Foxit busts out ebook store for eSlick owners

It’s been a season of e-readers, that’s for sure… and while Foxit is a smaller player in the scene as compared to the Nook or the Kindle, it’s got some news of its own to boast about today. That’s right, Foxit’s launching an online bookstore all its own. The aptly named eSlick Store has been launched in partnership with Fictionwise LLC (a company which is rather interestingly owned by Barnes & Noble), and currently contains about 60,000 books. If you haven’t forgotten — Foxit’s also recently released a firmware update which enables its support of EPUB. Full press is after the break.

Continue reading Foxit busts out ebook store for eSlick owners

Foxit busts out ebook store for eSlick owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceeSlick Books  | Email this | Comments

Magazine publishers announce joint digital distribution scheme

The joint venture between four leading publishers has issued a press release highlighting a few of the finer points of its plan to create a platform for digital magazine distribution — we guess that The New York Observer wasn’t kidding when it said that a deal between Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation, and Time Inc. was imminent. Essentially a vehicle for selling publications for just about any device (including smartphones, e-readers, and laptops), the content will be optimized for multiple operating systems and display sizes, and according Time exec John Squires, it will all be DRM-free. They’ve yet to announce a name for this beast — although we’re leaning towards Magulu (or, perhaps, the iMags Store). PR after the break.

Continue reading Magazine publishers announce joint digital distribution scheme

Magazine publishers announce joint digital distribution scheme originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

First Nooks begin shipping as demo (and retail?) units hit stores

You’ve waited and waited and now it’s happening: the first Nooks are shipping. Those of you who pre-ordered early will receive your Nook in the “next day or two,” while anyone with a December 7th confirmation date will now receive theirs on the 16th — delayed, sure, but at least it’ll be home before the chubby man and his elves arrive with the in-laws. Select Barnes & Noble stores are also receiving the first demo units. A quick search with the handy Nook locator tool reveals broad availability of demo units across the US. Interestingly enough, we found a single store (Lincoln Triangle, Manhattan) showing an in stock “pick me up” option for what appears to be the ability to reserve a Nook for purchase, as unlikely as that sounds given the limited supplies. Still, if you’re in NYC and like to gamble, and you just can’t wait for the first firmware update to tweak the performance and interface issues we found, then you might want to arrive at 9am when the store opens.

Update: We gave the Lincoln Triangle store a call this morning, and they definitely don’t have any Nooks in stock!

[Thanks, Kris]

First Nooks begin shipping as demo (and retail?) units hit stores originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBarnes & Noble, Barnes & Noble (Nook locator)  | Email this | Comments

Sony Reader Store goes 100% EPUB on Friday

Listen up Sony Reader owners: you’ve got three days to change your ways. On December 11th, the eBook Store from Sony will be renamed the Reader Store with a new URL to prove it. In addition to a new store layout, the change also extends the open EPUB format to Sony’s entire inventory of eBooks. In fact, any new electronic books will only be available in EPUB which helps explain the motivation for Sony’s PRS-500 trade-in program. As such, we can say goodbye to Sony’s proprietary BBeB (“BroadBand eBook”) format which goes the way of ATRAC (outside of Japan, anyway). Sony’s also making its Reader Library 3.1 software for Mac and PC available on the same day with support for the imminent Reader Daily Edition launch and compatibility with Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard — how timely.

[Thanks, Ben]

Sony Reader Store goes 100% EPUB on Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSony  | Email this | Comments

Major media giants to form joint venture for digital future, says WSJ

News Corp, Time Inc., Condé Nast Publications Inc., Hearst Corp., and Meredith Corp. If this Wall Street Journal report is to be believed here, these five major media firms are preparing to announce a new joint venture tomorrow to “prepare print publications for a new generation of electronic readers and other digital devices.” Details are a bit sketchy here, and what makes it more interesting / confounding is that many of these companies already have or have showcased separate initiatives, such as Hearst’s Skiff and tablet demos from both Time and Condé Nast. We’ll be eager to find out if there are any devices the group rallies behind (or even produces itself), but one thing’s for sure: good old Rupert Murdoch will have something fun to say on the matter.

Major media giants to form joint venture for digital future, says WSJ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWSJ  | Email this | Comments

Entourage Edge e-reader shows off its softer-ware side on video

Can’t get enough of the Entourage Edge? We feel you. It’s easily a sight for sore eyes in the pool of me-too e-readers, and while we’ve learned that it has plenty of power under the hood to handle quite a few desirable tasks, we’ve yet to really see the software do its thing in any real capacity. Until now, of course. The video posted up after the break is as good a look of the inner workings as we’ve seen, and the company has contacted us directly to affirm that the Feburary 2010 ship date is still on track. To be honest, we’re really digging what we’re seeing on screen, but a premedidated demonstration and real-world usability are certainly horses of different hues. Here’s hoping we get a tick to play with a production unit ourselves at CES, but till then, you know where to head.

