Hasta La Gadget!

We still don’t know what Barnes & Noble is announcing at its “very special event” next week, but the company has just made another fairly big announcement: the Nook will be hitting the shelves at some 2,500 Walmart stores beginning “as soon as” October 24th (in addition to Walmart’s online store). That includes both the 3G and WiFi-only Nook models, and some Walmart stores will even have a “Nook-branded eReading area” where customers can try out the device. Head on past the break for the complete press release.

Update: Not to be outdone, Borders will release the Kobo e-reader at Walmart next week as well. Competing devices on the very same shelf — imagine that!

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook goes on sale at Walmart next week (update: Kobo, too)

Barnes & Noble Nook goes on sale at Walmart next week (update: Kobo, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Haven’t seen enough of KDDI’s fall 2010 product line? Good. The company has just outed a new e-reader, and shockingly enough, it actually manages to differentiate itself quite well in the sea of me-too alternatives. The biblio Leaf SP02 (a followup to last year’s model) is right around the size of Amazon’s newest Kindle, packing a 6-inch E Ink display (800 x 600 resolution), 2GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, included stylus, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, inbuilt 3G and a battery good for around 7,500 page turns. Curiously, there’s also a small solar panel adorning the bottom right, and we’re guessing that you can (slowly) rejuvenate the internal cell while reading under the sun — just make sure you keep your right palm out of the way. Unfortunately, there’s no direct mention of an expected price, but those stationed in Japan should see it on sale this December for somewhere between free and Yenfinity.

KDDI tacks solar panel onto biblio Leaf SP02 e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Noah, who needs a bit of assistance in making the transition from textbook to e-book. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I have a class that has gone paperless. All of our readings are posted online as PDF scans of books. I have become quite annoyed with having to read these on my computer. So I have thought about purchasing an e-reader. The best choice seems to be a Kindle, but would you recommend a Sony, Nook, or something else instead? My primary interest is great PDF support / viewing. Thanks.”

We know, you’re “too busy” with “classes” to really answer here, but everyone deserves a study break or three. Take a breather and help your fellow student out — it’s just the right thing to do.

Ask Engadget: Best e-reader for school use / PDF viewing? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While the world holds its collective breath for India to actually mass produce that $35 tablet it’s been trumpeting here lately, the country’s own EC Media International is taking the wraps off of a sparkling new e-reader: the Wink. This cutely titled device doesn’t look much different than older generation Kindles, but it’ll reportedly support 15 languages and will offer 200,000+ book titles right out of the gate. The company has managed to garner the support of publishers like Penguin, Roli, Oxford University, Harper Collins and Permanent Black, and as expected, it’ll also be pushed as a substitute for traditional newspapers and magazines. As for pricing? Mum’s the word on that, but we are told that the EC Media has landed Croma as a retail partner and Redington as its primary distribution partner. Oh, and we guess you’d probably be interested in the specs — there’s a 6-inch (800 x 600) e-paper display, 2GB of inbuilt storage, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPRS wireless connectivity, a battery good for 10,000 page turns (or 10 hours of music playback), 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB 2.0 socket and support for a wide variety of text and audio formats. If that’s not tickling your fancy, it looks as if the outfit has three more options listed as “upcoming,” so hang tight. Short hands-on video after the break.

Update: Digit TV has a hands-on video!

[Thanks, Anish and Siddarth]

Continue reading EC Media launches Wink e-reader in India

EC Media launches Wink e-reader in India originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s probably in large part due to the design, but the Entourage Edge never has taken off the way Barnes & Noble’s Nook or Amazon’s Kindle has. But now, that all has a chance to change. The dual-screen e-reader has finally had its very own root canal, and it’s probably the easiest root process we’ve ever seen. The crafty folks over at Android Police were able to tap into the Edge’s inner workings by entering a simple code into the Debug menu, and from there, it’s a few short steps to installing Superuser. The purpose? To restart the imagination of owners, and to snag Android 2.2, the Android Market and a couple of overclocking opportunities if they’re lucky. Head on past the break for a quick video, and then dart to the source link if you’re itching to replicate this on your own device.

Continue reading Entourage Edge gets rooted with ease, may get a bit more exciting

Entourage Edge gets rooted with ease, may get a bit more exciting originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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