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Aug
25
Reading Books on Your Blackberry - Ereader Apps
Filed Under Mobipocket, PDAs and Handhelds, eReader | 4 Comments
Blackberry owners who would like the capability to read ebooks on their Blackberry device have at least a couple of options. Whether you regard the Blackberry as your preferred ereader, or as a useful alternative to other ereaders in your ebook reading device arsenal, there are apps and online services available to you.
Mobipocket Reader and OTA Bookstore Access
Mobipocket.com offers its free Mobipocket Reader software for the Blackberry, as well as Over the Air (OTA) access to the Mobipocket bookstore via the Blackberry. Books can also be downloaded to the Blackberry user’s desktop PC (the Mobipocket Reader software for Windows Vixta and XP is also free).
The Mobipocket Reader allows the Blackberry user to select font styles and sizes, customize margins, select background colors, and make other custom choices for the ereading environment. Through the Mobipocket bookstore, the Blackberry user has access to thousands of books, book samples, and reviews.
Continue reading on ebooks on the Blackberry . . .
Aug
7
How Do the Amazon Kindle and the iRex Iliad Match Up?
Filed Under Kindle, Reviews, iRex Iliad | 1 Comment
SlashGear recently performed a side-by-side comparison of two ebook reading devices — the Amazon Kindle and the iRex Iliad.
Their verdict? Go with the Amazon Kindle, “[b]ecause it’s cheaper and does what it says it will do. Granted, there’s great room for improvement here, but the extended battery life and seamless use with Amazon.com make it the logical choice for those looking for an easy way to read on the go.”
The reviewer did appreciate some features of the iRex Iliad, such as a stylus that enables the user to make notations on book pages. However, the reviewer concluded, “[i]f it lived up to its promises, the iRex model would be a clear winner and perhaps worth the extra cash, but it’s not there yet.”
Aug
6
Amazon Kindle - Sony Reader Comparison
Filed Under Kindle, Reader, Reviews, Uncategorized, e-Book, ePub, eReader | Leave a Comment
A recent post at Blog Shop Review states a preference for the Amazon Kindle over the Sony Reader.
I have owned the first generation Sony Reader since last December, and read over twenty books on it, and just recently purchased the Kindle. While the Kindle is not perfect, it is superior to the Sony Reader in several meaningful ways that make it a far superior choice[.]
The first reason listed for the Kindle preference is available books: “[T]he number of books available for purchase for the Kindle is at least triple the number available from Sony.” (We have noted here at eReader Central that Sony did recently announce support for the EPUB format in the updated PRS-505 Reader, which serves to increase the number of ebooks that are compatible with that model of the Reader.)
In addition, the Blog Shop Review stated that with the Kindle, “[b]uying books is far easier; they are transferred directly to the Kindle without having to be downloaded first to a computer.” Other features listed as in the Kindle’s favor include screen contrast, available font sizes, the ease of changing pages, and the number of books that can be held in the device’s memory.
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
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.”
Aug
4
An Amazon Kindle - cellphone combo in the future?
Filed Under Kindle, News, e-Book, e-Ink, eReader | Leave a Comment
“Get set–though I don’t know when–for the era of e-reader/cellphone hybrids,” says TeleRead.
It’s difficult to predict who will win among competing display technlogies, the article says.
Who knows which display tech will be dominant? Or whether another company –Sony, or Apple maybe?–might beat Amazon to the marketplace with a full color equivalent of the Kindle blended in with a cellphone. It’s bound to happen, however.
Correctly, while discussing an extra £25 million that the U.K.-based Plastic Logic won in funding from Amadeus Capital Partners and others, PC Pro News noted the Kindle-related possibilities of flexible screens. Flex plastic would not just be more rugged but also lighter and cheaper, and the company says that phones, along with laptops, are another target beyond e-readers alone.
Aug
4
Amazon Kindle - A User Review
Filed Under Kindle, Reviews, e-Book, e-Ink, eReader | Leave a Comment
Over at the Dragonsept Arts & Publishing blog, there’s a user review of the Amazon Kindle. From the blogger’s perspective, the Kindle’s screen is its strong point:
The screen of the Kindle is where it really shines. The resolution is crisp, and it is incredibly easy to read. The text comes out black-on-gray, and very sharp. There is a bit of pixelation at the smallest resolution, but it’s still much better than reading on a small LCD. My preference is settling on the second-smallest text, which is one size lower than the default from the factory. The screen flashes all-black for a moment when changing pages, presumably to reset the electronic ink. It takes less than 1 second to change pages, a very acceptable time.
The weak point identified by the blogger is the lack of open standards compatibility. “Sadly, the only open standards the Kindle natively [are] .txt and HTML. However, it supports Mobi, which you can create from PDFs and other formats without cost. One can also get documents converted to the Amazon format for free by sending them as an attachment to an email address unique to your Kindle.”
Overall, the blogger gives the Kindle a good grade.
