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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
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
4
Amazon and Fictionwise Keep It Simple - and That’s a Good Thing
Filed Under Kindle, Reader, eReader, iPhone | Leave a Comment
People who are users of ereading devices and software like things to be simple, says a recent article at Teleread. The bottom line? “The only people who understand ebooks are Amazon (and Fictionwise). Everybody else doesn’t get it.”
The writer reached this conclusion after using the Sony Reader and Adobe Digital Editions, and apparently finding the process cumbersome.
Hey, people read ebooks and people like things simple.
I’m a people, too, and I like things simple as well. This hit me like a fish in the face when I installed Fictionwise’s eReader on my iPhone. Want a book - go to Fictionwise on the phone and download one. It hit me again, more like a whale in the face, when a I told a colleague about a free ebook being offered by Amazon. He has a Kindle and, while I watched he fired it up and downloaded the book while standing outside in the sunshine. No computer, no USB cable, no card reader, no Sony software, no Adobe software, no Calibre software, no conversion programs, no WiFi router.
Jul
28
Textbooks, e-Books, and Digital Devices
Filed Under Kindle, e-Book | Leave a Comment
Connecting the Dots takes a close look at issues of textbook affordability, textbook sales, and tools and devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the rumored-to-be-in-the-works Apple Tablet.
It’s not just about the tools and technologies to build and deliver a replacement for highly expensive paper books. It’s all about aligning incentives, but here’s the kicker: I don’t think the solution is going to come from government, advocacy groups, those buying the books, open source/open content initiatives like Wikibooks, or even the backpack police concerned about kids and college students schlepping huge and heavy materials around, but rather from a vendor or vendors who deliver a platform, provide tools, and a device that will capture the imagination of everyone concerned.
The article continues:
Think for a moment about the opportunity represented by a combination of a development platform with tools, a way to combine content that delivers most of it on a device but has connection to the internet and application functionality in “the cloud”. There could be tremendous upside potential in an ongoing stream of content updates, connections with other students . . . and the textbook would become a living, breathing and dynamic offering vs. something the college publishing industry manipulates in order to maintain revenues and gross margin.
Jul
14
iPhone and iPod Touch Ereader Apps
Filed Under Mobipocket, News, e-Book, eReader, iPhone, ipod | Leave a Comment
Manybooks.net draws our attention to a couple of applications that make it possible to use the iPhone and the iPod Touch as ereader devices.The iPhone Bookshelf app supports various formats, including Mobipocket, PalmDoc, Plucker, FictionBook2, HTML, and plain text. The eReader app supports PalmDoc and eReader.
Continue reading about iPhone and iPod Touch apps . . .
Mar
18
How About the iPod as an eReading Device?
Filed Under Kindle, e-Book, eReader, ipod | Leave a Comment
Over at Electric Alphabet, an article discusses the e-book reader possibilities lying ahead for the Apple iPod:
Currently, the iPod Touch doesn’t stack up next to the Kindle in terms of screen size, but it does bring a host of features that make new versions easily adaptable. Its multitouch screen gives it a natural advantage over the Kindle in terms of manipulating documents, not just reading them. While it has wireless internet, the addition of Bluetooth (which the iPhone has but Touch currently does not) would make the use of wireless keyboards a cinch too.
Mar
18
Kindle and Apple
Filed Under Kindle, Reviews, eReader | Leave a Comment
At Arriive Business Solutions, the blogger discusses Apple’s plans for an e-reader, and what’s good about the Amazon Kindle:
I’m surprised Apple hasn’t come out with an i-Reader or something like that which would blow Amazon away. But, as it turns out, Apple IS coming out with an i-Reader in July… so stay tuned on that one (I’ll review it after it comes out)!
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What’s great about Amazon’s Kindle? Take it on the subway, take it in your car, take it to bed. Whatever is convenient for you. It doesn’t run as hot as a laptop computer, plus, it’s more convenient to hold in your hand and just scroll through your document, which is what you’ll do, anyway.
Mar
6
Please, Steve: Give Us An iPod Reader
Filed Under News, eReader | Leave a Comment
At Tidbits, we find a request to Steve Jobs and Apple “to acknowledge that people read vast quantities of text and to focus hardware and software design efforts on making it easier to read on the iPod, iPhone, and future devices.”
Writer Adam C. Engst opines that
. . . I, speaking as a reader and a publisher, would really like to see Apple create a larger version of the iPod touch optimized not just for a better video experience, but also for a best-of-breed reading experience. Apple has the hardware design and user interface chops that Amazon lacked when creating the Kindle, plus the knowledge gleaned from the iPhone and the iPod touch in terms of underlying operating system, physical design, and wireless capabilities. Equally important is the iTunes Store, which offers an unparalleled browsing and shopping experience for digital media - it could be extended to support commercial ebooks and free blogs in exactly the way it currently supports audiobooks and podcasts.
Read the article here.