Hasta La Gadget!

It’s not certain, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the best idea I’ve heard in a while: Barnes & Noble‘s rapidly-approaching eReader will be an Android piece, according to our source. And it really should be, according to me.

The leak came from someone who (quite convincingly!) claims to work for B&N developing mobile apps—his background knowledge of their app projects was startlingly deep, at any rate—and makes quite a bit of sense as an alternative to the brutally dumb software of current ebook readers.

Think about it. At six inches, it’s a smallish device, and we’ve seen Android on similarly-sized screens already. Wireless connectivity is built into the OS. Extraneous, inappropriate software and settings could be easily stripped out and replaced with relevant ones. A custom-designed interface could be easily dropped in. Apps—oh, sweet apps—could be a huge boon. And hey, E-Ink Android drivers have already been demonstrated on video. Not to mention the fact that B&N has conveniently skirted releasing an Android app, despite putting quite a bit of effort into iPhone and BlackBerry versions of the mobile ebook sofrware.

Simply put, this would be pretty fantastic, and it’s eminently plausible. And from the looks of it, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Updated: 2010 really is shaping up as the year of the e-Book reader. The latest entry: iRex’s $400 DR800SG. It has an 8.1-inch stylus touchscreen, 3G Gobi chip with unlimited Verizon data, and books from Barnes & Noble’s ebook store.

B&N has about 750,000 titles, including new releases at $10. The DR800SG will also be able to download over 1,100 newspapers from Newspapers Direct, and supports the open ePub book format (along with PDF, TXT, eReader, and Fictionwise). The device has 2GB of memory, enough to store about 1500 books, but no additional memory card readers.

And while the Kindle‘s CDMA connectivity ties it to Sprint, the DR800SG’s Qualcomm Gobi chip means it will work on overseas HSDPA networks: Not only will the same product ship in Europe, but the press release promises international roaming sometime next year. Yes, the included 3G data is unlimited (no contract required), but there’s no browser—so it’d take a lot of books to freak Verizon out.

In use, your thumb turns pages using a button on the left, but since the DR800SG uses a Wacom tablet layer under the E-Ink display, you can’t use your finger to touch, just the stylus. Pages do turn quickly, though, and you can rotate text into landscape mode.

A leather cover and stylus (pictured) will be included when the DR800SG hits Best Buy in October, and Europe by mid-next year. [iRex Technologies]

The battle for dominance in the electronic books market is far from settled as new entrants continue to jostle their way in. iRex, a Netherlands-based company, has said it will launch a new e-book reader in the U.S. later this year. The e-reader will have a 8.1-inch touchscreen, stylus-based navigation and 3G wireless connectivity.

iRex has also partnered with Barnes & Noble to integrate the latter’s e-book store into its upcoming device.

Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony Reader have helped turn e-book readers into one of the hottest consumer electronics products. In May, E Ink, which almost exclusively supplies the black-and-white displays that power most e-readers, said more than a million readers use its technology.

Big retail book stores are taking notice. Earlier this year, Borders U.K. introduced a £189 ($276) e-book reader called Elonex. The Elonex will come pre-loaded with about 1,000 books and will support both the open-source ePub and proprietary Adobe formats.

In July, Barnes & Noble launched its own e-book store and said that it will power Plastic Logic’s e-reader targeted at business users. By partnering with iRex, Barnes & Noble hopes to expand its reach.

iRex was founded in 2005 as a spin-off from Royal Phillips Electronics. The company’s name stands for ‘Interactive Reading Experience,’ CEO Hans Brons told Wired.com in an interview earlier. iRex launched an e-reader with a 10.1-inch screen last year. But the company has mostly focused on business users, says Brons.

iRex’s upcoming reader will put it in competition with the larger e-book readers such as Amazon Kindle DX and the Plastic Logic e-reader. iRex hasn’t revealed how much its e-reader will cost in the U.S.

“All 6-inch displays today use first generation technology when it comes to driving the ink particles on the electronic paper,” says Brons. “We have improved on that tech and our customers can see the difference in the brightness of the screen and contrast ratio of the display.”

See Also:

• Bookstores Aim at Amazon With E-readers of Their Own
• Plastic Logic E-Reader is Slimmer than Kindle DX
• Buying Guide: How to Choose an E-Book Reader
• World’s First Color E-Book Reader Goes on Sale
• Google Boosts E-Reader Status of Smartphones with Mobile Book

Photo: iRex DR 1000s Reader (barisione/Flickr)

Barnes & Noble customers have had access to paid Wi-Fi hotspots at individual outlets of the popular nationwide bookseller since 2005. The company announced yesterday that it has signed a strategic agreement with AT&T to implement free and unlimited access to all of its 777 stores’ wireless networks.

This move seems to be intended, at least in part, to help support the company’s ever-expanding eBook initiative. We reviewed Barnes & Noble’s new eReader application last week, and this move seems like an excellent way to keep the company’s enormous list of titles at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Giving everyone with a wireless device instant access to preview and download over 700,000 eBook titles (including hundreds of thousands of additional public-domain selections from Google) is a terrific marketing tool.

And this strategy doesn’t end there. Customers who opt in will also be able to receive special offers and useful information directly over the network. The company is currently suggesting such things as coupons to in-store cafés, information on book signings, and specific instructions on how to find new releases as being among the potential benefits for customers.

Electronic books reader manufacturer Plastic Logic announced Wednesday that it will offer wireless access in its upcoming devices through AT&T’s 3G network. The e-book reader expected to launch early next year will also have Wi-Fi connectivity.

“Built in 3G access adds mobility to the product and allows users access to books at all times, wherever they are,” Daren Benzi, vice president of business development at Plastic Logic told Wired.com

The move also positions Plastic Logic  squarely against Amazon’s Kindle e-reader that uses Sprint’s wireless connectivity for over-the-air book downloads and basic internet surfing.

Since Amazon launched the Kindle in 2007, the e-books reader market has taken off with more than 15 models of e-readers available today.  E-readers with 6-inch displays, such as those seen in the Kindle 2 or Sony Reader, are the most popular among consumers. But earlier this year, Amazon launched the Kindle DX with a 9.7-inch screen for $490.

Plastic Logic is targeting its e-readers at business users. The device is about 8.5 x 11 inch, the size of a large notepad, less than 0.25-inches thick and has a touchscreen interface. The company has not disclosed pricing for the product.

On Monday, book retailing giant Barnes & Noble said it will power the Plastic Logic devices through its new e-books store. Barnes & Noble’s e-book store will have more than 700,000 titles, compared to the 300,000 odd books that its closest rival Amazon has. And because of  the wireless capability of the Plastic Logic devices, the combination will be a completely integrated experience for consumers, says William Lynch, president of Barnes&Noble.com.

Lynch did not comment on whether Barnes & Noble would eventually sell Plastic Logic devices at its stores but said the e-book store partnership with the latter is not exclusive. “We are open to working with other manufacturers,” says Lynch.

The Plastic Logic Reader will offer users more than just newspapers, books and magazine content. It will support the document formats such as PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel, some of which current e-readers cannot.

Plastic Logic is also counting on AT&T’s wide network of Wi-Fi hotspots to please its customers, says Benzi.

See Also:

• Plastic Logic E-Reader is Slimmer than Kindle DX
• Buying Guide: How to Choose an E-Book Reader
• World’s First Color E-Book Reader Goes on Sale
• Google Boosts E-Reader Status of Smartphones with Mobile Book

Photo: Plastic Logic Reader/Plastic Logic

more than 200 countries and regions. AT&T is also the nation’s largest Wi-Fi provider,