Barnes and Noble Nook Ebook Reader

Ebook Reader - Barnes and Noble Nook Ebook Reader Launch

With Ebook Readers popping up like mushrooms it is hardly surprising that Barnes and Noble, one of the biggest booksellers in the world, should decide to get in on the act. They have created an ebook reader which they have chosen to call the Nook, and which will be a direct competitor to the amazingly successful Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader and the Sony Reader.

The nook will be based on the Android platform and should be on sale on November 30, at cost of US$259. It will include Wi-Fi and AT&T 3G wireless connectivity, a 6" E-Ink display (which makes the screen look like paper), plus a smaller separate color touchscreen to be used as the primary input device.

The nook is the first ebook reader based on the Android platform and features a MicroSD expansion slot for extra storage. One significant innovative feature of the nook that the Kindle Ebook Reader does not have is the "LendMe" feature. Publishers license some books for sharing, these ebooks can be lent once by the person buying it for up to two weeks. As often seems to be the case the nook is a US-only device.

It also features a built-in WiFi adapter, allowing free access to AT&T-powered hotspots in B&N retail stores.

It does not however have the Kindle's text-to-speech tools and the battery life is 10 days, compared with 14 days for the Kindle.

The nook Ebook Reader can store around 1,500 books and 17,000 books can be stored using the extra memory card supplied free with the nook. The nook eBook reader features 2GB of hard disk memory. You also have access to 1 million books using the nook, so if you read 1 a day you will be able to get through them all in just 2740 years! Pretty neat eh ?

According to Wired the Nook makes the Kindle look old-fashioned.

Home : Ebook Reader
See also : Onyx Ebook Reader

Kindle for PC Application Launched

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader for PC Application Launched

Amazon has launched its new Ebook Reader Kindle for PC application that allows you to read Kindle books on your computer in colour. You can download e-books even if you don't have an Ebook Reader. The application also synchronises automatically with your Kindle, so you can continue reading your handheld device from the page you finished on. Any bookmarks and notes on your Kindle are also synchronised.

The application is designed with Windows 7 in mind, and lets you use the new touchscreen features such as pinching your fingers to zoom in and out.

The beta version is available now.

Amazon is no doubt pulling out the stops in preparation for Christmas when it expects to make a whole load of money from Kindle Ebook Reader and Ebook sales - but it is not without its competitors. The latest store to announce an Ebook Reader being Barnes and Noble with its Nook .

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See also : Onyx Ebook Reader

Plastic Logic QUE Ebook Reader

Ebook Reader - Plastic Logic To Launch the QUE Ebook Reader

As Amazon announces a cut-down but more expensive version of the Kindle for the UK (we like paying more for things in the UK), Plastic Logic has today revealed that it will be unveiling the QUE in January 2010, at CES, which they describe as the first proReader for business professionals.

I thought Kindle was a pretty dumb name for a gadget, well IMHO Plastic Logic have gone one step further with the Que, in the UK at least. Que ? Has entered the language of just around everyone in the UK ever since Manuel in Fawlty Towers for whom que ? was the sign of his total lack of comprehension of anything that was happening. So an odd choice of name.

Apart from that, Plastic Logic says it is expanding the eReader category, from consumer leisure devices to lighten the load of the modern businessperson.

In addition to everything the Kindle does the QUE will also support the document formats business users need (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc.).

“QUE enhances business performance and gives you a competitive edge. More than an eReader, QUE means business.”

The QUE will be ultra thin, lightweight and wireless-enabled, and measure 8.5 x 11 inch, and be less than a 1/3 inch thick.

It will have the largest screen in the industry and an intuitive touch screen user interface.

It will also feature a shatterproof plastic display which along with E Ink Vizplex® technology will provide an "outstanding reading experience". The battery can also last days, instead of hours.

The QUE will provide wireless downloads via Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 3G network.

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See also : Onyx Ebook Reader

Kindle Ebook Reader Too Expensive

Ebook Readers - Kindle Too Expensive Says Expensive Survey

The Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader is an excellent device - Oprah was right ! But Oprah is rolling in cash. According to a recent study by Forrester ebook readers are way overpriced - current prices vary between $199 and $489. But most potential customers see this price as being far too high - the price most would be willing to pay is between $50 and $99.

This price is difficult to achieve for the simple reason that the e-ink display itself costs $60. If this price doesn't come down then ebook reader manufacturers may well start looking around for new suppliers.

According to the survey 2 million ebook readers will be sold in 2009 which will make 3 million users in total. But Amazon would sell a lot more if they brought the price down to a more reasonable $50 ! Hardly rocket science.

Apparently the first wave of Kindle owners were high-earning male and optimists but the next wave will be more likely females who read a lot but buy fewer of their books online.

This will be bad news for Amazon but good news for consumer electronics manufacturers like Sony, retailers like Wal-Mart, and publishers like Harlequin, which target these customers with eBook subscription services.

One great irony of the study is that if you want to read the whole thing it will cost you more than the Kindle ebook reader itself. The whole text of the study is available from Forrester for $499 ! May I suggest that if it were at $50 it would get a lot more customers ?

