Step One: Photograph Kindle.
Step Two: Trace photo to produce vector art.
Step Three: Send the art to the Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories and have them run a chunk of wood through the laser cutter.
Step Four: Admire your new, wooden Kindling.
Step Five: Burn.
Introducing Kindling, the Wireless Wooden Reading Device! [Cockeyed]
Amazon has decided to allow all bloggers to publish their blogs to the Kindle and charge users for reading their content on the popular e-book reader.
Kindle delivers not just books and newspapers but also blogs. So far, Amazon has offered a limited selection of blogs on the device. But now it is democratizing the platform.
Any blogger can sign up for the company’s ‘Kindle Publishing for Blogs‘ beta program and set up an account to participate. Bloggers just have to made their feed available to Amazon’s website and the company will translate it into a Kindle friendly format.
Amazon hasn’t made clear how much bloggers can charge for their blogs but it will split revenue from the subscriptions with the individual publishers. Currently most blogs on the Kindle charge $2 for subscription. Amazon has said individual publishers will get 30 percent of the revenue, with 70 percent going to the company.
Unless Amazon can drop the price of blogs subscription to a few cents, it is not clear why users would pay to read individual blogs on the Kindle that they can otherwise access for free through their computers or smartphones. Would you pay to read a blog on the Kindle? Tell us in the comments.
See also:
Kindle DX Leads to Buyer’s Remorse for some Kindle 2 Users
Kindle 2’s Fuzzy Fonts Have Users Seeing Red
Wired Review of Amazon Kindle 2
Kindle Readers Ignite Protest Over E-Book Prices
Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com
Remember that time Sony invented the portable music player? But then refused to embrace the MP3 format? And wound up getting burned by Apple when the iPod came out?
Sony certainly remembers.
After years of trial and error with various substandard on-the-go media players, Sony is finally flexing its competitive muscle with the Series-X: an OLED-flaunting, Slacker-enabled, web-browsing, noise-canceling device proudly flying under the banner of “Walkman.”
Sony dropped off an early build of the X Tuesday. Here are our impressions after fiddling with it for the last 12 hours. Keep in mind that this isn’t a full test; these are just our initial reactions after playing with hardware that’s not 100 percent fully baked yet.
The Hardware
Typical Sony (i.e., freaking nice). It looks like a Danger Mouse–style mashup between a Microsoft Zune and an iPod Touch. Flanking the sides are controls for volume and noise canceling. Noise canceling is actually handled by the included earbuds — you can just switch the feature on and off from the body of the device.
The 3-inch touchscreen is by far the X’s best feature. Brilliant, colorful, and OLED-based, it’s also super-duper sensitive. I’m talking iPhone levels of sensitivity. I hate, hate, hate comparing every touchscreen-based electronic device we handle to an iPhone or iPod, but they represent the gold standard for touch-based input. And the X-series can hang with any Cupertino device in terms of touch sensitivity.
The User Interface
The menus are set up in a logical grid. Icons let you access Slacker, the FM radio, YouTube, still images, the video player, music, noise canceling options, podcasts, the Web browser and the X’s internal settings. If you want to select something, merely touch it, the icon illuminates, and a small bubble pops up above it and indicates the application you’re selecting. Input ambiguity? There really is none. Provided you’re not typing a URL. (We’ll get to that later.)
Music Player
You can sort by song, artist, genre, release year, playlist or file folder. You can also link individual tracks on Yahoo One Search or YouTube for videos. I immediately brought up Ice Ice Baby on the device, linked it to YouTube, and within seconds was watching Robert Van Winkler prance about in a black-and-silver-sequined power suit.
Slacker!
Most intriguing of all the features on the phone is the inclusion of the Slacker software. For those of you unfamiliar with the service, it’s a lot like Last.FM or Pandora. You get a 30-day free trial before you have to register. You manage your stations from a PC first, then mix and listen to them with the Slacker software.
Podcasts
We were able to get onto podcast.com and eventually download both the Gadget Lab podcast and the Wired Playlist audio podacst. It took a little bit of poking around (podcast.com has a terrible search function) but we were able to do it within a few minutes.
FM Radio
I’m not sure why this is necessary, since there’s a Web browser in place. Want to listen to NPR? Go to npr.com.
Web Browser
Meh. Not so hot. The browser frequently resizes web pages in odd ways and doesn’t display graphics effectively. What’s more irksome is entering URLs. Typing text into the URL bar is painstaking, typo-prone and tedious.
File Support
MP3, WMA, AAC/L-PCM + Video, AVC(H.264/AVC), MPEG-4, WMV DRM
What We Think
I like the damn thing. While it’s not as polished as an iPod, it’s certainly more smartly assembled than the oafish Zune. What’s better, it has a few features the iPod Touch doesn’t: Slacker service, physical buttons, integrated noise canceling. What’s worse, though, is a web browser that’s fairly crappy. Inputting text is frustrating and error-prone, and the battery doesn’t seem to last more than five hours of continuous use.
Overall, this is a nicely appointed, well-featured device. I’m just surprised there isn’t a phone built into it somewhere.
The X-series Walkman is available for pre-sale now and will start shipping in the middle of June.
UPDATE: Prices will be $299 for 16GB and $399 for 32GB.
Scroll down for the full spec list from the Sony press release.
Photos by Jon Snyder/ Wired.com
Sony X-series Walkman®
A slim noise-canceling video MP3 player
Product Bullets:
• OLED Video experience with a high quality 3” wide display (WQVGA)
• Incredible sound quality with digital clear audio technologies, S-Master™ digital amplifier and digital noise canceling with airplane, train, bus and office mode
• New content experience: Podcast download, YouTube™ streaming, Yahoo!® search, Music Meta Link, Slacker® Personal Radio
• Multi Audio/Video Codec support: Music – MP3/WMA/AAC/L-PCM and Video – AVC(H.264/AVC)/MPEG-4/WMV DRM
• Hybrid Operation system allows you touch panel & buttons operation
• 13.5 mm Noise Canceling EX Headphones included MDR-NC020
• FM Tuner
Key Features:
• Quality of Sound: Digital clear audio technologies, S-Master™ digital amplifier, digital noise canceling function with Noise Canceling EX headphones (MDR-NC20)
• Discover Music: Slacker® radio offers free personalized music that uploads to your Walkman® player when the player is connected to a wireless LAN and when you are in a WiFi zone (Slacker registration is required after 30 days).
• OLED Display: OLED technology has a response time suitable for movie playback. A wide viewing angle of nearly 180 degrees gives consistent tone and stable contrast, as well as, a wide range of color reproduction and a high contrast ratio.
• Hybrid Operation: The benefit of both “touch panel” and “button” operation makes the X series easy to use while using its different features.
• Internet Connectivity:
o Podcast download, register podcast on browser and link to podcast web site
o “Related Links” function relates web content with music content playing on your Walkman® X series
o Connect directly to “YouTube™” and “Yahoo!®”
o Internet Browser
o Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connectivity to Home Wireless LAN and to public Wireless LAN. Supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup
• Drag and Drop Functionality: Easily load your music, pictures, and video onto this player by dragging and dropping them into the video MP3 player on your computer.
• Multiple High-quality Video Formats: This player supports multiple high-quality video formats as well as a variety of audio codecs, giving you more freedom to download the kind of music and video that you want.
• Long Battery Life: Equipped with a long-lasting battery that enables you to listen to up to 33 hours of music and watch up to 9 hours of video without needing to recharge.
Audio
• Antenna System: FM: Headphone Cord Antenna
• Audio Power Output: 5 + 5mW
• Equalizer: 5 Band: Heavy/Pop/Jazz/Unique/Custom1/Custom2
• Format(s) Supported: Audio: MP3/WMA/AAC/L-PCM, Video: AVC(H.264/AVC)/MPEG-4/WMV DRM
• Frequency Range: 87.5 to 108.0 MHz
• Frequency Response: 20 – 20,000Hz
• Tuner: Yes – FM
Audio Features
• Sound Mode : 5 Band equalizer (Heavy/Pop/Jazz/Unique/Custom 1/Custom 2) and Clear Bass
• Surround Effect : DSEE (on/off)
Capability
• MP3 Player : Yes
• Radio : Yes
Convenience Features
• Multiple Language Display : English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Russian/Japanese/Simplified Chinese/Traditional Chinese/Korean/Portuguese
• Search Features : All Songs/Album/Artist/Genre/Release Year/Playlists/Folder
Display
• Screen Size : 3.0” WIDE OLED Display (WQVGA)
General
• Music Storage Capacity (Approx) : 16GB or 32GB
• Recommended Use : Music/Video/Photo/FM/Podcast/Internet Browser/YouTube
Hardware
• Display : 3-inch, OLED color display, WQVGA (432 x 240 Pixels), 262,144 colors
• Headphone Type : MDR-NC020
• System Requirements : Computer: IBM PC/AT or compatible computer preinstalled with the following Windows operating systems: – Windows® XP Home Edition (Service Pack 2 or later) – Windows® XP Professional (Service Pack 2 or later) – Windows Vista® Home Basic (Service Pack 1 or later) – Windows Vista® Home Premium (Service Pack 1 or later) – Windows Vista® Business (Service Pack 1 or later) – Windows Vista® Ultimate (Service Pack 1 or later) Excluding OS Versions not supported by Microsoft. Excluding Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition. Excluding 64-bit OS versions for use with PC application software “Media Manager for Walkman”.
