Hasta La Gadget!

iriver‘s first legitimate shot at making an e-reader has been floating around in various corners of the globe for months now, but finally we’ve confirmation from the company that the device is coming Stateside. Announced here in Las Vegas, the iriver Story will ship to US retailers later this month, with an “updated WiFi version” slated to ship in early Q2. For those who’ve forgotten, the 0.36-inch thick reader packs a 6-inch e-ink display, an integrated MP3 player, 2GB of internal memory, an SD expansion slot, USB 2.0 connectivity and a battery good for 9,000 page turns. As for the MSRP? iriver tells us it’ll be “competitively priced,” with more details to be released as “content and retail partners are finalized.”

Continue reading iriver Story e-reader shipping to US soil this month, WiFi version coming in Q2

iriver Story e-reader shipping to US soil this month, WiFi version coming in Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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It’s definitely shaping up to be the year of e-book readers: the Amazon Kindle is flying off (virtual) shelves, and we’d expect the Barnes & Noble Nook to start moving at a decent clip once the kinks get worked out. But any device with an always-on 3G connection to a central server raises some privacy questions, especially when it can broadcast granular, specific data about what you’re reading — data that’s subject to a wide spectrum of privacy laws and regulations when it comes to real books and libraries, but much less so in the digital realm. We’d say it’s going to take a while for all the privacy implications of e-books to be dealt with by formal policy, but in the meantime the best solution is to be informed — which is where this handy chart from our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation comes in. As you’d expect, the more reading you do online, the more you can be tracked — and Google Books, the Kindle, and the Nook all log a ton of data that can be shared with law enforcement and various other third parties if required. Of course, we doubt the cops are too interested in your Twilight reading habits, but honestly, we’d rather users weren’t tracked at all. Check the full chart and more at the read link.

[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.

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You didn’t think the whole Nook saga was over, did you? After just succeeding in delivering devices to expectant pre-orderers in time for Christmas, Barnes and Noble is today cleaning up yet another mess courtesy of its ill-prepared content servers. Judging by customer feedback on its support forums, it appears a glut of download requests over gift-giving day jammed the B&N net pipes and left a great many disappointed Nook users. All attempts at downloading an ebook yesterday — even by those who got their Nook a little earlier in the month — were greeted with a “Queued: Will complete shortly” message, which apparently remained that way until early this morning when downloading finally resumed functioning. The biggest perceived failure here, though, is the book retailer’s silence on the issue, which illustrates the importance of communicating with your customers — most people seemed tolerant of the setback once they realised they didn’t have faulty hardware.

[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.

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Haven’t got your Nook yet? You may actually be in luck. For people who pre-ordered early enough to expect a pre-Christmas delivery, Barnes & Noble is promising a $100 B&N.com gift card if it misses December 24th — which is apparently distinctly possible. Of course, if you’re one of the lucky / unlucky ones to have this on offer, you’ve probably already seen the email, and if you’re a different sort of hapless pre-orderer that won’t be seeing a Nook until next year, this is just another reason to curse your lot in life. To think: not only are you not ushering in 2010 from an economy suite in a space hotel, but you’re going to wrap up this year reading paper books, without $100 to show for it! Can’t we do better as a civilization?

Barnes & Noble giving $100 for Nook pre-orders that miss Christmas originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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