Hasta La Gadget!

When the Kobo e-reader first appeared, its very affordable price point of $149 made it an attractive proposition. It’s been a few months, however, and the market is ever-more crowded, with both dedicated e-readers as well as multi-taskers (such as the iPad) moving into the space big time, and there are also plenty of similarly priced options, including the WiFi version of the Nook. In fact, almost anything qualifies as an e-reader these days — but there’s still room for a thin, light dedicated device that reads books in an enjoyable way for an affordable price… or at least that’s the story that Kobo is trying to tell.

We’ve spent the last few weeks reading with the Kobo, with the main goal being to find out if the simple device has enough features to contend with the host of options (and price points) available to consumers today. Read on for our thoughts.

Continue reading Kobo e-reader review

Kobo e-reader review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We haven’t heard much about Velocity Micro’s Android-based Cruz Reader since it sort of came out of nowhere back in April, but it’s now finally nearing a release (sometime in August), and the company is starting to show it off a bit more. As expected, the Cruz Reader is just one of a series of tablets from the company and, despite the “reader” moniker, is actually more of a full-fledged Android tablet, complete with support for apps, games, web browsing, and other tablet-like activities. Velocity Micro is playing up the reader angle though, and has announced a partnership with Borders and Kobo to deliver ebooks to the device. Somewhat confusingly, however, it will be joined later in August by the $299 Cruz Tablet, which opts for a 16:9 capacitive display, adds 4GB of internal storage and an 8GB SD card, and Flash support, which the Reader apparently doesn’t have (we’re not quite sure what that means OS-wise). Rounding out the initial group is the kid-friendly Cruz StoryPad, which boasts a spill-resistant case and will run $149. Head on past the break for a look at the Cruz Reader on video, and the complete press release.

Continue reading Velocity Micro shows off $199 Cruz Reader

Velocity Micro shows off $199 Cruz Reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Timely, no? Just as the 2010 back-to-school season really gets rolling (and that dreaded Fall semester arrives to pester you to death), Barnes & Noble is looking to become your go-to place for eTextbooks, study tools and pretty much anything else in the related field. Up until now, there have been few all-encompassing eTextbook delivery method, and the options that are out there are generally poorly thought out, spartan or simply not marketed well. ‘Course, B&N isn’t coming right out and saying it, but why else would you create a comprehensive application suitable for Macs and PCs that not only puts digital textbooks into the hands of students for up to 40 percent less than conventional books, but also a full library of study aids, test prep guides, periodicals, and hundreds of thousands of trade and professional titles. Moreover, the app “provides students access to all of their materials — eTextbooks, lecture notes, syllabi, slides, images, trade books and other course-related documents — all in one place, so their digital library goes wherever they go.” Oh, and did we mention that it also supports highlighting and notes, both of which are searchable? Yeah. Currently, Nook Study is being used in a smattering of universities, with an August rollout pegged for universal use. Lookout, used bookstore — the end could be nigh.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble looks to lock down e-book delivery for education with Nook Study

Barnes & Noble looks to lock down e-book delivery for education with Nook Study originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes and Noble has updated its iPad e-reader app, and it has fixed many of the oddities that made me describe it as “adequate” back in May.

The biggest changes are in the reading interface. You can now dim the display from within the app, just like you can in iBooks and Instapaper. Brightness is one of my biggest niggles with the iPad in general: I’m forever heading over to the settings app to tweak it. There should be an always-available shortcut. Anyhow, in the B&N e-reader, it’s fixed.

Next is the behavior in landscape orientation, which now sows a two-page spread instead of just going wide.

Other fixes are welcome but not really essential. You can now delete samples from within the app; there is “improved” support for periodicals, syncing purchases, bookmarks and notes is quicker and there are the obligatory bug-fixes.

I’m losing count of e-reader/bookstore apps for the iPad now. We have Kindle, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, Borders (or is that Kobo?). I kind of like that I can get content from any of these without having to buy a whole bunch of e-readers. On the other hand, it’s a pain to have to jump between them. Imagine having to use different music apps depending on where you bought the MP3.

B&N e-reader [iTunes. Thanks, Brittany!]

See Also:

• Barnes and Noble E-Reader Now on iPad
• Barnes & Noble's Nook E-Reader To Hit Stores

Amazon’s graphite Kindle DX now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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