The release of the updated Amazon Kindle DX wasn't met with the same level of fanfare it was used to in a post iPad world, but the new gadget showcases the next generation of e-ink displays which offer up impressive performance improvements over what you may have seen in the past. The new "Pearl" display featured on the DX is currently one of a kind in the electronic reader market, but the E Ink Corporation has already successfully ported the design over to smaller screen sizes, most of which are slated for product releases later in the year.

The difference between the previous generation displays and the pearl is described as the difference in contrast between a newspaper, and a high quality paperback book. In terms of numbers this is estimated to be a 50% improvement over the previous generation, and even offers up additional power savings. According to the company, "the crisp text and detailed graphics also continue to remain pleasant to view when E Ink products are enjoyed outside. In addition, with 16 gray level depth, E Ink Pearl offers the sharpest rendering of images and allows product developers to display images with smooth tones and rich detail."

Improved contrast and better battery performance are going to make for an impressive next generation of e-book readers, so those who are on the market would be well advised to wait a couple of months if they can help it.

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China will be the first to receive BenQ's nReader, which is slated to launch overseas in August, says company vice chairman Jerry Wang. One month later, BenQ will launch its ebook platform, eBook Taiwan, also in China.

It's unclear exactly when the nReader will make its way to North American shores, but as Jerry Wang tells it, BenQ's goal is to ship 100,000 ebook readers to the Taiwan and China markets in 2010, and 300,000 worldwide before the year is up. It would seem, then, that BenQ might be aiming for a holiday release here in the states.

BenQ's nReader, also known as the "K60," will sport a 6-inch capacitive touchscreen. It will display 16 levels of gray and come with 2GB of onboard memory, a microSD expansion slot for up to 16GB of additional storage, 802.11g/b Wi-Fi, a micro USB 2.0 port, 3.5-inch headphone jack, and support for a variety of media formats, including ePub, PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, and MP3.

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Amazon last year launched its Kindle Pilot Program, in which it sold a number of Kindle DX readers to several universities at a 50 percent discount. Students were allowed to use them free of charge, but as it turns out, most college students aren't yet ready to trade in their textbooks for Kindles.

At the University of Virginia, for example, about 80 percent of MBA students who participated in the program said they wouldn't recommend the Kindle DX for classroom use, even though they enjoyed it for recreational reading. And at Princeton University and Reed College, students said they missed the ability to write in the margins, easily highlight passages, or view color charts and graphics, the Seattle Times reports.

"You don't read textbooks in the same linear way as a novel," said Roesner, a 23-year-old graduate student. "You have to flip back and forth between pages, an the Kindle is too slow for that. Also, the bookmarking function is buggy."

The complaints haven't fallen on deaf ears. Amazon last month announced software upgrades that enable Kindle users to sort books into collections and zoom PDF documents.

"The pilot programs are doing their job -- getting us valuable feedback," said spokesman Drew Herdener.

More here.

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Amazon today announced that its Kindle for Android app will make its debut this summer. It will be available as a free download and give readers access to over 540,000 books in the Kindle Store. Amazon says that, like all Kindle apps, this one will include the company's Whisersync technology, which saves and synchronizes a customer's bookmarks across their Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, and of course their Android device.

"Kindle for Android is the perfect companion application for Kindle and Kindle DX owners, and is also a great way for customers to enjoy over 540,000 books in the Kindle Store even if they don't yet have a Kindle," said Jay Marine, director, Amazon Kindle. "We think customers are going to love the convenience and simplicity of having instant access to a massive selection of books from Amazon on their Droid, Nexus, Incredible and many more Android devices."

There isn't a whole lot new here, other than being able to use Kindle on your Android handset. Kindle for Android will let users choose between five different font sizes, read in portrait or landscape mode, browse by genre or author, read the beginning of books for free, and access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon's servers for no cost.

Nothing was said about upcoming tablet devices, but this could be prove to be a fairly significant development as Android-based tablets start to come out.

More here.

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