Hasta La Gadget!

It’s about that time, folks. And by “about that time,” we mean “time for Sony to release another round of Readers.” If you’ll recall, the outfit dumped a few on us last year right around this time, and the sleuths over at Sony Insider have dug up information that they purport to be true about Sony’s next Reader duo. Reportedly, the outfit is gearing up to reveal the PRS-350 and PRS-650, each of which will boast E Ink displays and be thinner / more longevous compared to the existing PRS-600 and PRS-300. It’s bruited that they’ll be under 10mm thick, while the 650 will boast a 6-inch display and the 350 a 5-inch panel. We should also see a bump from 512MB to 2GB in terms of internal storage space (at least on the 650), and we wouldn’t be shocked to find both 3G and WiFi support on the higher end of the two. As for software? We’re told that the Reader UI will be refaced somewhat, and the note-taking program in the PRS-600 will find its way onto the lower-end PRS-350. Mum’s the word on pricing, but it shouldn’t be too long before all that gets cleared up — think it over good, Sony. We’ve got options, you know.

Sony Reader PRS-350 and PRS-650 rumored for release, 3G teased for the latter originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS just dumped Windows Embedded Compact 7 for Android for its lower-end tablet devices, and CEO Jerry Shen is passing along the savings. He’s pledging that the 10-inch Eee Pad EP101TC, due to ship in March, will cost under $399 — and if the Notion Ink Adam is any indication that means it’ll be $398. Then there’s the EP121, a 12-inch tablet running Windows 7 that’s positioned rather higher up in the market, as indicated by its $1,000 price tag. Shen says this high cost is due to that docking station able to intriguingly transform it into a laptop when it ships around December or January. Next is yet another Eee Pad due around January, one that will run Windows Embedded Compact 7 on a 10-inch screen and at a price somewhere south of $499. Finally, there’s the grayscale Eee Tablet e-reader thing, formerly rumored to be under $599 but now priced at a solid $300 and, supposedly, shipping in October. Surely we’re mere months away from tablet saturation at this point.

ASUS prices 10-inch Android Eee Pad under $399, 8-inch Eee Tablet at $300, other tablets too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember when hotels used to slip in a copy of USA Today or the Wall Street Journal under the door every morning?

Now, some are going digital and offering e-readers to their guests. Ten Fairmont hotels in the U.S. and Canada will give guests a Kobo e-reader when they check-in, for use during their stay.

The Kobo will be pre-loaded with a selection of fiction and non-fiction books from Random House. Guests who check-out a Kobo will also be able to access free books from the Kobo bookstore.

“Travelers do not want to carry heavy books in their luggage and vacations provide the perfect time to relax and catch up on reading,” says Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo in a statement. “This partnership allows Kobo to expand our reach and offer our service to an important segment of our customer base.”

The $150 Kobo e-reader has a 6-inch black-and-white E Ink display and launched in March. It is currently available at Borders book stores in the U.S. When Kobo made its debut, it gathered attention because it was much cheaper than the Kindle. But since then, Amazon has cut price on the Kindle with a Wi-Fi only version of the Kindle for $140.

Giving hotel guests a Kobo to play with is an experiment worth watching. Newspapers such as USA Today tapped into hotels successfully to increase their reach and circulation. The same could happen for digital books and e-readers. Those consumers who haven’t had a chance to try e-readers could play with one at a hotel and see if they are comfortable with digital books. And if they do like the experience, they are likely to want the same device they tried, which should be good news for Kobo.

The downside is that the Kobo e-reader at the hotel may not have the books you want.

And as with the bathrobe and the alarm clock in the room, your credit card will be billed if you walk away with the device.

See Also:

• Foxit eSlick E-Reader Nears its End
• 5 Things That Will Make E-Readers Better in 2010
• E-Readers Will Survive the Onslaught of Tablets
• Plastic Logic Que E-Reader Turns Into Vaporware
• Gallery: E-Readers Push Boundaries of Books

Photo: Kobo (jivedanson/Flickr)

And just like that, with the swing of a virtual axe, she’s all dead and buried. Plastic Logic has been stuck in a world of perpetual delays ever since wowing the universe with its QUE ProReader at CES, and rather than delaying it again, the company is simply cutting its losses and moving on. To quote CEO Richard Archuleta: “We recognize the market has dramatically changed, and with the product delays we have experienced, it no longer make sense for us to move forward with our first generation electronic reading product.” To that end, the company plans to “shift its focus to bring to market a second-generation ProReader plastic electronics-based product,” but absolutely no details regarding form factor, pricing or an estimated ship date are given. Wilder still, those rumors about a company sale have coincidentally (or not?) flared up again, with the Financial Times stating this go ’round that Plastic Logic could sell a “significant stake” of itself to Rusnano, a Russian state-owned nanotechnology corporation. We’re told that the two are currently “in discussions,” and that if a deal is reached, Plastic Logic’s production facility for this elusive next-gen product would have to be based in Russia. We can’t say we’re completely shocked at the outcome here, but we’re man enough to shed a tear at our loss. Rest easy, QUE — at least we had our times.

Continue reading Plastic Logic kills QUE, ‘shifts focus’ to second-generation ProReader

Plastic Logic kills QUE, ‘shifts focus’ to second-generation ProReader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just over a year ago, we reviewed Amazon’s jumbo-sized Kindle, the Kindle DX. And just a few weeks ago, Amazon outed a new, $379 Graphite gray version of the DX. This time, it’s got the new Pearl display from E Ink, which supposedly boasts a much higher contrast ratio and a faster page refresh rate over its predecessor. Other than that, you’re looking at pretty much the same unit as before, and if you like a large e-reader, that’s probably a good thing. Read on for our full impressions of the device.

Continue reading Amazon Kindle DX Graphite review

Amazon Kindle DX Graphite review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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