Inputs and Outputs
• Headphone Jack : Yes
• Headphone Output(s) : 1 (stereo mini jack)
Memory
• Memory Size : 16GB or 32GB
• User Memory Capacity (Approx.) : Flash
Power
• Battery Charging (Approx) : USB-based charging Approx. 3 Hrs(full charge), Approx. 1.5 Hrs(approx. 80%)
• Power Type : Built-in Rechargeable Li-ion Battery USB power (from a computer via the supplied USB cable)
System Requirements
• Internet Connection : Yes (wi-fi)
Video
• Playback : Mode: Normal/Repeat/Shuffle/Shuffle&Repeat/Repeat 1 Song
Video Features
• JPEG Playback : Yes
Weights and Measurements
• Dimensions (Approx.) : W 2 1/8 x H 3 7/8 x D 13/32 inches
• Weight (Approx.) : 3.5 oz
Supplied Accessories
• CD-ROM (”Window’s Media Player 11″, “Media Manager for Walkman”, “Content Transer”,” Operation Guide”)
• Earbud headphones (S,M,L)
• Quick Start Guide
• USB Cable
• Attachment
• Audio input cable
• Plug adapter for in-flight use (single/dual)
Apple equals quality, Microsoft equals cheap. This is the apparent message from the recent flurry of MS ads, all of which focus on price. This time it’s iTunes, and the fact that — if you own an iPod Classic and only buy music from iTunes and don’t ever put any podcasts or movies on there — filling an iPod costs $30,000. Buying a monthly Zune Pass, however, only costs $15 per month. Until the DRM gets switched off and you’re left with nothing, we guess.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have thirty grand laying around for music.
That is correct, Microsoft Ad Man. That’s because you have only sold two or three Zunes. This is terrible, and makes the Zune look way worse than the capable (but brown) music player it is. And Pete Mortensen over at the Cult of Mac makes a great point: “I had a music collection long before the iPod existed.”
Latest Zune Commercial Claims It Costs $30,000 to Fill An iPod [Cult of Mac]
Real gadget heads know the pitfalls of being an early adopter: The products can be expensive, sometimes buggy and easily rendered obsolete as a result of an upgrade. Now some Amazon Kindle 2 buyers are finding this out for themselves as they try to return their newly acquired Kindle 2 in favor of the larger sized Kindle DX.
“If I was aware that there would be an upgraded product announced less than two months and after I received my Kindle–and that would be better for my needs — I would have postponed the purchase of the product,” says Rachel Swartz, who bought her Kindle 2 e-book reader two weeks after it was released in February. Swartz is now battling with Amazon to exchange her Kindle 2 for the Kindle DX.
Amazon introduced the broadsheet Kindle DX reader last week. The new product comes less than three months after the company launched Kindle 2, an improved version of the original Kindle reader. The Kindle DX has a screen that measures 9.7 inches diagonally — two-and-a-half times the size of the current-gen Kindle 2 — and is targeted at readers who want to use the device to access magazines, newspapers and textbooks.
But, as Swartz found out, Amazon does not offer an upgrade path for Kindle 2 users who now covet the latest release. “They have been basically stonewalling all my attempts for the last few days to find a way to exchange the Kindle 2,” she says. “This is not right. It’s not the way early adopters should be punished.”
There is one loophole in the system. Kindle 2 buyers can use the company’s standard electronics returns policy to send their devices back. Amazon allows for a 30-day return on electronics purchases, says a Amazon spokesman in an emailed statement.
Ryan Meeks, who bought his Kindle 2 within the last 30 days, is one of those lucky users who can get an exchange. Meeks has sent his Kindle 2 back — no questions asked — and has instead placed a pre-order for the Kindle DX.
“I have glasses and a bigger screen was a major factor for me,” says Meeks. “I also liked the fact that the Kindle DX changes from landscape to portrait mode when the device is rotated.”
