Today you’ll be digging your fingernails into your kneecaps with anticipation all the more readily as Amazon ships their Kindle Paperwhite device to stores across the USA. If you’ve ordered a unit beforehand, expect your device to be getting to your home either today or within the next couple of days without a doubt. If you’re thinking about getting an e-reader in the near future and have been thinking about grabbing a Kindle, now is the time – have a peek at our full Kindle Paperwhite review and check the details.
This release is what Amazon is calling the “most advanced e-reader built” and lets the world know without hesitation that they’ve got technology that’ll back up their claim. In our full review, you’ll find that Cory Gunther had a fabulous time taking a peek at how this device functioned. In addition to this device having a free 3G connection at all times in 100 different countries around the world, it’s got advanced display technology that brings your reading experience up to a new level.
“Essentially what we have here is a front — or side-lit display — instead of a backlit screen that will strain your eyes after an extended period of time. What makes the new Paperwhite that much better than the Touch is not just the built-in light on the screen, but the 6-inch display has 62% more pixels (221PPI) with a 1024 x 768 resolution too. The screen looks better, text is crisp, vivid, and easy to read, and of course the light makes the reading experience top notch.” – Cory Gunther
This device will work with Amazon Prime for 210,000 books right out of the Lending Library, and of course the full Amazon e-book library is open to anyone who purchases the device – buy em up! This device also comes in a wi-fi-only iteration for a slightly smaller cost. The wi-fi version of this tablet will cost you $119 USD while the 3G version will run you $179. Expect these devices in stores this week – and again, if you’ve pre-ordered a Kindle Paperwhite, it’s time to start waiting by the mailbox!
Barnes & Noble has made the expected NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight price cut official, rising to the challenge set by Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite. The NOOK – which, as with Amazon’s new ereader, has an illuminated display for nighttime reading – has been cut to a Kindle-matching $119, down twenty bucks from its launch price. However, B&N claims, the bargain doesn’t end there.
In fact, the bookseller would rather you look at exactly what you get for your money – and what you don’t get. The NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, for instance, includes an AC adapter, whereas Amazon only includes a microUSB cable for recharging the Kindle Paperwhite; adding the official Amazon adapter is $9.99 more, though of course the Kindle should work with most generic USB chargers.
Meanwhile, B&N’s ereader doesn’t have any sponsored adverts, unlike the $119 Kindle. Amazon offers the option to do away with ads, but that will cost you another $20. Whether they frustrate you – the promoted content shows up on the lock screen, but not within ebooks themselves – depends on how willing you are to give up space in your home for commercials.
Of course, those upgrading from an existing Kindle or NOOK probably already know which model they want: they’ve likely bought into an ecosystem of ebooks already. Books purchased on Amazon’s store won’t work on B&N’s ereader hardware, and vice-versa. You can find our review of the Kindle Paperwhite here.
The Nook’s $20 price drop is more than the whim of a few major retailers — it’s Barnes & Noble’s new MSRP. Following Walmart and Target’s recent discounts, the company’s own website is now listing the glowing e-reader at its new $119 price. The reduction is almost assuredly in preparation for Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite, as B&N’s announcement makes a point of bragging about the Simple Touch with Glowlight’s included AC adapter and aversion to built-in ads. See the punchy press release for yourself after the break.
Amazon has released a video showing their team of engineers that’ve worked on the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite explaining the technology that makes it a top of the line device in the e-reader universe today. What you’ve got here is sharpness and brightness enough to view in many conditions – but it’s more than that. Because it’s not optimal to look at a book with the area around the letters shining brightly directly into your eyes, the Kindle crew here has turned the whole show on its head, shining light from the side of the screen across it, down toward the display through a reflecting film layer just 0.5mm thin.
The light you’ve got here around the rim of the display is captured and reflected across the face of the area you’re looking at. This area is called the Light Guide – it’s nanoimprinted and acts like a fiber-optic cable, blasting light through itself and down towards the capacitive touch screen instead of up at your eye. The best LEDs the group could find for the job were chosen, the construction of the Light Guide was adjusted from tight to loose so that one light source could be used in an even manner, and the whole device was tweaked to perfection over the course of 8 years.
