Sep 01

Sony Takes on the Kindle With Touchscreen E-Readers

Posted in: e ink, e-books, e-readers, kindle, sony, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili, touchscreen

Sony’s not taking competition from the Amazon Kindle lying down. The company has added touchscreens to its three e-reader models, while switching to the new ‘Pearl’ screen from E Ink for better contrast and improving the user interface on the devices.

What the company hasn’t done is drop the price. Sony’s cheapest e-reader will cost $180–and that’s without Wi-Fi or 3G–while Amazon charges $140 for the Wi-Fi version of the Kindle.

“The bottom line is we didn’t want to compete on price,” says Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading business division. “We wanted to build quality and overall experience. We want to give consumers the feel of buying an e-reader, not a toy.”

Sony three e-reader models are the Pocket, Touch and Daily Edition. The $180 Pocket Reader has a 5-inch display, 2 GB memory and will come without W-Fi or 3G access. That means users can only load books by connecting the device to their PC using a USB cable.

The $230 Touch Edition has a 6-inch display, 2 GB onboard memory, expansion slots for up to 32 GB of additional memory, the ability to play audio files and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The $300 Daily Edition model includes both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and sports an even larger 7-inch display. It too has 2 GB of onboard memory and an expansion slot for up to 32 GB additional.

Sony’s new e-readers raise the stakes in the e-reader market. In July, Amazon introduced the third generation of its Kindle e-reader, including a Wi-Fi only model, and slashed the price to make it more competitive with rival Barnes & Noble’s Nook. The move took a toll on smaller e-reader makers who haven’t been able to compete on either price or scale of their book stores. Earlier this month, Foxit announced it will stop development on its eSlick e-reader. Plastic Logic canceled its plans to bring its e-reader to market, while Cool-er’s e-readers have been listed out of stock in the U.S. for months.

Sony is betting on better design to draw in users. Its new e-readers are colorful (hot pink, red, silver and black) and have an aluminum body that gives them a better finish and feel compared to the plasticky- shell of the Kindle or the Nook.

But the biggest change has been the introduction of the touchscreen across all models. Previously only one of the models called Touch Edition had a touchscreen.

Unlike the capacitive touchscreens popular on mobile phones, Sony’s e-readers use optical touchscreen technology so it responds to both finger and a stylus.

A major problem with the earlier version of Sony’s touchscreen e-reader was the touchscreen layer added to the top of the display. The layer decreased contrast, making the e-reader’s display difficult to read compared to the Kindle or the Nook, and also offered a sluggish response to touch. The optical touchscreen technology seems to have solved some of the problems and in my brief hands-on with the devices I found the display to be startlingly responsive and quick.

The Pearl display has also helped improve contrast and render crisper text.

“The number one focus for us is the reading experience,” says Haber.”The e-reader is not the Swiss Army knife of devices so we have done everything to make the experience immersive.”

Over the next few weeks, Sony also plans to launch mobile apps of its reader software for the iPhone, iPad and Android.

In improvements to the user interface, Sony will incorporate book reviews from the GoodReads site into its book store. It has also expanded the news stand section of its book store and partnered with more news publishers such as The Guardian and The Harvard Business Review.

Sony hopes to ship the Touch and Pocket models in the next few days. The Daily Edition e-reader will not be available till early November.

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Photo: Sony Touch e-reader/Sony


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Aug 27

Amazon Kindle review (2010)

Posted in: amazon, Books, e ink, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, feature, Features, kindle, reader, review, Reviews, Today's Chili

Amazon’s third major iteration of its flagship reading device, the Kindle, comes out of the gate looking strong: the new graphite finish (just like its big brother, the Kindle DX) with a slimmer, lighter form factor, plus a bumped refresh rate for its E Ink screen. Best of all, the WiFi only and 3G readers have newly lowered prices (though they’re still not exactly bargain basement level). We’ve spent the past few days putting the tinier Kindle through the paces to see just how much Amazon’s improved it. Though the market is increasingly flooded with cheap readers, the Kindle is arguably still the leading name in the field, and Amazon is already touting the third model as its bestselling ever — even though there are still no sales figures to be had. So, is this the best Kindle ever? Read on to find out.

