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iPhone the most popular ebook reader
Forbes is reporting that the iPhone has become the country's top eBook reader. The claim is based upon the number of downloads of Stanza [App Store link], an ebook reader for the iPhone and iPod touch (395,000 and counting), versus the number of projected US Kindle sales (380,000). For those unfamiliar with Stanza, it's a free application that lets users download books over the air, as does the Kindle. All of Stanza's offerings are free works in the public domain, and flipping pages is a breeze with the touch screen.Of course, it's silly to compare an iPhone to a Kindle. The screen is very tiny and I wouldn't want to read anything longer than an email message with it. However, many people will, some of whom do it just because they can. I can remember reading a Stephen King book on my old Palm ///e simply because I thought it was neat.Still, combine the 395,000 downloads of Stanza with nearly 380,000 Kindles sold (plus the Sony eBook reader figures), and it seems that many people enjoy reading very tiny type.[Via MacDailyNews]
Sony announces PRS-700 Reader with touchscreen
Sony's plan to launch an updated Reader today wasn't exactly a secret, but there are still some surprises to the new PRS-700 -- particularly the new six-inch touchscreen E-Ink display. Page turning is now accomplished by a swipe motion with faster refreshes, and there's a stylus and on-screen keyboard for searching and note-taking -- plus an LED reading light (not a backlight) for reading in the dark. Apart from that, it's basically the same deal as the PRS-505 -- internal storage for about 350 ebooks with SD and MS-Duo expansion and a 7500 page-turn battery life round out the package, as well as an updated online store. Of course, there's no Kindle-killing integrated wireless for the $400 price tag, but it'll be interesting to see how they stack up when the PRS-700 hits shelves next month.
Plastic Logic's e-reader vs Amazon Kindle... fight! (updated with video)
The kids at tgdaily have a hands-on video of Plastic Logic's biggie e-reader unveiled at DEMO earlier this week. With it, they've also nabbed a bit more information on this potential subscription-based, Kindle killer. The 7-mm thin reader connects via micro-USB to a PC to charge the unit or transfer documents. Documents can also be transferred over WiFi or Bluetooth (no cellular radio?) -- the reader can even communicate wirelessly with other readers to transfer documents. The 8.5- x 11-inch touchscreen allows for gesture control, as we heard, with the added bonus of quick and easy on-screen annotation of any supported media type such as Word docs, PowerPoint slides, or PDFs. Plastic Logic says they don't plan to compete with Kindle directly, instead, it's targeting business mobile professionals with "a lot of documents already," not those who will get all their content from the Amazon store. Of course, a variety of leaks have already made it clear that Amazon's not exactly standing still with its Kindle reader with larger and more, eh hem, attractive models in the works. Sony, too, is planning a special Reader-based event next month. So... is 2009 shaping up to be the death of print? Oh hells no -- but it's certainly getting a lot more interesting.Update: DEMO launch video showing a complete walkthough of a prototype device now posted after the break.
Plastic Logic finally ready to launch 'flexible' e-newspaper reader
Later today, Plastic Logic will be showing off its new e-newspaper reader (name, undecided) for the first time. The black and white, E Ink device features a wireless link to download content, room enough to store "hundreds of pages of newspapers, books, and documents," and a display more than twice the size of the wee Kindle while suffering just half the ugly. Better yet, the device is said to use "flexible, lightweight plastic" rather than glass resulting in a reader about one-third the thickness of the Kindle at about the same weight -- the reader itself (pictured left) looks rigid compared to that flexible display Plastic Logic has demonstrated in the past. Expected to go on sale during the first half of 2009 with more details, including which news organizations will feed information to the reader, promised for CES in January.Update: Announced official with 8.5 x 11-inch display with gesture-based user interface and additional support for MS Office formats as well as PDF. Second picture added after the break.
Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac: 2nd Edition
Take Control Books has just published the second edition of Andy Affleck's popular Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac ebook. Anyone interested in getting started with podcasting or improving the quality of their current podcasts should read this ebook.Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac: Second Edition adds coverage of two widely-used Mac podcasting applications, WireTap Studio and Übercaster, with information on recording and editing podcasts with these two apps. Andy also updated the ebook to discuss podcasting with GarageBand 4, and dropped his coverage of Audacity as a podcasting tool. Want to hear how good your podcasts can sound? Listen to Andy's promo.As with all Take Control titles, the $10 ebook will be updated regularly and is available for immediate download from the Take Control website. The ebook includes a coupon code good for up to $14 off the price of Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack Pro and Fission, so if you're in the market for both of those products you essentially get the ebook for free.In the interest of full disclosure, I have written two Take Control ebooks.
Amazon puts the kibosh on Kindle 2.0 rumors
Well, so much for those rumors of a thinner, cheaper, less 80s-hot Kindle coming soon -- Amazon spokesman Craig Berman told the New York Times today that there's nothing in store for this year, and that a new version won't happen before "sometime next year at the earliest." So much for that, unless there's some huge surprise in store -- looks like all you college kids are going to end up killing some trees this year after all.