See also : Onyx Ebook Reader

Kindle iPhone Ebook Reader App

Kindle Ebook Reader - Amazon Launches iPhone Application for Ebooks

Amazon Kindle for iPhone and iTouch Application

Amazon has launched a free Kindle for iPhone application in the iPhone App Store for use on iPhones and iTouches that will allow users to buy and download ebooks without the need to but a Kindle Ebook Reader. They have made all 240,000 Kindle ebooks available on the smaller devices. This deal, which is probably not the last of its type, has been expected since Amazon announced that the Kindle 2 would include "Whispersync" that enables users to read the same book on a number of different ebook readers and devices.

Amazon VP Ian Freed said "We're really excited to expand the ability for customers to get access to over 240,000 books ... I'm really excited about being able to offer that to customers on other devices. But nothing to talk about today." "I would say it would be coming soon."

Whispersync is a major advance in freeing a Kindle ebook or publication from the confines of the Kindle ebook reader itself but the Kindle 2 nevertheless remains the bset way to read it.

Freed says "Nearly every smartphone available has the development environment and even some phones that are not considered smartphones, have, for example, the ability to develop Java apps, so theoretically any of those platforms is open to anything, whether it's us building a Kindle application or it's ESPN building a sports ticker application. ... There's no limitation on that."

It takes around 5 minutes to go to the iPhone app store and get everything you need to have access to your favourite books

The good thing of course is that you don't have to fork out $359 for a Kindle Ebook Reader. The downside is you don't get the full functionality associated with the Kindle such as e-ink and e-paper but you get most of the features.

For information on alternatives to the Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader see Onyx Boox Ebook Reader and Alternatives to the Kindle Ebook Reader Currently Available

Kindle Ebook Reader Kindle iPhone Ebook readers

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Amazon's Ebook Reader Press Conference

Ebook Readers - New Kindle Ebook Reader Press Conference News

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader Press Conference Highlights

First, some figures : Over 10% of the units Amazon sell are Kindle book sales designed to be read on the Kindle Ebook Reader - an astonishing result, so clearly Amazon are determined to make the most of the Kindle.

The new Kindle Ebook Reader has indeed been slimmed down - it's 0.36-inches thick... the Apple iPhone is 0.48 inches

Kindle 2 - has 7 times more storage than Kindle 1

Strange new feature called Whispersync. You can read a bit on one Kindle then switch to another one and read the rest there -- it keeps your page wirelessly.

Next new feature - the new Ebook Reader reads the text out loud - cool

Next new feature - Stephen King in person live and kicking and reading his story written specially for the Kindle Ebook Reader that is being read from the Kindle and involves the Kindle. Not Kingle's most chilling work apparently, but maybe it gets chillier! It turns out the Kindle in the story has access to other worlds and it's pink - now everyone's going to want a pink Kindle !

Stephen Kingle leaves to applause. Stephen King's Story for the Kindle Ebook Reader is called UR.

Mr Bezos returns to announce the price is $359 - same as the Kindle 1. They want to put every book ever made onto the Kindle ! That's a lot of books a lot of ebooks and a lot of Ebook Readers too no doubt !

USA Today is latest newspaper avaiable on the Kindle Ebook Reader. New Yorker, too. Also new blogs like Gizmodo - you can put your own blog on the Kindle too - details from Amazon - another way of how to make money blogging so I will need to look into it.

The Kindle Ebook Reader 2 can be pre-ordered - will ship on Feb. 24

Special for Kindle 1 owners - if they order before midnight tonight (EST presumably) their order will be prioritized - anyone who hasn't received their Kindle 1 yet will be upgraded to Kindle 2.


See also : Onyx Boox Ebook Reader

Are Ebook Readers Worth It

Ebook Readers - Why Bother With a Kindle Ebook Reader?

Ebook Readers

Are ebook readers any good or any use? You may be wondering whether you should join the over 500,000 other people who have already bought an ebook reader. Well generally speaking, people find that once they have got an ebook reader (ebook readers make nice presents too!) they soon discover that it has become indispensable!

Especially for people who travel a lot or are out of the house a lot an ebook reader (in particular the Kindle with its wireless capabilites) really is indispensbale. Some ebook readers may not look nice, but it is the sheer usefulness and practicality of portable book readers that win the argument.

Your ebook reader will quickly reveal itself to be more useful than your laptop, your cell phone or your iPod and if they incorporate a cell phone into your ebook reader - which is not beyond the realms of possibility - then it will be even more indispensable, as you will dispense with your cellphone instead.

The unique sales point of an ebook reader is that you always have access to the documents, books or newspaper you need thanks to its 2GB SD card. You therefore do not have to carry around piles of heavy books and newspapers, they are already starting to make ebook readers available to students.

If you need access to reports or manuals you either have them directly stored already in your ebook reader or, if it is a wireless ebook reader (like the Kindle) then you can download it in just minutes or seconds.

If you just want to relax you can have any nuumber of 'proper' books loaded on your ebook reader or you can download the latest best-sellers wirelessly for less than the price of the printed book.

This all applies to the USA only of course but eventually people eleswhere will be invited to join the ebook reader party which will of course swell Amazon's coffers even more. Did I mentioned that Amazon shares might make a good long-term investment ?

The Kindle 2 ebook reader is expected to be announced tomorrow (Monday Feb. 9) and it is rumoured the price will still be high. But hey that's business, with the Kindle proving so popular why would they bring the price down, just be grateful if they don't put it up.

The Kindle Version 2 will be thinner and sleeker, to entice in the Apple cult no doubt. There is also the Onyx Boox Ebook Reader to consider.