EbookReader
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Hanvon debuts new line of WISEreader e-book readers
Hanvon (also known as Hanwang) hasn't exactly been churning out one product after the other as of late, but it has made a fairly respectable showing for itself at CES, where it's just introduced five new models in its WISEreader line. Those include the N500, N618 (pictured above), N628, N638, and N800, which all sport Vizplex e-ink displays that range in size form five to eight inches and, in all but one case (the N638), use an electromagnetic panel and pen for note-taking complete with handwriting recognition. Even more surprising, Hanvon says that the whole lot will be available in the US sometime this year -- although they could well show up under a number of different brands, as Hanvon also works as an OEM. Hit up the gallery below for a look at the rest, and head on past the break to peruse the complete specs in convenient press release form. %Gallery-81900%
Mirasol shows prototype reader-like device playing back color video, might be headed for the Kindle
You know that Kindle you're so in love with? Man, that's so 2009. Mirasol showed up at CES with a display technology that's been in the works for around a decade, and it has finally reached the point where ODMs and OEMs are talking shop about integrating said panel into all manners of future devices. In the past, the company has stuck to making screens for relatively minuscule devices, but its latest display is a 5.7-inch XGA color screen that would fit just perfectly within your next e-reader. We spoke at length with executives, and they're currently predicting an ebook reader running Mirasol in Fall of this year. What we've heard "around" is that the device will actually be new Kindle running a Mirasol display -- we can't confirm it, but it sounds logical. What's interesting, though, is that this panel is not only color, but it can play back video when used with the right processor. In other words, a powerful enough Mirasol reader could double as a small tablet, and we imagine you could actually browse the web with some level of enjoyment. The demo we were shown (vid's past the break!) was nothing short of stunning, and we were told that it could scale up to fit within 9 to 10-inch slate / tablet PCs. It requires no backlighting whatsoever, and instead relies on ambient light to show its stuff. We were told that future devices would be priced competitively, even to LCD / e-ink rivals, and we can safely say we'll be bummed if we hear the word "delay" when autumn rolls around. Don't make us frown, Mirasol. %Gallery-81871%
Samsung announces E6 and E10 e-book readers at CES
We're here in the middle of Samsung's CES press conference, and the company's just revealed its first e-book reader. We don't have many details yet -- we know there will be a 10- and 6-inch model, both with touchscreens, that Google is the content partner, and that it's got a soft QWERTY keyboard and wireless but no 3G (a bit of a downer). The two readers -- dubbed the E6 and E101 -- will feature on-screen handwriting capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, and 802.11b/g WiFi. The 6-incher will clock in at $399, while the bigger version will sell for $699, and both will be available in "early 2010." Update: We just nabbed a quick hands-on. It's pretty thin, and it's hiding a secret: it's a slider with hidden controls! The touch sensitivity seemed pretty okay, but we'll have to spend some non-rushed time with it to get a true feel for things. Check out more in the gallery, and see the full press release after the break. %Gallery-81782%
Liquavista shows off low-power, color e-paper display
This one's still a ways away from landing in an actual e-reader (although that prototype above does made an admirable attempt at redefining the bezel), but Liquavista's latest stab at a color e-paper display is at least ready enough for a demo video, and it doesn't exactly disappoint. Unfortunately, Liquavista isn't offering much in the way of firm details, but the display is supposedly "ultra-low power," sunlight-readable and, as you can see for yourself after the break, it seems to be fairly speedy when it comes to browsing and scrolling. Nothing in the way of announcements of e-readers just yet, but Liquavista says it expects to see product implementation "throughout 2010 / 2011."
Copia promises to blend e-books and social networking into set of new readers
Brace yourself, more e-readers on your way! First up the open platform: DMC Worldwide announces Copia, a social networking / e-book store hybrid that's gearing up hit private beta status this month and public beta in March. With that out of the way, let's talk hardware. Lower on the list of gear is the keyboard-laden Tidal with a 6-inch, 600 x 800 screen and 2GB internal storage. Just above that is the Tidal Touch with a 9-inch, 768 x 1024 screen, earphone / mic jack, 4GB internal upgradeable to microSD. And then we've got Ocean, which comes in 6-inch (600 x 800 pixels) and 9-inch (768 x 1024 pixels) variants and both feature capacitive touchscreens, 802.11b/g WiFi, tilt sensors, 4GB internal storage expandable via microSD, and some form of earphone / mic jack. Both Tidal Touch and Ocean 9 have optional 3G connectivity (that in the process halves internal storage to 2GB and nixing the microSD slot). Prices reportedly range between two and three Benjamins and will hit availability status online in April, followed by retail in June. Presser? You guessed right, it's after the break. %Gallery-81650%
Amazon Kindle DX with global wireless: ships January 19th for $489
Well, what do you know? Seems that Amazon's Kindle DX will indeed be offered in a Global Wireless flavor, and it'll soon be shipping to over 100 nations for the tidy sum of $489. Bezos and Company confirmed an earlier slip tonight by trumpeting the impending release of its 9.7-inch e-reader around the world, where we presume it'll work exactly like the recently released International Kindle. 'Course, you overseas folks will probably need to budget for a power converter and import duties, but you can get your pre-orders in right this moment.
Spring Design Alex hands-on (Update: video!)
Spring Design was poised to take the official wraps off of its dual-screen, Android-based ereader this Thursday, but we were able to catch an up close and personal glance at the device today here at CES Unveiled. Highlighted over at the Marvell booth (understandable given the choice of processor), the reader was intensely thin and remarkably snappy. We had some gripes with the speed of the Nook, but every action we took on the Alex was relatively lag free. We even downloaded a book and watched it open up immediately, and the touchscreen response was also satisfactory. Spring Design also opted to expose the microSD card slot on the rear; you simple mash your card into the slot and listen for the click, and mash it once more to eject it. You better hope nothing pushes it by mistake, but hey, at least you're not stuck removing some rear cover just to swap cards. We've gotta say -- we're digging this thing based on our brief time with it, and we'd invite you to have a peek at the gallery below till our demo video is prepped. Update: Video is after the break! %Gallery-81573%
iriver Story e-reader shipping to US soil this month, WiFi version coming in Q2
iriver's first legitimate shot at making an e-reader has been floating around in various corners of the globe for months now, but finally we've confirmation from the company that the device is coming Stateside. Announced here in Las Vegas, the iriver Story will ship to US retailers later this month, with an "updated WiFi version" slated to ship in early Q2. For those who've forgotten, the 0.36-inch thick reader packs a 6-inch e-ink display, an integrated MP3 player, 2GB of internal memory, an SD expansion slot, USB 2.0 connectivity and a battery good for 9,000 page turns. As for the MSRP? iriver tells us it'll be "competitively priced," with more details to be released as "content and retail partners are finalized." %Gallery-81513%
Interead expands COOL-ER e-reader line-up, announces additional content
Interead already let out some early word about its COOL-ER 3G e-book reader with a little help from AT&T, but it's now made things doubly official, and also take the opportunity to announce a new WiFi-equipped COOL-ER Connect model. While details on it are still a bit light, the reader will apparently boast a touchscreen of some sort, weigh just 5.8 ounces, and be available sometime this Spring (the COOL-ER 3G will follow in "mid-2010"). What's more, Interead has also now announced a new range of content offerings for its e-book readers, including the Coolermatic application, which will give users access to more than 1,400 newspapers, along with "select websites," and even Twitter feeds (no posting though, it seems). Still nothing in the way of pricing, but we're hoping Interead will have more to say about that once CES fully gets underway.
MSI planning to a show dual-screen e-reader, 3D laptop at CES
We don't have too many details here, but we sure are itching to get to Vegas to see if MSI really does have a dual-screen, Tegra-powered e-reader up its sleeve. Let's have it MSI: are you stealing another page from your Taiwanese arch-nemesis ASUS and its dual-screen Eee Reader? Regardless, Digitimes reports that not only will it show a dual-screen gadget of sorts, but also one with a slate form factor. More believable is the 3D laptop that the Taiwanese company is said to be prepping. Let's just hope they have gone with NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology there. It's only a matter of hours now until we find out about it all.