I really, really like this device. . . . The electronic ink is a huge improvement over light-emitting screen types. The screen size is wonderful - and this from someone who thought he never cared about the small PDA screen before. The cover that comes with it makes it very easy to hold on to, and protects the screen nicely. It would also be a great place to clip on a book light, if you need to read at night without bothering a bed- or room-mate. I would like it if it supported more formats, but I am content that I am not locked in completely to Amazon’s format.
Do you own a Kindle? We’d love to have your comments and thoughts on. your Kindle experience.
Jul
28
The blogger at The Blue Skunk Blog writes that he’s been using the Kindle “for a solid month. I’d like to be able to say that I either love it or hate it, but I can’t. The reading experience isn’t better or worse than a paper book, just rather different. And there have been some surprises - fewer of a technical nature and more of those that are behavioral or social.”
The blogger notes, among other things, that he’s “amazed at the body of support that has already developed around the Kindle. Stephen Windwalker is releasing the draft of his book The Complete Users Gide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle. Lots o’ blogs, discussion groups, etc. ‘I was so busy learning how to use the book, I never got around to reading it, ‘Groucho might now say.”
With the blogger keep using the Amazon Kindle?
You better believe it - I’ve got $360 wrapped up in this puppy. It works great for trips. It’s much easier to read at a table when eating alone. It has features I’ve not yet explored enough. And it does become transparent when the reading material is compelling. It just needs to be priced much, much lower to find a popular market.
Jul
28
Growth Foreseen for Amazon Kindle and E-books
Filed Under Kindle, e-Book | Leave a Comment
The future holds sontinued growth in sales Amazon Kindle and Kindle-compatible digital books, according to a Bloomberg News article at Seattlepi.com.
By 2010, Amazon may get 3 percent, or $741 million, of its revenue from sales of the paperback-sized reader and digital books, according to Citigroup Inc. analyst Mark Mahaney, a Kindle user. That’s up from this year’s 0.3 percent, or $60 million, he said.
The Web retailer cut the price of the Kindle, which Newsweek magazine called the iPod of books, to $359 from $399 in May. Amazon initially sold out of the white, 7.5-by-5.3-inch reader within 5 1/2 hours of its November release, [Amazon vice president Ian] Freed said.
The article noted that electronic books figure in the plans of publishers Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins.
Kindle users include, the article added, include Martha Stewart, and The Washington Post’s Donald Graham.
Jul
28
e-Books from a Writer’s Perspective
Filed Under Kindle, Reader, e-Book, e-Ink | Leave a Comment
Ugolino’s Teeth recently examined e-books and ereading devices, and the effect of PDF book giveaways on hardcopy book sales, from the perspective of the working writer.
E-books, in other words, are not books and those who have suggested that giving away free novels will increase sales have yet to prove their case. Pdfs are like the little samples of food they give away in supermarkets — good for publicity, but not enough by themselves to fill a belly. They are not product.
A real test will come with the mass arrival of e-ink readers. With devices such as the Sony Reader, or the Amazon Kindle, we are entering a world where, for the first time, the e-book experience is every bit as valid as the printed page. Sure, there are a proportion of people who collect physical books and have to have them at any cost. But most of us, just want to lose ourselves for a few hours in Carribean Steampunk. Giving away an e-book to the owner of a Sony Reader, is the equivalent of giving them product and makes it very unlikely that they will buy the real thing. In fact, the offer of a free softcopy of something they had already been considering, might well lead to a slight dip in sales.
Jul
25
Ectaco jetBook Gets Accessorized
Filed Under News, e-Book, jetBook | Leave a Comment
The Ectaco jetBook - it’s not just for lovers of the color Burgundy anymore. PR News Now reports that the jetBook is being made available in a variety of colors, and with additional accessories:
As the release of jetBook has become a market success, Ectaco Inc. presents it in new colors. Now, in addition to the Burgundy edition there will be White, Gray and Graphite jetBooks. The line of jetBook accessories has also been extended by the Earlight (a spot-light device which allows reading in darkness with more comfort for the eyes) and the Silicon Sleeve (a skin-thin transparent dust protection cover). More accessories and colors are on the way . . . .
Jul
25
Amazon Kindle Demonstrates A Viable Market For Ebook Reading Devices
Filed Under Kindle, News, e-Book | Leave a Comment
Ebook devices are drawing worldwide attention. CIOL in India views the sales of these devices as driving demand (and vice versa):
Amazon.com’s Kindle has proven there is a viable market for eBooks with shipments expected to reach 1 million units in 2008, according to iSuppli.
“It’s possible that Amazon’s Kindle could do for eBooks what Apple’s iPod did for MP3 players,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli. “Indeed, there are indications that Kindle sales in the first quarter of 2008 surpassed its total sales for the entire year of 2007.” Sales of eBooks will be propelled by demand from key markets, including:
* Education, including textbooks, reading and reference material, electronic dictionaries and organizers,
* Consumer markets, such as novels, magazines, guides and newspapers,
* Professional segments, including trade publications, manuals and product literature, and
* Other areas, such as government documentation, military maps and religious books and material.