Hasta La Gadget!

The 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.

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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.

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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.

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It’s pretty obvious that this year’s SID Display Week is shaping up to be a stage for the 300ppi extravaganza — Samsung and LG were first to announce their latest high pixel density LCDs, and then Toshiba chimed in with its 367ppi LCD for cellphones. Fortunately, fans of ePaper will also have something to look forward to here, as E Ink Holdings and Epson have just announced the co-development of a 300ppi ePaper display. To be exact, E Ink will be in charge of producing the sharp-looking 9.68-inch 2,400 x 1,650 display panel, whereas Epson will take care of the high-speed display controller platform to go with E Ink’s part. No availability has been announced just yet, but stay tuned for our eyes-on impression at the show.

Continue reading E Ink and Epson to co-develop 9.7-inch high-res 300ppi electronic paper display

E Ink and Epson to co-develop 9.7-inch high-res 300ppi electronic paper display originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 01:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen plenty of dual-screen devices over the past couple of years, and they never fail to make us a little sentimental for Microsoft’s stillborn Courier concept. That goes double for this reader device, which made an appearance at this week’s CHI conference in Vancouver, seeing as how Microsoft Research apparently played a role in its development. But this gadget, presented by the University of Maryland’s Nicholas Chen, is clearly its own beast — and it’s an awesome looking one at that. The reader actually only has one screen, but it can connect wirelessly with other units, letting the users do things like send links between devices. It will also clip magnetically to another unit, so you can look at two pages of the same document at the same time, just like one of those oldfangled book-type things. Fans of awkward intros, check out the video after the break.

[Thanks, Winston]

Continue reading Microsoft Research-backed e-reader prototype can’t keep its text to itself (video)

Microsoft Research-backed e-reader prototype can’t keep its text to itself (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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