Paradigm Shift intros 5- and 7-inch readers with color (LCD) displays
It looks as if we're still waiting patiently for color e-ink to become a reality (at least in a mass produced shipping product), but if you're kosher with low-energy consumption LCDs, Paradigm Shift has the ticket. Similar to Sungale's Cyberus ID700WTA, the outfit's 5-inch EER-051 and 7-inch EER-071WF are both e-readers with color, but neither boast e-ink displays. The former includes 1GB of built-in memory, an SD expansion slot, an integrated MP3 player and support for just about any kind of ebook file (non-encrypted EPUB included). The latter steps up to 2GB of memory, and thanks to the Windows CE operating system, it'll also handle Office files and the like when it's not flipping text. Both devices are expected to ship in February through Delstar here in the States, with the 5-incher available in a rainbow's worth of hues for $149.95 and the big boy in black or white for $50 more. The full release is after the break. %Gallery-81074%
Dulin's Books brings Onxy's 6-inch Boox 60 e-reader to US shores for $349
It has taken longer than anticipated, but the Boox e-reader that we toyed with at CeBIT earlier this year is finally available for order here in the US of A, with shipments expected to begin in a fortnight. Onyx International's 6-inch reader -- which features WiFi, a Vizplex e-ink display, a 532MHz processor, 512MB of memory, a 1,600mAh battery and an SD / SDHC expansion slot -- is bring slung across the seas courtesy of Dulin's Books, and while it won't ship with integrated 3G support, it's still coming here with a lofty $349 price tag affixed to it. Sure, that WebKit browser may impress some, and the bundled white leather cover is a pleasant touch, but we can only wish it luck as it tries to rival the (less expensive and more capable) Nook and Kindle. [Thanks, Jorge]
E-reader privacy policies compared: Big Kindle is watching you
It's definitely shaping up to be the year of e-book readers: the Amazon Kindle is flying off (virtual) shelves, and we'd expect the Barnes & Noble Nook to start moving at a decent clip once the kinks get worked out. But any device with an always-on 3G connection to a central server raises some privacy questions, especially when it can broadcast granular, specific data about what you're reading -- data that's subject to a wide spectrum of privacy laws and regulations when it comes to real books and libraries, but much less so in the digital realm. We'd say it's going to take a while for all the privacy implications of e-books to be dealt with by formal policy, but in the meantime the best solution is to be informed -- which is where this handy chart from our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation comes in. As you'd expect, the more reading you do online, the more you can be tracked -- and Google Books, the Kindle, and the Nook all log a ton of data that can be shared with law enforcement and various other third parties if required. Of course, we doubt the cops are too interested in your Twilight reading habits, but honestly, we'd rather users weren't tracked at all. Check the full chart and more at the read link. [Thanks, Tom]
Kindle most gifted item in Amazon's history, e-books outsell physical tomes on Christmas Day
We're still not about say the e-book reader industry has branched out beyond the infancy stage, but one of its flagship products certainly has reason to celebrate. Amazon has announced it's hit some pretty big milestones with the Kindle. The two bullet points it's currently touting loudest is that the reader has become "the most gifted item" in the company's history -- quite an achievement given the size of the online retailer, but what's missing here is any quantitative sales data to give us even a ballpark of the number of units sold. The other big news is that on Christmas Day (we're guessing not Christmas Eve, else the press release surely would've mentioned it, too), e-book sales actually outsold physical books. Those brand new Kindle owners needed something to read, right? It'll be interesting to see if that momentum is maintained through next year, especially with some major publishers starting to show some teeth with digital delays. The Kindle bits were all part of Amazon's annual post-holiday statistical breakdown, so in case you're wondering, besides Kindle, the company is claiming its other top-selling electronics were the 8GB iPod Touch and Garmin nuvi260W, and in the wireless department the honor goes to Nokia's unlocked 5800 XpressMusic, Plantronic's 510 Bluetooth headset, and AT&T's edition of the BlackBerry Bold 9700. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nook fails to communicate, download purchased ebooks
