Hasta La Gadget!

Clearly, the big news from Endless Ideas today at CeBIT was its next-generation BeBook 2. But what about all those existing / to-be BeBook 1 owners? We’ve got a bit of excitement to share with you folks as well. While prying for information today in Hannover, we were informed that one of the biggest issues with the BeBook is being resolved very soon. Yes, friends, WiFi is coming. In just a few months, BeBook users will be able to buy a WiFi-enabling SD card (and download a new firmware update) which will provide wireless access to eBook stores, RSS feeds and lots of other goodies that can only be touched with a live internet connection. We’re told that the WiFi SD card will be sold directly on the BeBook website for around $40, and it should be listed for sale within the next few months. We took the chance to grab some hands-on footage of the original BeBook in video form for you Yanks who’ve yet to see one, and if you hang in there ’til the end, you’ll hear us get tipped off on the forthcoming card.

Continue reading BeBook e-reader getting WiFi, new firmware update: eyes-on

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

BeBook e-reader getting WiFi, new firmware update: eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon wasn’t just teasing you whiners who blabbed on about how you’d rather just read ebooks on your iPhone: The iPhone and iPod Touch app has arrived.

The free program brings several of the Kindle’s functions to the iPod and iPhone’s much smaller, non-E-Ink screen, including the same electronic books, magazines and newspapers that Kindle owners can buy, and the ability to change text size, add bookmarks, note and highlight stuff. From what we can see at first glance of the app itself, there’s no dictionary or search.

If you already have both a Kindle and an iPhone, Amazon’s program syncs the two so that you can keep your bookmarks on both devices. Immediately after loading up the app, this worked exactly as billed, and the page we’re on in the Kindle 2 showed on the iPhone.

While my first thought was “Jesus (not Diaz), Amazon’s bent on cannibalizing itself,” I guess the move kind of makes sense. People who want E-Ink will still buy the Kindle 2 (reviewed here), but perhaps this will steer people away from the other multitudinous, less complete iTunes ebook options. [iTunes Link to Amazon Kindle App]

While affirming its stance on the legality of Kindle 2‘s text-to-speech feature — and in fact stating it’ll actually get more customers interested in buying audiobooks — Amazon‘s announced that it’ll now let the books’ rights holders decide on a title-by-title basis whether or not they’ll let TTS be enabled. No word on when the update’ll be fed to the devices, but we bet somewhere right now, Paul Aiken‘s cracking a tiny smile. Full release after the break.

Continue reading Amazon sorta capitulates, will let publishers decide text-to-speech availability

Filed under: Handhelds

Amazon sorta capitulates, will let publishers decide text-to-speech availability originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hot on the heels of Amazon’s highly anticipated Kindle 2 launch comes this: news that Hearst Corporation — which publishes iconic magazines including Cosmopolitan and Esquire along with the San Francisco Chronicle — will be launching its own wireless e-reader. While many may be quick to label this forthcoming device as a Kindle competitor, the concept behind this is far more elaborate than simply knocking Amazon from its perch. In an effort to “preserve the business model that has sustained newspapers and magazines” while moving forward with technology, Hearst is planning to ship a larger-than-usual reader (around the size of a standard sheet of paper), giving publishers (and advertisers, by extension) about the same amount of space as they’re used to when pushing out e-articles. Reports suggest that the device — which will do the monochrome thing until a color version debuts later — could land as early as this year, with Hearst & Friends planning to sell them to publishers and “take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices.” No exaggeration here — this may be the biggest news we’ve heard for print media in years, not to mention the promise of an all-new e-reader for gadget nerds to swoon over.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Hearst to launch wireless e-reader, potentially revolutionize print media originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We heard that Amazon was already prepping the earliest Kindle 2 orders for shipment, but now we’re seeing a flood of shipment notifications head our way. So far as we can tell, the second iteration of the Kindle e-reader is shipping en masse, and Amazon even lists the thing as “In Stock” on its website. Of course, the original Kindle had that status for about 3.87 (okay, 5.5) hours before slipping into backorder land for far too long, but we’re hoping the supply chain’s a bit more ready for the rush this go ’round.

[Thanks, Dan]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Amazon’s Kindle 2 listed as “in stock” — for now, anyway originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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