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BenQ and Fujitsu to Jump on E-Book Bandwagon

Paul Lilly — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:45:03 -0600

Not wanting to be left out of in the emerging digital reader scene, both BenQ and Fujitsu will release e-book readers of their own and plan to showcase their devices at the IT Month 2009 consumer trade show in Taiwan, which runs from November 28 to January 1, 2010.

BenQ will have on display a 6-inch e-reader with a touchscreen EPD (electrophoretic display) panel. According to news and rumor site DigiTimes, BenQ will release its digital reader in January 2010, and then follow up that launch with more models in April, including a 9-inch reader.

For Fujitsu's part, the company plans to show off its 8-inch FELPia e-book reader, and there's talk that it might release the device in Taiwan sometime in 2010.

Image Credit: DigiTimes

Download of the Week: Kindle for PC

David Murphy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:30:12 -0600

It's a pretty slick deal of Amazon to open up its Kindle library to devices beyond those of the company's handheld book readers. But just because the Kindle software has gone multi-platform doesn't mean that it's a sure winner. No, it's the ease-of-use and almost iTunes-like functionality of this simple e-book reader that makes it a great piece of software for your desktop or laptop PC.

You can't do very much with Kindle for PC aside from read books purchased through Amazon's extensive library--which, in itself, makes sense. You wouldn't really want another piece of software to read PDFs, right? Joking aside, the one thing this software does, it does well. Grabbing new book titles from Amazon is as easy as logging into the Web site, hitting download, and waiting for the book to quickly refresh itself in your Kindle for PC home screen. Your collection of digital novels appears as the front covers of each title, and you can sort this list by the order in which you downloaded the e-books, their names, or the author's name.

The actual book-reading process in Kindle for PC is as simple as the physical process of flipping pages. Use your mouse to scroll up and down throughout your text, and add bookmarks to passages you find particularly interesting by clicking in the upper-right corner of the page (sure beats folding the corner down the ol'-fashioned way). You can change the font size on a whim and even select just how many words you want to appear on each line--the thickness of the e-book, as it were. Amazon is looking into allowing you to create customized notes in future versions of Kindle for PC, one of the few features missing from this simple piece of software.

Every Wednesday, Maximum PC picks a new free or shareware download as its favorite of the week. Have a nifty application that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.

Hands-On: Spring Design's Dual-Screen Android Alex eBook Reader

Gordon Mah Ung — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:30:00 -0600

There’s good news and bad news for eBook fans. First up: new eBook readers using Marvell’s ARMADA 166E chip could see triple the frame rate of first generation devices. The bad news: the faster frame rate of 3 fps won’t exactly have you playing Doom just yet but low frame rate animation will possible.

An eInk screen playing a 3 fps animation, using Marvell's new Armada chip

Marvell doesn’t mind though. The company’s new chip isn’t meant to just increase performance, it’ll also offer a cost reduction and power reduction by shrinking what is now a multi-chip board controller board down to a single chip. Marvell showed off several OEM designs including Spring Design’s upcoming dual-screen Alex.

Based on Android, Alex features a color lower touch screen with a 6-inch electronic paper display. Using its built-in 3G modem or Wi-Fi, the Alex will let you visit a web site, select a story, and the device will reflow it to the EPD screen. The color screen can then be switched off to save power. This makes browsing blogs and news sites much more feasible, since you don't have to wait for the ebook to render individual pages before you get to your target content.

The capacitive LCD touchscreen runs the full Android OS, including support for UI customization, photo galleries, and full-color video playback. When you read an ebook, the interface lets you quickly skip around to any page, using an on-screen slide bar. An on-screen keyboard also makes text entry practical.

One downside is that the Alex is noticably thicker than the Kindle -- the added heft needed for the second screen and bigger battery.

Alex is expected to be available by the end of this year.

Marvell also showed off an even smaller Star Trek PADD-sized eBook. The device was just a mockup, but Marvell officials say the size is quite possible given the smaller foot print of its new ARMADA 166E chip. The company said it expects eBook readers in the next year to dip to near the $100 level as volumes ramp up and OEMs realize the savings from using the ARMADA 166E.

HP to Offer Rare Books On Demand with BookPrep

Paul Lilly — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:22:46 -0500

With a lot of help from the University of Michigan, Hewlett Packard on Wednesday unveiled its beta BookPrep project, which seeks to make more than half a million rare books available through a print-on-demand system.

