Hasta La Gadget!

Wanna know what we love? Authoritative sources. That fine breed of people who don’t like keeping important secrets is back with another hit, this time suggesting that Amazon has finally tied up all the loose ends and is ready to bring the Kindle to Blighty. This implies Qualcomm has done its rumored job of putting together a 3G and WiFi connectivity package with one of the UK’s mobile operators, and all that remains to be done now is the old dotting and crossing of i’s and t’s. An official announcement — which should tell us whether the Kindle 2 will be joined by the chunkier Kindle DX — is expected some time ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which commences on October 14.

[Via Pocket lint]

Filed under: Handhelds

Kindle coming to the UK in October? Amazon might just tell us next week originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes and Noble, the United State’s largest book seller has filed with the FCC its own e-book reader, as it’s insinuated in the attached Agent Authorization Letter. The dipping of the toes into the digital text industry isn’t as peculiar as, say Discovery Communications, since Barnes and Noble already has some known precedence in the e-book reader market, partnering with Plastic Logic as their “exclusive eBookstore provider” — this may very well be the Plastic Logic reader, but there’s no indication one way or another. Chances are it’ll be some time before we know, as all external and internal photos are under a confidentiality extension for 180 days as of September 3rd, or about six months from now. See you in Spring 2010!

Filed under: Handhelds

Barnes and Noble e-book reader hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it may not have been officially on-hand at IFA, but it looks like at least one iriver Story e-book reader did make its way to Berlin, and Heise Online was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with it — and take a few pics, of course. While it still bears an undeniable similarity to the Kindle 2, the differences become a bit more apparent up close, with the keyboard in particular sporting more traditional, squarer keys, and a complete lack of face buttons otherwise — apart from what appears to be two built-in page turn buttons on each bottom corner. In addition to the previously revealed specs, Heise Online also confirmed the existence of a built-in Comic Viewer, an integrated microphone for dictation and, unfortunately, a lack of built-in WiFi (let alone 3G), meaning that the only way to get content on the device is via USB or SD cards. Hit up the link below for the rest of the pics and a few more details.

Filed under: Handhelds

iriver Story e-book reader turns up in Berlin, deems itself too cool for IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s face it, at this point everyone is looking to get in on the e-book reader action. Back in February, broadcast television group Discovery Communication — known for BBC America, Travel Channel, TLC, and Discovery Channel, naturally — filed a patent for its own digital book reader back in February that’s now surfacing online. There isn’t a lot of concrete detail here, other than it runs the gamut of possible distribution options, including public libraries à la Sony’s Daily Edition. In the picture above we’ve got hints of Cos News Services and US News and World Report, but that could very likely just be filler for the filing. It won’t be nothing without partners, but if Discovery’s serious, we’re sure they’ve got a few phone numbers to call up and try to make a deal with.

[Via Baltimore Sun; thanks, Tom]

Filed under: Handhelds

Discovery Communications patents e-book reader, why not? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s Daily Edition may be taking a front row seat in everyone’s hearts and minds right now, but let’s not forget just three weeks prior the company revamped its other two, decidedly network connectivity-free e-book reader models. MobileTechReview got its hands on the PRS-600 “Touch Edition,” which scores points for an easy-to-use dictionary and enhanced note-taking abilities that are purported to sync to the desktop, at least eventually. Turns out the screen isn’t as sharp as the PRS-505 and there’s a bit of glare, but there’s certainly more contrast with the new device. Last we heard both readers were due for check out by the end of this month, although as of this writing only Pocket Edition seems to be available on Sony Style — and if you’re already enjoying a Sony reader, you’ll be happy to know that 3.0 desktop software is now making the rounds for PC and Mac. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Tom]


Read – PRS-600 review
Read – SonyStyle store
Read – eBook Library Software 3.0

Continue reading Video: Sony Reader Touch Edition gets touched, desktop software upped to 3.0

Filed under: Handhelds

Video: Sony Reader Touch Edition gets touched, desktop software upped to 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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