You didn't think the whole Nook saga was over, did you? After just succeeding in delivering devices to expectant pre-orderers in time for Christmas, Barnes and Noble is today cleaning up yet another mess courtesy of its ill-prepared content servers. Judging by customer feedback on its support forums, it appears a glut of download requests over gift-giving day jammed the B&N net pipes and left a great many disappointed Nook users. All attempts at downloading an ebook yesterday -- even by those who got their Nook a little earlier in the month -- were greeted with a "Queued: Will complete shortly" message, which apparently remained that way until early this morning when downloading finally resumed functioning. The biggest perceived failure here, though, is the book retailer's silence on the issue, which illustrates the importance of communicating with your customers -- most people seemed tolerant of the setback once they realised they didn't have faulty hardware. [Thanks to all who sent this in]
Borders and Kobo join forces for e-reader device they can call their own
Fashionably late to the e-book handheld party, Borders and Kobo announced today a partnership that includes plans to develop and release both an e-reader and e-book service. Mum's the official word on hardware, but The New York Times Bits blog is claiming there'll be "more than one version" released, all with wireless connectivity and all sold at Borders retail locations, naturally. Unfortunately, there's no release date or window mentioned on that front. As for the service, the duo are taking a page from Barnes & Noble's playbook and claiming device neutrality, meaning they'd like to see their ePub-focused platform available to any and all devices possible, form mobile to desktop and everything in between. Sounds great, but what we're really keen to hear about is this new e-reader -- let's hope they've been taking notes on the successes and failures of their most immediate competitors.
HarperCollins now also thumbing nose at e-book industry with digital delay
Joining Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group (Stephanie Meyer, James Patterson) in delaying e-books months after their hardcover releases? HarperCollins, home to Neil Gaiman and the Lemony Snicket series. Beginning in 2010, five to ten books released each month will be given a physical head start lasting anywhere from four weeks to six months. Similar justification as before, the prevailing worry is that the cheaper digital copies so early in a title's release will make for "fewer literary choices for customers" because publishers won't be as willing to take a risk on new writers. It's not necessarily the most sound of arguments, but still we can imagine some short term harm to the e-book industry. Question is, how long can these arbitrary delays last? [Thanks, Joe]
Simon & Schuster imposing four-month delay on e-book versions of major upcoming releases
After hardcover and before paperback. In Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy's mind, this is when we as consumers should be expecting the digital copies of our favorite page turners to come out. Putting money where its mouth is, so to speak, the company has announced that for around 35 of its major releases coming early next year, the e-book iterations won't be out until four months after the physical releases. Seeing as hardcovers can debut at $27 while their digital equivalents can run $10 or less, Reidy notes one of the driving motivations behind this move is to curb consumer expectations that a new novel is worth only one Alexander Hamilton. It's a historically valid concern, especially when you consider how iTunes taught us that songs are only worth $1 apiece, but in the long-term, we don't expect this delay-on-digital trend to stay afloat. The e-book business is growing, and that delay is too artificial for its own good -- at some point, the argument's going to have to shift back to day-and-date pricing tiers. We'll be very interested to see just how this paper-borne release gap pans out from a sales standpoint.
Barnes & Noble Nook now arriving to customers
There was a definite moment of utter pre-launch confusion there, but it looks like the Barnes & Noble Nook is indeed shipping to customers -- reader Peter just sent in this photo of his cold chilling on a desk. We'll see if B&N can crank out the rest of its pre-orders before the holidays, but at least there's hope now -- and we can always tell you where Peter lives if that doesn't work out. [Thanks, Peter]
Interead COOL-ER 3G e-reader announced, adds wireless to the mix
We are already fans of the COOL-ER e-reader: if anything, its playful look and decent price point has brought a smile to our embittered faces. But still, the lack of WiFi and a Whispernet equivalent is something of a buzzkill -- who wants to rely on a USB cable or SD card in this day and age? Good news, digital book fans: Interead has big changes in store for next year, including the aforementioned WiFi and deals with AT&T for bandwidth and NewspaperDirect for access to over 1,300 newspapers and magazines. Not bad, eh? If all goes according to plan, we can expect to see the COOL-ER 3G sometime in mid-2010. Hopefully, they can set the MSRP low enough to keep consumers' interest. PR after the break.
