Hasta La Gadget!

We knew it was coming… and you know what happens to things you know are coming? They eventually come. Case in point: Amazon’s Kindle app for Windows Phone 7, first teased in October and now available to anyone with a WP7 device and a desire to read stuff. Grab it now, if you’re into that sort of thing.

[Thanks, Tiziano]

Kindle for Windows Phone 7 goes live originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You Nook owners just aren’t ever satisfied, are you? First, reading wasn’t enough so you went ahead and rooted to get your Angry Birds on. That was all fine and well, until that Froyo hack came along and (maybe?) nuked your device. If your confidence hasn’t yet been shattered, strap on your seatbelt for the latest chapter in the life of the Nook Color after e-reading. Apparently user occip over at the always-hacking xda-developers found a way to enable the currently dormant Bluetooth radio tucked away in some undisclosed cranny of B&N’s colorful Nook. This one’s not for the faint of heart just yet — you have to be on Froyo already, and that’s a feat in and of itself. Still, it paves the way for things like Bluetooth GPS dongles as well as headsets for apps like Skype. We’ll see what happens when B&N releases 2.2 officially, which should be pretty much any day now…

Nook Color Bluetooth chip shows signs of life — if you’ve already hacked it, of course originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already heard that Sharp was planning to bring its Galapagos tablets / e-readers to the US, and it looks like they’ve now crossed one key hurdle on that path — or one of the tablets has, at least. The 10.8-inch EB-WX1GJ “media tablet” recently passed through the FCC, where it posed for the camera, went through the usual battery of tests, and picked out a nice spot for an FCC label. Not much in the way of surprises at this point, but the device’s user manual does also mention the 5.5-inch EB-W51GJ model, so it may well be following it’s larger counterpart through the FCC, if it hasn’t already. There also happens to be a rather large technology trade show happening this week, which seems like an ideal opportunity for Sharp to divulge some additional details. We’ll keep you posted if that happens.

Sharp’s 10.8-inch Galapagos EB-WX1GJ ‘media tablet’ hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You didn’t think Barnes & Noble was just going to let Amazon rest on its “vague sales milestones” laurels, did you? The veteran bookseller just announced that the Nook lineup — 3G, WiFi, and the new Nook Color combined — has become “the company’s biggest bestseller ever in its nearly 40-year history.” That’s bigger than Barnes & Noble’s sales (note: not global sales) of DaVinci Code or any of the Harry Potter novels. Unfortunately, we can’t say exactly just how many that is, as the press release only announces “millions” being sold. A B&N rep we spoke with told us they likely wouldn’t specify any further, nor would there likely be a breakdown of sales by individual model.

Other notable factoids include Nook Color’s reign as the company’s “number one selling gift of the holiday season” and nearly one million “Nook books” downloaded on Christmas Day. In fact, the company now sells more digital books than it does physical books over BN.com (i.e. not including books sold in brick-and-mortar stores). Wish we had some hard figures, but hey, if any company is going to mince words in a sales announcement, it might as well be a book company, right? Press release after the break.

Continue reading Nook lineup sells millions, Barnes & Noble’s best-selling product of all-time

Nook lineup sells millions, Barnes & Noble’s best-selling product of all-time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We like a bit of ambition around these parts and Sharp’s plans for entering the US e-reader battlefield reek of the stuff. The Galapagos tablets that recently enjoyed their Japanese debut are going to be retooled, according to the Mainichi Daily News, to include new 3G radios for the internet-addicted US consumer, while the primary content format will also be switched from the proprietary XMDF in Japan to the almost universally compatible EPUB. Content partnerships are said to be brewing as we type, because, quite naturally, Sharp intends to have its own e-bookstore for Americans as well. After the Yanks, the company’s said to be looking into bringing its 5.5- and 10.8-inch tablets to China, India, and Brazil. Highly ambitious indeed.

Sharp Galapagos media tablets will bring 3G and EPUB content to US e-reader market in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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