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Qualcomm CEO confirms death of 5.7-inch Mirasol e-reader display, looks forward to 'next version'
Remember that Mirasol e-reader display Qualcomm was hoping to release this year? Yeah, it's not happening. Speaking at a press briefing in San Diego yesterday, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs confirmed that the 5.7-inch panel has been abandoned after failing to meet expectations. Instead, the company will devote its attention to the "next version" of the technology, which has Jacobs feeling optimistic: "We have a really interesting roadmap -- we're starting out on e-readers because we figured having E Ink as a competing technology was a good way to get started. But if you think about the power consumption of the screens that are out now [on tablets], they're very bright OLED screens that use up a lot of the power of the battery. We don't today have as vibrant color as an OLED display - but we have a roadmap that gets us to a much brighter color." Presumably, this roadmap would include that low-power "converged e-reader" we heard about a few weeks ago, slated for release by the end of the year. Jacobs also mentioned that Qualcomm is planning to invest a billion dollars in its Taiwan Mirasol plant, which might help produce the kind of volume that, say, Amazon would demand for its Kindle displays. It's all speculation, of course, but Qualcomm certainly seems to have some big plans in store for the rest of the year.
Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart
The e-reader market just got a lot more crowded this week with the launch of the touch-enabled Nook and Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Will either device be able to take down the Amazon's industry defining Kindle? We've broken down the specs on the two new readers, the Kindle, and Sony's comparable Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) to find out which device will come out on top. There's a lot of overlap features between the different readers, like infrared touchscreens and Pearl E Ink displays. All of those important details and more in the chart after the break. Check it out, because you obviously like reading things.
Kindle joins Nook and Kobo on Walmart store shelves
The tablet market is still a one-horse race, but e-readers continue to ramp, and Walmart wants another piece of that precious pie at big box retail. Starting this week, the online retailer will deliver shipments of Amazon's mighty Kindle 3G and ad-supported Kindle to over 3,200 Walmart stores across the US, where it will join the Nook and Kobo e-readers in competing for shelf space. Could this be the beginning of another e-reader price war? Perhaps not yet, but it could be one more retail channel for Amazon's ethereal tablet.
E Ink dashes hopes of a next gen display in 2011, but pencils in full-motion video for 2012
E Ink Holdings is brazenly making us wait until 2012 before producing a successor to its popular Pearl electronic paper display. One of the company's VPs dropped into CNET's offices to spill the bad news: developing and testing a next-generation display "takes some time", apparently, and it is sticking to a two year product cycle. Perhaps E Ink has shifted its focus to the LCD screen in Amazon's rumoured tablet. Or maybe it's still working on the Triton color e-ink display that left us so underwhelmed at CES. Either way, the monochrome Pearl has been knocking around in the Kindle and other e-readers for a while now and although it has better contrast than earlier iterations, it is still ripe for a revamp -- especially a faster refresh rate. But the E Ink VP did hint at some brighter news: the next-gen display, when it does finally arrive, could sport full-motion video. So far e-ink video has failed to go beyond a slightly jittery 10-15fps, so full-motion 24fps or 30fps could definitely be worth the wait.
Ad-supported Kindle ships early, fans of grayscale advertising rejoice
Great news for people who love to read but wish the experience involved more advertising: an Amazon executive has announced the ad-supported Kindle, originally slated for a May 3 release, is going out to customers nearly a week early. Kindle with Special Offers, as it's affectionately known, will ship out April 27, loaded with timely adverts from your favorite brands, including General Motors, Proctor & Gamble and Visa – those are your favorite brands, aren't they? In exchange for sponsored screensavers and ads at the bottom of your home screen, you'll get a latest generation WiFi-only Kindle for a only $114 – sorry, offer available in the US only. Act now, as Amazon promises it will never just give these away.
Amazon launches German Kindle Store with 650,000 titles and lots of long words
After having already penetrated the UK's e-book market last year, Amazon has now launched the German Kindle Store, bringing more than 650,000 titles to Europe's most populous country. With today's launch, the German Kindle Store instantly becomes Germany's biggest e-bookstore, with some 25,000 German-language titles, thousands of free classics, and a similarly bountiful collection of independent newspapers and magazines. Customers will also be able to purchase the latest Kindle and Kindle 3G models directly from Amazon.de, along with a whole new suite of free, German-language Kindle apps for iPhone, iPad, PC and Android platforms. Germany's writers and publishers, meanwhile, can use the Kindle Direct Publishing service to make their works instantly available on the new store, where, if they're lucky, they may get to pocket some handsome royalties, as well. Full press release after the break.