Meeks doesn’t mind paying the additional dollars for the Kindle DX, which costs $480 compared to the $360 for the Kindle 2. And he’s understanding of Amazon’s reluctance to offer an upgrade path for Kindle 2 users. “Ultimately they are two different products though many people don’t really understand the difference,” he says. “Beyond the bigger screen, Amazon hasn’t done a good job of explaining how the two products are different.”
Still, says Meeks, the company should try to offer a way out for unhappy Kindle 2 users. “If I were Amazon, I would do well to make sure early adopters are happy,” he says. “The early buyers are the influential users.”
Meeks suggests Amazon take a leaf out of Apple MobileMe’s playbook. “I was an early user of MobileMe and it had a lot of problems,” he says. “But ultimately Apple gave us a lot of extras and I am glad I use MobileMe now. That may be something there for Amazon to learn from.”
Amazon isn’t shipping the Kindle DX yet. The product is expected to be available this summer.
See also:
Kindle 2’s Fuzzy Fonts Have Users Seeing Red
Wired Review of Amazon Kindle 2
Kindle Readers Ignite Protest Over E-Book Prices
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
I love it when musicians dork out with their gadgets, and the video above demonstrates you can still be a one-man act even with five devices — with the help of a Belkin Rockstar multi-headphone splitter. To create the catchy loop, this hardware DJ ran various music apps on a Nintendo DS, a DSi, an iPhone, an iPod Touch and a Kaossilator. Seems like a complicated setup, but a fun bonding moment for your gadgets.
Via Gearcrave
See Also:
E Ink, the company whose displays power almost all the major e-book readers, has released a new line of its broadsheet prototype kits aimed at developers. The AM-300 kit offers a 9.7-inch display and comes on the heels of the launch of Amazon’s larger sized Kindle e-book reader Kindle DX Wednesday .
The latest kit allows companies to experiment around E Ink’s display and build their own prototype readers.”With the success of e-books, there is lot of interest in e-newspapers,” says Sri Peruvemba, vice president of marketing for E Ink. “We have had every major publisher talk to us about our displays and many large equipment manufacturers are getting into the space.”
E Ink’s experiments with similar kits has paid off in the past. Last year it launched the AM300 series kit targeted at product designers and hobbyists who want hands-on access to its e-books reader sized display technology. The kits offered buyers a production sample of a glass-based display, a display controller and all the hardware and software necessary to produce a fully functional e-reader. Though most of the kits priced at $3000 each were bought by companies looking to create Kindle competitors, a few enthusiasts hacked it to run a browser and some Linux applications.
E Ink’s new Broadsheet AM 300 kit has a resolution of 150 pixels per inch and can display multiple shades of gray giving readers the clarity of newsprint, says the company. The kit includes a display module, a Linux x86 operating environment, E Ink API software for Broadsheet, various sample images, open source software drivers and applications including support for MMC cards, Bluetooth and USB. The kits will start shipping by the end of the month.
See also:
For $3K, You Can Build Your Own Kindle Killer
Photo: Broadsheet AM 300 Kit/ E Ink
Amazon will have to do much more than enlarge its Kindle to increase the e-reader’s appeal to college students.
Announced Wednesday, the Kindle DX features a 9.7-inch screen geared toward displaying textbooks for college students. However, many students polled by Wired.com on Twitter listed various reasons for why the DX would fail to replace their mountains of textbooks. Their complaints ranged from the reader’s $500 price tag to the DX being inconvenient for study habits.
“I’d need five Kindles just to hold a single thought while writing essays,” said Marius Johannessen, who is studying for his master’s in information systems at University of Agder. “Books work just fine.”
Amazon is investing high hopes in its Kindle e-book reader, with dreams of spearheading a paperless revolution. It’s unclear just how close Amazon is to actualizing this dream, as the company has declined to release official sales numbers of the reader, which debuted late 2007. However, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, said in February that the Kindle makes up 10 percent of the e-book market, and Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney estimated 500,000 Kindles were sold over 2008. So that would suggest 5 million e-readers were sold over 2008 — still a small market relative to the tech industry.
With the DX, Amazon is aiming to expand its e-book presence by targeting two major print industries — newspapers and textbooks. The textbook industry, worth $9.8 billion, is going to be tough to crack, because there are so many ways thrifty students obtain their books: University stores often offer used books, book-trading programs and sometimes even textbook rentals. Other than specification details and the product’s price, Amazon did not disclose sales strategies for e-textbooks.
Tech strategist Michael Gartenberg said a viable e-textbook business model would be the DX’s main challenge in appealing to students.
“You can’t introduce technology like this, which has got a lot of breakthrough things associated with it, and expect it to be business as usual,” Gartenberg said. “The reason the iPod worked was not only did it introduce new technology, but it introduced a new business model for the technology as well.”
Indiana University business student Chandler Berty told Wired.com he would consider a Kindle DX if e-books cost less than used physical textbooks. He added, however, that college students already carry laptops, which are superior to the Kindle, rendering the reader unnecessary.
“Two devices = fail,” Berty said.
Students pointed out plenty of other issues about the DX to Wired.com. For instance, students often loan textbooks to one another, and currently that’s not practical with a Kindle, as you’d have to loan your entire reader and library. Also, the beauty of paper textbooks is the ability to highlight sentences, underline keywords and keep all of them open at once. While the Kindle does have highlight and notes tools, the reader is sluggish with performance, and the keyboard is unnatural and clunky to type on.
However, it’s too soon to say how Amazon’s DX will fare on campuses, as the students polled by Wired.com had mixed opinions. Overall, 19 students replied to our query via Twitter, five of whom said they would definitely purchase a DX, seven who said no and seven who said maybe.
“Law students are waiting for Kindle books!” said Twitter user “SoCaliana.” “We have so many books to carry around. I couldn’t find my texts on CD or anything!”
We can expect Amazon to cook up some interesting sales models after it completes DX pilot programs with Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, the University of Virginia and Pace university. Meanwhile, let’s get the brainstorming started. What would you suggest for e-textbook sales strategies, readers? Here’s an idea: Selling e-textbooks by individual chapters as opposed to complete books, since most classes don’t read textbooks in entirety anyway. That would certainly cut costs.
See Also:
Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
ThinkGeek is selling Sega Dreamcasts for $99 a pop. Frikkin’ Dreamcasts! Better yet, they’re brand new and in the box, and “arrived mysteriously at our warehouse… delivered by a blue hedgehog.”
For many, the Dreamcast was the best console ever, and its premature death solidified the sentiment, in a kind of Marilyn Monroe/James Dean fit of rose-tinted nostalgia. It did, though, have the excellent Virtua Fighter, although Sonic was pretty much dead at that point.
It was actually a pretty forward-looking console, although a look at the contents of the box gives us a curiously retro-shiver:
Web Browser 2.0 is a fantastic name, by the way. If you want one of these, order now — the last batch sold out almost immediately. $99 plus $15 for a second controller, no games included.
Product page [ThinkGeek]
NEW YORK — In the gadget world, smaller is usually better, but not so for Amazon’s Kindle. Unveiled Wednesday, the large-format Kindle DX is even more of a pleasure to hold and read than its smaller predecessor, but its flaws are still aplenty.
Amazon launched its next-generation e-reader here Wednesday. With a screen that measures 9.7 inches diagonally — two-and-a-half times the size of the current-gen Kindle 2 — the DX is aimed squarely at penetrating for the first time the $9.8 billion textbook market, as well offering some life support for the struggling business of subscription-based electronic newspapers.
UPDATE 10:30 a.m. PDT: Wired.com got an early peek at the device during the event. Scroll down for our hands-on report and closeup photos of the Kindle DX.
In its product launch, hosted by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon announced partnerships with three major textbook publishers representing 60 percent of the higher-education market. Five universities — Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, the University of Virginia, and Pace — have agreed to test the Kindle DX with their students. Bezos also announed that three newspapers — The New York Times, the NYTimes Co.-owned Boston Globe and The Washington Post — will offer a reduced price on the Kindle DX in exchange for a long-term subscription.
“A particular class of book that shines with this display is textbooks,” said Bezos. “We’re going to get students with smaller backpacks, less load.”
Among the new features are an auto-rotating screen, technology iPhone users will be familiar with, and a native PDF reader, finally adding support in that ubiquitous digital format.
The device measures one-third of an inch thick. Its 9.7-inch screen offers 1200 x 824 pixels at 150 dpi, and 16 levels of gray (like the Kindle 2). The screen is held within a plastic housing that measures 10.4 inches tall by 7.2 inches wide; the unit weighs about 1 pound 3 ounces. Like the two earlier Kindles, the Kindle DX has wireless download capabilities via the Sprint EVDO network.
It contains about 3.3GB of usable memory for storing books, and can display or play a wide variety of text and document formats — including, significantly, at least three open formats: PDF, MP3 and TXT.
Shipping this summer, the Kindle DX costs $490 and is available for pre-order from Amazon.com.
Read on for our impressions and more photos of the DX. Continue Reading…
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