The 8 years timeframe has been mentioned several times, including by CEO Jeff Bezos, this being the amount of time that the company has researched and developed the Paperwhite technology. This reader is getting ready to hit the market early next month, our Kindle Paperwhite hands-on prepping you for the big drop coming up quick. This device takes what you know about e-ink and the ease in reading you’ve experienced in Kindle devices in the past and bumps the quality to a new generation.
This new technology works to keep your battery life long, the entire product is extremely light, and the whole product is taking on the e-reading universe in a completely different way than the Kindle Fire HD. Stay tuned for the final device review we’ll have right here on SlashGear before you know it! Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on the Kindle Paperwhite and get pumped for the final release in just weeks!
Barnes and Noble strikes back against Amazon with the Nook HD and Nook HD+, two very affordable devices designed by B&N to provide what the company considers to be the “optimum experience” for their customers – that’s how the new Nook HD and Nook HD+ were born. In terms of overall user experience, it is clear that those Nook devices have been built for a more focused purpose in mind than generic tablets like the Nexus 7 and the iPad. Both are considered to be “family” devices, which means that they have built-in multi-user management, and strong parental controls, something which is typically poorly supported by most “personal” tablets.
Barnes & Noble has refreshed its NOOK tablet range, revealing the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+, a duo of high-definition Android-based slates with some ambitious aspirations. Replacing the well-esteemed NOOK Tablet, the two new models balance competitive pricing – kicking off at $199 for the 7-incher and $269 for its 9-inch sibling – with impressive specifications, not least eye-catching HD displays. We caught up with B&N for some early playtime with the touchscreen pair.
While the tablet market is ever-expanding, Barnes & Noble has three main competitors: Amazon’s Kindle Fire line-up, recently updated; Google’s low-cost Nexus 7; and Apple’s new iPad. At first glance, however, the two new NOOKs shape up to be worthy alternatives in many ways.
NOOK HD
The smaller of the two new models, the NOOK HD offers the highest resolution display of a 7-inch tablet on the market: 1440 x 900, for 243ppi and support for 720p video playback. Tipping the scales at 315g, it undercuts the Kindle Fire HD and, at 127mm wide, is narrower too; that makes it more comfortable to grip with one hand. B&N has reused the soft-touch plastic coating of the NOOK Simple Touch – here in either “snow” white or “smoke” grey – for an easier to hold design, complete with a contoured back panel.
Inside, there’s a 1.3GHz dualcore OMAP 4470 processor paired with 1GB of RAM and either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage; a microSD card can be used to expand that, and there’s Full HD video output, albeit requiring a special dongle. B&N says the NOOK HD managed 60fps in GL Benchmarks – double what the Kindle Fire HD achieved – and its higher-resolution display uses optical lamination for improved graphics.
It’s certainly an admirable screen, with incredibly broad viewing angles: we were able to get entirely side-on to the slate and still see no color inversion. Side-by-side with a Nexus 7 – a device the screen of which we’ve praised before – and the difference in clarity and color saturation was clear, the NOOK HD coming out ahead of its ASUS-made rival. Google’s pure Android tablet has a front-facing webcam, something the NOOK HD omits, but you do get expandable storage in the B&N slate, along with SRS sound.
Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth, and there’s a 4050 mAh battery good, B&N claims, for up to 10.5hrs of reading or 9hrs of video playback (with WiFi turned off). As for pricing, that’s competitive too. B&N will be asking $199 for the 8GB NOOK HD and $229 for the 16GB version (£159 and £189 respectively in the UK)
NOOK HD+
The NOOK HD+ steps up a level, delivering a 1920 x 1280 IPS LCD touchscreen that, at 256ppi, comes within spitting distance of the 264ppi new iPad Retina Display. It shares the same processor as the NOOK HD, though running slightly faster at 1.5GHz, along with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage (with a microSD card to augment it). There’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, stereo speakers with SRS sound, and Full HD video output via an HDMI adapter dongle.