Gallery: Amazon Kindle unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading Amazon Kindle review (2010)

Amazon Kindle review (2010) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 26

LG putting 9.7-inch color, 19-inch flexible e-paper displays into production

Posted in: e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, LG, Today's Chili
LG’s shown off plenty of display prototypes that may or may not ever wind up in actual products, but it looks like two of them are about to get real — a recent SEC filing has revealed that LG is expecting to put both a 9.7-inch color e-paper display and a 19-inch flexible e-paper display into mass production by the end of the year. Details beyond that are expectedly light — including any word on what type of products they’ll be used in — but the 19-inch display is apparently the same one we first saw back in January (pictured above). That could conceivably be used for a newspaper-sized device, or possibly things like digital signage, which might be a tad more likely given the constraints in tacking a touchscreen layer and other components on top of the display.

LG putting 9.7-inch color, 19-inch flexible e-paper displays into production originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 26

The Sharper Image announces Literati color e-reader

Posted in: e reader, e-book, e-book reader, E-bookReader, e-books, e-readers, Today's Chili
The Sharper Image may not be quite the retail presence it once was, but it looks like it’s still in good enough shape to hop on the latest trend — it’s just announced “The Literati by The Sharper Image,” a $159 e-reader with a 7-inch color screen. That device actually comes courtesy of MerchSource, and relies on Kobo’s ebook service to get books on the device (which can be downloaded via WiFi). Otherwise, things look to be fairly basic — the screen is 800 x 480 (and not a touchscreen), and there’s apparently no web browser or other types of apps on the device to be found. You will get 150 free public domain books with the device though, along with a free case, and your choice of a white or black / brushed metallic model (which actually look to be slightly different in design). It also looks like you’ll be seeing a lot of it — The Sharper Image says that it will have the “broadest retail footprint of any eReader,” with it set to be available at more than 7,000 retail stores this October, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, JC Penney, Kohl’s and Macy’s. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading The Sharper Image announces Literati color e-reader

The Sharper Image announces Literati color e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 26

Acer LumiRead set for an IFA showing, October launch in Germany

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, launch, schedule, Today's Chili, video

Given how fast the new Kindle’s been selling, we doubt many of you were keenly holding out for Acer’s alternative — but if you were, the wait is apparently nearing an end. An Acer spokesperson has confirmed that the barcode scanning-LumiRead will be shipping out to retail channels (in Germany, at least) this October, and early speculation on its price places it at around €250 ($316). That’s an unconfirmed number, so don’t freak out just yet, and Acer points to the fact it’ll pack one of the widest German-language e-libraries on any e-reading device. Maybe prices will be somewhat more competitive in other territories, where the major attractions will be WiFi and 3G wireless capabilities, a 6-inch, 800 x 600 E Ink display, and a Barnes and Noble content partnership. And hey, maybe when we hit IFA in a couple of days they might finally let us take it out of the box as well, eh? We can only dream.

Continue reading Acer LumiRead set for an IFA showing, October launch in Germany

Acer LumiRead set for an IFA showing, October launch in Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 25

Now Sharper Image Launches an E-Reader

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-books, Media Players, Today's Chili

Just as the e-readers market seemed poised for a shakeout, Sharper Image–a store best known for its R2-D2 droids and ionic air purifier–has decided to jump in with a new e-reader.

Sharper Image has announced ‘Literati,’ a device with a color screen that will retail for $160. The device will be powered by the Kobo e-book store. Literati will have Wi-Fi connectivity, wireless book downloads and free reading apps.

The Literati has been created after an “extensive two-year design and development process,” says Sharper Image, and will ship nationwide in early October.

The Literati comes to market at a time when upstart e-readers are disappearing. Price wars by the big three e-reader makers–Amazon, Sony and Barnes & Noble and competition in the category has taken its toll on companies. Earlier this month, Foxit announced it will stop development on its eSlick e-reader. Plastic Logic canceled its plans to bring its e-reader to market, while Cool-er’s e-readers have been listed out of stock in the U.S. for months.

Meanwhile, bigger e-reader makers are ramping up their marketing efforts. Barnes & Noble has started aggressively selling the Nook reader in its stores. Amazon new, improved Kindle e-reader also seems to have turned into best-seller with Amazon racing to keep up with the demand.

Literati will wade into this fiercely competitive market. The color screen on the device is interesting. Though the company hasn’t offered any details about it, it is likely to be an LCD display. But the device doesn’t have a big price advantage over its rivals. The Literati costs just $20 less than the $190 Kindle.

What it has going for it is an impressive retail distribution network. The Literati will be available in stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, JC Penney, Kohl’s and Macy’s.

