Posted 10/28/09 at 05:05:41 PM by Bart Salisbury

The more the merrier, at least it seems to be for Barnes & Noble, which has inked a deal to sell Plastic Logic’s QUE eReader along side its own, recently announced, Nook eReader. This move follows an earlier agreement between the two companies to allow QUE users access to book downloads through Barnes & Noble’s online bookstore.

The QUE is, according to Plastic Logic, about the size of an 8.5 x 11-inch pad of paper, and has a shatterproof touch screen display. The QUE is less than one-third of an inch thick and has built-in WiFi and 3G wireless capability (through AT&T). The QUE can handle PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, and will come with tools that allow interaction with, and management of, content. Actual design features, however, are pretty much a mystery, as Plastic Logic hasn’t been very forthcoming with images showing the QUE’s configuration.

Barnes & Noble hopes the combination of eReaders will mount a credible challenge against Amazon’s Kindle. According to William J. Lynch, president of BN.com, “Carrying [Nook] and QUE allows us to provide consumers a one-stop destination in Barnes & Noble stores to demo and buy two of the best eBook readers on the market.”

Pricing and availability were not included in the announcement. It is expected that Plastic Logic will announce such details at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January.

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Posted 10/23/09 at 05:40:50 PM by Bart Salisbury

Brick & mortar stores may be struggling, but the Internet is still printing money for some online retailers. Count Amazon among those who won big in the 3rd quarter of 2009, with a whoppoing 62 percent jump in profits. Amazon chalked-up $5.45 billion in sales during the quarter, an increase of 28 percent from the third quarter in 2008, with a net income of $199 million. Investors took the news well, bumping up the price of Amazon’s shares some 15 percent to $170.07 in after-hours trading.

“Kindle has become the #1 bestselling item by both unit sales and dollars – not just in our electronics store but across all product categories on Amazon.com. It’s also the most wished for and the most gifted. We are grateful for and energized by this customer response.” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

In response to new competition in the e-book marketplace, Amazon has reduced the price of its new 3G Kindle to $259, and has announced the the free application “Kindle for PC” to widen the reach of its e-book offerings.

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Posted 10/22/09 at 03:43:50 PM by Bart Salisbury

Not interested in buying a Kindle? Understandable. But that’s not going to stop Amazon from promoting its Kindle technology as far and wide as it possible can. Today Amazon has announced the availability of “Kindle for PC,” a free eReader application that allows PC users to “enjoy” Kindle books on their own terms.

Kindle for PC is built with Amazon’s Whispersynch technology, which automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and last page read across devices. So where ever you get your Kindle on--with a Kindle or Kindle DX, a PC, or an iPhone/iPod Touch, you’ll never lose track of where you are.

Kindle for PC features include, besides the obvious ability to acquire Kindle books, access to your entire Kindle library, ten different font sizes, and viewing notes/highlights made on a Kindle It will also take advantage of Windows 7’s touch technology, allowing pinch-zooming, with finger swipe page-turning (planned for a future release). Kindle for PC is compatible with XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Gizmodo has some screenshots of Kindle for PC in action, running on an Acer tablet. Information on getting your copy of Kindle for PC is available at Amazon.

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Posted 10/20/09 at 09:12:00 PM by Ryan Whitwam

We’ve all experienced that feeling of dread when a gadget is dropped. The more unlucky among us are also familiar with the horror felt after realizing that our once beloved thingamajig is now junk. Paul Gowder must have felt that after dropping his Kindle 2 recently, leading to a damaged screen. He, however, moved past that and decided to get Amazon to replace his Kindle.

Paul felt that it was pretty unreasonable for the Kindle’s screen to break, seeing as it was in a messenger bag at the time. His story fell on deaf ears at Amazon, where he was offered a replacement unit for $200, provided he returned the broken one. He agreed, but Paul wasn’t through with these Amazon folk.

It turns out that Paul went to law school, and he set about crafting a seriously frightening letter to Amazon. Among other things, he cited Amazon’s drop test video for the Kindle 2. Since his Kindle broke after a much less severe drop, Paul claimed that Amazon was misrepresenting the product. All he asked was that Amazon pay him $400. Shockingly, they did. Net gain to Paul: $200 and a new Kindle. Well played, sir… well played.

You can check out Paul’s letter, as well as Amazon’s response at the read link.

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Posted 10/19/09 at 07:36:05 PM by Ryan Whitwam

All the rumblings were apparently accurate. Barnes and Noble is releasing an eBook reader tomorrow according to the WSJ. The new eReader on the block will be called the Nook, and will be priced at $259. Many felt that Barnes and Noble would try to get the price in under Amazon’s Kindle, but that didn’t happen.

The Nook will have an eInk display, and a color touchscreen below the main display. This may have something to do with the price. The new device will also have an, as yet unspecified, wireless connection for downloading books. Apparently the Nook will allow users to, “lend eBooks to friends”. If true, this could be a killer app. With the Kindle having solid control of 60% of the market, the Nook will need all the differentiation it can get. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to get all the deatils. So... interested?

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Posted 10/18/09 at 04:14:36 PM by Justin Kerr

Amazon is betting the future of textbooks lies in e-ink, not paper, but even more evidence is mounting to suggest that they still have some work to do before the device is accepted universally. The Kindle DX which comes with a slightly larger screen than most eBook readers, along with a $489 price tag aims to reduce the burden of carrying dozens of books from class to class, but its shortcomings have some students ready to trade back down to the dead tree edition according to the Associated Press. "I like the aspect of writing something down on paper and having it be so easy and just kind of writing whatever comes to my mind," says Claire Becerra, a freshman at Arizona State University. Becerra further complained that notes made on the device often didn’t make sense because they were laced with typos and she relies more heavily on the highlighter tool as a result.

When asked how the device could be improved Madeline Kraizel, a freshman at Case Western Reserve University said a better system for managing bookmarks was needed, and a way that page numbers could remain consistent, so both teacher and student could reference material properly. Other students suggested that reading PDF files was often difficult, and if they weren’t formatted properly, zooming in to make the text readable didn’t always work. John Sherman, a first-year MBA student at the University of Virginia, claims that he still finds himself printing off case studies delivered in PDF format about half the time. "For the cases that require a lot of calculations, I find paper cases to be better," says Sherman, 31. "For me, it helps to scribble my thoughts in the margins."

It wasn’t all bad news for Amazon mind you. Students generally liked the concept behind the initiative, and many made use of some of the more unique features such as text to speech, allowing them to study more often. So, do you think the future of textbooks lies in e-Ink?

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Posted 10/15/09 at 09:12:31 PM by Ryan Whitwam

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.

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Posted 10/13/09 at 03:09:37 PM by Bart Salisbury

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.

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