Sony’s 3G-enabled Reader Daily Edition up for pre-order, content deals coming next month

Amazon and Barnes & Noble may be swiping the limelight, but Sony’s clearly playing for keeps with its $399 Reader Daily Edition. The 7-inch e-book reader has just been listed for pre-order over at SonyStyle, and with it will come wireless access (via AT&T) to the company’s own eBookstore. We’re told that the company will “announce newspaper and magazine content providers within the next month,” and of course, no monthly fees will be tacked on from browsing and buying books. If plans stay on track, we should see the first shipments leave next month — so, is Santa treating you with one, or what?

Update: Looks like not everyone will snatch one of these before that fateful day in December, so we’d suggest either settling on a Kindle / Nook or preparing your wallet to deal with ‘Tickle Me Elmo’ levels of eBay insanity.

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Sony’s 3G-enabled Reader Daily Edition up for pre-order, content deals coming next month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble accepting gift cards for ebook purchases starting mid-December

A few nasty rumors were circulating that Barnes & Noble wouldn’t accept its own gift cards for ebook purchases, but thankfully, the outfit has come clean today to refute those claims. ‘Course, it’s possible that this change in policy was a direct result of all the bickering, but either way, the company will be accepting physical gift cards and online gift certificates as payment for ebooks really, really soon. The cards will work on purchases made at B&N’s website and through the Nook itself (not to mention “other devices using the B&N eReader software), and we’re told that the new policy will be in full effect come “mid-December.” In other words, all those gift cards you just purchased as stocking stuffers for to-be Nook owners are good to go. Phew.

[Thanks, David]

Barnes & Noble accepting gift cards for ebook purchases starting mid-December originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canada gets International Kindle support, no longer feels inferior to Trinidad and Tobago

Good news for our Canadian brethren! While the realization that you’d been excluded from the International Kindle may have angered you, or frightened you, or engendered feelings of shame or lust, all hope is not lost! We have just got word that Amazon has added your fine nation to the list of countries it will now ship the beloved e-reader to. And if that ain’t enough, a smattering of your native content is being offered, included a couple of publications that sound exotic and fanciful to American ears: The Globe and Mail and The National Post. Sound like something you’d like to get into? Yours for $250 USD (roughly $265 CDN). Hit the read link to get started.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

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Canada gets International Kindle support, no longer feels inferior to Trinidad and Tobago originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nook for sale at Barnes & Noble stores on November 30th?

If you’re looking to pre-order a Nook today you’ll be greeted with a December 18th ship date from Barnes & Noble’s on-line store. However, if you stop by your Barnes & Noble on November 30th, you might find the Android-based dual-screen ereader in stock and ready to take home for $259 plus the usual government tithe. This according to a B&N spokeswoman who told Computerworld that units will be for sale in stores on the 30th. Whether than means all 774 retail outlets or just the majors is still unclear but hey, at least you’ve got options.

[Via I4U News]

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Nook for sale at Barnes & Noble stores on November 30th? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony offering ePub upgrade / trade-in program for PRS-500 e-reader

Sony’s already made its commitment to the ePub e-book format fairly clear, but it does still have a lingering problem with some older e-book readers that don’t support the format. While some of those are beyond hope, the company does now have an upgrade available for the PRS-500, although it’s not quite as simple as you may hope. Turns out you actually have to send your reader in to Sony to receive the firmware update, which is completely free of charge and should take less than 14 days. For those looking to make a clean break with the past, however, Sony is also offering a trade-in program for the PRS-500, which will give you either $50 or $75 off the new Reader Pocket or Touch editions. Hit up the link below for complete details on both options.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

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Sony offering ePub upgrade / trade-in program for PRS-500 e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wistron: Readius-like ereader with pull-out flexible display launching in 2010

We’ve had a soft spot for Polymer Vision in the fetid hollows of that place you call a heart ever since we pressed flesh to its Readius back in February 2008. Unfortunately, we had to let go of any hope for the bendy e-reader to ever hit the market after delays turned into bankruptcy turned into cries of noooo! the world over. Now coddled in the corporate arms of Wistron we hear from Brian Chong, head of Wistron’s product planning, that a 5-to-6 inch device with a pull-out flexible e-paper display of similar design to the Readius will launch in 2010. By similar design we hope they’ve included Bluetooth, dual-band HSDPA, tri-band GSM / EDGE, microSD expansion and SMS capabilities of the original.