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Aug 25

Amazon loses exclusive deal with Andrew Wiley

Posted in: amazon, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, Today's Chili

Amazon‘s exclusive digital distribution deal with star literary agent Andrew Wiley looks like it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be; in fact, it seems to have fallen through before the ink dried on the contracts. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Andrew Wiley is “largely abandoning” the agreement it struck with Amazon after 13 of the 20 titles supposedly included in the deal — published by Random House — came up for debate. The books, which included works by John Updike, VS Naipaul and Dave Eggers, among others, will now be digitally distributed by Random House itself to Amazon. While neither Wiley nor Amazon commented on the failed deal, we have a feeling that the Kindle maker will still sleep just fine this evening.

Amazon loses exclusive deal with Andrew Wiley originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 25

Despite Reports, BN Nook Competes Just Fine, Thank You

Posted in: amazon, Apple, barnes noble, e-books, ipad, kindle, Media Players, nook, Today's Chili

You might think it was already dead, but sales for the Barnes & Noble Nook (both B&N-branded hardware and multi-platform software apps) are booming.

The company’s web stores are doing great, too: B&N has a bigger share of the market in digital books (an estimated 20 percent) than it has in physical books.

That’s pretty good considering the Nook’s only been available for nine months, and the company still generates more revenue selling hardcovers and paperbacks than anyone, including Amazon.

Surprised? It’s easy to think about e-reading as a two-horse race, with Amazon’s austere text-centric Kindle facing off against Apple’s “magical” iPad, like PCs vs Macs or Protestants vs Catholics. And it’s true, Barnes & Noble lost money this past quarter, partly because it’s still sorting out its messy relations with its investors.

But Barnes & Noble is for real, and isn’t going anywhere. In the religious analogy, the Nook might be, I don’t know, Judaism, trying to adapt to a newer world while holding onto its traditional community.

Barnes & Noble has consistently gone for a hybrid strategy: providing touch and text, tightly integrating e-sales with its existing stores while also selling the Nook at Best Buy, letting its books be read on the Nook as well as other platforms. B&N’s apps for PC and Mac are arguably best-in-class (bonus points, too, for getting its Mac app out way before Amazon’s). The company is doubling down on (and rebranding) its apps for mobile devices. And it’s drawing on a solid base of neighborhood customer/members and university bookstores. Even as Amazon cuts its prices and diversifies its models to match the Nook, it can’t match Barnes & Noble’s deep reach into the real world.

According to B&N, its members with Nooks have increased their spending by 20%. The company’s building and staffing Nook boutiques in its stores. The idea is that you’ll go buy the Nook in the store, learn how to use it in the store, browse through titles (for free) in the store. And by the way, you might also want to buy some coffee, have lunch, pick up a photo album — all goods with better margins than books.

If the Kindle offers the promise of books anywhere at once and nowhere in particular, the Nook keeps alive the idea that books have a place. And the best place, Barnes & Noble thinks, is in one of its stores.

Photo credit: orb9220/Flickr

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Aug 25

New Kindles are Amazon’s fastest-selling yet, start shipping today

Posted in: amazon, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, Today's Chili

It’s hard to begrudge Amazon this smug bit of PR it pushed out this morning, crowing over the sales success of its new Kindle line. The third-generation Kindles have more sales in the first four weeks of sales than any previous generation Kindles over the same time span — not exactly a surprise, but Amazon certainly isn’t off its game here. The new Kindles also maintain the e-reader’s two year reign as the best selling product on Amazon.com. As if in celebration of this continued success, Amazon says it’s starting to ship the new Kindles out today, two days earlier than the published released date. “You’re welcome,” Jeff Bezos mouths, soundlessly.

Continue reading New Kindles are Amazon’s fastest-selling yet, start shipping today

New Kindles are Amazon’s fastest-selling yet, start shipping today originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 25

Sharp’s e-reader ready to ‘rival the iPad’ by year’s end, may have a 3D future

Posted in: e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, interview, plans, roadmap, Sharp, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

Sharp is going to launch its brand new e-reader in Japan this fall with US retail availability to follow by the end of the year. Riveting stuff, isn’t it? Well, the company’s President Mikio Katayama does his best to spice things up by proposing this device will aim “to rival the iPad,” and it may well sport a color LCD if earlier indications still hold true, but what’s really got us hot under the collar is the potential for 3D down the line. Katayama claims to have witnessed great enthusiasm for 3D — particularly when it comes to games — and posits it as a likely future direction for this new ebook reader. Multifunctional devices are what people want, he says, and since Sharp already has a 3D smartphone in the pipeline and a glasses-free 3D tablet display in the lab, we can’t see many technical hurdles to the realization of his vision. Let’s just hope his depth perception is accurate when it comes to measuring the interest in three-dee.

Sharp’s e-reader ready to ‘rival the iPad’ by year’s end, may have a 3D future originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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