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Aug
15
Amazon Kindle Lauded at Qualcomm’s Digital Smart Services Leadership Summit
Filed Under Kindle, News | Leave a Comment
From Knowledge@W. P. Carey comes a report that the Amazon Kindle was the “darling of the Smart Services Summit” recently hosted by Qualcomm in San Diego.
First, the article defines “smart services” as a term that “covers the field also know as M2M, which means machine-to-machine communications to some or machine-to-man communications to others.” But wait . . . there’s more: the term “also refers to the customer focus and strategy that transforms technology into a solution.”
Aug
13
Amazon Kindle: The Buzz Goes On
Filed Under Kindle, News, Reader, Readius, e-Ink | Leave a Comment
The media buzz on the Amazon Kindle continues at mid-week, following a Citigroup analyst’s positive estimates of 2008 Kindle sales on Monday.
The Top Stocks Blog over at MSN Money staked out somewhat of a contrarian position. Under the headline, “Amazon’s Kindle unlikely to set world on fire,” the blogger noted that although some think the Kindle will have a first-year sales record comparable to that of the Apple iPod, “[o]thers believe it’s wishful thinking to assume John Grisham will ever be as popular as Jay-Z.”
After noting some features of the Amazon Kindle — ability to download books over the wireless Whispernet network, the glare-free screen and enlargeable screen fonts, the Top Stocks blogger held firm to the notion of print-and-paper books: “Doodling in the corners and turning the pages into a flipbook, alas, can still only be done in regular books.”
Aug
12
Amazon Kindle Sales Surpassing Expectations?
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The news media and the blogosphere are filled with Amazon Kindle buzz this week, stemming from the Monday comments of Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney about the strength of Kindle sales in 2008.
InternetNews.com reports that Citigroup described Amazon Kindle sales as surpassing expectations, “and could double a previous estimate for units sold this year.”
Mahaney, the article says, esimated that Kindle sales for 2008 could reach a total of 380,000, which would be comparable to the first sales year for Apple’s iPod. In a note to clients, the article added, Mahaney opined that ” ‘the Kindle is becoming the iPod of the book world.’ ”
Aug
8
Sony Reader vs Amazon Kindle
Filed Under Kindle, News, Reader | Leave a Comment
Is the competition between the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle ereader devices a repeat of the competition between the Sony Walkman and the Apple iPod? That’s the position staked out by Financial Times columnist John Gapper.
Noting that Apple managed to integrate the iTunes store, and device hardware and software better than Sony, the article says that in the sphere of ebook reading devices Sony “has just made the same mistake all over again. It has squandered an early lead in a new field because another company was better not just at inventing an electronic device but also at linking it to a wireless network and making it easy for consumers to use.” Amazon, the FT article says, “has swept past Sony with the Kindle, a rival e-book reader that is showing every sign of becoming the iPod of this nascent market.”
Sony was first on the ebook scene with its Reader, the article adds, but a year later Amazon launched the Kindle, with links to the Amazon online store via a wireless 3G network. There are indications that the Sony Reader may also incorporate wireless connectivity, but “[t]he danger for Sony is that it is already too late. Amazon has grabbed the market-leading position from Sony and established a stronger brand, which is what happened with the iPod and the Walkman.”
Aug
6
The Amazon Kindle ebook reader is Number 9 on the Time.com list of 25 Gotta Have Travel Gadgets.
Amazon’s first-generation e-book reader certainly needs improvement — the page-turn buttons are awkwardly placed, among other things — but anyone who likes to read on the road should consider it an essential companion. That’s because you can take a veritable library with you. The 10.3-ounce device holds around 200 books; infinitely more if you load books onto external SD cards. Better yet is Whispernet, Amazon’s built-in wireless service — it piggybacks on Sprint’s EVDO network — that delivers books on demand in seconds.
The other gadgets on the Time.com “gotta have” list include an assortment of items for travelers, such as a universal adaptor, camera, battery pack, portable DVD player, and video recorder.
Aug
6
Bookz Text Reader App for iPhone Gets a Thumbs Up
Filed Under News, Reviews, iPhone | Leave a Comment
Manybooks.net recently had good things to say about the Bookz text reader application for the iPhone. First of all, Manybooks.net noted, the Bookz app is simple to use — download text files from the Web, and read the files on your phone. Furthermore, “[t]he interface is clean and responsive, and the preferences are accessible, and easy to use.”
The Bookz app is available through the iTunes App Store. Learn more about Bookz online.
Aug
6
eReader.com has announced that the eReader 1.1 release is now available for iPhone and iPod Touch users.
With the release of the 1.1 version of eReader, iPhone and iPod Touch users are not limited to downloading materials from eReader.com and Fictionwise.com. Version 1.1 incorporates the capability to download PDB files from other web sites.
Other new features include the options to lock the screen’s orientation; to tap rather than swipe to turn pages; to select either a white or a black background; to turn off page animation; and to turn off full text justification.
Version 1.1 also provides users with the ability to sort the iPhone or iPod Touch bookshelf by author, title, or date of download.
eReader.com notes that more features will also be added in the pending release of eReader version 1.2.
Watch this demo to learn more about the features of eReader 1.1.
Aug
5
e-News - Flexible Display Newspaper Concept, and Trial Project
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A flexible display newspaper concept from the UK and an e-news trial project in Germany are in the news this week.
From the UK, Electricpig reports on a flexible display concept:
The electronic e-reader concept by Mayo Nissen could be how the national newspapers win back their receding readership in 2015. The day’s news scrolls across the front page and the further you unroll it, the more detail on each headline story is displayed.
The paper and ink publishers have been fighting a losing battle with online newscasters that can update their stories as it happens, but the e-paper could change that.
The forums at MobileRead contain a discussion of a Spiegel report about an e-news trial project by Deutsche Telekom this fall. The forum poster notes that participants in the “News4Me” trial project will be given a dedicated ereading device for receiving personalized news reports.
Aug
5
Phones with e-Ink Display Set for Japan Launch
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TechRadar reports that two phones incorporating e-Ink displays are set for launch in Japan by Hitachi and Casio.
The Hitachi W61H will use the ‘Silhouette’ display when it launches in Japan in a design which mimics that of a perfume bottle (so not hard to work out the demographic they’re going for there.)
The Casio G’zOne range will also use the display to provide easy-to-read information in a smaller outer screen, though won’t be as impressive as the Hitachi model in form.
Aug
5
Plastic Logic Plans for Flexible Display Device
Filed Under Flexible Display, News | Leave a Comment
From VentureBeat comes news of the plans of Plastic Logic to introduce a flexible display device.
Thin, flexible display tech is one of those advances that has been just over the horizon since the Internet bubble started inflating. Remember the promises of e-paper — a crossbreed with the best qualities of both paper and computer screens, used as portable reading material? So far the best we’ve gotten is the Amazon Kindle, but Plastic Logic is hoping to change that, with a plan for commercialization next year.
Plastic Logic, spun off from Cambridge University in 2000, has been working for a long time on its technology, a semi-transparent sheet of tough plastic that can quickly create and erase static images (video is still a challenge). Electronic books, of course, are the obvious application, but there is also potential for signage, RFIDs, head-up displays (HUDs) and other gadgets.
The article indicates that Plastic Logic has plans to introduce a device with flexible display features in early 2009, “pitting it against E-Ink, Samsung, Panasonic and several other rivals who are working in a similar time frame.”