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Wistron: Readius-like ereader with pull-out flexible display launching in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dual-screen enTourage eDGe ebook reader gets a little hands-on time

We’re still reserving our doubts about the viability of the enTourage eDGe — after all, at $490 you can buy yourself a respectable netbook and a halfway decent ereader for the appropriate occasion — but we won’t say that we’re not interested. Just under a month after it hit the scene, the dual-screen device has landed (in prototype form) over at Gearlog, and while some of the features weren’t functional, the physical build shouldn’t change much when it goes final. At first glance, the whole thing just looks a bit dated, but then again, we’ve still got the ultra-fresh Nook on the brain. Hit the read link to have a look yourself, won’t you?

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Dual-screen enTourage eDGe ebook reader gets a little hands-on time originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dulin’s Books rolls out PocketBook 360, 301+ ereaders in the US

Upstart company you’ve never heard of suddenly selling not one but two ebook readers in the US? Yeah, these are rebadge jobs, but at least one of ’em — the PocketBook 360 — is a slightly new variation on a theme. From the looks of it, this one is a new / different version of an ereader most recently seen under the Mentor brand, and packs a 5-inch Vizplex display, 512MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot for expansion, a Linux-based OS, your choice of black or white color options and, of course, support for a full range of ebook formats (including EPUB). The company’s PocketBook 301+, on the other hand, is seemingly the same model seen as the Foxit eSlick and Hyper Gear ereader, and includes the same EPUB support, along with a slightly larger 6-inch Vizplex display, and some expanded media playback and game options. Look for it to set you back $275, while the PocketBook 360 runs $240. If neither of those suit you, an additional, stylus-equipped Boox model is also promised “soon” — and, of course, is mighty familiar.

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Dulin’s Books rolls out PocketBook 360, 301+ ereaders in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Foxit’s eSlick ereader now supports EPUB, puts Kindle to shame

Foxit’s eSlick isn’t exactly the most exciting ereader of all time, but now things have changed slightly with the addition of EPUB support, making this $259.99 device a more affordable (although less pretty) alternative to the Sony Reader, and a more flexible option than the Kindle. We looked around and have yet to spot the new firmware’s download link, but chances are devices shipped this month will come preloaded with the new code. Still, Barnes & Noble’s identical price tag will easily overshadow this in a few weeks — hello Nook, goodbye eSlick.

[Via Gearlog]

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Foxit’s eSlick ereader now supports EPUB, puts Kindle to shame originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sungale’s 7-inch Cyberus ID700WTA is neither a PMP nor an ereader, really

Sungale isn’t exactly the biggest, most well-known name in consumer electronics, but it’s sure trying to make a run with the big boys. A few months after introducing its own WiFi digiframe, the company is hitting back with a hybrid ereader / PMP device that just seems to be caught somewhere in the middle. Boasting a 7-inch color LCD display (800 x 480), the Cyberus ID700WTA can handle most popular multimedia and ebook formats — from PDF to DivX, it’s (pretty much) all covered. It also touts integrated WiFi, support for streaming media from a home network and a built-in clock / calender. There’s also the ability to fetch “online news, weather reports, stock prices and charts, maps and traffic routes, YouTube clips, internet radio, Picasa and Gmail,” so we’re going out on a limb here and suggesting that some sort of web browser or cadre of inbuilt apps are also included. It’s available now around the web for $279, and yes, that snazzy leather case is bundled in.

Continue reading Sungale’s 7-inch Cyberus ID700WTA is neither a PMP nor an ereader, really

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Sungale’s 7-inch Cyberus ID700WTA is neither a PMP nor an ereader, really originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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