Using imaging and printing technology from HP Labs, HP is able to automatically scan rare books and then clean up, brighten, and align the text. As of this writing, there are exactly 472,509 books available for purchase, most of which were published before 1923.

"HP BookPrep technology allows publishers to extend the life cycle of their books, removes the cost and waste burdens of maintaining inventory, and uses a full spectrum of technologies to deliver convenient access to consumers," said Andrew Bolwell, HP's director of New Business Initiatives.

In addition to rare books, HP said it is also extending its BookPrep project to publishers and content owners who want to offer their full catalogs of titles online, The Inquirer reports.

BookPrep Link

Plasitic Logic Announces "Que" E-book Reader with Capacitive Touch

Paul Lilly — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:05:38 -0500

As competition starts to heat up, we don't know who -- if anyone -- will emerge as the dominant ebook player, but if judging on looks alone, Plastic Logic's new "Que" might just take the crown.

Named after the English alphabet letter and not the Spanish equivalent for "what," the sleek-looking Que has received a glossy black finish that wasn't present in previous prototypes. And while this isn't always the case in real life, the Que has more going for it than just good looks.

The Que's letter-sized 8.5 x 11 inch screen boasts a "shatterproof" design and also includes a capacitive touch layer that won't interfere with the e-ink display. Users will be able to sketch and manipulate documents with it, and on the connectivity front, the Que features AT&T 3G and WiFi.

Despite all the Que has going for it, Plastic Logic insists it isn't going after the Kindle market, and will instead focus on providing a comprehensive platform for mobile professionals.

More details here, including a video demo.

Image Credit: Plastic Logic

Forget the Library--Why Not Take a Trip Over to the Google eBook Store?

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:12:31 -0500

Google has released more information about its upcoming ebook service, called Google Editions. Unlike the Amazon store, which is tied to the Kindle, Google ebooks will be usable on any device. Then new service will feature a selection of in-print books provided by Google’s publishing partners. Google Edition should launch in the first half of 2010 and offer 400,000 to 600,000 books.

Google clarified that the service would not be entirely cloud-based. After obtaining a book the customer could have a cached version for use when no not online. This caching may be done via Google Gears.

Google Editions will utilize three business models. The first will allow consumers to purchase directly from Google Books. This model would give Google a 37% share of the sale, with the rest going to the publisher. The second model would consist of purchases made from partner retailers, with Google getting 55% of the sale. The last model Google is looking at will have customers going directly to a publisher’s website to make purchases. No decisions have been made on the split for this option.

No word yet on any device manufacturers Google plans to partner with. Maybe you should hold off on that Kindle purchase.

Research Predicts Color eBooks Should be Standard by 2011

Bart Salisbury — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:09:37 -0500

Digitimes Research is reporting that color eBook readers will account for nearly 5% of global eBook shipments in the second half of 2010, and will become mainstream by 2011.

Digitimes claims that as the electrophoresis technology used to produce eBook reader screens matures the demand for color will pick up. Fujitsu already has a color eBook reader, the Flepia, on the market, but only available in Japan. Prime View International is expected soon to launch its own color electrophoretic display based on E-Ink’s color filter solution. And AU Optronics is developing a color e-paper without the use of color filters that is expected to start production by the end of 2010.

While Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony Reader, with their gray-scale screens, have proven popular, color may be what’s needed for eBooks to become mainstream. Geoffery A. Fowler, of the Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog, sees color as opening the door to new content providers, such as magazines, which in turn could stimulate new demand for the devices.

Image Credit: Fujitsu

Rumor Has It that Barnes and Noble's eReader Will be Fueled by Android

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:37:07 -0500

Fresh from the rumor mill comes word that Barnes and Noble’s upcoming eReader may be running Android. This would certainly be a nice change of pace from the fairly low-power operating environments in other eBook readers.

Android seems like a great fit for eBook readers. It already has built-in support for wireless technology, and being open-source, a custom eReader interface could easily be added on top of Android. There could even be eReader specific apps in the Android Market. Not to mention, the modding possibilities are endless. This could mean a much more open environment than the tightly controlled Kindle model Amazon has gone with. Even if it isn’t so out of the box, it is Android. Someone will come along and hack it.

Barnes and Noble has released apps for both iPhone and Blackberry, but not Android. Perhaps this is why. The mysterious eReader may be announced next month, so we could know the truth soon.