Oh, come now, like you thought the
world's largest book retailer (online) -- which just started peddling digital video under the
Unbox brand -- wasn't going to go head to head with
Sony's Reader on an e-book device and service? Say hello to the Amazon Kindle, their take on a book reader device that comes equipped with a 6-inch 800 x 600 display (which we can only assume is e-ink), 256MB internal storage, smallish two-thumb keyboard cursor bar, scroll wheel, standard mini USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, SD slot, and get this: EV-DO data! (Don't believe us? The spec sheet is after the break. Why do you think it was in the FCC?) The user manual also outlines the Kindle Store on Amazon (though doesn't spec out too many details), but we're a little less concerned with how we're getting these supposed e-books right now, and a little more curious about the price and launch. C'mon Amazon, we've got the dirt, now how's about you fill in the details?
posted Sep 11th 2006 11:57AM
This reader uses e-ink which means that it does not have light in the screen; you will need external light to see it. It uses power only when it writes on the screen then the image stay on the screen without consuming any power. This is great because the battery will last long and it feels like real paper than a computer screen. Good for your eye.
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if the kindle is so hot why dosent amazon digital have any to ship out to consumers
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wow, what a product! i bought myself one early this year from http://www.getamazonkindle.com and I have read more books in 4 months than I have in the past year!
This would be great for students with the textbooks, they are big, heavy and expensive. I am a student in college and am a math major, which means the books are very expensive and heavy. If we students could get books on this it would be very nice, even if the device itself is expensive, it would lower the cost of the books and the weight. There would be no more, "I left my book in the car" or trying to figure out which book to bring to class on which day because they are all so heavy.
The Kindle's limited graphics ability really bothered me when I got my Kindle and moved some photos to it. I had flashbacks to the days of 2 bit graphics, which looked about as good as newspaper photos (older newspaper photos, for over 20 years even those are better than this).
I thought about it and remembered a lot of the things I used to do to prepare graphics for 2 bit, and had some limited success with photos, and GREAT success with others. I also figured out some great ways to prepare graphics for inclusion in an ebook. Lots of posting about this in the Kindle support pages, mainly about graphics being resized.
I did a lot of experimenting and was so happy with the results, I wrote a small ebook on how to prepare graphics for the Kindle using Photoshop (or another graphic editing application.
Look for it on the Amazon site under ASIN: B0018LILMO
I kept the price cheap. If I make enough for a trip for 2 to the movies I'd be happy.
I do hope to pull the book one day because of improvements to e-ink!
Now the generation begins for ebook, a very easy way to drag out the information you want any time, the way you want, and feed it in our brain. Ebook reading is one of them, we can convert any files format to kindle, kindle conversion, with a high resolution quality...
After still not seeing anyone use one (any eBook reader for that matter, except ONE--my friend's Sony), I decided to foot the bill and get it myself.
I found one called a BeBook, looks much better, twice the memory, not proprietary. Cost the same. Wifi coming but not available just yet.
Amazon Kindle Reader Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device We wanted Kindle to be completely mobile and simple to use for everyone, so we made it wireless.
Reading Review By http://www.greencp.com and http://www.greencp.com/kindle/
Prototypes often lack the final "fit and finish" of a cool industrial design with top-notch materials, colors and styling, and there's surely a separate team working on how to make this product look sexy. When they put it all together you'll likely see something that makes your privates hum.
http://hdtvs-reviews.com
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I just got my Amazon Kindle from www.getamazonkindle.com and all I want to say is goodbye to paper!
Good device It is functional and practical, recommend it. And it fits into your suitcase easily. http://www.bestbuycp.com and http://www.bestbuycp.com/amazon-kindle/ Reading Review and Buy Guide.
I think it looks incredibly functionally beautiful. Scooter you comments suggest someone who knows little about what actually is ergonomic versus what looks ergonomic. Hands actually create right angles and flat surfaces -- ever thought why it's easy to hold a book as opposed to a football? I think it suggests a folded book form, and depending on choice of materials, I would guess the photos are probably very deceiving
http://www.cheapestbooks4u.com
The KINDLE is now sold out and is out of stock. There is a waiting list for those wanting to buy.
The consumers have spoken...they don't care what the KINDLE looks like.
I have enjoyed the heck out of mine.
I bought my Amazon Kindle at rollbackcentral.com when Amazon was sold out.