Visually, the HD+’s ID is familiar, with the punched circular hole in the bottom left corner reminiscent of previous NOOK slates. Only one color option will be offered, with the HD+ measuring 240.4 x 162.8 x 11.5 mm and weighing 515g. Its 6,000 mAh battery is good for up to 10hrs of reading or 9hrs of video – with WiFi turned off – B&N says.
In the hand, it’s noticeably lighter than the new iPad when the two are compared side-by-side, and the soft-touch plastic is grippy and tactile. The optically-laminated display is beautifully bright and detailed, with icons and graphics looking crisp and text – even at minimal levels of zoom – clear and easy to read. B&N has been working with digital magazine publishers to source higher-quality files for the NOOK Store, so that magazines on the HD and HD+ are both delivered in high-definition, and the payoff is more detailed content.
It’s not the only software tweaking B&N has been doing. There’s now profile support, with the ability to set up different accounts for up to five users on the same tablet. The lockscreen shows all five – you can choose whether to password protect each account or not – and you can quickly switch between profiles from the drop-down in the top left corner.
Each profile can have certain features disabled or enabled, so that for instance you can prevent children from browsing the web or accessing the email app (which supports up to six accounts, including Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync); the NOOK Store can be password protected, and child profiles automatically log into the version filled only with age-appropriate content. Purchased content can be shared between multiple profiles, so that two users can read the same ebook, for instance.
Both new models will have access to the NOOK cloud service for storing ebooks and other content, along with the new NOOK Video store announced yesterday. There will be curated channels of content, too: if, say, you like romance novels, there’ll be a channel of hand-picked ebooks by B&N’s head bookseller together with, eventually, suitable apps for download. During setup, the NOOK HD and HD+ will ask each new owner what categories interest them, loading a few sample pieces to the homescreen so as to make the slates usable out of the box.
The cloud will also be used for storing clippings. Slide your finger down the left edge of the display and the current screen is “torn off” for clipping, with support for filing each snatched page into a different folder. Copies are saved locally and to the cloud, for accessing on all other NOOK hardware and apps, and there’s annotation and highlighting support too. B&N has squeezed in a microphone as well, allowing parents to record a narration of their child’s favorite ebook for subsequent playback.
We asked B&N about how open to hacking the new NOOK tablets it might be, given the popularity of the original NOOK Color among Android modders. The answer was somewhat evasive – B&N doesn’t see that making up a significant share of the market, and in their untampered form you can’t even sideload apps – with no confirmation on what sort of lock-down each NOOK might be subjected to.
Nonetheless, for the mass market the pair make a strong first impression. The 9-inch NOOK HD+ is half the price of the new iPad, and each version has a superb display which looks great both in reading books and playing video. Given the likelihood of a single tablet being shared among multiple family users, the profile support is great – and something which has long been requested for rival tablets.
The B&N NOOK HD and HD+ will go up for preorder in October and should begin shipping in mid-November, as well as appearing on store shelves in time for the holidays. There’ll also be a variety of accessories, including cases with Smart Cover-style active front covers that wake the NOOK HD and HD+ when opened up.
Barnes & Noble has announced its attack on the UK market, and it’s the NOOK Simple Touch and Simple Touch GlowLight that will lead the charge. The two E Ink ereaders – which have been on sale in the US for some months now – will arrive on UK shores in time for the holidays, priced at £79 for the basic model and £109 for its illuminating sibling.
Both models use a 6-inch epaper display with a zero-pressure touchscreen, and rely on WiFi for connectivity to the NOOK Store. Inside there’s 1GB of storage – good for up to 1,000 books – with a microSD card slot tucked under a cover for adding to that.
The GlowLight version, meanwhile, has an optional illumination system that can gently light up the screen for easier reading in bed. The level of lighting can be adjusted, and B&N says that users will still see a month of battery life (with WiFi turned off) even if the GlowLight is active continuously. Without the backlighting, and with WiFi deactivated, both models will run for up to two months.
The two ereaders are up for preorder in the UK now, and as well as each hitting shelves in time for Christmas, B&N says its free NOOK apps for iOS and Android will arrive in the UK in the autumn. UK stores John Lewis, Argos, Sainsbury’s, Dixons, Waitrose, Blackwell’s, and Foyles will be stocking each model.
There’s more on the NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight in our full review.
The online retail giant Amazon has a huge audience for selling their tablets and Kindle eReaders on the web, but when you don’t have a storefront you’ll take all the help you can get. In terms of brick and mortar stores there’s only a handful of opportunities for Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD tablet — and today they’re losing a big one.
Today reports are claiming that an even bigger retail giant, Wal-Mart Inc will no longer support or sell any of Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets or eReaders. This is a huge blow considering earlier this year Target removed them from their shelves too.
This marks the second major chain to stop offering Amazon’s products, and you have to wonder why. Are they feeling threatened that Amazon offers so many of the same things they do online, and don’t want to help the competition? This is what good old Wally-World had to say late last night in a memo to store management nationwide:
We have recently made the business decision to not carry Amazon tablets and eReaders beyond our existing inventory and purchase commitments,” “This includes all Amazon Kindle models current and recently announced.”
Obviously Walmart is one of the largest chains across America, but according to Reuters while they lead the charge in sales, their online sales are quite poor and are getting beat out by many — including Amazon. A Walmart spokeswoman said they’ll continue to sell “a broad assortment” of eReaders and tablets in the future. We can’t help but wonder if this is just to cut the helping hand they’ve been giving the competition, or if Walmart is looking to get into hardware themselves. Best Buy has Dynex and Insignia, could Walmart be preparing something of their own too?
The world of tablets is not really that complicated if you were to break it down in terms of the operating system – there is either Android or iOS, where the BlackBerry PlayBook is negligible, although the release of Microsoft’s Surface tablets later this year might just change the tablet landscape somewhat. It is either an iPad or an Android-powered tablet, where the latter certainly has plenty of options for you to choose from. One of the players would be Kobo, and their latest Kobo Arc 7” tablet certainly looks as though it is shaping up to be an affordable and fun device to carry around.
For starters, this 7” tablet will run on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Not exactly the newest version, but at least it is not that backward, either. Available later this November, you will be able to choose from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. Kobo decided to approach the Arc’s design by taking a new and innovative outlook, intending to change the traditional tablet experience from searching within apps to an immersive content platform coupled with its unique interface known as Tapestries. You can now have more choice than ever before in exploring, saving and experiencing the music, movies, eBooks, and webpages that you love.
Wayne White, General Manager of Devices, Kobo, said, “We designed the Kobo Arc to let people focus on the music, eBooks, movies, website and applications they love rather than on the hardware they hold in their hand – though that is amazingly designed as well. We’ve accomplished this by offering consumers more – more storage, more customization, more choice – all in the powerful, attractive and vivid Android 4.0 Kobo Arc.”
Hardware specifications of the Kobo Arc include a 1.5GHz OMAP 4470 dual-core processor, up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge, boasting a 7″ high-definition display with 178 degree viewing angles, 215 pixels/inch and 1280 x 800 resolution with 16-million colors, tipping the scales at 364 grams. Its form factor is also easy to hold in the palm of your hand, where it features front-facing stereo speakers with SRS TruMedia sound, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a built-in microphone, and 802.11 WiFi connectivity, not to mention Google Play support.
You will be able to pick up the Kobo Arc in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities at while retailing for $199.99, $249.99 and $299.99, respectively. Pre-orders can be placed from this fall onwards, where you can pick it up from stores later this November.
To many, the war of the eReaders is between Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Though Sony has never managed to get quite as big as either of those two companies in the eReader space, it’s back with a new Reader and looking to become a serious contender. Does Sony’s Reader PRS-T2 help the company stand out in the bigger picture, or does it fall flat in a sea of eReaders vying for your attention, and more importantly, your dollar? Read on to find out.
Screen and pre-installed apps
The Sony Reader PRS-T2 sports a 6-inch pearl E Ink touchscreen, and like nearly every other eReader out there, one of the big draws of the screen is that you can read it in direct sunlight. The screen actually looks great when it’s in direct sunlight, and it looks just as good when you take it indoors. The goal behind E Ink displays is to make it feel like you’re reading the page of an actual book, and the Reader PRS-T2 definitely succeeds in that respect. Reading on this is a pleasure – the text on the screen is always nice and sharp, and as an added bonus, Sony has cut back on screen flashes with this latest in the Reader line. Instead of flashing every time you turn the page, the screen flashes once every 15 page turns. Ghosting can sometimes be an issue as a result, but really it isn’t something that’s noticeable all the time. Most likely, you’ll be too absorbed in the book you’re reading to notice, as it isn’t enough to actually make reading any more difficult.
Having touch capabilities is a nice feature, letting you turn the page by swiping the screen instead of using the physical buttons that have taken up residence along the bottom edge of the screen. Touch will undoubtedly be appreciated by most, but to tell you the truth, I like the fact that the Reader PRS-T2 sports actual buttons. To complement the touch screen, Sony has included a stylus. There isn’t any dock for the stylus like we see on the Samsung Galaxy Note or the Nintendo DS, for example, so you’ll have to keep it in a pocket, which inevitably means that it’s only a matter of time before that sneaky stylus turns up missing (for some of us anyway). The stylus makes navigating easier, especially for someone with big, clunky man hands like me, and there are quite a few instances when the stylus comes in handy, such as when you’re using the Notes app, browsing the web, or highlighting text in a book.
Let’s back track for a minute and focus a little more on those physical buttons toward the bottom of the device. There are five in total: page back, page forward, home, previous, and menu. They’re all pretty much self-explanatory – page back and page forward obviously move through the pages of your book, home takes you to the main menu screen (more on that later), previous takes you back to the last page you were viewing, and menu opens up a little menu packed with options while you’re reading a book. In this menu, you can do things like change the font and its size. There are six or seven different font options (though to be honest I liked the default font the best), and you have a pretty wide range of font sizes to choose from too, from “teeny tiny” all the way up to “you must be legally blind if you need the text to be this big.”
Also in this menu is a navigate page button, which allows you to quickly speed through the pages in your book so you aren’t stuck hitting the page buttons or swiping the screen over and over again. From here, you can also jump back to the book’s table of contents. There are also some shortcuts to the Notes and Handwriting apps, as well as an option that lets you customize your page view, giving you control over the page layout and how the text is displayed. As if those options weren’t enough, there are additional options that allow you to search your book for a specific term, switch between portrait and landscape modes easily, and share what you’re reading to Facebook.
While you’re reading a book, you can highlight a word or a phrase and do a couple of things. In the case of a word, you can look it up in the New Oxford American Dictionary, which comes installed on the PRS-T2. Alternatively, you can also do a Google search for the word, or look it up on Wikipedia, a feature that is nice to have around if you want to know more about a character or place in the book you’re reading. With quotes, you might want to share them to Facebook, or save them in Evernote.
The Reader PRS-T2 boots up relatively quickly, taking a few seconds depending on how big the book you’re currently reading is, and it isn’t long before you find yourself on the main menu screen. From here, you can continue your book right where you left off – it even tells you how many pages you’ve read and when you last read it – or take a look at your four most recently added books or some Reader Store selections. At the bottom of the main menu screen, there are three touch buttons – Bookshelf, Reader Store, and Apps. Bookshelf takes you to a page that displays all the books you have installed in a neat little fashion, whereas Reader Store obviously takes you to the Sony Reader storefront, and Apps takes you to – right again – a page where your installed Apps are displayed.