Continue reading Entourage Edge e-reader shows off its softer-ware side on video

Entourage Edge e-reader shows off its softer-ware side on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceYouTube  | Email this | Comments

Pixel Qi ramping production lines, multitouch (40-hour?) tablets at CES

We know you’re confused by the pronunciation of Pixel Qi (it’s Pixel chee, by the way). But really, does that matter? We’re just stoked to learn that its hybrid displays are hitting the assembly lines this month as the company ramps production in Q1. CEO, Mary Lou Jepsen, says that the first units will arrive in “specialized tablet devices with multi-touch,” the first of which will be on display at CES from what looks like multiple “customers.” They’ll also be available to DIYers sometime in the future. Jepsen, you’ll recall, was the original Chief Technology Officer on the OLPC project, but left to commercialize these 10-inch color 3Qi LCD displays that are readable in either direct tropical sunlight or no light at all thanks to a switchable backlight. As such, Pixel Qi is set to carve out a nice middle-ground between epaper displays and traditional LCDs that could see the advent of the 40-hour netbook / tablet. No, really.

Pixel Qi ramping production lines, multitouch (40-hour?) tablets at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  sourcePixel Qi blog  | Email this | Comments

Barnes & Noble Nook review

When we first caught wind of Barnes & Noble’s Nook — a device clearly positioned to give the Amazon Kindle and Sony’s options a run for their money — we were understandably interested. As voracious readers and lovers of fresh gadgetry, a new contender on the e-reader scene is more than welcome. When we discovered that Barnes & Noble’s offering would not only feature a full color touchscreen component, but would run Google’s Android OS as well… let’s just say we were pretty much in gadget-hog-heaven. We weren’t without our reservations, mind you; the appearance of this device made for some pretty heated conversations amongst the staff over whether or not we were seeing the dawn of a truly commercially viable e-reader. Of course, for us the proof is always in the pudding, and since B&N is about to launch a full assault against the current offerings, it’s our duty to turn over a report. Is the Nook the answer to our e-reader prayers, or just a stepping stone to greener pastures? We’ve taken a long, hard look at the device — so read on for the official Engadget review.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook review

Barnes & Noble Nook review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Barnes & Noble’s Nook gets a brief and early hands-on

Thanks to a very generous anonymous tipster, we’ve gotten a number of hands-on pics of Barnes & Noble‘s soon to be released (for some) Nook e-reader. The impressions we’ve been given, however, weave a tale of a laggy Android interface, which sounds like what we noticed with the first introduction video. Other fun facts include in-store WiFi browsing coming in 2010, and an important clarification that cover-to-cover book browsing over BN’s network only works for an hour at a time, not unlimited. We’re itching to get our own hands on it, but in the meantime, gloss over these gracious pics. Excerpts from the tipster after the break.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble’s Nook gets a brief and early hands-on

Barnes & Noble’s Nook gets a brief and early hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Nook ship date pushed back to January 15th for new pre-orders, no Nooks in stores before Christmas?

Last night, we got a tip telling us that this morning, Barnes and Noble’s ship date for the Nook would slip further — from the previously known date of January 11th to January 15th. And hey, what do you know? The BN website is now showing an expected ship date of January 15th — though it seems this would be the shipping date for new pre-orders, not for pre-existing ones. Disappointing for all of us who are expectantly awaiting our units, no doubt, but there’s the possibility of further bad news. The last time we checked in, the Nook was expected in some Barnes and Noble retail stores on the 7th of December. This tipster, who as we’ve just mentioned proved spot on with the expected shipping date (and whose name we know, though they’ve asked us not to print it), also says that no Barnes and Noble stores will have actual Nooks on hand until after Christmas. Of course, we have no way of knowing if this information will turn out to be correct, but at this point, we thought it seemed a decent enough piece of “possible” to pass on.

Update: We’ve just spoken with a Barnes & Noble rep, and they say they will have the Nook in select stores on Monday, December 7th, so we’re just going to have to be patient and see.

Update 2: If it was not clear enough, this new date of January 15th (as well as the previous date of January 11th) seems to pertain ONLY to new pre-orders of the device — not orders placed before the initial run sold out.

Update 3: And the in-store delay is official… Barnes & Noble is now confirming that the Nook will NOT be available in stores on Monday, as it’s “intent on fulfilling earlier preorders.”

[Thanks, unnamed]

Nook ship date pushed back to January 15th for new pre-orders, no Nooks in stores before Christmas? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments