Hasta La Gadget!

Remember how confusing it was back in May when ASUS introduced a bunch of tablets it called Pads and a sort of digital notepad it called a Tablet? At least some of that messy naming scheme has now been rectified thanks to the merciful renaming of the Eee Tablet to the new Eee Note EA800 moniker. It’s still the same 8-inch (768 x 1024) monochrome display, offering 64 levels of gray and 256 levels of pressure sensitivity, backed by 4GB of integrated storage, a 2 megapixel camera, voice recorder, and built-in stylus silo. WiFi is of course a given, and there’s a microSD slot and a 3700mAh battery somewhere inside that matte black shell as well. If things do go to plan this time, we should be seeing plenty more of the Eee Note at January’s CES. We’re penciling it in already.

Continue reading ASUS Eee Note is the surprisingly sensible new name for the Eee Tablet

ASUS Eee Note is the surprisingly sensible new name for the Eee Tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes and Noble’s just made version 1.5 of its Nook e-reader’s firmware available. What can Nook owners expect from this latest upgrade? Well, the company says it boasts improved page refresh rates about 50 percent faster than the previous version — which is good news as we found it to be slower than its competitors. The update — which is available for both the 3G and WiFi versions — is also Barnes and Noble’s largest to date for the readers, and includes other fixes such as syncing across devices like the Nook’s various apps (finally!), customizable folders for your library, password protection options, improved search functions and battery performance. That sure does sound like a big update to us, so go get it if you’re a Nook user! Full press release is below.

Continue reading Barnes and Noble Nook firmware version 1.5 now available

Barnes and Noble Nook firmware version 1.5 now available originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

The last Switched On introduced the opportunity of the Kno tablet, which is in transition from having a large hardware footprint to having a large customer footprint. Without question, the Kno hardware is an outlier, but could be simply a first salvo in a battle for digital textbooks that will take years to play out.

Look at the ironic development of e-readers. Today’s LCD-based Nook Color would not exist if Sony and Amazon had not opened (and soothed) consumers’ eyes with e-paper-based readers that were themselves an answer to an early generation of LCD-based products like the Rocket e-Book. The outlier shows the potential.

Continue reading Switched On: Getting from Kno to yes, part 2

Switched On: Getting from Kno to yes, part 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We might be busy refilling our inkwells in preparation for CES 2011, but let’s not forget that some of the CES 2010 exhibitors are still working feverishly on bringing their innovations to market. Copia is one such company, though in the time between its January debut and today it’s had to abandon its plans for own-brand e-readers and has fully transitioned itself into a software offering — with apps available for the desktop, iPad, Windows Phone 7 now, and Android and other touch devices following soon. Copia allows Facebook Connect logins, which should give you a hit at its premise — it aims to meld an ebook store in with a vibrant and active online reading community, with a litany of social and sharing features making it perhaps more attractive than the somewhat more limited social skills on offer from the current ebook market leaders. Unannounced OEM partners have been engaged to deliver the Copia platform on upcoming e-reading devices, though whether the whole thing sinks or swims will be entirely up to you, the user. See a video demo of what Copia’s about after the break.

Continue reading Copia’s ‘social reading’ platform goes live, abandons hardware plans

Copia’s ‘social reading’ platform goes live, abandons hardware plans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The $249 Nook Color has decided its November 19th shipping date wasn’t soon enough so it’s jumped ahead of it with pre-order deliveries starting today. Barnes and Noble’s Nook-with-a-hook will be cheering those who reserved or pre-ordered it as shipping ramps up through this week, and there’ll even be some “very limited” quantities that you’ll be able to buy at retail locations like B&N, Best Buy, Walmart, and Books-A-Million stores. All of them should be getting live units for the curious to try out the Nook Color as well. As to the older, less chromatically able Nooks, B&N is promising a firmware update next week. Skip past the break for the full PR.

Continue reading Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail

Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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