BookBook is an iPad Case at Home on a Bookshelf

BookBook - iPadIf you like the idea of putting your iPad into a case that looks at home on a desk or bookshelf but you don’t like the notebook appearance of the DodoCase, you have the option of making your iPad look like an old, well-loved book thanks to the BookBook for iPad. TwelveSouth, which already makes the BookBook for MacBook and MacBook Pro, has a version of the BookBook designed for the iPad. The iPad version comes in two flavors: the Classic Black, which is a dark brown cover with black trim on the spine, and the Vibrant Red, which is a lighter shade of brown with sharp red trim on the spine.

Both versions are hand-crafted hard cases that feel like a hard-back book, complete with solid pieces on all sides, including the spine and front of the “book.” The case is bound in leather and has a zipper that keeps the BookBook shut until you want to open it. The interior has a soft lining, and elastic straps keep your iPad in place while you use it or put the BookBook on its edges and use it as an iPad stand. TwelveSouth sells the BookBook for iPad for $69.99, and is offering free shipping for a limited time. 

Copia Brings Social Networking to E-Readers

Ocean_Family.jpgSurrounded by giants jockeying for the e-reader crown, what can a newcomer do to stand out? Copia, a DMC Worldwide subsidiary, is betting on social networking for books.

The Copia experience combines e-readers with an online community to suggest books, trade notes, and chat with other like-minded readers. Each person has a profile page with “books read” and “planning to read” lists. Social networking site Goodreads already does this, but Copia took the idea one step further by including the ability to tell a good friend about a good book right on its devices.

Pricing is still a little unclear, but the two maritime-themed-lines, Ocean and Tidal, are expected to range from $99 to $299. While the basic Ocean model will have a 6-inch ePaper display, the other two Ocean models will have 9-inch screens. The Tidal line boasts a curvier design, a simpler set of specs, and a 6-inch ePaper display.
TIDAL_Family.jpgCopia’s e-book store will offer over 250,000 books from over 1,500 publishers, as well as 1,400 newspapers and over 750,000 free books from Google Books. The e-reader itself can hold up to 1,500 books and has the ability to access your friends’ comments, suggestions, and any other book-related thoughts. If you have an e-textbook, imagine sharing your notes with your classmates and studying together virtually!

The Ocean and Tidal come with many features I tend to think are standard e-reader specs: lightweight and easy to carry, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, a high-quality ePaper display, and a QWERTY keyboard. There are some caveats for the basic models, though, as the Ocean 6 will not have 3G or a touchscreen and the Tidal (basic) doesn’t have Wi-Fi, 3G, or a touchscreen .

Except for the Tidal (basic), they all have expandable memory, 4GB of internal memory, tilt sensors, and USB connectivity.

The social network platform is currently in public beta. Users can search for books, discuss and compare books, and plan what books to try next. The e-readers were originally slated to ship in April, but the latest word on the street seems to be fall – just in time for the holiday season. “Fall” is a wide window, but if the idea of a portable book club appeals to you, keep an eye on the Copia site for details.

BookBook Case Turns iPad into One-Inch Leather-Bound Slab

The BookBook case for the iPad, from Apple accessory makers TwelveSouth, swaddles your precious tablet in a thick slathering of dead-cow, its hand-crafted, hand-distressed covers recalling beautifully bound books of old. It zips shut to keep out the dust, and the padded inner-chamber also contains a string and a button on either side to help make a stable a-shaped stand. It’s lovely, and will probably last way longer than your iPad.

It is also thick, doubling the depth of Apple’s slim tablet to an inch. And remember, the iPad only measures an in in its thickest part, while the BookBook will be that fat everywhere. TwelveSouth’s other BookBook case, for the MacBook Pro, also adds about a half-inch to the machine inside, but that’s a smaller percentage on a thicker computer.

It is nice-looking, though, in a lottery-winner’s bookshelf kind of way, and can be propped up next to the leather-bound sets of classics that you will never read. The price for this “tasteful” case is $70, in red or black. Available now.

BookBook for iPad [TwelveSouth. thanks, Johnny C A!]

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iriver Story Touch edition reader shows up on fan site

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from iriver on the e-reader front, so this one isn’t a huge surprise. It looks like the Story is getting a nice, compact Touch edition, and while we don’t have full specs yet, we do have plenty of photos, and we also know it’s going to boast a 6-inch, touchscreen display (which appears to be some type of e-ink), 2GB of internal storage, with SDHC expansion up to 32GB. This one’s going to be for the Korean market only, so we don’t expect to get our hands on one anytime soon, but we can always dream. Another photo is below, hit the source link for more.

Continue reading iriver Story Touch edition reader shows up on fan site

iriver Story Touch edition reader shows up on fan site originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Peek Inside the Mind of Dieter Rams [Design]

He’s the world’s greatest living product designer. And forty years ago, he changed the look and feel of consumer electronics forever. More »

Thinner and Lighter Kindle Comes with Wi-Fi and Starts at $139 [Kindle]

It may have taken longer than expected, but a replacement for the Kindle 2 has arrived. The addition of Wi-Fi and an aggressive $139 starting price make the new eReader a formidable upgrade. More »

Gemei outs GM2000 color screen-boasting e-reader

Gemei‘s just rolled out a pretty attractive looking e-reader in China, the GM2000. This attractive looking device has a choice of 7-inch, color LCD with 800 x 400 resolution, or a 6-inch, e Ink display. They can also output 1080p video, and they support a wide variety of file formats. They both boast 4GB of memory onboard, and the GM2000 has an SD card slot for up to 32GB more. Full press release below.

Continue reading Gemei outs GM2000 color screen-boasting e-reader

Gemei outs GM2000 color screen-boasting e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Olivia Munn Battles the Green Robots [Olivia Munn]

Television personality and newly minted Daily Show correspondent Oliva Munn’s new book, Suck It, Wonder Woman! is full of practical advice for the modern dork. Like how to survive a robot uprising. (Hint: Robots hate kittens.) More »

Kindle’s digital book sales overtake hardcover, device purchases triple after price drop

While Amazon is being as coy as usual when it comes to an actual number (still keeping to the vague “millions” figure), the company has revealed that sales of its Kindle hardware has tripled since the price took a plunge from $259 to $189. While it’s hard to gauge just how many champagne corks are being popped over that statistic, news that downloaded kindle books has overtaken its hardcover brethren is certainly cause for major celebration. According to a press release, 143 Kindle books have been sold for every 100 hardcovers in the past three months, and that ratio is a more impressive 9:2 if you only look at this past month. Before you start asking about the obvious caveats, the data both include sales of hardcovers where no Kindle equivalent exists and exclude free Kindle downloads — meaning if those weren’t considered, the ratio would be even greater. Guess the agency pricing model didn’t deter too many customers. Since you’re in such a good mood, Amazon, how about a slimmer model to satiate the remaining holdouts?

Kindle’s digital book sales overtake hardcover, device purchases triple after price drop originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kobo e-reader review

When the Kobo e-reader first appeared, its very affordable price point of $149 made it an attractive proposition. It’s been a few months, however, and the market is ever-more crowded, with both dedicated e-readers as well as multi-taskers (such as the iPad) moving into the space big time, and there are also plenty of similarly priced options, including the WiFi version of the Nook. In fact, almost anything qualifies as an e-reader these days — but there’s still room for a thin, light dedicated device that reads books in an enjoyable way for an affordable price… or at least that’s the story that Kobo is trying to tell.

We’ve spent the last few weeks reading with the Kobo, with the main goal being to find out if the simple device has enough features to contend with the host of options (and price points) available to consumers today. Read on for our thoughts.

Continue reading Kobo e-reader review

Kobo e-reader review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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