Hasta La Gadget!

Look, sometimes show hosts can get a bit too excited, especially when it comes to Christmas giveaway segments behind a massive pile of gadgets — most of which they’ve probably never heard of until ten minutes before the show. If you were Ellen DeGeneres here with the upside-down Nook e-reader, what could possibly be going through your head? Video after the break.

Ross: “.ɹıɐɥɔ ǝɥʇ uı ʞɔɐq puɐ dn ǝɯ d1ǝɥ ǝsɐǝ1d ‘ʞoou sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ɟı”
Chris: “Everyone gets a (deafening applause, people fainting).”
Joanna: “Oh cute, Ellen pulling a Michael Jackson. Where is the closest balcony?”
Vlad: “And with your purchase of the androgynous android, you get an added value ebook reader — absolutely free!”
Don: “The good news? B&N has settled its dispute with Spring Design. The bad news? You have to hold it this way.”
Richard Lawler: “Read this way, Twilight has an entirely different double meaning.”
Paul: “I’m holding it upside down because it’s a non-working dummy unit and it doesn’t matter.”
Nilay: “God I wish this was a car.”
Richard Lai: “Look!! It’s got the same smile as me! It’s just like a magical mirror.”
Ross Rubin: “Maybe one day, the Nook will be like me and finally come out.”

Continue reading Caption contest: Ellen DeGeneres and her ʞoou giveaway

Caption contest: Ellen DeGeneres and her ʞoou giveaway originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite all the problems with the Kindle — poor PDF support, low-contrast screen, Orwellian fears — it makes for a mighty-fine reading experience for users. From a publisher’s perspective it stinks, with Amazon reportedly sucking down 70% of a sale’s proceeds. Hearst Corp. (owner of the Houston Chronicle, Oprah Magazine, and many others) wants to set things right. For two years the company has been developing a digital content publishing and distribution service called Skiff, and it’s nearly ready for its christening. Publishers will be able to render and ship their content to a number of devices, including the iPhone, but Hearst is also working on its own Kindle competitor that will be the flagship of the Skiff system (we’ve created an artist’s mock-up above). Skiff promises better graphics and better layouts of digital content, which is encouraging, but it’ll also allow the easy injection of advertising into paid content — something we’re less happy to see making the transition over from print. As rumored many publishers are said to be signing on soon, with Sprint providing connectivity. That’s great, but will you be coming aboard?

Update: We have a few more details courtesy of the official press release, most interesting being news of a partnership with Marvell to develop a system on a chip for e-readers. Given that Spring Design’s Alex and the Entourage Edge are both using Marvell chips, we wouldn’t be surprised to find they’ve both been given a berth on this new venture. Also, Skiff is confirmed to be launching sometime in 2010.

Hearst launching Skiff distribution system and Kindle competitor ‘by publishers, for publishers,’ thinks you’ll want it too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you didn’t feel you got the whole Story yesterday, here’s a pleasing helping of seconds, this time in the form of a full-on review. The PC Pro team rates iriver’s Kindle emulator as a “serious contender,” and places its readability on par with Sony’s touch-less Readers. While congratulations are also meted out for a decent integrated MP3 player, 3.5mm headphone jack, and the wide variety of supported formats, two issues stood out for the reviewers. One was that the support for Word, Excel and Powerpoint files was somewhat hit-and-miss, with zooming sometimes not working and rendering some files unreadable. But the major gripe related to the asking price of £230 including taxes (around $380), which the Story was not considered capable of justifying. Hit the link below for more — even if your interest is purely academic.

iriver Story reviewed, incites rebellion over price originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re pro-ebook readers but anti-Amazon censorship, here’s a decent alternative for your cashola. The Story reader from iriver has been undressed for our entertainment and rightfully praised for its trendy eco-friendly packaging. It’s not an altogether unique device, but with an 800 x 600 E Ink display, support for ePUB, PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and even Ogg / WMA file formats, it’s at least versatile enough. Hit the read link to try and spot the other differences between this and Amazon’s record-breaking piece of authoritarian hardware. Go on — it’s a real rush, we promise.

iriver Story unsheathed, still looks remarkably like a Kindle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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November isn’t even technically over yet, but Amazon’s Kindle has already hit a new monthly sales record. The retailer issued a statement today to that effect, but didn’t actually release any specific sales number. It did add, however that the e-book reader is, “the most wished for, the most gifted, and the number one bestselling product across all product categories on Amazon.”

Despite the addition of a few new players in the market–including, most notably, Barnes & Noble’s new Nook–the Kindle continues to be the most well-known e-book reader on the market, and will no doubt continue to sell well into the holidays.