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Kobo eReader Touch Edition goes on sale in the US and Canada
At the moment, there are two very similar-looking e-readers with black-and-white Pearl E Ink touchscreens on the market, and now, the smaller and less expensive of the pair is up for grabs. The Kobo eReader Touch Edition went on sale today in the US and Canada for $129.99 (or $139.99 Canadian) at Best Buy, Borders, Walmart, and the Canadian bookseller Indigo. If you'll recall, the 6-inch Kobo is thinner, lighter, and more compact than the Nook Touch, even though its screen is the same size. It also undercuts it by $10 but it lacks the convenience of any physical buttons. Could these trade-offs be worth the trimmer design? We'll leave that to you and your wallet (and the guy who may or may not receive this as a last-minute Father's Day gift).
Sony slims down, speeds up, and adds touch to its entire Reader family
With Amazon and Barnes & Noble both unleashing new e-readers under $150 it pretty much goes without saying that Sony's got to step it up, and its refreshed Reader family is what we've been expecting. Just like we'd heard and heard again, Sony's tweaked its entire Reader line up -- the Pocket, Touch, and Daily editions -- by adding improved optical touchscreens, speeding up page turns with E Ink Pearl displays and slimming down the brushed aluminum hardware. Beyond that, it's also updated its Daily Edition with WiFi -- there's still no connectivity options for the other two. We got to see all three a few days ago, so hit the break for our hands-on impressions and details on pricing and availability. %Gallery-100817%
Borders' Kobo-powered eBook Store now live with 1.5 million titles, Android and BlackBerry apps (update)
Exactly how many eBook stores do we need? Depends. If you own a dedicated e-reader then one is all you get. Own a tablet or smartphone and the world of eBook stores is pretty much yours for the taking through competing apps. Borders looks to be taking a hybrid approach by offering up the $150 Kobo, $120 Aluratek Libre (available July 20th), $170 Sony Touch, and $150 Sony Pocket eReaders and today's launch of a self-branded eBook store powered by Kobo's catalog of more than 1.5 million titles -- "thousands" of which are free and available in a variety of formats including ePub (primarily) and PDF. Borders also has desktop PC and Mac apps ready for download in addition to a few apps listed as "coming soon" for both Android and BlackBerry devices -- these join the apps already released for Apple's iOS. It just went live so why not hit the source and have a browse. P.S. Funny enough, there's not a single mention of Spring Design's Alex on Borders' new site. Funny sad, not ha ha. Update: The Android and BlackBerry apps are now live.
Sony cuts e-reader prices: Pocket Edition now $149
Not much of a surprise here, but it looks like you can officially include Sony in the e-book reader price wars. It's now dropped the prices on its three current models: the Pocket Edition is down from $169 to $149, the Touch Edition drops from $199 to $169, and the 3G-equipped Daily Edition is now $299 (down a full $50 from $349). As The Digital Reader blog notes, however, that still leaves Sony a bit out of step with the competition -- the Pocket Edition lacks the WiFi of the similarly-priced Nook, for instance, and the Daily Edition remains a tough sell even at $299.
Packard Bell's Viseo 200T display gets multi-touchy-feely next month
We don't see too many multitouch displays for desktop systems in these parts, but if Packard Bell has its way that's likely to change tout de suite. Not only has the company just announced its oneTwo line of all-in-one PCs with touchscreen displays at CEDIA, but now its back with the Viseo 200T Touch Edition -- a 20-inch multitouch monitor featuring built-in stereo speakers, a 16:9 aspect ratio, 50,000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, and VGA and DVI input. When this thing hits Merry Olde England in mid-October, you can expect to pay roughly £200 (about $330) to take advantage of all that Windows 7 multitouch magic. And, believe us, it is truly magical.
Switched On: Sony plays both ends against the Kindle
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Last week, Sony introduced Reader Daily Edition, the latest and most advanced Reader in its 2009 lineup, and attempted to recapture the excitement around the category that it had at the launch of the original Reader but then gave up to Amazon. By adding 3G connectivity to the Daily Edition, Sony's answered the biggest perceived feature gap between its products and Amazon's e-reader. However, far from playing me-too, the Daily Edition tells quite a different distribution story than the Kindle, from purchasing devices to the content. The $400 Daily Edition (a term that warmly evokes printed books and newspapers without being corny) will join the $300 Touch Edition and the $200 Pocket Edition. Of these, the Pocket Edition has the most near-term potential for success due to its greater portability and low price, particularly in these grim economic times. Speaking of which, Sony seems to have picked up more positive buzz about its library integration for free book lending than it has for adding wireless to the line. For all the struggles of subscription services, consumers don't have any problems with renting content as long as it's free.
Video: Sony Reader Touch Edition gets touched, desktop software upped to 3.0
Sony's Daily Edition may be taking a front row seat in everyone's hearts and minds right now, but let's not forget just three weeks prior the company revamped its other two, decidedly network connectivity-free e-book reader models. MobileTechReview got its hands on the PRS-600 "Touch Edition," which scores points for an easy-to-use dictionary and enhanced note-taking abilities that are purported to sync to the desktop, at least eventually. Turns out the screen isn't as sharp as the PRS-505 and there's a bit of glare, but there's certainly more contrast with the new device. Last we heard both readers were due for check out by the end of this month, although as of this writing only Pocket Edition seems to be available on Sony Style -- and if you're already enjoying a Sony reader, you'll be happy to know that 3.0 desktop software is now making the rounds for PC and Mac. Video after the break. [Thanks, Tom] Read - PRS-600 review Read - SonyStyle store Read - eBook Library Software 3.0
