Oct 14

Barnes & Noble twin-screen e-reader revealed early?

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, e ink, e reader, e-book, e-book reader, E-bookReader, rumor, Today's Chili

At this point, there’s little doubt that Barnes & Noble will soon be joining the e-reader game. We’ve heard whispers through the grapevine, seen FCC documentation and now, renders of what the thing might actually look like. With October 20th rapidly approaching, Gizmodo has secured images that it claims are of the forthcoming device — and the design certainly jibes with recent happenings. If you’ll recall, a B&N-badged representative recently noted that an e-book reader with its logo on it was on track for a Spring 2010 release, and by golly, it would sport a color display. Plastic Logic later stepped forward to deny the claim, but if these images are legit, both parties might actually be correct; the dual-panel device would boast a traditional e-ink display up top with a multitouch panel beneath, the latter of which would undoubtedly lead to all sorts of shenanigans. So, is it Tuesday yet, or what?

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Barnes & Noble twin-screen e-reader revealed early? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 14

Exclusive: First Photos of Barnes & Noble’s Double Screen E-Reader

Posted in: barnes and noble, Books, e ink, ebooks, exclusive, LCD, nook, reader, Today's Chili, top

Barnes and Noble‘s late to e-books. But the company’s new gadget—first seen here—should address the weaknesses of all other readers with screens evoking a Kindle and an iPhone. A source from within reveals.

The Barnes and Nobles e-reader project, set to be revealed next week, has been under development for years, with several devices of varying size and capability in the pipeline. First rumors said it would have a color e-ink screen. Then people said it didn’t. They were both kind of right: The layout will feature a black and white e-ink screen like the Kindle has—and a multitouch display like an iPhone underneath other. Pow!

More hardware details of the Barnes and Noble E-Ink/LCD reader here:

What’s interesting is that B&N will sell the books it also publishes (yes, remember, they are also a publisher and not just a store) at a deep discount compared to print editions. And the device will have some sort of access to all books scanned by the Google Books project; probably books that are out of print.

The name of the gadget, which I cannot reveal and may have changed anyhow, is freaking terrible. I hope they change it before it ships. Oh and yeah, it runs Android.

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Oct 13

3G / WiFi-equipped BeBook 2 launching tomorrow?

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-book reader, E-bookReader, Today's Chili, wwan

Man, are people into reading, or what? Hot on the heels of the BeBook Mini launch in the US and news that Barnes & Noble could be introducing an e-reader of its own as early as next week, Endless Ideas is now rumored to have its BeBook 2 on deck for an October 14th release. And considering that it has a booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, we’d say there’s at least a decent chance that the rumors are true. If you’ll recall, we snagged the first look at the company’s first-ever 3G / WiFi-equipped e-book reader back at CeBIT in March (pictured above), and considering that there can really never be enough competition in the space, we’ll take the promised touchscreen and free RSS support any way we can get it. We’ll be cautiously watching the action tomorrow for a full reveal, and we’d recommend you do as well — besides, it’s not like that International Kindle is shipping before next week anyway.

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3G / WiFi-equipped BeBook 2 launching tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 13

Barnes & Noble hosting event on October 20: ebook a lock?

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, e ink, e reader, Today's Chili

This rumor sure is shaping up nicely. We started with the FCC berth, then the Wall Street Journal weighed in with a meatier rumor, and now Barnes & Noble itself has sent out an invite to select media to a little get together touted as “a major event in our company’s history.” It’s happening in NY on October 20, and at this point the larger surprise would probably be if there wasn’t an ebook reader on display.

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Barnes & Noble hosting event on October 20: ebook a lock? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 12

5-inch BeBook Mini now shipping in the US for $199 (hands-on)

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-book reader, E-bookReader, Features, hands-on, impressions, Today's Chili

We’d heard back in May that Endless Ideas’ smallest e-reader yet would begin shipping (presumably in Europe) during the summertime, but it just recently started to make its way onto US doorsteps. Thankfully, our doorstep was among those greeted by the 5-inch reader, which boasts the same specifications as the original BeBook save for the smaller display. Priced at $199, it seemed a lot more competitive before Amazon hacked the price of its Kindle to $259, and given the dearth of WiFi / 3G WWAN, it’ll only appeal to those content with hitting up their PC via USB to get new content loaded on. Upon unboxing this cutie, we were struck at just how light and compact the whole unit is, though even with the font at its default size, we had no issues reading the crystal clear e-ink display. Screen refreshes were satisfactorily quick, and menu navigation was a breeze. As an e-reader (and MP3 player, if you wish), it’s hard to bang on the pocket-friendly BeBook Mini, but with the Kindle’s recent price drop and Sony’s $199 Reader Pocket Edition, competition is fierce.

Gallery: 5-inch BeBook Mini now shipping in the US for $199 (hands-on)

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5-inch BeBook Mini now shipping in the US for $199 (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 12

Why I Think E-Ink Readers Are Dumb

Posted in: amazon, e ink, feature, kindle, sony, Today's Chili, top

The future of media isn’t on paper. And a device just dedicated to replicating dead trees is a waste of time. Let me show you why electronic ink’s virtues don’t matter as much as its weaknesses do.

Click through the gallery for a blow-by-blow of e-ink’s strengths and failures:

E-ink is a great digital tool for emulating what books were. But a horse with rollershoes can’t keep up with the automobile, so why should we expect a digital book to keep up with modern media habits?

I fell in love with the Kindle last year, but I think you’re a fool to buy one now—let alone any of its lesser competitors—when so much new technology is about to hit over the next six months. I’m giving up on it. I am waiting for a tablet. Same size, different priorities. And unless you love novels and non-fiction more than TV, movies, cookbooks and glossy magazines all together, you should, too. [Fantastic rendering above by Rob Beschizza]

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Oct 09

Barnes and Noble ‘confirms’ color Plastic Logic e-book reader for Spring 2010 (video)

Posted in: barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, ctia, e ink, e reader, e-book, reader, Today's Chili

In no uncertain terms, a Barnes & Noble representative at what looks like the CTIA show says that a color (color!) Plastic Logic e-book reader will launch in Spring 2010. Now, we’re not sure if Daniel Joresson is authorized to make announcements about its Plastic Logic partner but he did so nonetheless. The Plastic Logic e-reader will feature a color screen about the size of a paperback and runs the “Barnes & Noble e-book reader application.” It’s not clear, but it sounds like the B&N application will also be available for cellphones including the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices. Right, similar to the Kindle app. So how does this jibe with rumors about a 6-inch Barnes & Noble e-reader from Plastic Logic launching as early as next month? Easy, the first version will be grayscale while a new model featuring a color display will launch in Spring. In fact, Plastic Logic’s own web site says that its color reader is “around the corner” and expects to be “first to market with a large, flexible color display” — take that Sony and Amazon with your PVI built E Ink-based displays. Watch the flirtatious B&N reveal after the break.

[Thanks, Tom]

Read — Plastic Logic FAQ (color reader)
Read — Video

Continue reading Barnes and Noble ‘confirms’ color Plastic Logic e-book reader for Spring 2010 (video)

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Barnes and Noble ‘confirms’ color Plastic Logic e-book reader for Spring 2010 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 06

New My Books Display Storage Info

Posted in: e ink, external hard drive, Today's Chili

MyBookElite.jpg
Western Digital introduced the My Book Elite and My Book Studio today, external hard drives with a novel perk: They include an electronic label that tells you what’s on your drive and how much room you have left. Even better, the label shows when the drive is unplugged.

The secret is that the label is created with e-ink, which looks like ink on paper and remains visible even without a power source. The drives come with software that lets owners customize the label as often as they like. Both drives include 256-bit hardware-based encryption and automatic backup software.

The My Book Elite is formatted for Windows computers and comes in 2TB ($279), 1.5TB ($199), and 1TB ($169) sizes. A 640GB size will be available in a few weeks. The My Book Studio is meant for Macs and includes FireWire 800 connectivity. It currently comes in 2TB ($299) and 1TB ($189) sizes.

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Oct 02

AUO aims for $100 e-book readers by 2011

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-book, e-book reader, E-bookReader, Today's Chili

E-book readers have certainly been getting better and cheaper lately, but it looks like display-maker AUO thinks there’s still plenty of room for improvement, and it’s now promising to cut the price of ’em fully in half within two years. The key to that, obviously, is to make the displays cheaper, which AUO says it can do by not only improving the technology, but by taking advantage of the sheer scale of its production capabilities. That, it says, could allow for a $150 e-book reader by next year, and a $100 reader by 2011. What’s more, AUO also says that it expects both Amazon and Sony to get “some” of their displays from AUO (with the rest coming from industry leader Prime View) which, if you put two and two together, could pave the way for some cheaper Kindles and Sony Readers in the not too distant future.

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AUO aims for $100 e-book readers by 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 01

Astak’s 5-inch EZ Reader now shipping from Newegg

Posted in: Books, e ink, e reader, reader, Today's Chili

Astak — the company looking to give Amazon’s Kindle a ‘run for its money’ — gave us a little bit of a shock when it unveiled its attractive 5-inch EZ Reader Pocket PRO back in August. At the time, the company said that the units would be shipping by the end of September, and, lo and behold, they’re now shipping from Newegg. The Reader features a 400MHz CPU, 512MB of memory, an SD card slot, an 8-level grayscale E-ink screen, a replaceable battery good for 8,000 page turns per charge plus MP3 player that can operate in the background, and it’ll run you $250 if you want to get in on the e-reader action.

[Via E-reader-Info]

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Astak’s 5-inch EZ Reader now shipping from Newegg originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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