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Blio for Windows review, now available for download
Last week we brought you news that KNF-B was prepping for a September 28 launch of its Blio e-reader software, and according to our date books, the time has come! The free PC software (Windows XP, Vista and 7 are all supported) can be downloaded now at the source link below; the iPhone app should be hitting the App Store very soon, however. We've been using the program for the last few days to, you know, "read," so before heading over to download it yourself you'll naturally want to hit the break for our impressions of the unique reading application. %Gallery-103557%
Blio for PC will be available on September 28, iOS and Android apps soon after
The fact that Blio was preloaded on our Toshiba Libretto W105 was a good hint that the company was getting ready to release its software to the digital reading masses, and sure enough in just a few weeks that's exactly what's going to happen. The full-color program, which was designed to mimic the look of a book with fancy 3D page turns, will be available for download starting on September 28 directly from Blio's website. Sure, Blio's no Amazon or Barnes & Noble, but they're promising a million free titles at launch and they've partnered with Baker & Taylor to provide another 10,000. We're also intrigued by the software's advanced text-to-speech capabilities -- hey, don't forget Ray Kurzweil is the founder! Not too far after the launch of the PC software, Blio will be releasing Android, iPhone and iPad apps. It's also promising that there will be numerous partnerships with device (i.e. tablet, laptop) manufacturers, retailers, and carriers, so it looks like we'll be hearing quite a bit about the company in the weeks to come. We'll hit you back with our impressions of the apps sometime soon, but in the meantime you can peruse the screenshots and press release after the break. %Gallery-102197% %Gallery-102324%
Blio finally launching e-reading software soon, Walmart excited for some reason or another
So yeah, we sort of forgot all about Blio and its e-reading software for laptops and smartphones, but it turns out the company has kept on truckin'. While it seems to have missed the February release of its software, famed inventor and founder of the company Ray Kurzweil told the New York Times that it will be more widely available over the next two months. He also went on to mention that "large PC" manufacturers along with retailers "like Walmart" will start offering it on their own products. Oh, Wally World, you say? Apparently, the mega-tailer wouldn't comment on the statement, but it certainly has us raising our eyebrows wondering about a Walmart e-reading product of sorts. Regardless, we're excited to see Blio finally making some waves after being fairly impressed with the features of the color reading experience when we saw it back at CES -- now, to see if those waves lead to action.
Blio e-reader software hands-on (Update: video!)
We don't need to tell you that we can't go a step at CES without seeing a new e-reader device (see Spring Alex, Sprint Skiff, and Copia Ocean), but here comes along knfb's Blio with Mac and PC compatible software saying you don't need new fancy hardware to read the the printed page on a screen....or may be you do. Regardless, of where the Blio software ends up we really dig it and it approaches digital reading in a whole new way. In case you didn't know the Blio software aims to preserve the traditional book or magazine format by keeping its layout, fonts, images, but also to meld it with digital interactivity. Sounds kind of confusing, but we got a sneak peak today of the PC software (in Microsoft's Booth...perhaps, not a coincidence. Hmm...Courier?) Hit the break for impressions and full PR. Video is on the way. Update: Video is up, after the break.