Kindle Library Lending will let you take books out on your e-reader or Kindle app, launching in US this year
We love books. We just don't love carrying more than one of them around. It's great to hear, then, that Amazon has figured out a new Kindle Library Lending feature, which will allow US customers to check the ethereal form of books into their Kindle (all generations are supported) or Kindle app-equipped smartphone or computer. Annotations will be retained, in case you decide to take the book out a second time or purchase it through Amazon, in which case they'll come flooding back in like fond memories of a good read. The service matches Sony's similar ebook library checkout offering, which is no coincidence as it's powered by the same company, OverDrive. It's set to launch later this year and you can read more about it in the press release after the break.
Kindle subscription to the New York Times will net you free web access as well
Can't get enough New York Times over your Whispernet? Worry not, dear Kindle reader, for Amazon's on a roll with its announcements today, the latest of which is that a subscription to the NYT on its world-conquering e-reader will also grant users access to the paywall-protected NYTimes.com online portal. No complex rules or conditions, you'll just be one of the insiders who get unfettered access to all the fine old school journalism practiced at Times towers. See Amazon's press release after the break or hit the source link to learn more about the $28-a-month (for international users) subscription. Update: The sub price is $20 in the USA, the $28 cost we first saw relates to those signing up from the UK and other international markets. Thanks, russke!
Audible audiobooks now flying onto Kindles via WiFi
Heads-up, Kindle owners -- digging into your next audiobook just got a lot less troublesome. Audible has just announced that over 50,000 of its audiobooks are now available to download directly onto Kindles everywhere through WiFi. Granted, that's still one step away (3G) from being as good as it could possibly get, but it's still a tremendous improvement over the tried-and-true USB sideloading method. For those looking to get started for the first time, the outfit's offering a 30-day free trial of AudibleListener Gold, detailed in the source link below. Happy listening, bookworms.
AT&T will start selling Kindle 3G e-reader in its retail stores from March 6th
AT&T is adding the first e-reader to its catalog of connected devices and, unsurprisingly, it's the 3G version of Amazon's latest-generation Kindle. There's nothing peculiar about this agreement, the 3G Kindle will cost $189, the same as it does on Amazon's online portal, and there are no special content or add-on deals in place. It's just another locale where you'll be able to "test drive" and purchase Amazon's all-time best-selling product. Stock should be arriving shortly for a March 6th launch, though if you're looking for the WiFi-only Kindle, you'll have to look elsewhere, AT&T will only be selling the 3G-equipped 6-incher.
Kindle gets software update 3.1 with real page numbers, public notes
It'll still be at least a few more days before it's automatically pushed out to Kindles around the world, but those looking to get a jump on things can now download an "early preview" of software update version 3.1 for the latest generation Kindle. That update adds a new public notes feature that lets you share your notes with others and view the notes of those you follow, as well as real page numbers that match the page numbers in the print version of a book -- those have already been added to "tens of thousands of Kindle books," and will also be hitting the various Kindle apps in the "coming months." You'll also get a new layout for magazines and newspapers that gives you a quick snapshot of the latest edition, and a new "before you go" feature that lets you rate a book as soon as you've finished it and share a brief note about it on your social networks. Hit up the link below to download the update and try it out for yourself.
Apple's message to eBook vendors and users isn't yet clear, but points toward only in-app purchases
It's been a busy day for App Store watchers. With a New York Times article last night citing in-app book purchasing as a key issue in the rejection of the Sony Reader app, and Apple's later non-clarifying clarification of the company's policy on parity for purchasing in and out of apps, we're all left a bit confused. Can you have a third-party ereader app on iOS at all without Apple's purchasing infrastructure? Where can you buy content? Is the Kindle app doomed? I don't think the Kindle app is going anywhere right away; for one thing, it's always handled book sales through Safari rather than in-app (something Sony's infrastructure wasn't tuned for, as Christina Warren points out, but that it may be ready for now -- see the second half of this post). Sony says that it "submitted [the app] in accordance with the precedent set by other eBook retailers," which could mean just about anything. Jason Snell's analysis over at Macworld is intriguing. But there's a deeper question that needs to be asked: Can Amazon or Barnes & Noble remain on the App Store without introducing a way to send more money in Apple's direction? When Apple's new in-app purchase policies came to light recently, pundits wondered what it might mean to eBook developers in the App Store. Apple had initially allowed web-based commerce to provide content for App Store items, including subscriptions or individual purchases. Then, Apple began rejecting subscription-based magazines that used external channels rather than in-app purchases to make money and updated its developer agreement to make this stance clear.
Amazon enables Kindle e-book lending
This is great news for the mom of at least one Engadget editor (who has been despairing at her inability to share e-books with Aunt Kathy). That's right: Amazon has enabled Kindle book loaning on select titles. Of course, there are caveats: books can be loaned only once, for a period of fourteen days. As you'd suspect, the loaned books can be read using the e-reader itself or the free Kindle app for any of your various devices (including iOS, BlackBerry, Android, PC, and Mac). While a book is being borrowed you can't read it yourself, and the publisher has the final word on which titles are eligible for lending. Exciting, right? At least as exciting as the opportunity to finally discover what The Secret Life of Bees might be.
iPad versus Kindle: even the Supreme Court can't decide (video)
Supreme Court judges are supposed to be some of the sagest dudes and ladies around, but even they can't agree on which e-reading device is best. Amazon's multimillion-selling Kindle is the weapon of choice for newly appointed Justice Elena Kagan, however old pro Justice Antonin Scalia prefers to battle the bulge of briefs using his iPad. Who will prevail in this titanic struggle? Probably good old paper, actually, as both are said to use their electronic devices as supplements to, rather than replacements for, the old fashioned reading method. See the video revealing these shocking facts after the break.
Survey: Apple iPad catching up to Kindle
There is still a big price difference, but the iPad is challenging the Amazon Kindle as a preferred device for reading e-books in ownership and satisfaction. That's according to a ChangeWave survey of more than 2,800 U.S. consumers. Of iPad owners, 75% said they were "very satisfied" with their devices, while only 54% of Kindle owners could say the same. When the "somewhat satisfied" numbers are added, it's a tighter competition, with the iPad scoring 96% and the Kindle getting 92%. According to ChangeWave's director of Research, Paul Carton, the iPad has doubled its share of the e-reader market since August and is now within 15% of the Amazon Kindle. ChangeWave says the iPad has 32% of the e-reader market, which is up 16% since August, with the Kindle at a 47% share, down 15% in the same period.
Amazon to enact 70 percent revenue share for Kindle newspaper and magazine publishers
Magazine and newspaper publishers are about to get a larger piece of the Kindle pie -- 70 percent, to be exact. That's what Amazon's now offering, in an effort that's clearly aimed to attract more periodicals to the service. Only catch is, all versions of the periodical have to work for all version of Kindle, in all geographical regions where the publishers has the rights to distribute -- a small price to pay, especially since it keeps the customer base pretty wide open. Interested parties, you probably already know where to look.
Kindle for Windows Phone 7 revealed, due 'in the coming months'
As sure as the sun, Amazon's just announced it'll be bringing Kindle to the Windows Phone 7 platform sometime "in the coming months." The app was shown briefly today at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC 2010) and, based both on that and the official screenshot from Amazon's teaser page (above), it's definitely wearing that stylish WP7 aesthetic quite well. Press release after the break, and check out More Coverage for a couple screenshots from its PDC presentation (care of istartedsomething's Long Zheng and his Flickr account). And while you wait for its inevitable release, we have full confidence you'll be able to find another platform to enjoy your Kindle books. Trust us.
Amazon announces 14-day lending feature for Kindle books, newspapers and magazines for Kindle apps
Nook users can already lend ebooks they've purchased to others, and it looks like Kindle users will soon be able to do the same. Amazon has just announced that it will be offering a similar feature "later this year" that will let folks lend books they've purchased to other Kindle users for a 14-day period, during which the person that actually purchased the book won't be able to read it themselves. That feature won't be available for all ebooks, however, as it will be up to individual publishers and rights holders to enable it for a particular book. What's more, Amazon has also announced that Kindle newspapers and magazines will soon be readable on the various free Kindle apps available for other devices -- look for that feature to launch in the "coming weeks."
Amazon bringing Kindle app to BlackBerry PlayBook, loves making Kindle apps
One of the great original fears when Amazon built the Kindle was that they were after some iTunes / iPod-style walled garden ecosystem. And while, sure, Kindle is a walled garden ecosystem, those walls sure are extensive! Amazon just announced that it will be supporting the new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, in addition to the BlackBerry mobile app they've already got. There aren't any specific details about this app, but Amazon is all about the consistent user experience, with features like WhisperSync keeping your copy of Neal Stephenson perfectly synced across a myriad of devices, so there's nothing much to say we suppose. We are sure, however, that page turns will be blazing with that dual core processor.
Amazon Kindle gets its first premium app: Scrabble
It's still a long way from a full-fledged app store, but the Amazon Kindle has just taken one step in that direction with its very first premium app: Electronic Arts' Scrabble. That's available right now for $4.99, and it'll work on both the second and third generation Kindle, and both Kindle DX models. It also looks like it's already off to a strong start in terms of sales -- it's currently sitting at number four on the Kindle bestseller list, right behind two Stieg Larsson novels and the latest Oprah book club pick.
