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

LG’s Solar Cell e-Book goes an extra day for every 5 hours of sunlight

Posted in: e reader, e-book reader, E-bookReader, LCD, LG, solar, Today's Chili

Funny thing going on in the marketplace right now: reading for pleasure is on a rapid decline yet the choice of e-reader devices grows weekly. That’s good news for those of us not spending our down-time in front of a television, mouth agape — awkward for manufacturers testing the waters of this unproven niche. LG’s showing off its Solar Cell e-Book reader anyway, in a bid to flex its thin-film solar muscle. The prototype features an energy conversion efficiency of about 9.6 percent giving it an extra day’s worth of power for that 6-inch TFT-LCD after about four to five hours in the sun. LG is working towards boosting its thin-film solar cell energy conversion efficiency rate to 12% by 2010 on up to 14% by 2012. We say bring it LG, if you can.

[Via OLED-Display]

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LG’s Solar Cell e-Book goes an extra day for every 5 hours of sunlight originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 11

Barnes Noble Executive Confirms E-Reader Details

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

Although the author isn’t explicitly mentioned, this interview appears to have been conducted by Jennifer Van Grove, an associate editor for Mashable, who indicated in the comments attached to this video on YouTube that it was conducted at the recent CTIA show. As suspected, Barnes & Noble plans to launch a color e-reader with Plastic Logic next spring. It will “run the B&N application,” according to Daniel Jorrison, an executive with Fictionwise, which was acquired by B&N in March.

Separately, The New York Times Bits blog reports that there’s an invitation to a Barnes & Noble Oct. 20 event in New York City, in addition to the earlier Wall Street Journal report.

Keep in mind that the stage for this was set quite a while back. In February, Plastic Logic announced its content partners, including Fictionwise, which signed up to supply e-books. B&N then acquired Fictionwise, which meant that, well, Barnes & Noble had its e-reader.

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Oct 09

Barnes Noble’s E-Reader Gets Real

Posted in: barnes noble, e reader, e-books, Media Players, Today's Chili

There’s yet another e-book reader in the market and this time it is likely to be from retail book giant Barnes & Noble. The company is expected to announce its own e-book reader in time for holiday season sales next month, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Barnes & Noble hasn’t yet commented about the device. But an announcement from the company would confirm months of speculation about it. Like most of its peers, the Barnes & Noble e-reader is expected to have a black-and-white 6-inch display from E-Ink. It will also reportedly have a touchscreen and run on AT&T’s wireless network.

Barnes & Noble’s e-reader will join a crowded market. Since Amazon’s launch of the Kindle in 2007, the e-reader market has exploded with new devices. In the past six months alone, companies such as Sony and iRex have announced newer models. E-book readers are expected to be a hot gadget this holiday season and electronics retailer Best Buy has said it will dedicate a section for these devices. A few weeks ago, Barnes & Noble said it will partner with iRex, a spin-off from Royal Phillips Electronics, to integrate the former’s e-book store into the latter’s e-readers.

So far, Barnes & Noble hasn’t disclosed pricing for its upcoming reader. Sony’s touchscreen reader is priced at $300.

Separately, a Barnes & Noble representative said in a video (above) that the company will  have a color touchscreen reader, developed jointly with Plastic Logic, available next spring.

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Oct 09

Amazon confirms international Kindle DX is on the way too

Posted in: amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, e reader, e-book, e-book reader, E-bookReader, kindle, Today's Chili

Amazon made a fairly big splash in announcing that the standard-issue Kindle would finally be available in an international edition, but it’s now also rather quietly confirmed that the larger Kindle DX will be soon become a bit of a globetrotter as well. Unfortunately, it’s also considerably more light on details this time around, although Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener does say that the international Kindle DX will come out “sometime next year,” and we can only presume that it’ll demand a similar premium to its smaller counterpart (which is $20 more expensive than the US-only version).

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Amazon confirms international Kindle DX is on the way too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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

International Kindle ships October 19 to over 100 countries for $279, ‘US’ edition falls to $259

Posted in: amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, breaking news, BreakingNews, e reader, e-book reader, E-bookReader, kindle, price, pricing, Today's Chili

We can’t say that we never saw this day coming, but we definitely didn’t it see it coming today. After months of forcing us to twiddle our thumbs (and a good bit of pressure from other e-reader players), Amazon has finally taken the Kindle international. Aside from being able to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories, the 6-inch device is the same as it ever was. The $279 price tag on the Kindle U.S. & International Wireless now represents a $20 premium over the standard Kindle, which simultaneously fell from $299 to $259 in price and picked up a new label (“Kindle U.S. Wireless”). The extra Jackson is evidently there to cover the inevitable roaming charges that’ll occur when downloading new content overseas, but given AT&T’s extensive global roaming footprint (yeah, the global reader is tied to AT&T, not Sprint), you should be covered in most every nation fit to visit. Feel free to place your pre-order now, and get ready for a new life as a globetrotting digital bookworm come October 19th.

Update: Just saw this in the fine print: “When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items for a fee of $1.99.”

[Thanks, Tom]

Read – Kindle goes international
Read – US Kindle falls to $259

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International Kindle ships October 19 to over 100 countries for $279, ‘US’ edition falls to $259 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 02

Sony outs pink Vaio W, Pocket Reader bundles for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Posted in: Books, e reader, e-readers, Laptops, netbooks, reader, sony, Today's Chili

Sony’s announced it will support Breast Cancer Awareness month by outing two new bundles — and both of them are super pink. The first bundle will include a Berry Pink 10.5-inch Vaio W with an Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive, plus a matching sleeve and mouse. The second bundle will include the special edition Rose Pocket Edition reader with a gold clutch case, plus download codes for four e-books. Sony has said it will donate $110,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in conjunction with October sales for these bundles. The Vaio W bundle will run you $499, while the reader bundle is $199. Both can be ordered now at Sony Style.

[Via Slashgear]

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Sony outs pink Vaio W, Pocket Reader bundles for Breast Cancer Awareness Month originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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