The PRS-T2 comes with a number of Apps pre-installed ranging from the Public Library app and pictures app, to the aforementioned dictionary, notes, and browser apps. Included are shortcuts to periodicals you’ve downloaded, as well as a handwriting app that allows you to jot down handwritten notes (or drawing maps, as in one of the examples that comes pre-loaded on the PRS-T2). From the Apps screen, you also have the opportunity to set up the PRS-T2’s Facebook integration, or link your Evernote account. Having Evernote integrated is going to be a big draw for a lot of people, considering how popular the service has become. With Evernote, you can add quotes from your favorite books to your collection of notes, or save something you’ve written up with the handwriting app. For many, it’s going to be nice to have Evernote along for the ride, and Sony definitely earns big points for including it in the Reader PRS-T2.
Browsing the Reader Store for new books is simple as well. There are actually a surprising number of books on the Reader Store, meaning that you’re only ever a few taps away from having a brand new book to dive into. Navigating is made easy by the categories the Reader Store is split up in, but if browsing isn’t quite your thing, there is naturally a search function, allowing you to find books based on title, keyword author. While it may not have as many books available as the Amazon Store, the Reader Store still definitely boasts enough to keep any reader satisfied for a long time.
One little bonus that I particularly liked was the fact that the Reader displays the cover of the book you’re currently reading when it’s in sleep mode. This gives you a chance to see how sharp the eReader display actually is, and also has the added benefit of looking really cool. Though we don’t expect ads to be shown on anything that isn’t a Kindle, it has to be said here – Sony doesn’t display any ads on the Reader PRS-T2, meaning that when the Reader is off, the only thing you see is a blank screen. That isn’t much of a surprise, but it’s worth noting, especially considering that Amazon’s Kindle ads have a tendency get people riled up.
As with most eReaders, the battery on this thing lasts a really long time. That is, after all, one of the major benefits of an E Ink screen. Sony says that the Reader PRS-T2’s battery can last for up to 8 weeks, and to be frank about it, I’m going to have to trust them with this one. The battery came about three quarters of the way charged, and despite using it every night for more than a week – I’ve been reading George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords on it, and anyone who has read that book knows it doesn’t let go easily – I still haven’t been able to kill it. Naturally, the battery will go a bit faster if you have Wi-Fi on all the time, but even then, you probably won’t be reaching for the charger all that often.
Wrap-Up
So, by now you know that the Sony Reader PRS-T2 comes packed with a lot of nifty features. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t matter much if you have a device that isn’t comfortable in use. Thankfully, the Reader PRS-T2 succeeds there as well, and it’s lightweight design (the Reader PRS-T2 comes in at just under 6 ounces) makes it very easy to hold. That’s true even for someone like me, who has hands that may as well belong to Hagrid or Andre the Giant. The only problem is that the PRS-T2’s lightweight design also makes it feel a bit fragile. It’s definitely sleek and minimalistic (no ugly full keyboards here), but it also demands that you treat it gently. Naturally, I’m not going to start hurling it across the room to test its durability, but it’s safe to say that exercising a little extra caution when transporting it isn’t a bad idea, especially with that 6-inch screen taking up most of the front.
It’s easy to fall for the Reader PRS-T2 – that much is definitely true. However, with that being said, we’ve already seen most of these features on other eReaders. There’s no question that the Sony Reader PRS-T2 is a solid eReader, but that unfortunately doesn’t help with the feeling that it’s a little late to the party. Sony is to be commended for releasing a feature-rich eReader like the one I’ve been enjoying recently, but I wish it had done so sooner. It comes with something of a steep price tag too – $130. Of course, it’s important to remember that the price of this Reader isn’t subsidized with ads, but I still feel like the price is a little too high for what you’re ultimately getting. If Sony would bring the price down a little bit, it would do a lot to make the Reader PRS-T2 a hit with the eReader fanatics of the world.
Still, aside from the price, there’s a lot to like about the device. I certainly have no major qualms with it, and in fact I really enjoyed the time I spent with it. If you can get over the price and don’t mind the fact that you won’t have a backlight at your disposal, then I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with the Reader PRS-T2. It comes packed with a lot of extra features and is easy to use – making it a good idea for those who are new to the eReader scene – and it’s a good looking device to boot, so if you’re in the market for a new eReader, definitely give the PRS-T2 a look before you make your decision.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