Her eis a decent review:
http://www.helium.com/items/1275753-kindle-ebook-reader-review
A while ago, I helped my son with a reading presentation for school. We found several surprising statistics:
1. about 60% of high school graduates never read another book in their lifetime.
2. about 40% of college graduates never read another book in their lifetime.
3. Most US families have not been in a bookstore in the last 5 years.
4. The average book purchased is never read beyond page 17.
What chance is there that the Kindle will be a commercial success when it can't even produce color pictures? At least magazines have color and might be a good use for a Kindle like device.
Yea, leave it to the &*^%%$# to only have something that can only read Amazon products. What about a reader that can access free books?
The photo does not give the next generation Kindle justice. The new kindle is very slim and extremely easy to read. Many people do not want it as small as an iPhone. The whole idea is that it gives you the feel of reading an actual book http://www.bookbender.com
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This thing looks like its from the 80's and should have Texas Instruments on it.
That is insulting to Texas Instruments and my TI-83 calculator.
I just hope it works with content that is not from Amazon. Most of these have been crippled with DRM. I'm OK if it supports DRM, but I'd want it to also support non-DRM stuff.
It doesn't. It only reads DRM signed content from amazon
If Amazon began offering all of their books for this reader at a significant discount (say 3 to 5 dollars - no manufacturing costs, no shipping costs) I'd buy one (or a compatible reader) as soon as they offer it.
Who knew Tandy was still around?
Yeah, but can it play Pong?
Too bad Amazon doesn't have books (except for the same public domain titles everyone has)..They have publishers books. Only the smallest part of any book is the printing and binding, the same real costs of overhead and royalties (for author and agent) will still drive ebooks prices too high.
Does it come with a deal on a dot matrix printer?
Hulk love 80's!!! Hulk buy to play missile command!!
I think this product qualifies as "Engadget's Most Laughable Product Of The Year", it looks like something my high schools science lab would have owned about fifteen years ago. I would be embarrassed to be seen in public with this joke...........
The device looks ugly as hell, but it does have a lot of appeal...getting digital content should not be a big problem if Amazon is involved...
Ditto on ugly as hell. Yuk. I'll be waiting for something a little slicker looking but it is potentially a good idea. It depends on how unlimited the ebook selection is, and the pricing of the service.
This is proof that someone at amazon had a camera that could take pictures from the future in the 80's, but it 80fieded whatever it saw...
Is this proof of Amazon trying to help the environment? It looks like they've recycled the plastic from ancient PCs. Then again, even if that's the case, there's still no excuse for this thing being so dang hideous.
Youse guys are just judging a ebook reader by its cover.
shenanigans.
there's no way anybody could release anything as fugly as that in this decade...
Looks like something out of Buck Rodgers (TV) or Dr. Who...
I can't remember ever having seen such an ugly device. I like the idea of ebooks and hence just hope that this is not the final design.
NYCPublisher,
Amazon owns Mobipocket so they're probably looking to protect that business. There are some books on there that look to be self-published or at least from non-mainstream publishers. I'm sure part of their future plans involve becoming a publisher.
I'm guessing they make the same amount whether they sell the item electronic or physical. Since Sony's reader will lock you into their drm format Amazon need to do this to sell their drm format.
Wanna bet that Apple will unveil their own eBook a few days after Amazon releases theirs. Apple's will be all screen, no buttons, thin and integrate with iTunes eBook store. Apple's device will display any PDF, text or image file.
Yes and if Apple releases an eBook reader it will also cost at least 3 to 4 times what other eBook readers cost (to maintain Apple's self percieved brand value). You will only be able to use it with a single computer and let's not forget all content will be digital rights managed so no sharing.
It doesn't look all that hot but what counts is how it performs. I know we could use something low cost but with a bulk option for textbooks for our school kids. The cost might be lower than a physical book. right now it's "only four or five students per textbook" I'm not familiar with DRM but I hope that doesn't mean that more "open" formats like Adobe or microsoft's ereader won't work on it. I have a number of books. I bought from Amazon using microsoft's reader format. Too many format's may kill the market.
Why does the ebook reader need speakers?
Following the READ link through, it looks as if somebody got pissed about the leak and demanded the stuff be taken down...
Sure, so it's not too pretty, but if it performs well, it'll sell - that's where all the others have fallen down. And once someone has a decent viable system that does the job on the market, there will be a slew of prettified equivalents in no time. Bring it on...I love my books, but the things are a b*gger to carry. I need an eBook.
How not-ugly can it be? Look at the dimensions; it's about the size of a 150 page paperback, yet it has to have a screen big enough to read on (800x600, vertical format, should just about do it). With electrophoretic display (yes, that's e-ink), it should have excellent battery life as long as you aren't also playing audio continously; storing to flash takes power, but reading it takes little more than reading an EPROM.
It'd be disappointing to see e-books pick up where DVDs have been heading in terms of lock-in, but it's not too unexpected; the manufacturers have forgotten what Gillette knew 80 years ago: you make your money on the consumables, not on the holder.
Prototypes often lack the final "fit and finish" of a cool industrial design with top-notch materials, colors and styling, and there's surely a separate team working on how to make this product look sexy. When they put it all together you'll likely see something that makes your privates hum.
Well, here's the biggest problem... it's too fking small. 6 inch screen? Nein.
That's not even paperback sized. Now, if they got rid of the utterly pointless keyboard, shrunk the other buttons and expanded screen to take up pretty much the whole front side (more like an 8" diag), we'd have something.
It looks thin enough, and I'd like the design assuming my above comments were taken into account. The wedge shape seems reasonably natural and the rubberized back looks smart too.
Of course, my true wishlist includes bookmarking and highlighting functions via touch or pen input and ideally handwriting recognition (even a la palm's old graffiti) for entering search strings and adding annotation. I write in the margins of my books (some of them) and want to do the same on my ebooks.
And I absolutely do not care if it plays mp3s, radio, or anything else, that's what my iPod is for.
I expect I won't enjoy the current generation of eBook readers any more than I enjoyed the last, to my dismay.
If you want something that has handwriting recognition, iRex's iLiad has it right now. It's really nice. I really want one, but the problem is it is way too pricy. I wish these companies would release these in different packages, like I don't want to have to listen to audio. That's what I bought my MP3 player for. I wouldn't use it and use up my battery anyways...and other features like that...or even for the super lowtech, no mp3, no wi-fi. Some people hate this, but if I can't get stuff wirelessly with bluetooth from my compy, why do I care about buying them straight off the web?
I find it interesting and amusing that so many folks are focused on the aesthetics of this device. Undoubtedly the same people who buy iPods because "they're so cute!" or "so tOtAlLy CoOl!" even at twice the price and half the functionality of "uglier" portable music players.
Actually, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at folks' ongoing obsession with style over substance. Sure explains a lot of the crap we have in popular culture, though.
Right on Adam!! Those who worry about style over substance surround us on a daily basis. What difference does it make what it looks like....it's the concept I find so appealing!!
It's been removed from the FCC site, replaced with the following letter:
To Whom It May Concern:
We would like to request the following application to be dismissed due to problems with confidential exhibits listed on the website and updated exhibits the applicant wishes to provide in place of exhibits that have been submitted
for this filing.
Scoff all you want, but this appeals to me. In fact, part of my attraction is its ugliness: Who will wanna steal this from me (granted, perhaps only the biggest cabal of dork thieves would steal any sort of e-book, regardless of its aesthetics)? It sort of employs bowling shoe design for functional electronics.
The second half of my attraction is that I've been wanting to buy a portable word processor because the Internet is horribly distracting for me and I get nothing done. I'm a weak, weak man, I know.
Anyhow the only thing that's seemed to fit the bill was the Alphasmart Neo, but if this thing lasts awhile on the its battery, does more, and is at least somewhit similiarly priced I'm down to buy one.
If the internet is too distracting for you, just unplug the cable man!
IMO, single-screen ebook readers are doomed to fail because they can't approach the common person's experience of reading a physical book--we rely tremendously on the ability to look forward and backward to surrounding content, and to "page" instead of "scroll" through a book. If Amazon really wanted to succeed, they make it look and act like a book: foldable, with two screens, and a great interface that resembles something other than a browser.
I agree. I've also envisioned the "real" ebooks as such that simulate as well as possible reading a real book. This means closing it and opening to see the next page, and possibly a discreet sound playing that sounds like a page turning.
However, what I'd like to see is a dictionary function embedded, turning the page you're viewing into hypertext. That way you could tap on a word whose meaning you don't know and it would either pop up a definition of the word, or, with a Wi-Fi connection, you could go to a Wikipedia article on the word. Great for learning while reading. I'm not a native English speaker but love to read in English so I want to learn the meaning of every new word I encounter. I'm sure other people would find this useful as well - for research, for news, for entertainment.
Totally. I hate some of the new sports cars. I would much prefer a horseless carriage. My DVD player in my car plays clip clop sounds.
I totally agree. Turning page back and forth, multiple pages, searching rapidly into another chapter, is part of reading. Reading a book it's like hunting sometimes, not like eating. News reading, may be like consuming, but art literature reading, studying reading, educational reading, has much of hunting. Multiple pages browsing tabs, marking and taking notes auto indexing them, margin or between lines notes, highlighting, sharing clips and comments, sending paragraphs clips with bibliographic informations. That is what I imagine in a great e-book reader. The last 2 things I have imagined will make viral marketing so natural that nobody could stop the very good ones from reaching bestsellers lists instantly.
ugh, whats with the feature overload?!
i want a e-ink system thats just a screen, a page flipper (that scroller looks just dumb where its located, no way i would be able to use it if holding the device with my right hand only), a memory card slot and a usb port.
these pda's in drag can take a vacation.
and if they want them to have cellular linkup, trow in bluetooth support.
To answer Adam, worried about obsession with style over substance, consider the sheer lack of funtional ergonimic design in this slab of plastic.
iPod has won so many fans because designers obsessed not just about the outward shape, but also the interface/usability of that machine.
This ebook reader looks so poorly designed on the outside that it raises a very real fear that the interface will be similarly crippled: it really is valid to judge an ebook by its cover.
That said, I doubt this is the final version and may be a dummy slipped in for the FCC filing.
Note the ventilation holes on the back, which suggests this has an LCD (heat-generating) screen and not a (relatively cold) e-ink display. If so, it'll gobble batteries for breakfast and burn students' eyes out. Another flop in waiting, perhaps. I hope not: such devices are the future and we sorely need a good portable digital reader. For now Sony's has the lead.
No, Sony does not have the lead. Philips has the lead:
http://www.irextechnologies.com/
Nice... but $700US??? I dont think so Lucy!!! IO can but a full featured laoptop for that much cut the price to $150 and I'll consider it...
Don't juudge an e-book by its lack of color correction:
http://teraspect.com/kindle1.jpg
http://teraspect.com/kindle1b.jpg
Black Rendition
http://teraspect.com/kindle2.jpg
Come on, this must be a hoax...
It's white and it's real. I've seen it, touched it, played with it. And it's very cool.
@NYCPublisher - PPB is, generally speaking, the largest part of the cost of publishing a book. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your point.
Royalties are a considerably smaller part of the equation (if we're talking average author), and often authors don't even earn back their advance in royalties.
What do you include in "overhead"?
I think it looks incredibly functionally beautiful. Scooter you comments suggest someone who knows little about what actually is ergonomic versus what looks ergonomic. Hands actually create right angles and flat surfaces -- ever thought why it's easy to hold a book as opposed to a football? I think it suggests a folded book form, and depending on choice of materials, I would guess the photos are probably very deceiving.
This looks like a very functional device -- in many respects.
As for the vents. eInk screens don't require cooling and I doubt it is for the CPU. Audio books, podcasts and even text to speech could be very useful for certain people/use cases.
I am on my third Rocket/RCA ebook and virtually never use anything else for recreational reading. Why? I can convert almost any file format to .rb, it is easy on the eyes, holds over 100 full length novels (great for road warriors), but it is truly UGLY and therefore did not sell well. The 5 1/2" diagonal screen works very well with a vaiety of fonts and the availability of content is excellent since i can convert .doc, .txt, .lit, html, etc.. In fact, the only format that does not convet really well is .pdf.
Having said all of that, I would only buy an ebook reader that did not lock me into a proprietary format.
TI tried chiclets, IBM tried chiclets, now Amazon will have a go. Or maybe a no-go.
What gets me is that they are trying to also fake the Microsoft Natural keyboard, but they're not fooling me. Even though the keys are rotated at different angles as they get further from the center, they are still arranged in a rectangular array.
Why doesn't Apple make an ibook? I betcha it would rock
Simple - book readers are just not large selling consumer items and has anyone seen someone using one on a train, plane or automobile ( passenger), I haven't and probably never will. I have to admit the humor for this product has been amazing, I can't remember so many jokes hurled at a product since the sinclair C5!!
Leigh,
one slight problem. Apple ALREADY has an ibook. Only thing is it's a notebook PC. they would need a new term
Is e-ink not, LCD can read it in sunlight
SBIs method of CTPM allowed my website: http://www.reader-kindle.org to grow from #22 to #8 on the Google search engine and began a one sale aday trend for the Amazon Online Reader. Click the footer for more info about SBI.
The Amazon Online Reader has impressed me so much that I used SBI to build a website called http://www.reader-kindle.org to grow from #22 to #8 on the Google search engine and began a one sale aday trend for the Amazon Online Reader. Click the footer for
more info about SBI. The aStore http://kindle-reader-store.reader-kindle.com also brings traffic if
relevant content is applied.
SBIs method of CTPM allowed my website: http://www.reader-kindle.org to grow from #22 to #8 on the Google search engine and began a one sale aday trend for the Amazon Online Reader. Click the footer for more info about SBI.
The aStore http://kindle-reader-store.reader-kindle.com also brings traffic if relevant content is applied.
SBIs method of CTPM allowed my website: http://www.reader-kindle.org
to grow from #22 to #8 on the Google search engine and began a one sale aday trend for the Amazon Online Reader.
Click the footer for more info about SBI. The aStore
http://kindle-reader-store.reader-kindle.com also brings traffic if relevant content is applied.
Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device (9.7″ Display, U.S. Wireless, Latest Generation)
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Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device (9.7″ Display, U.S. Wireless, Latest Generation)
Buy Kindle,Amazon Kindle2,Amazon Kindle DX is as easy to hold and use as a book. We designed it with long-form reading in mind. When reading for long periods of time, people naturally shift positions and often like to read with one hand. Amazon Kindle’s 2 page-turning buttons are located on both sides, allowing you to read and turn pages comfortably with one hand from any position. The page-turn buttons now flex inward to prevent any accidental page turns when picking up or handling Amazon Kindle, Amazon Kindle 2,Amazon Kindle DX.
http://www.bestprodc.com/kindle/kindle-dx-wireless-reading-device-9-7-display-u-s-wireless-latest-generation.html
Buy Kindle,Amazon Kindle2,Amazon Kindle DX is as easy to hold and use as a book. We designed it with long-form reading in mind. When reading for long periods of time, people naturally shift positions and often like to read with one hand. Amazon Kindleโ€s 2 page-turning buttons are located on both sides, allowing you to read and turn pages comfortably with one hand from any position. The page-turn buttons now flex inward to prevent any accidental page turns when picking up or handling Amazon Kindle, Amazon Kindle 2,Amazon Kindle DX.
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Nice Post.
The screen looks awfully small.
A 6 x 9" screen is mo' better, I think.
I believe there are some operators who outsource the condensation of their e-books.
I am interested for doing the job.
Can someone inform me ?
P.C.Agrawal
Actually I have the Sony Reader and it rocks. At first glance, I was excited that Amazon will jump in the ebook fray, but alas, that product in the pic may be a hard sell.
I already own an ebook device from ebookwise. I love my ebook, but it is clunky and I'd like something a little thinner. This thing amazon is trying to peddle is just butt ugly. I like the one I have better.
I am definitely in the function over aesthetics...period. iPods were designed for the "me too" crowd who considers leasing a car for $350/mo at 17 a "good" investment as well as that overly fussy Mac crowd who are also more the style over substance crowd.
All I want in an ebook reader is a nice sized e-ink display, some sort of memory card slot, a usb port and MEMORY. I am flat amazed at the lack of memory in all the current readers. I mean look at the size of simple PDF files even w/o graphics.
BTW, the reason they are designing these things with wireless ability and even web connectivity is because publishers want to push more crap content at us every time we use the device. I am just fed up with the constant stream of being marketed simply because I am still upright and breathing...
Last I love the idea of Amazon moving into the area and suspect they device will likely be close to free with a subscription type setup. Doing this should allow the ability to support pretty much an book format. But who knows in today's BS business world.
I want an iLiad but at $700 I can burn up a lot of batteries and several lower cost readers before I get close to the value back out of the thing.
Electrophoretic is e-ink. Way to google shit, engadget.
I just got a Sony E Reader this week and I am very happy with it as a device. Very small light portable and easy on your eyes, like a real book. The biggest problem with it is the price is just too high for most people and it's second problem is the size of Sony's E-Book library. If the Amazon reader is $50 as I have heard, Sony is done for.
This product has not got a chance against the Sony Reader. Apart from the wireless option the design is awful. Made be made this way so nobody wants to steal it !