Hasta La Gadget!

As far as business relationships go, Amazon and Sprint’s Kindle lovechild has proven to be a fruitful endeavor. So it’s with little surprise that other manufacturers have been seeking out that same feeling of carrier companionship. According to Verizon Wireless VP of open development Tony Lewis, there are five e-book readers in the works from various companies that are looking to be certified for use on the network, possibly in the same way Kindle uses its connectivity to download books on the fly. While he wouldn’t provide any names, he did hint they were looking at segments of the market Kindle isn’t currently catering to, such as college textbooks. We’ve also got word that AT&T’s looking to hop on the bandwagon, with head of emerging devices Glenn Lurie chiming in that they want to be a part of that market. If that Whispernet connectivity is the feature that’s been tempting you to go Kindle, looks like you’ll have a few more options on the horizon, if you’re patient.

Read – Verizon
Read – AT&T

Filed under: Displays

AT&T, Verizon looking to join e-book reader market? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Right around 13 months ago, we were asking you fine readers how you’d change Amazon’s original Kindle. Now that it has had some time to think about things and deliver a refined version of its hit e-reader, we’re giving early adopters the chance to fire off yet another round of criticism. Did Bezos & Co. address all of your gripes with the first iteration? Are you still bummed by anything? Is the screen sharp enough for your tastes? Battery life up to snuff? Do you still want more freedom when it comes to using that built-in EV-DO connection? What could Amazon do to make you even more stoked about being a Kindle 2 owner? You never know what the next firmware update could bring, so choose your words wisely.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

How would you change Amazon’s Kindle 2? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Amazon wasn’t just teasing you whiners who blabbed on about how you’d rather just read ebooks on your iPhone: The iPhone and iPod Touch app has arrived.

The free program brings several of the Kindle’s functions to the iPod and iPhone’s much smaller, non-E-Ink screen, including the same electronic books, magazines and newspapers that Kindle owners can buy, and the ability to change text size, add bookmarks, note and highlight stuff. From what we can see at first glance of the app itself, there’s no dictionary or search.

If you already have both a Kindle and an iPhone, Amazon’s program syncs the two so that you can keep your bookmarks on both devices. Immediately after loading up the app, this worked exactly as billed, and the page we’re on in the Kindle 2 showed on the iPhone.

While my first thought was “Jesus (not Diaz), Amazon’s bent on cannibalizing itself,” I guess the move kind of makes sense. People who want E-Ink will still buy the Kindle 2 (reviewed here), but perhaps this will steer people away from the other multitudinous, less complete iTunes ebook options. [iTunes Link to Amazon Kindle App]

Back in 2007 the NUUT beat the Kindle to retail by a few months, but its plain styling and lack of features meant it couldn’t compete — especially for the same $300 price point. Now the successors must battle for supremacy and this time it’s Neolux running a bit late, just now announcing the NUUT2. It’s a complete redesign that, oddly enough, makes it look more like the original Kindle, complete with an odd little auxiliary strip display. The NUUT2 has a 6-inch, 600 x 800 display offering eight shades of gray (twice that of the original but half that of the Kindle 2), 1GB of storage, SD card expansion, and WiFi as well. The biggest news is native support for PDF along with a bevy of other file types, but given this isn’t likely to appear outside of South Korea it, like its predecessor, probably won’t make much of a splash.

[Via MobileRead, thanks Emil]

Filed under: Handhelds

Neolux’s NUUT2 trumps the Kindle 2 with PDF support, loses in most other regards originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iRex’s Digital Reader 1000S didn’t exactly do a whole lot to distinguish itself when it debuted alongside its two other 1000 series counterparts a few months back but, judging from Engadget Chinese’s hands-on of the unit, it seems to at least hold its own against your average e-book reader, even if it may not be able to justify its premium price tag ($749). On the upside the 10.2-inch, 160 dpi display appears to deliver as expected, with it provided a fairly comfortable reading experience, although some small text may have you reaching for the zoom function. Unfortunately, the device as a whole seems to be a tad on the sluggish side, and there is that small matter of the price, which puts the iRex well above the likes of the Kindle and some other upstart e-book readers. Still undecided? Hit up the link below for a closer look.

Filed under: Handhelds

iRex Digital Reader 1000S gets the hands on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments