Oct 02

Switched On: Assets in gear

Posted in: amazon, Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, column, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, Microsoft, sony, switched on, SwitchedOn, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, windows 8, Windows7, Windows8

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Ecosystems take years to build and depend on other companies. Really, who has the time these days? Plus, they kick in only if a product reaches critical mass. Microsoft and SanDisk demonstrated the risk a few years back with their digital media players in seeding the market with third-party cases and docks using their own proprietary and now abandoned connectors. Over the past year, though, we’ve seen a number of tech companies take a new approach to mobile product development — the corporate showcase — where they convincingly shun any notion of silos by throwing just about everything they’ve got into a product.

Continue reading Switched On: Assets in gear

Switched On: Assets in gear originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Sep 29

Kobo’s Vox Android tablet appears online briefly, gets Canadian release date and pricing

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, tablet, Today's Chili
A day after another little-known e-reader manufacturer announced a tablet, a new Android slate from Kobo made a brief online appearance on Future Shop’s site, only to be quickly taken down. According to the Canadian retailer, the FCC-approved tablet will offer up a 7-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, WiFi, a speaker (perhaps the reason behind the Vox name) and 8GB of storage. The tablet is apparently set for an October 17th release in that country, priced at $250 Canadian.

[Thanks, Carolyn and Bart]

Kobo’s Vox Android tablet appears online briefly, gets Canadian release date and pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Digital Reader  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
Sep 28

Which Kindle Should You Buy?

Posted in: amazon, e-books, kindle, roundup, tablets, Today's Chili, top

Holy crap, we’re covered in Kindles. As of today there are six different Kindles you can choose from at 11 different price-points. How ever will you decide? Here’s a quick look at all of ’em, and our pre-release pick. More »

No Comments | Tags: ,
Sep 28

Amazon Kindle (2011) impressions

Posted in: amazon, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, Today's Chili, video
Price was one of the recurring themes at today’s Amazon event in New York City, and nowhere was that factor more present than with the new Kindle. At $79, this truly is an entry level device, and certainly the company made some sacrifices to hit that price point — most obviously, the reader doesn’t have the touchscreen featured in both the Kindle Touch and the latest Nook and Kobo devices — though like those products, the Kindle did lose its physical keyboard, giving it a much smaller footprint than the last generation. In place of the infrared touchscreen are a series of buttons: Home, Menu, Keyboard and Back. In the middle is a toggle button that lets the user scroll through menus — that activity can be performed pretty quickly with the physical buttons, and flipping through pages is not problem with the familiar buttons on either side of the screen. Where one really misses the presence of touch, however, is with the on-screen keyboard — typing is performed by clicking one’s way through the virtual keyboard, a familiar task for anyone who has ever entered their name at the beginning of a video game with a console controller. Of course, typing is a secondary task on a device like this, so for many users this may not be a deal-breaker. For those who foresee the need for such functionality, however, $20 will buy you an upgrade to the Kindle Touch.

Gallery: Kindle 2011 impressions

Kindle 2011 impressions

Continue reading Amazon Kindle (2011) impressions

Amazon Kindle (2011) impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Sep 28

Amazon Kindle Touch impressions (video)

Posted in: amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, Today's Chili, touchscreen, video, wifi
One of the three major devices launched at today’s Amazon event, the Kindle Touch is aimed firmly at the latest touchscreen Nook and Kobo devices. Like those readers, the new Kindle is based around an infrared touchscreen in the place of a physical keyboard, making the device a good deal smaller than the Kindle 3. The touchscreen is fairly responsive, and the thing flips through pages quickly with a swipe or a tap, refreshing about once every six pages or so, a rate about on-par with that of its chief competition. A task like performing a search on the other hand, requires a much larger screen refresh — still, activities like these and typing are performed quite quickly for an E-Ink device. The search function itself is rather precise, letting the user locate instances of things like character names throughout a text. In all, it looks as though Amazon has produced a worthy competitor to the space-leading touch devices — and the $99 / $149 price tags for the WiFi and 3G versions certainly don’t hurt. Check out a video of the device after the break.

Gallery: Kindle Touch impressions

Kindle Touch impressions

Continue reading Amazon Kindle Touch impressions (video)

Amazon Kindle Touch impressions (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Sep 28

Amazon discounts ‘original’ 6-inch Kindle Keyboard: now starting at $99

Posted in: ads, amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, breaking news, e ink, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, on sale, OnSale, price, sale, Today's Chili

Ready for another new Kindle moniker to remember? Here it comes! “Kindle Keyboard.” That’s the name that was bestowed upon the tried-and-true 6-incher today after Bezos unwrapped a touchscreen model and a low-cost variant that tout no physical QWERTY keys whatsoever. Now, the WiFi-only Kindle is going for as low as $99 with ads (down from $114), while the non-ads edition can be had for $139. Meanwhile, the 3G + WiFi Special Offers edition has fallen from $164 to $139, and the ad-free brother is going for $189. Naturally, all four of ’em are in stock and shipping today if the new blood just didn’t do much for ya.

Continue reading Amazon discounts ‘original’ 6-inch Kindle Keyboard: now starting at $99

Amazon discounts ‘original’ 6-inch Kindle Keyboard: now starting at $99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAmazon (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Sep 28

Amazon launches Kindle Touch and Touch 3G: starts at $99, ships November 21st

Posted in: amazon, breaking news, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, Today's Chili, touch

Oddly enough, the Kindle Fire already feels like yesterday’s news. Why? Because Amazon won’t stop launching new products. Jeff Bezos just revealed the Kindle Touch ($99 with ads, $139 without) here in New York City, noting that this guy’s using an IR touch system, similar to the latest Nook and Kobo, and there’s no keyboard (physical, anyway) to speak of. It’s slimmer, smaller and lighter than the existing Kindle, with a muted silver chassis that looks almost nothing like the Kindles of today. The entire user interface has been re-thought out, with “taps” being used in place of buttons. Need another reason to buy? We’re told that it’s using the company’s “most advanced” E Ink display yet, and while no specifics were doled out, “extra long” was the term used to describe battery life. A 3G-enabled model ($149 with free global roaming!) will also be available, with the duo up for pre-order later today and shipments going out on November 21st. Unfortunately, the Touch — like the Fire — is a US-only product.

Keep up with the unveiling at our liveblog of the Amazon event.

Update: Orders are live!

Gallery: Amazon launches Kindle Touch e-reader in NYC!

Gallery: Amazon Kindle Touch press shots

Continue reading Amazon launches Kindle Touch and Touch 3G: starts at $99, ships November 21st

Amazon launches Kindle Touch and Touch 3G: starts at $99, ships November 21st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAmazon  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
Sep 28

Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today!

Posted in: amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, breaking news, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, Today's Chili, video

As if a $199 Kindle Fire wasn’t enough, Amazon’s also launching a Kindle e-reader that’ll dip below triple-digits for the first time. You heard right — a $79 Kindle (or £89 if you’re unfortunate enough to be on that side of the pricing insanity). According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the company’s Kindle line will “start” at the aforesaid price as of today, a marked decrease from the $114 being charged for its lowest end unit earlier in the week. If anything, that’s a huge blow for Barnes & Noble, and we’re surmising that a reactionary drop will be coming soon in the Nook family if it hopes to keep pace. We’ve also learned that this guy has ads built right in — not a shocker given the price, but notable for those who aren’t keen on buying a device that continually serves up commercials to justify the lower up-front tally. If you’re looking to avoid the hassle, the non-ads variant is priced at $109.

Keep up with the unveiling at our liveblog of the Amazon event.

Update: We’ve added the first commercial video after the break.

Update 2: Orders are live!

Gallery: Amazon Kindle e-reader Refresh

Continue reading Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today!

Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBloomberg Businessweek, Amazon, Amazon UK  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Sep 27

Microsoft Research celebrates 20 years of crazy innovation

Posted in: e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, Microsoft, research, Today's Chili

Microsoft Research was founded way back in 1991 as a way of turning cutting edge concepts into products. Over the years, the division has been behind some of the most exciting ideas that have come out of Redmond, from fluffy mice to HIV / AIDS research. The department is celebrating its 20th anniversary by highlighting some of its favorite projects over the next four weeks, so we’re beating it to the punch with some of picks. Check out our list below.

Continue reading Microsoft Research celebrates 20 years of crazy innovation

Microsoft Research celebrates 20 years of crazy innovation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMicrosoft Research  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Sep 24

Sony Reader WiFi almost ready to let you (multi)touch it, up for pre-order now

Posted in: e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, Today's Chili
Sony Reader WiFi Pre-Order

Well, it’s been almost a month since we first pinched our greasy fingers across the Pearl E-Ink screen gracing the front of Sony’s latest e-reader, and your opportunity to do the same is quickly approaching. The 6-inch, Android-powered Reader is now available for pre-order (at the source link) for $150, just as expected. The current shipping date is listed as “on or about” October 16th, so if you put in your order now, you’ll still have a couple of weeks to wait. Still, if you could hold out six years for A Dance with Dragons, what’s three weeks to you?

[Thanks, knowmadd]

Sony Reader WiFi almost ready to let you (multi)touch it, up for pre-order now originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSony  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , ,