Hasta La Gadget!

You read that headline correctly: Amazon’s 3G 6-inch Kindle is selling for just $149.99 on Woot, an eReader that will cost you $199 $189 on Amazon’s own site. It’s a one day deal no doubt helped by the fact that big daddy Bezos just purchased the deal-a-day site on Wednesday. It’s exclusive and it won’t last forever so you’d best get to clicking if you’ve been on the fence.

Update: And it’s sold out. You know what they say about the early bird…

[Thanks, Kristin]

Amazon Kindle just $149.99 on Woot! (update: sold out) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Move over, Kobo — following the promise of a Summer launch, Amazon’s Kindle app for Android is now live, bringing the usual array of features that existing Kindle users will hold near and dear: access to the Kindle store right from the app, adjustable font sizes, free book samples, and most importantly, wireless bookmark synchronization with your entire stable of Kindle-equipped devices (because we know you’ve all got an iPad, iPhone, and physical Kindle lying around somewhere). The app requires Android 1.6 to operate, which is going to leave a few people in the lurch — but it’s always good to have a compelling reason to upgrade hardware, is it not?

[Thanks, Neil]

Kindle for Android now available originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember Que, Plastic Logic’s large screen e-reader that debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year? It’s increasingly looking like vaporware.

Plastic Logic isn’t shipping the Que e-reader, though the company is officially calling it a “delay.” Plastic Logic has canceled all pre-oders and is no longer offering a date as to when we can see the Que in the real world. It has also stopped taking pre-orders for the device.

“We need to let you know that since your unit will not ship on June 24 as planned, our automated ordering system has automatically canceled your order,” Plastic Logic sent in an e-mail to its customers.

Billed as an e-reader for business users, the Que had an 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen display and the ability to handle Microsoft Word files, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, digital books, PDFs, magazines and newspapers. The device could also synchronize with Microsoft Outlook to display e-mails and calendar.

A 4-GB version of the Que with Wi-Fi and storage for about 35,000 documents was priced at $650. The company also announced a $800 8-GB version that includes Wi-Fi and 3G capability from AT&T.

It was an ambitious move and one out-of-sync with the trend in the e-reader market. Amazon’s large screen Kindle DX is priced at$490. Meanwhile, Apple has launched its iPad tablet with iBooks, an iTunes-like book store. Starting at $500, the iPad offers readers access to e-mail and books with a large color touchscreen. So far, Apple has sold 3 million iPads. About 7 million e-readers are expected to sell this year, estimates Forrester Research.

Not surprisingly, Plastic Logic has failed to get off the ground. A month before it promised to to ship the Que reader in April, the company announced to customers that it is delaying the launch to “sometime this summer.” In an e-mail  then, Plastic Logic said it needed the time to “fine-tune features and enhance the overall product.”

This time around, it is offering the same reason.

“Plastic Logic wants to make sure that the product they deliver is the right one for their target business customers in the rapidly changing marketplace,” a spokesperson for Plastic Logic wrote in an e-mail to us. “They are continuing to refine the product, technology and features, and are anxious to get in the marketplace as soon as possible.”

Unless Plastic Logic can bring the price of the Que down significantly and offer greater value than the iPad or the Kindle DX, it is likely to be a product that will be dead on arrival–if it ever makes it to market.

See Also:

• Plastic Logic Aims New Que E-Reader at Business Users
• Plastic Logic Delays Que E-Reader
• Plastic Logic E-Book Reader to Use AT&T Wireless
• Gallery: E-Readers Push Boundaries of Books

Photo: Que/Priya Ganapati

Not good news for those looking for a different e-reader. Back in April, Plastic Logic told those who pre-ordered its QUE proReader that they’d have to wait until June 24 — after already having been delayed to April. Now that device is being delayed again, and while the company has wizened up and not actually given a new estimated date this time, it also took the unfortunate and ominous move of canceling all pre-orders. In the e-mail sent to those affected (which is after the break) the company says it has “decided that delaying the device a bit longer will result in a better product for you.” Hopefully it results in a cheaper product, too, as we’re not sure how a $800 reader is going to fare in a world where both the Kindle and nook are available for less than $200.

[Thanks, Don; spider photo courtesy of mrpbps]

Continue reading Plastic Logic delays QUE proReader ‘a bit longer,’ cancels pre-orders

Plastic Logic delays QUE proReader ‘a bit longer,’ cancels pre-orders originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, snap! Merely hours after Barnes & Noble came out swinging with a $149 WiFi-only version of its Nook and a price-reduced $199 3G Nook, along comes Amazon to rip a massive hole in B&N’s billowing sails. As of this very moment, the $259 Kindle 2 — complete with global 3G and the 6-ink E Ink display you’ve come to know and love (or hate) — is now the $189 Kindle 2. Oh, and there’s also free 2-day shipping. Looks like the undercutter just got undercut, huh?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Amazon’s Kindle conveniently falls to $189, Nook looks stunned and bitter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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