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.

Pandigital's bread and butter up to this point has mainly been digital photo frames, and now the company wants to try its hand in the e-reader market. Kicking off this new venture is the Pandigital Novel, a 7-inch e-reader with a full-color 800x600 touchscreen display and an edge-to-edge glass screen.

Ready to roll right out of the box, the Pandigital Novel also comes with Barnes and Noble's eBookstore built-in, giving readers access to over 1 million ebooks, newspapers, and magazines. The device will support B&N's "LendMe" technology, which allows users to share publisher-approved ebooks with others for 14 days

"First and foremost, the Pandigital Novel eReader was designed to deliver a world-class e-reading experience," said Dean Finnegan, CEO and founder, Pandigital. "By focusing on delivering superior content from Barnes & Noble, an easy-to-use design and an excellent customer experience, Pandigital is delivering a value proposition not currently available in the eReader category. With its many additional features, Pandigital Novel customers will be able to read what they want and do more of what they want on the go with an affordable product that is simple and fun to use."

The Pandigital Novel measures 5.5 inches (w) by 7.5 inches (h) by 0.5 inches (d) and weighs 16 ounces. It comes with 1GB of memory expandable to 32GB via its SD/MMC memory card slot and supports a number of ebook formats, including PDF, EPUB, and HTML.

Starting in June, you'll be able to pick one up "at several national retailers" for $200.

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.

Mother's Day 2010 is officially in the books, and it's now time to look ahead to Father's Day. To help you do that, Borders is now accepting pre-orders for the upcoming Kobo eReader, a $150 device Borders hopes will hold its own against Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook.

"The Kobo eReader is the eReader for everyone and is now available in the U.S. – launching at Borders," said Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo. "At $149.99 the Kobo eReader is roughly $100 less than the other eReading devices out there, so it provides a great way to start eReading without breaking the bank. We couldn’t be happier about partnering with a brand like Borders which shares our commitment to technological innovation, high quality, and customer value."

Kobo will come pre-loaded with the Borders eBook app, giving users access to over a million ebooks, through USB or via Bluetooth. It will also come with 100 classic books already downloaded, with enough memory (1GB) to store 10 times as many, and an SD card slot to add even more.

Pre-Order Page