E-readers
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First-gen Kindle Paperwhite gets second-gen features, at last
First-gen Kindle Paperwhite owners are woefully missing a bunch of features, including Goodreads integration, available on the device's successor. Thankfully, this latest software refresh brings their e-readers up to par -- and, yes, that means early Paperwhite adopters can now place The Winds of Winter on their to-read roster from within the device. Just like on the second-gen Paperwhite, Goodreads' familiar "g" icon should appear on the menu bar after installing the software. Clicking it will launch the app where users can segregate books into lists, share digital bookshelves, look for weekend reads or post excerpts.
Switched On: The leader, the bleeder and the reader
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Sony recently bid farewell to three device categories. The long-struggling Japanese consumer electronics giant is selling off its PC division, spinning out its TV group into a separate company and getting out of the e-book business by handing it over to Kobo. While each has a unique history, they all demonstrate the difficulties Sony has had in dominating any one category. Sony's introduction of the Trinitron in the 1960s accelerated its ascent to the top of the consumer electronics food chain in the following decades. By the 1980s, virtually any TV buyer knew that nothing compared to Sony and the company's big-screen offerings were bolstered by the arrival of CRT screens that lacked the convex curve of the time. (Back then, curved screens were passé, not leading edge.)
How would you change Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite (2012)?
Gone are the days when, if you wanted to read a book in bed, you'd need to take a torch with you. Nowadays, as long as you've got a Kindle Paperwhite, the books will happily illuminate themselves. The device's even front-lighting and engineering outshone the rival Nook, even if it had a slender 2GB of on-board storage and wasn't as comfortable in the hand. But if you've been toting one of these around for the last year, why not tell your friends and colleagues what it's been like? Head on over to our forum and begin the discussion.
Sony to close Reader store and move users to Kobo's e-book platform in 'late March'
With its eye firmly fixed on a return to profitability, Sony's been making extensive cuts to its business arms in recent days (bye bye, VAIO!). So it's no surprise the company would train that cost-cutting eye onto another underperforming unit -- its e-reader business. Sony announced today that it'll be shuttering its Reader store in the US and Canada come "late March" and that all Reader accounts (including library content) would be moved to Kobo's platform during that time. Existing users shouldn't have much to worry about though, as Sony claims the "migration process" should be painless and that it'll issue a how-to email to walk users through it. The deal will also see Kobo's app pre-installed on select Xperia devices, which should give Kobo a significant boost in audience reach. That's assuming consumers start buying Xperias in bulk. Update: Sony contacted us to clarify that the Kobo app will only come pre-loaded on select Xperia devices.
Scribd takes on Amazon, brings its subscription e-book service to Kindle Fire tablets
The whole point of owning an Amazon tablet is that you're eventually gonna buy stuff. Want movies? Amazon's got you covered. Music? Time to check out Amazon's MP3 store. And then, of course, there's books: Amazon expects you to buy lots and lots of reading material through the built-in Kindle app. Now, though, another company is trying to get in on the action. Scribd, which already runs a $9-a-month e-book subscription service, is opening up shop on Kindle Fire tablets. As on the existing apps (Android, iOS and a web version), the Kindle version offers unlimited monthly access, allowing readers to share what they're reading and embed books onto websites. The catch? Scribd only has a deal with one major publishing house, HarperCollins, with the rest of the catalog comprised of titles from independent publishers. So, while you'll enjoy authors like Michael Chabon and classics like Sh*t My Dad Says, you'll be missing out on things like the Game of Thrones series. Then again, if you read even two books a month, that $9 fee could pay for itself.
Engadget giveaway: win one of two Kobo Arc 10HD tablets
The e-reading enthusiasts at Kobo have been making some waves in the tablet market lately and the Arc 10HD is one of the biggest and best Kobo has to offer. As the name implies, this 10-inch slate boasts a 2,560 x 1,600 HD display, which is perfect for watching movies -- but you should probably read the book first. The Arc 10HD runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and offers access to the Kobo bookstore, the Google Play Store and even integration with the Pocket app for offline reading. So let's get down to brass tacks: The folks at Kobo have been kind enough to provide a pair of these tablets for two lucky Engadget readers to enjoy. Just head on down to the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win. Winners - Congratulations to: Pamela M., Richmond, BC; Christian B., Fort Collins, CO
The Engadget Show 49: CES 2014 wrapup
Grab a wearable, switch on the 'ole curved TV and fire up your favorite 3D printer. We came, we saw, we conquered and now we're ready to distill it all for you in the form of some high-quality video content. We're not going to suggest that it'll replace the seemingly endless stream of posts we've churned out over the past week or so, but if you've got a cocktail party full of guests you need to impress tonight, it'll help you drop some serious CES 2014 tech news knowledge on their collective heads. We've pulled together some top editors to offer up an abbreviated view of tech's biggest show of the year, charting trends in old standby categories like HDTV, mobile, tablets and cars, to emerging spaces set to define the changing face of the show for years to come. Oh, and we've also tossed in some fun video of the show's gadgets, because, well, it wouldn't be much of an Engadget Show without that sort of thing, now would it? Toss in a bit of video of your long-time host getting a bit welled up the end, and you've got yourself a little thing we like to call The Engadget Show 49. 'Til we meet again, Engadgeteers.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: Sony President Mike Fasulo
Mike Fasulo hasn't been in his position for long, but Sony's new president/COO knows a thing or two about consumer electronics, having previously served as the company's CMO/VP. We'll grill him on what the company is offering up year -- or at least as much as we can fit into half an hour. January 7, 2014 4:30 PM EST Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.
How to make a CES keynote
Last night, director Michael Bay made an abrupt stage exit during Samsung's day zero CES press conference. It was awkward, but little more than a square of toilet paper on the bottom of a tennis shoe compared to last year's Qualcomm keynote. A bizarre mix of stilted theatrics, celebrity appearances and product demos, the presentation was like nothing we'd ever seen -- until we took a look back. Qualcomm may have jacked its keynote up on steroids, but many of the tricks it pulled out were already tried-and-true standards. As Sony's Kaz Hirai prepares to kick things off at CES 2014 this morning, we reflect on 20-plus years of innovative speeches, futuristic predictions and just plain strange behavior. This is how you make a CES keynote.
Alcatel's 4-inch Bluetooth e-reader will offer a more portable reading experience
Alcatel doesn't just show up to trade shows with phones, it also likes to come with a handful of clever accessories (regardless of whether they're final products or just prototypes) as well. At this year's CES, the TCL-owned manufacturer showed off a 4-inch e-reader called the Magic Flip, which connects to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. It's incredibly small, thin and light, and is meant to be a companion to your daily driver -- as long as it's made by Alcatel, that is. The Magic Flip is exactly what you'd expect it to be: a pocket-friendly e-book reader capable of receiving notifications from your phone. The E Ink reader, company reps tell us, is supposed accept every standard e-book format, which theoretically should make it pretty easy to transfer books back and forth. In terms of hardware, it offers three capacitive buttons underneath the display, consisting of backwards, forwards and home buttons. Since the demo unit we played with did not feature final firmware and was prone to quite a few bugs, we weren't able to navigate the user interface outside a basic demo page. Still, the Magic Flip makes its way to the market in the next few months, and even though it will likely appeal to only a small number of people, we appreciate a smartphone maker that's at least thinking outside the box and taking risks.
The year in reviews: 2013's best and worst gadgets scored and scrutinized
Fun fact: Engadget reviewed 176 products in 2013, and that's not even counting the umpteen times we got hands-on with stuff at tradeshows and press events. In general, we try to review just the top-tier gadgets, but even then, some of it ends up being forgettable. (Can you name-check everything we tested from memory? We can't.) So, as the year draws to a close, we're taking a look back at the last 12 months of reviews, and this time, we're including only the products you'd have no trouble remembering. Across every category, we've noted the flagships everyone coveted -- along with the duds that could've been so much better. Oh, and you might notice that we included some numbered scores throughout. That's right; Engadget is bringing back numerical ratings, and they'll follow the same format as the critic score gdgt has already been using for years. Which is to say, each rating takes into account various criteria for a given product category -- things like battery life and portability. Wanna see how your favorite gadgets did? Meet us after the break for a walk down memory lane.
YotaPhone update lets you read more e-books and documents on its energy-saving E Ink display
Much as we admired the potential of the YotaPhone in our recent review, we just couldn't overlook its lack of support for popular e-reading platforms like Amazon Kindle and Google Books. That problem hasn't been solved just yet, but things are starting to move in the right direction: the dual-display handset has now been made to work with an alternative (and relatively popular) e-reading app called FBReader. This app will let you display and swipe through Word and .rtf documents on the E Ink panel, as well as unencrypted .epub and .mobi e-book formats of the sort that are traded in smaller e-book stores and some shadier, copyright-dodging parts of the web. PDF files should also be supported by the next version of FBReader, which is currently in beta. Meanwhile, Yota Devices tells us that it's "discussing potential collaboration" with Amazon in order to bring about Kindle support, which, if it happens, would be nothing short of a breakthrough.
Amazon celebrates another 'best ever' holiday weekend, still won't make with the specifics
Another holiday weekend, another 'best ever' notch for the Kindle sales post. As ever, Amazon's not giving any specific information about such claims, but the Kindle family is doing just fine, thank you very much, thanks in no small part to its two HDX tablet offerings and a revamped Paperwhite e-reader. The smaller HDX and the repackaged HD also managed to top the retail giant's sales chart over the weekend. If Amazon's looking to keep this party going into the future, it's bound to have some seriously busy drones on its hands.
Hands-on with the YotaPhone: the e-ink Android phone that nobody expected
There was a moment, back in 2012, when we had some quiet doubts about the YotaPhone. The first prototype was desirable, useful, and far beyond any kind of gimmick -- but it also seemed like it'd be hard to manufacture for a reasonable price, especially by a company that has never built a phone before. After all, this is effectively two devices rolled into one: an LTE Android phone with a 4.3-inch LCD display on one side, plus an e-reader on the other side, offering always-on notifications from the OS and the luxury of over 60 hours of e-book reading time thanks to good old E Ink technology. Fortunately for us, and for any other phone lover on this planet who appreciates fresh ideas, such fears were unfounded. The Russian engineers at Yota Devices have overcome the many technical challenges that stood in their way, and the fruit of their efforts will go on sale in Europe later today via a dedicated online store, priced at a not-so-wacky 499 euros ($675). Admittedly, that may seem like a lot to ask if you focus solely on the specs -- like the 720p resolution of the LCD or the mid-range Snapdragon S4 Pro processor -- but it starts to make sense when you take a look at just how unique this thing is. And now that we're holding the final hardware in our hands, we're able to do just that.
E Ink's new Fina display technology promises lighter, thinner e-readers
That Kindle Paperwhite is pretty thin and light already, but future e-readers could be even skinnier thanks to a new screen technology from E Ink known as Fina. The tech uses a super thin glass substrate that'll supposedly result in displays that measure less than 50 percent in both thickness and weight when compared to "an equivalent glass-based TFT." According to a released statement, this makes Fina ideal for large tablets that also need to be lightweight, which is exactly why it was implemented in the PocketBook CAD Reader, a new 13.3-inch device that's also the first to use Fina. The slate has a dual-core 1GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage space and it runs Android 4.0.4. Of course, we wouldn't expect to pick this up at Best Buy any time soon, as it's primarily meant for displaying drawings from Autocad. Indeed, PocketBook even said it's made to be used on construction sites, not by everyday consumers. Still, we wonder if Fina's arrival means we'll see larger format e-readers in the future, especially for all those DX lovers out there. In the meantime, check out the source link below for more details on E Ink's latest innovation.
Amazon's next-gen Kindle Paperwhite reportedly arriving in Q2 with a sharper screen, lighter design
Amazon only just released a new Kindle Paperwhite e-reader two months ago, but we're already hearing rumors that a newer model is on the way. According to a new report from TechCrunch, the new version, to be released in early Q2 of next year, will boast a sharper 300-pixel-per-inch screen, allowing it to better compete with models like the Kobo Aura, which has a 265-ppi screen. (Not that Kobo's represents much of a threat to Amazon's book-selling empire.) Also it's worth noting that E Ink makes the displays for basically all these e-readers, so it seems unlikely that Amazon would hold an exclusive on a 300-ppi panel -- at least not for long. Additionally, TechCrunch claims the new Paperwhite will have a lighter design that mimics the new Kindle Fire HDX tablets, with chamfered edges, a rear power button and a glass screen that sits flush with the bezels. The device is also rumored to have haptic feedback along the edges, which will give vibrating feedback when you do things like move to the next page. There's no big software update planned, apparently, although Amazon is said to be working on a new custom font that's more conducive to marathon reading sessions. We suppose if this report is true, all will be revealed over the coming months -- hopefully those of you who just bought a new Paperwhite won't be too cheesed off by the timing.
Kobo Arc 10HD review: $400 is a lot to spend on a 'tablet for readers'
A tablet for readers has always been a tricky proposition. For starters, the manufacturers that have attempted to create such a thing also make dedicated e-readers -- devices with longer battery life and screens designed to make text look as much like print as possible. Barnes & Noble has given the category a shot with its Nook Tablets, though there are lingering questions as to whether that line will even survive. Amazon, meanwhile, has gone the opposite route, with reading representing just one of many features. Kobo's latest readers see the company doubling down on reading, with a trio of tablets built around a reading core. The Arc 10HD is the top-of-the-line model, a slate that doesn't skimp on the specs (or price, for that matter, at $400). Most notably, it maintains a clear focus, promising to be (in Kobo's own PR speak) "the best 10-inch HD tablet for readers." For Kobo, that means loading up on book-centric features, including one that turns off all of those tablety distractions so you can just read. What, precisely, does it mean to be "the best 10-inch HD tablet for readers"? Does Kobo even deserve that distinction? Most importantly, is it a category within a category that really needs to exist in the first place?
Engadget's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide: E-readers
Welcome to Engadget's holiday gift guide! Head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Weighing your e-reader options isn't as difficult as, say, deciding on a new smartphone. There are fewer models to sift through, for one, and your allegiance to Amazon or B&N could further narrow things down. Still, you have a range of options in every camp -- from barebones devices meant for reading and nothing else to full-fledged tablets with the higher-end specs to match. Below, we make the case for some of our top picks.
Hands-on with Goodreads for Kindle Paperwhite
Exactly a day after gracing the Fire line, Amazon-owned Goodreads has arrived on the Paperwhite -- if you're willing to take a little initiative and download yourself, that is. And in all honesty, this was the upgrade we've been waiting for since the acquisition was first announced. It's nice functionality to have on the Fire, certainly, and folks who own multiple Kindle devices will appreciate being able to use it across the tablets and readers, but the addition of social reading means a lot more on e-readers, where things tend to be a lot more locked down, due to hardware limitations. Overall, we were a bit underwhelmed by the implementation on the HDX. With a few exceptions, Goodreads feels more like an app than an integral part of the ecosystem. Given that the Paperwhite offers a less open platform, however, we had higher hopes for the e-reader. And indeed, once installed, Goodreads is front and center -- well, slightly to the right of center, added to the homepage toolbar, sandwiched between search and settings. If you've already tied your Amazon account to the social network -- as we did with yesterday's Fire update -- you should be good to go. Tap the "g " icon, and you'll bring up the Goodreads app, which has been styled to match the rest of the Paperwhite UI. The app's front page shows you updates across your network, including ratings and who wants to read what. From there, you can like and comment on statuses and mark those titles and "Read" or "Want to Read." Up top, the My Shelves link lets you see your own collection. From that page, you can also click through to add books from your Amazon library, a nice way of back filling all the electronic and physical books that you've read over the years. It's the next best thing to inviting people over to your place to see your real life bookshelf.
Personalize your Kindle cover or skin with vacation photos at no additional cost
If a regular ol' Kindle accessory doesn't express your personality as well as you'd like, Amazon has announced a new service that looks to oblige. Customers can now personalize an Amazon Origami cover along with a smattering of other covers and skins with a library of images, logos and patterns or by uploading their own photo masterpieces. That collection also includes comic, movie and TV artwork from the likes of Breaking Bad and Peanuts -- just to name a couple. The best part? There's no additional charge. Covers and skins are available for Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX and a few older models. Can't wait to get started? Hit that source link to begin crafting your very own.