Amazon rumored to have sold 240,000 Kindles
Amazon's been pretty cagey with Kindle sales numbers, except to say that it sold out the first batch in 5.5 hours and that more are finally arriving. Still, you can't keep a secret forever, and TechCrunch says they have it on good authority that Bezos and Co. have sold some 240,000 Kindles since November. Adding it all up, that's good enough for $100M in total revenue so far -- which is about what Wall Street's been predicting. Of course, that's chump change compared to the $1B annual business some analysts think Kindle can be, but you gotta start somewhere -- and a quarter-mil out the gate in the first year ain't bad at all.
Sony Reader goes open, will be able to work with other booksellers
While Sony's Reader has never received the enormous press or enjoyed the supposed whirlwind sales of Amazon's Kindle e-book, and is certainly lacking in, erm, EV-DOness, the Reader is about to get one trick the Kindle doesn't have yet: openness. Sony will be shooting out an update on Thursday to allow the Reader to use purchased books in the protected EPUB format from whoever is peddling them, instead of being tied to the Sony's e-book store, or just DRM-free text and PDF documents. That openness should help Sony beef up its selection -- which is lagging behind Amazon's -- and will hopefully mark a bit of a turning point in the e-book market to more standards and, more importantly, more books.
Sony Reader pre-order now live in the UK, shipping in September
We Americans have had the opportunity to pick up Sony's Reader for what seems like eons, but you poor bookworms holed up in the UK have been neglected unjustly. No more, as Sony has just opened up the phone lines for folks eager to claim their spot in line the queue. No need in rehashing the specifications you already know -- it's still the same ole PRS-505, just way more expensive in US dollars.[Via MobileRead, thanks Alex]
E Ink responsible for Esquire's flashing magazine cover
Nary a month after an E Ink exec asserted that e-newspapers would be going commercial by 2009, in flies word that a forthcoming issue of Esquire will likely be the poster child for the change. According to David Granger, Esquire's editor in chief, rags have generally "looked the same for 150 years," but all that will change when 100,000 copies of the September issue arrive on newsstands with a flashing electronic cover. The E Ink technology used will be exclusively available to Esquire until 2009, and the blinking "The 21st Century Begins Now" text will sadly fade after the battery runs dry in 90 days. Still, there's at least some chance the issue will wind up in the Smithsonian, and an even bigger chance magazine racks everywhere will require Kanye-approved sunglasses to even look at in just a few years.
iPhone apps we crave
Well, Merlin, you did ask. Having listed some imaginary iPhone apps he'd like to see, Merlin Mann asked the world: "What's the iPhone app you crave?" Hmm, let me see now - I've got a little list. Avant Go: A fantastic portable newsagent, in which you could download whole chunks of your favourite magazine and newspaper web sites for offline reading. I used to read dozens of articles in Avant Go on my train commutes in and out of London, back in the days when I commuted. It was an absolutely essential app and I'm very much looking forward to it - or something similar - arriving on iPhone. Yojimbo or Notational Velocity for iPhone: See yesterday's rant. If this, or something like this, isn't right round the corner, I shall eat my router. TextMate or Bean: This is dependent on Apple opening up Bluetooth to other devices in a future software update. If I could use a full-size external keyboard to quickly write text, I'd want a decent editor to write it in. What iPhone apps are you craving? Let us know in the comments.
Two new Kindle models on the horizon?
Take this one with plenty of salt, but CrunchGear has it that not one, not three, but exactly two new Kindle models are destined to go on sale to the adoring indifferent public within the next 6 to 12 months. Reportedly, the first model is simply a revamped version of the existing Kindle with a smaller form factor, the same sized screen and an "improved interface." The second new version will purportedly be shaped like a 8.5- x 11-inch sheet of paper and should land early next year. Both Kindles will be available in a variety of hues, though pricing information remains a mystery. Hang tight bookworms, we've still got awhile yet before figuring out just how legitimate this is.[Via The Boy Genius Report]
Fujitsu to launch FLEPia color e-ink e-books in the fall?
We first saw Fujitsu's FLEPia e-books with the company's color e-ink tech over a year ago, but rumor has it they're finally getting close to launch. That's the word according to Nikkei, which says that the A4-sized readers won't feature an integrated backlight, but still be able to run for up to 50 hours on a single charge. The WiFi-capable unit is said to cost ¥100,000 ($941), but other specs are still up in the air -- hopefully they'll be changing the name as well.[Via CrunchGear; warning, read link requires subscription]
First Looks: AppEngines ebooks
No doubt by now you've noticed that many of the "applications" available on the iTunes App Store are various ebooks by AppEngines (iTunes Link). I thought I'd take a look so you can see what you're getting for $0.99. Each of these applications is a single classic (and thus copyright-free) book. For my tests I chose Jane Austen's delightful comedy of manners, Emma (iTunes link).When you first open one of the AppEngines ebooks you get a nice "leather" cover splash screen with the name of the book. Then you're taken to the first "page." You can advance pages by either swiping (right to left) or merely by tapping the screen. You can go back a page by swiping in the other direction. There are three font sizes which you can choose via the pinch gesture. At the top there are two buttons: a table of contents button that lists chapter titles and a search button that allows you to search for text. When you search on a term, it is highlighted in yellow throughout the text. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell there does not seem to be an easy way to move to the next instance of the search term. You just have to page through the book until you see the next highlight.While there are several book reader applications in the App Store for both commercial (i.e DRM-ed) and open-source texts, I think the AppEngines editions are basically worth the modest purchase price for the convenience. Personally, I find it nice to have separate home screen buttons for each book, and the presentation is more than adequate. Be sure to check out the gallery below.%Gallery-27444%
Legends ebook service for iPhone and iPod touch
While it's not a replacement for the Amazon Kindle, ZappTek today announced Legends, an ebook service for iPhone and iPod touch. The Legends service will be available in the App Store on July 11th, with pricing of $1.99 for short stories and $4.99 for novels.ZappTek plans on partnering with "today's hottest writers" to distribute new fiction using Legends to bring the reading experience to iPhone / iPod Touch 2.0. Each book appears as an icon on the Home screen, and the books automatically re-open to the last page you were reading. You can also bookmark or annotate any page. Both landscape and portrait reading modes are available by rotating the iPhone, and you can invert the display (white characters on black background) by triple-tapping. Double-tapping zooms in on text.To start off, ZappTek is making a number of short stories and novels by New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole available. Many other authors will be joining Legends soon.If you're a voracious reader, be sure to try out Legends this Friday!
Princeton to start publishing Kindle-edition textbooks
Amazon's Kindle ebook reader has been doing pretty well as a consumer device, but we've always thought it had amazing potential as a textbook reader -- especially coupled iTunes-style with Amazon's online distribution system. Apparently Princeton University (Jeff Bezos's alma mater) agrees with us, because it's just announced plans to publish Kindle version of its textbooks this fall, joining Yale, Oxford, and Berkeley in supporting the device. It's not clear how many books are due to be published on the device or how content like photographs and full-color diagrams will be handled (what's a bio book without red mitochondria? They're the "powerhouse" of the cell!), but we're certain students will gladly make the tradeoff to reduce their backpack loads just a little bit.
Dual-display e-book concept mimicks reading, makes complete sense
It's no surprise that more displays is always better, but when it comes to mimicking the act of reading a book, dual displays is a clear step forward. Researchers at Maryland and Berkeley Universities developed a prototype dual-face, modular e-book reader that allows readers to fan pages to advance in a book or via trackball. If you're doing some serious research, the displays separate from one another, allowing one to display in landscape mode while the other runs in portrait. To complete the book meme, the device can be folded over to run in a more compact manner, and a simple flip changes the page. Possibilities for future e-book readers are endless here, so we applaud Maryland and Berkeley for using those research dollars.
Two new eBooks focus on Apple's Mail.app
Take Control Books, the digital delivery brainchild of long-time Mac authors Adam and Tonya Engst, has announced the publication of two new ebooks in their Take Control series. Author Joe Kissell has written a 95-page tome titled Take Control of Apple Mail in Leopard that describes the 14 new features in the latest version of Apple Mail, details how to use its hidden power, and provides troubleshooting tips in case things don't work just the way they should. Joe's companion ebook, Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail, helps you to keep the wave of ED pharmaceutical ads in your inbox to a minimum.The ebooks are $10 each and are downloaded immediately for your reading pleasure. In the interest of full disclosure, I have authored two Take Control eBooks -- not this particular pair, though.
Astak Mentor e-book reader comes in at under $200
E-book readers are becoming quickly becoming the new cheapo MP3 player, what with unusual designs, promises of salvation from paper, and now diving prices. Enter the Astak Mentor. This series of readers comes in three sizes -- 5-, 6-, and 9.7-inch -- and is based on either Linux or Windows CE. So what's new here? A sub-$200 price tag for the 5-inch version, touchscreens, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Those three latter features come standard on the 9.7-incher, and are optional on the smaller two. Look for them in October from less-than-$200 to $350, or until someone else comes out with a $99 reader.[Via Crave]
ECTACO's jetBook reader will purportedly change your life
ECTACO wants you to know something: it's about to change the way you read... forever! That's right, as we journey into the future, nothing will ever be the same about books, reading, or reading books. According to the company, its jetBook reader will allow you to, "Kiss your old-fashioned, dusty library goodbye," and you can rest easy because, "Not a single tree was cut down to make it!" The "completely amazing" bright red device houses a 5-inch grayscale display, and features multi-language support, bookmarking ability, playback of MP3 files, and an SD slot. The game- and life-changing reader -- which will crush and dismember your stupid, old, and ugly real books -- is available now for just $349.95.
