NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight tips the scales at under 7 ounces, making it the lightest NOOK to date. Boasting an ergonomic back as well as soft-touch design, it is extremely comfortable to hold with just a single hand, making it ideal for those thrillers that can be difficult to put down, not to mention being extremely easy to bring around. Apart from that, it also comes with a revolutionary built-in screen protector that delivers paper-like reading with no glare, even when you are under bright sunlight. Any takers?

Press Release
[ NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight gets an even lower price copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

I love taking the Kindle on vacation. Load up your books and boom. You are lost in a world of nonfiction…or fiction if you choose. Kindle battery life is unbelievable too. Yet any bookworm away from home may tend to run low on power. Sure if you only read 30 minutes a day you will get a month. But if you plan on not peeling your eyes away while basking in the vacation sun then you better be prepared.

From the “that make sense” file is the SolarFocus cover for Kindle. Pop your Kindle 4 (latest edition…the one without the keyboard or touchscreen) into the leather case where it is held securely. Built into the cover is a solar panel. So yes, as you sit at the pool your Kindle can recharge. It will take you 3 sunny days to fully recharge. But with the low battery usage of the Kindle I find it hard to believe anyone could run out of juice. Included inside the case is a self-housed LED light for nighttime reading. And it is charged via the solar panel too, preserving your Kindle battery for its own functions. This Solar Lighted Cover can be yours for $69.95 on Amazon.com or £49.90 on Amazon.co.uk and be to you just in time for your winter getaway to the sun.

[ Kindle? Check. Sun? Check copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You see a number of fundraisers and campaigns in full swing. Incipio – makers of mobile device accessories – created their own method to raise funds and awareness thanks to our gadgets. Via “Case for a Cure” Incipio donates 20% of each pink accessory sold on their website to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. With such a worthwhile cause we thought it only appropriate to highlight a couple of the pink products.

Not all of us have gone to backlit reading devices. I love my Kindle 2. But the lack of backlight means the bedside lamp gets a workout if I read at night. But Incipio’s Xenon offers a silicone case that, unlike some I have used, does not feel sticky or tacky. It actually has a polished feel, like the Kindle itself. Built into the case are two xenon reading lights with 3 brightness settings. And if reading during the day simply lock them in on the back of the case. Another great part about the Xenon is the price, just $15.99.

Another product worth considering for the cause is the Stowaway. I’m sure we have all done the “stash a card or room key in the phone case” trick. Smartly enough, Incipio actually put a credit card holder in the back of this iPhone case (4 or 4S). And the great part is it doubles as a stand when viewing in landscape mode.  With a hard exterior and silicone core you know your phone will be safe too. You can pick up a Stowaway for $34.99.

Both items are available in other colors too. But showing your awareness and giving to a cause certainly justifies going pink.
[ Gadget Gear for a Cause copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The world of tablets is not really that complicated if you were to break it down in terms of the operating system – there is either Android or iOS, where the BlackBerry PlayBook is negligible, although the release of Microsoft’s Surface tablets later this year might just change the tablet landscape somewhat. It is either an iPad or an Android-powered tablet, where the latter certainly has plenty of options for you to choose from. One of the players would be Kobo, and their latest Kobo Arc 7” tablet certainly looks as though it is shaping up to be an affordable and fun device to carry around.

For starters, this 7” tablet will run on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Not exactly the newest version, but at least it is not that backward, either. Available later this November, you will be able to choose from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. Kobo decided to approach the Arc’s design by taking a new and innovative outlook, intending to change the traditional tablet experience from searching within apps to an immersive content platform coupled with its unique interface known as Tapestries. You can now have more choice than ever before in exploring, saving and experiencing the music, movies, eBooks, and webpages that you love.

Wayne White, General Manager of Devices, Kobo, said, “We designed the Kobo Arc to let people focus on the music, eBooks, movies, website and applications they love rather than on the hardware they hold in their hand – though that is amazingly designed as well. We’ve accomplished this by offering consumers more – more storage, more customization, more choice – all in the powerful, attractive and vivid Android 4.0 Kobo Arc.”

Hardware specifications of the Kobo Arc include a 1.5GHz OMAP 4470 dual-core processor, up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge, boasting a 7″ high-definition display with 178 degree viewing angles, 215 pixels/inch and 1280 x 800 resolution with 16-million colors, tipping the scales at 364 grams. Its form factor is also easy to hold in the palm of your hand, where it features front-facing stereo speakers with SRS TruMedia sound, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a built-in microphone, and 802.11 WiFi connectivity, not to mention Google Play support.

You will be able to pick up the Kobo Arc in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities at while retailing for $199.99, $249.99 and $299.99, respectively. Pre-orders can be placed from this fall onwards, where you can pick it up from stores later this November.

Press Release

[ Kobo Arc comes in three storage options copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Mom! Can I use your iPad? Mom… let me just use your iPad for a minute. But why can’t I take your iPad to school? Mom, I dropped the iPad, but its still works, see? Of course I can think of a million other reasons I’d like to see a truly useful, kid friendly e-reader or tablet, and while I’m at it, I’d like to see it with a much lower price point.

Well check out the Kobo Family of handheld devices, from eReaders to a 7 inch Android tablet, whatever you’ve been looking for, you can probably find it here. Designed specifically for people who love books, these units start at only 79 bucks and offer a wide range of options for the gadget lover in all of us.

The Kobo Glo lets you read day or night with its adjustable comfortlight technology and runs about 129 bucks. The Kobo Mini is the smallest and lightest full featured eReader on the market, only 5 inches tall and it comes in 6 colors and with it’s 79 dollar price tag, who wouldnt want one? Finally the Kobo Arc is a fully loaded Android tablet with speakers, camera and high def display and it boasts 10 hours of play time and up to 2 weeks of standby and 8GB rings up at less than 200 bucks so maybe I can learn to relax a little.

These gadgets are all set to arrive just in time for the holidays, and the Kobo Glo actually hit the shelves today at bestbuy.com. For more information on where to buy the Kobo family of gadgets worldwide, please visit Kobo.com.

[ The Kobo Family of eReaders and Tablets – For Everyone and Jr Too! copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]