3M announces Cloud Library e-book lending service for ’21st century’ libraries

Both Amazon and Sony have already hopped aboard the e-book library lending train and now, it looks like they’ll have to make room for 3M, as well. Yesterday, the company announced a new Cloud Library e-book lending service that will allow users to browse and borrow digital books directly from their iPads, Nooks and Android-based tablets. Under the program, 3M will outfit local libraries with its own software, hardware and e-book collection, which bibliophiles will be able to access via special apps, or 3M’s new eReaders, which will be synced with available digital content. The company is also planning to install so-called Discovery Terminal download stations in libraries, allowing visitors to leaf through the collection from a touch-based interface. Thus far, both Random House and IPG have signed on to the initiative, though licensing details remain murky. There’s also no word on when or where the service will launch, but 3M’s Discovery Terminal and iPad app will be on display next month in New Orleans, at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference. Full presser after the break.

Continue reading 3M announces Cloud Library e-book lending service for ’21st century’ libraries

3M announces Cloud Library e-book lending service for ’21st century’ libraries originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

PSA: New Nook Color partitioning only leaves 1GB for music, other sideloaded content


If you’re planning to pick up a Nook Color, keep an eye out for a little blue dot on the box — no, they’re not defective, but new models with the dot have been tweaked to make sure Barnes & Noble retains control of most of that (already limited) internal storage. Updated partitioning leaves just 1GB of internal storage for sideloaded content, such as music and movies, with the remaining 4GB reserved for content purchased from the book and app stores. Previous models allowed sideloaded content to utilize all 5GB of available storage, but the change was made “to ensure ample space for a customer’s Nook Library and Nook Apps,” according to B&N. We’re sure you could figure out how to reclaim those extra gigs, but you won’t be able to transfer your entire music library out of the box. Luckily, the Nook still has its microSD slot, allowing you to add up to 32GB of storage for music, movies, and whatever other content you need to keep yourself from using your e-reader to actually read.

[Thanks, Mark]

PSA: New Nook Color partitioning only leaves 1GB for music, other sideloaded content originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBarnes & Noble  | Email this | Comments

Stream Hulu on your Nook Color, ditch Fitzgerald for Family Guy

In case you need still more distraction from using your Nook Color to, you know, read, now you can have Hulu‘s extensive video library at your fingertips, thanks to a simple 19-step process. Replacing the standard Adobe Flash Player with a modified version seems to work for the Nook and some other devices; users at Android Central have reported success on the Epic 4G, Thunderbolt, and Droid Incredible. When you’re ready to trade One Hundred Years of Solitude for 1000 Ways To Die or 16 and Pregnant, hit the source link for detailed instructions, and see the tutorial video after the break.

[Thanks, Alex]

Continue reading Stream Hulu on your Nook Color, ditch Fitzgerald for Family Guy

Stream Hulu on your Nook Color, ditch Fitzgerald for Family Guy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 06:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroid Central  | Email this | Comments

NEC’s dual-screen LifeTouch W tablet shipping in Japan this June

NEC LifeTouch W

NEC caught our attention at CES with a dual-screen Android tablet / e-reader that, at the time, it was calling the LT-W Cloud Communicator. Well, it’s since been rebranded the LifeTouch W and it will officially hit shelves in Japan this June. Under the hood nothing has changed — it’s the same pair of 7-inch, 800 x 600 resistive touchscreens, 384MB of RAM, and Cortex A8 CPU of unspecified speed we played with in January. Sadly, that also means we’re looking at the same dated Android 2.2 OS and paltry five hour battery life. No word on cost or whether this will ever appear outside of Japan, but we’d be surprised if this ugly stepsister of the Kno actually makes its way across the Pacific.

NEC’s dual-screen LifeTouch W tablet shipping in Japan this June originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 15:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  sourceNEC  | Email this | Comments

E Ink shows concepts galore at SID 2011: snowboards, radios, thermostats, oh my!

E Ink’s 300ppi 9.7-inch panel — touting “laser print quality” and a ridiculous 2400 x 1650 screen resolution — was just the tip of the e-paper iceberg here at SID 2011. The aforesaid display isn’t shipping in any commercial products just yet, but given that OEMs are already accepting ’em, we were told to expect ultra-fine print devices in the not-too-distant future. The screen, which was jointly developed by Epson, truly did look astonishing up close, forcing us to get awkwardly close to see the pixels behind the pictures. Outside of that guy, though, the outfit’s booth was splattered with concepts — everything from an E Ink-infused snowboard (shown above) to a rugged radio. There was even a prototype sheet music reader (dreamed up by Lenart Studios) that looked downright outstanding, not to mention a thermostat that would have any Home Depot junkie swooning. Have a gander at the galleries below, and peek past the break for a brief video tour. Oh, and Burton — you should seriously get on this.

Continue reading E Ink shows concepts galore at SID 2011: snowboards, radios, thermostats, oh my!

E Ink shows concepts galore at SID 2011: snowboards, radios, thermostats, oh my! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 11:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plans

Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plansThe Kindle has been a huge success, no doubt about that, but we are continually amazed at just how big a success it has become. Amazon too, apparently. The company just issued a press release to announce that digital book sales have now exceeded sales of all print titles, both hardcover and paperback combined. As of April 1st, for every 100 print books that Amazon has sold (of any kind) the company moved 105 Kindle books, and no that doesn’t include downloads of free titles. Also of note: the ad-supported reader that’s shipping for $114 is now selling more quickly than the normal, $139 version. Proof, then, that people will put up with more ads in more places for 25 bucks.

Continue reading Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plans

Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAmazon  | Email this | Comments

Mirasol showcases 4.1-inch smartphone concept at SID 2011, promises ‘converged e-reader’ this year (video)

Another week, another look into the wild, mysterious world of Mirasol. We met with the company for an extended period here at SID 2011, and while the smartphone concept shown above was certainly intriguing, it’s the behind-the-scenes story that truly piqued our interest. If you’ve kept even a loose eye on display technologies, Qualcomm’s Mirasol branch has no doubt caught your eye — in fact, the company seemed overwhelmingly sure that it’d ship consumer products soon after we met with ’em at CES 2010. Yet here we are, nearly 1.5 years later, without a single Mirasol product available on the open market. It begs the question: why? We found out. As the story goes, Mirasol’s been shipping displays to partners for years, and it really did have confirmation that partners would be punching products out onto the market soon after 2010 began. But then, the iPad happened.

No, seriously — that’s the story. Apple’s sudden and calculated tablet launch caused Mirasol’s stable of partners to “reevaluate” their launch strategies, and that reevaluating led to the shelving / delaying of every single promising product in the pipeline. One angle in particular seemed to catch everyone off guard; prior to the iPad’s launch, most companies (and consumers, for that matter) reckoned that people wouldn’t even consider reading on an LCD. Digital bookworms would want E Ink, or better still, a colorized alternative like Mirasol. Come to find out, people actually don’t seem to mind reading on LCDs, and in fact, they seem downright appreciative of the extra functionality baked into modern day tablets. As you can imagine, all of that spelled trouble for a display technology like Mirasol. So, where do we sit today? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Mirasol showcases 4.1-inch smartphone concept at SID 2011, promises ‘converged e-reader’ this year (video)

Mirasol showcases 4.1-inch smartphone concept at SID 2011, promises ‘converged e-reader’ this year (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Toshiba Write-Erasable Input Display hands-on at SID 2011 (video)

Sure, we’ve seen oodles of light pen drawing boards, and e-readers that support doodling, but Toshiba’s “R&D project” at SID Display Week just… struck us. Weighing far less than the notepad used to jot down notes about it, this encapsulated device evidently sports a built-in battery, E Ink tendencies, a microSD card slot, proprietary charging port, an on / off toggle switch and support for stylus input. Drawing on it was both enjoyable and simple, and we were actually able to erase our typos with the press of a button (and a bit of eraser work with the pictured pen). Enough chatter — have a look yourself in the video past the break.

Continue reading Toshiba Write-Erasable Input Display hands-on at SID 2011 (video)

Toshiba Write-Erasable Input Display hands-on at SID 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 08:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Next Issue Media brings magazine subscriptions to Samsung Galaxy Tabs, but not all of them

It’s been a busy month in the world of e-publishing. First, Time Inc. inked a deal to bring magazine subscriptions to the iPad, with both Hearst and Conde Nast following suit. And now, a consortium of publishing powerhouses known as Next Issue Media is looking to expand its tablet-based readership to Android users, as well. Beginning tomorrow, people who bought a wireless-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon will be able to purchase single copies of, or monthly subscriptions to seven magazines from the so-called “Hulu of Magazines,” which includes Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc., and News Corp. Users already subscribing to print editions will receive free digital subscriptions, though they won’t be able to purchase both print and digital combo packages (that’s on the way). Publishers, meanwhile, will be able to set their own prices and, according to Next Issue CEO Morgan Guenther, will receive “at least” 70-percent of all transactions — the same percentage that Apple offers. Under this new Android deal, however, all of Next Issue’s members will be able to freely access their subscribers’ credit card information and other personal data — something that Apple has steadfastly denied them. Obviously, it’s far too early to tell whether or not this deal will give publishers more leverage in their negotiations with Cupertino, as the service will only be available to a small slice of Android tablet users. But Guenther says his organization is planning on releasing more titles for more devices this fall, with at least 40 magazines due out by year’s end, along with an app for HP’s WebOS.

Next Issue Media brings magazine subscriptions to Samsung Galaxy Tabs, but not all of them originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAll Things Digital  | Email this | Comments

Pandigital’s 7-inch Planet e-reader hits the FCC with Android, virus protection

Pandigital’s contributions to the e-reader market may have been largely forgettable thus far, but that hasn’t stopped the company from churning out new models and hoping something sticks. The latest is the Planet, a 7-inch, Android-based reader that just passed muster with the FCC. According to the filing, it’ll connect to Barnes & Noble’s e-book store and come bundled with various apps, including Facebook, QuickSuite Viewer, and — surprise! — virus protection. And though it’ll run some unspecified version of Android, you’ll have to download apps through the third-party store SlideMe, since the e-reader predictably won’t have Market access. Rounding out the spec list are a WiFi radio, HDMI output, and front- and rear-facing cameras. No word on pricing or availability, but let’s just hope it’s less buggy than some other readers Pandigital has made.

Pandigital’s 7-inch Planet e-reader hits the FCC with Android, virus protection originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wireless Goodness  |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments