Archive for the ‘eReader Covers, Cases & Jackets’ Category
Kindle Touch – Review no comments
The Kindle Touch is the second of Amazon’s newest fourth generation e-ink based ereaders and the first Kindle to come with a touchscreen. 
The launch of the Kindle Touch was somewhat eclipsed by the simultaneous launch of the Kindle Fire, which is too bad as the Touch is a nice ereader with some new features. I am, however, puzzled by some of the features Amazon left out of the Kindle Touch — features without which the Kindle Touch will be unacceptable for some users.
The Kindle Keyboard has been my favorite ereader for awhile, though I have been eagerly waiting for Amazon to release a Kindle with a touchscreen to replace the 5-way controller. I was a bit disappointed with the basic Kindle, but the Kindle Touch has handily replaced the Keyboard as my main ereader.
The Kindle Touch is a little smaller and about an ounce lighter than the Kindle 3. It has a more squarish shape and is a two-tone silver and gray. Holding and using Amazon’s new ereader comfortably in one hand did take some getting used to for me. However, I have got a cover for my Kindle Touch (more on that later) that helps it to be very comfortable and ergonomic to use.
Like the basic Kindle, the Kindle Touch comes with only a USB cable. If you want the AC power adapter
Amazon uses the same IR touchscreen technology from Neonode that B&N, Kobo and Sony use in their ereaders. Amazon differentiates its touchscreen from those of other purveyors of zForce equipped ebook readers by branding the tap zone layout on the Touch. EasyReach divides the touchscreen into three zones that are designed for tapping rather than swiping: Tap anywhere on most of the screen to turn pages forward; a narrow strip along the left edge of the screen turns pages back and a tap on the top edge brings up the reading tools. I’ve found this arrangement to work very well if you tap rather than swipe the screen to turn pages.
I much prefer using a touchscreen to turn pages rather than hard buttons. But every device I’ve used, including the Kindle Touch, occasionally misinterprets my swipes and turns the page back instead of forward. Maybe I’m just a bad swiper. EasyReach still permits users to swipe either direction to turn pages anywhere on the screen, but I have gotten used to just tapping out my page turns on the Kindle Touch and it has become very comfortable with no mistaken backward page turns.
By default the e-ink display of the Kindle Touch does a complete refresh with every sixth page turn. There is a setting that can be changed by the user to do a complete refresh with each new page. When the intermittent refresh option is selected page turns are very smooth, although there is noticeable ghosting. Personally, I would rather put up with the faint ghosts of pages past than the black flash that ushers in each new page on older e-ink based ereaders.
X-Ray is a new ereading tool from Amazon that makes its debut in the Kindle Touch. This lets you easily find passages across a book that mention particular characters, places and topics. This can be really useful for reference purposes or even if you just forget who a particular character is. If you tap a character’s name in the X-Ray panel all of the mentions of that particular character in the book (or in some cases you can also confine the results to a page or chapter) are listed in chronological order. The X-Ray feature is not available for all Kindle books.
Another useful feature is being able to zoom into images. To do this one taps and holds an image to display a magnifying glass icon. This is useful not only for illustrations but for charts and graphs, which can sometimes be difficult to read in ebooks.
When viewing PDF files pinch-to-zoom is enabled and you pan around the page easily enough by dragging it, but the experience is not as smooth as on some other ereaders. You can double tap a page to make it fit to the width of the screen. You cannot make notes or highlights on PDFs and for some reason Amazon has elected to not give the Kindle Touch a landscape viewing ability; so this is not an ereader I would recommend for more than just very light and occasional PDF reading — at least until and unless Amazon adds some more capabilities to it. It is odd that the basic Kindle has these features while the Kindle Touch does not.
Update: When I wrote this I was unable to make notes or highlights on PDFs, but it does work now. While my Kindle Touch was suffering from the glitch described below many features were laggy and strange — I think I forgot to try again after my Kindle was working properly.
The Kindle Touch has audio capabilities, and can be used for playing MP3s or text-to-speech. The Kindle MP3 player is still ‘experimental’ and only plays tracks in the order they were added to the device. There is a built-in player for audiobooks from Audible.com.
I’ve only experienced one glitch with my Kindle Touch, but it was a rather bizarre one. While visiting the Kindle Store from the Touch for the first time the ereader became increasingly laggy and the touchscreen unresponsive until it finally crashed back to the home screen. After this when I tried to visit the Kindle Store, launch the web browser or tap on a Special Offer I would get an error message telling me that the app could not be launched. Overall performance of the Touch also became much slower than it was before the event.
I tried rebooting with no effect, but Amazon CS had me reboot while the ereader was charging and this seemed to do the trick. It seems this was the first time CS had heard of this problem, which apparently was caused by some sort of Kindle Store update that failed to install correctly when I connected to the store that first time.
On the whole, I am happy with the Kindle Touch. I really would recommend it over the basic Kindle, which is only $20 cheaper. That additional $20 buys you quite a lot. If your main focus is reading Kindle books, this is a good ereader. The Kindle Touch will not be a good choice if you need to view PDF files, at least unless Amazon adds a landscape mode and improves the PDF reader. I would recommend the Kindle Keyboard if you need better PDF capability.
The Kindle Touch is available with Special Offers in both a Wi-Fi version
The trend with the latest Kindle hardware seems to be devices that break new pricing barriers while not being quite as well-spec’d and polished as the competition but compensate for this by being backed up by the strongest ereading platform and biggest ebookstore. The Kindle Touch is no exception. It does not look as good to me or feel as good in my hands (when unadorned by a cover anyway) as does the Nook Simple Touch. Navigation and reading tools on the Nook also sometimes seem more polished. Nevertheless, even though I have both ereaders, I continue to buy the vast majority of my ebooks from the Kindle Store and my new Kindle continues to get way more use than my Nook ST.
I have purchased a cover for my Kindle Touch that has proven to be more than just another suit of ereader armor — with the addition of this cover my Kindle Touch has become much more ergonomic and pleasant to use. I show the cover briefly at the end of my video review of the Kindle Touch below and in the covers and cases section after the video.
Covers & Cases for the Kindle Touch
There are a goodly number of covers
The Timbuk2 Dinner Jacket
This cover not only looks good and protects my Kindle Touch, but it has also made it much more comfortable to hold and use. Currently this cover is priced at $35 at Amazon. I will say that this is one of the best ereader covers I’ve come across so far.
Another case that gets very good user reviews and which I almost bought is the JIVO Kindle Case. This one features a pebbled leather exterior and gives the Kindle a book-like look. JIVO makes these in a variety of colors
Verso makes a series of covers that are designed to be a one-size-fits-all solution for a variety of ereaders, including the Kindle Touch and the Kindle Fire. I have one of the Verso Artist Series
I prefer the bezel of my ereaders to be of a darker color (increases the perceived contrast of the screen) than Amazon chose to use for the fourth generation of Kindles and to that end I’ve ordered a dark skin for my Touch. DecalGirl, GelaSkins,
and Skinit
all have skins available for the Kindle Touch. GelaSkins has some very intriguing artwork from over 100 artists and also lets you upload your own pictures to be turned into device skins. Skinit is the place to go for collegiate, sports and popular entertainment themed skins.
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Kindle Keyboard cover deals no comments
Typically when a new generation of Kindle ereaders hits the shelves the cover manufacturers discount their remaining stock of covers made for the previous generation. This has not generally been the case this time as the Kindle Keyboard is still being sold by Amazon and there are a lot of them in use that people are probably still buying covers for. Some of the covers for the Kindle Keyboard have been reduced slightly, but in general the discounts are not very noticeable yet.
An exception is OCTOVO’s line of Kindle 3 covers. While the prices of all of these have been reduced, there are a couple of standout deals. Both the OCTOVO Vintage leather and black leather covers are available for $35 bundled with the Solis ereader light. That is less than half the former price of the cover and only $5 more than the price of the Solis light by itself.
Both of these covers are made with genuine Italian leather. I have an OCTOVO cover for my DX and it is very well-made.
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M-Edge releases iPad case for kids no comments
M-Edge has a new cover for the iPad 2 that is designed to protect the tablet
from drops and rough play when in the hands of young children. The SuperShell is made of shock-absorbent foam and is easy for small fingers to grip. All controls and the rear-facing camera are accessible with the cover on.
The SuperShell is currently available in Atomic Green for $30.
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Kindle cover sale at Myhabit no comments
Amazon is having a Kindle cover sale at Myhabit. This is a private sale site Amazon launched earlier this year. You need to be a member, but this is very easily accomplished by signing in with your Amazon account.
The Kindle cover sale features leather covers from Graphic Image and ends Sept 2 at 9AM PT, but some of the covers are already sold out.
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Lightwedge Verso ereader cover (Cities) review no comments
Lightwedge, which is best known for its line of book and ereader lights, recently launched two new series of ereader covers under the Verso label. The New York Times covers feature photos from the newspapers archives and the Artist Series currently features four designs by four different artists. Each of the Artist Series covers are available in two colors. I picked up one of the Artist Series covers, Cities by Sharyn Sowell, in brown (this design is also available in a dark red).
Leather or synthetic? This is one bit of info about these covers that you will be hard-pressed to glean from the product information pages unless you are clued in by the conspicuous absence of any bold declarations of “Genuine Leather” construction. Yes, we have no leather here. These ereader covers are made of synthetic materials.
I have to say that, at least in the case of my brown Cities cover, this is one of the more leather-like synthetic materials I’ve seen. I’m sure some people will be fooled. Personally, I don’t really mind if the material is synthetic, as long as it looks and feels good. I am very happy with the appearance of the Cities cover. The Verso cover also passes the touchy-feely test. To me it feels like an old leather-bound book. If you miss the feel of dead-tree books you will probably like this cover.
As I say, I am okay with synthetics. But that does not mean I’m going to be happy if my ereader cover smells like a gasoline station. In fact, my Verso cover had only a very faint chemical smell when I first opened the package, but that soon dissipated. By the next day I could detect nothing. So the cover passes this test as well for me.
Construction seems very good. I could find no flaws in the stitching or elsewhere. The microfiber lining seems of good quality — I have not seen any shedding, which can be an issue with the lining used in some of the cheaper ereader covers. Stiffeners are sewn into the front and back to help protect the ereader’s screen. The front flap folds back flat so your ereader is comfortable to hold in one hand while wearing the cover.
The Cities cover weighs about 6 ounces. With the Cities cover on my Kindle 3 weighs in at 14 ounces. Usually when I’m reading in bed (where I typically want to hold and operate the ereader in one hand and where extra weight is most noticeable) I take off the cover and use my ereader au natural. When I carry my ereader around however, even if I’m just going to read on the patio, I feel more comfortable using the cover. I’ve managed to break one ereader screen — once is enough for that experience.
At Amazon these covers are understandably marketed as Kindle 3 covers. In fact, Lightwedge designed these covers to be nondenominational. They should fit just about any ereader that is 6.7 – 7.7 inches tall and 4.5 – 4.9 inches wide. Lightwedge specifically mentions that these covers will work with the Kindle 3, Kobo, Nook (1st generation), Sony Daily and Sony Touch ereaders. So how well does this one-size-fits-all approach work? The photo below shows the cover with four different ereaders.
On the top from the left we have the Kindle 3 and the Kobo Touch Edition; on the bottom is the Sony Touch and the iriver Story HD.
As you can see, the lower elastic bands slightly cover the edges of a couple of keys on the Kindle 3’s keyboard, but can be slid down to rest below the keys. I don’t think this is a problem.
The iriver Story HD also has a chiclet keyboard, but the straps didn’t cause any problems for me here either. The colors of this cover match those of the Story HD well. The power switch of the iriver ereader is on the back, but I was able to lift the ereader up enough to access it without removing the elastic bands — a bit of a hassle, but I can live with it. The power switch of the Kobo Touch is also partly covered by one of the bands, but it can still be operated.
This cover will also fit the original Nook ereader, but not the Nook Color or the Nook Touch, which is too squat and wide.
User reviews at Amazon for the Verso covers are mostly quite good. I did see a few Kindle 3 owners complain that the elastic bands on these covers did not hold their ereaders securely in place. To test this I put my own Kindle 3 in the cover and held it upside down and all around while shaking vigorously to see if I could get the ereader to even look like it wanted to fall out. Didn’t happen. Not even close. I don’t know what happened with these customers — perhaps they received defective covers or part of an early batch with different elastic bands? At any rate I have not yet seen any signs of this problem. If I do experience any issues as the cover ages I’ll update this post.
The Verso series of ereader covers is priced at $39.99 – $49.99. I really like mine — I think this was money well spent.
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Verso Kindle 3 covers 1 comment
Some of the new ereader covers LightWedge had displayed at CES have now been released under the Verso label. The cool lighted cover prototype LightWedge was demonstrating has not yet been released, but hopefully it is on the way — at CES I was told that it might be available around the end of the second quarter.
The new line of Verso covers are primarily marketed for the Kindle 3, but feature a one-size-fits-all design that will also fit other ereaders including the Nook, Kobo, Galaxy Tab and the Sony Daily Reader.
When I examined the demos of these covers at CES, 
I was impressed by the workmanship and quality of the materials used. The Artist Series feel really nice in your hands — like holding an old leather-bound volume.
Verso New York Times Kindle 3 Covers
This is a series of three Kindle 3 covers that feature images from The New York Times photo archives. The interior is lined with a suede-like material and includes a pocket to hold papers. Elastic bands at the corners hold your ereader in place.
The three photos to choose from are the Flatiron Building, View from River House and the Statue of Liberty. Each is priced at $49.99.
Verso Artist Series Kindle 3 Covers
This is a set of leather covers embossed with designs from different artists. So far Verso has three designs, each available in two different colors. 
This is expected to be an ongoing series with new designs to be released in the future.
The covers in the Artist Series are also lined with a suede-like material and use elastic corner straps to secure the ereader. An inner pocket is provided to hold papers.
The three designs currently available are:
- Urban Calligraphy by Sisters Gulassa; available in brown with tan interior or pink/grey.
- Cities by Sharyn Sowell; available in brown/tan or red/grey.
- Typewriter by Molly Rausch; available in sage/tan or pink/tan.
The Artist Series Kindle 3 covers are priced at $39.99 each. The photo below shows the three designs in order of mention.
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Childproof covers and cases for your iPad no comments
If visions of your young children playing Frisbee with your expensive iPad are giving you the flutters, here are a couple of child friendly covers that may help.
Big Grips Frame for iPad
The Big Grips Frame
Trident Kraken Hybrid Case
The Kraken Hybrid Case
The Kraken costs $32 and comes with a screen protector.
Update 9/27/2011: M-Edge has released a new foam iPad 2 cover that is designed for Kids. Currently the SuperShell is priced at $30 and is available in Atomic Green.
PS: If you are looking for an iPad cover for older children, Dodocase makes a couple of nice ones. Check out the Morris Lessmore (as in the Fantastic Flying Books of ) case and the Random Monster
case.
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Borders store closing sale no comments
Generally I don’t attend going out of business sales. 
The companies running these things start off by offering enticing discounts, but the discount is off of the MSRP. If you buy something in the early days of the sale you are likely to regret it when you find the same item for a lower price somewhere else that is not going out of business. By the time the discounts offer real savings there is often nothing of interest left.
But today I had some extra time to kill between appointments, so I stopped in at one of the Borders stores that is on the chopping block. There were still quite a few interesting books left, but to be honest I really prefer reading digitally now.
The Area E section (Borders’ in-store digital reading section) was long gone,
but there was a small display of generic one-size-fits-all ereader covers left. And in the midst of this was one of Sony’s official lighted covers for the PRS-650 Touch Edition ereader. This cover originally sold for $50, but is pretty much unavailable anywhere now, at least in this country. After the discount I walked out the door with a new lighted cover for my Sony Touch for $15 plus tax.
Sony’s lighted cover features a small LED light that turns on automatically when flipped up and turns off when stowed. The light is powered by a single AAA battery (included) and features a high and low brightness setting. The ereader is held in place by two pins that fit into holes set into the top
and bottom left corners of the ereader. This system allows the ereader to swing back and forth freely in the cover — but avoids any danger of damaging the bezel should you inadvertently open the cover backwards, as has been the unfortunate case with the Kindle 2 hinge system.
The cover does have stiffeners sewn inside, but I think Sony should have used stiffer materials for the front cover to better protect the screen. I’m not sure if I would have been entirely happy with the cover at its original price of $50, but for what I paid it is a bargain. If you have been looking for this cover you might check your local Borders stores that are having a going away sale.
Sorry, the photos are not that great. The top one was taken with my cell phone and the bottom two with my Xoom under artificial light — the batteries of my digital camera died and I didn’t want to wait for them to recharge.
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New OCTOVO leather Kindle 3 covers & wool sleeve no comments
OCTOVO has a couple of new leather covers and a wool sleeve for the latest generation Kindle 3 ereaders. OCTOVO ereader covers feature high quality materials and workmanship.
Black Leather Bookcover for Kindle 3
This cover is made of Italian leather panels hand stitched in a diamond check pattern. The lining is microfiber and has a flap to hold papers. Elastic straps are used to hold the Kindle in place and another strap is used to hold the cover closed.
Available for $74.99 at Amazon.
* * *
Vintage Leather Book Cover for Kindle 3
This cover is made of 100 percent natural vegetable tanned leather in a
vintage leather finish. As with the Black Leather Cover, elastic bands are used to hold the ereader in place and to hold the cover closed. The interior is lined with microfiber and has a single flap. Each Vintage Leather Cover will age a little differently due to the finish. Available at Amazon for $74.99.
I have the OCTOVO Vintage Leather Cover for my Kindle DX (see my review) and am very happy with it. Craftsmanship and the materials used are very good — even the microfiber lining is much better quality than I’ve seen on other covers.
* * *
OCTOVO Wool Felt Sleeve for Kindle 3
OCTOVO also has a new Wool Felt Sleeve to fit the Kindle 3 ereader. 
The sleeve holds the Kindle snugly and protects from splashes and light shocks. Made from 100 percent natural wool and available in six different colors. Priced at $24.99 at Amazon.
Additionally, OCTOVO makes the Tirim Splash-Proof Case, but this one has been out for awhile. The Tirim is made of felt with a clear plastic window and protects from splashes and small shocks. Priced at $24.99 at Amazon.
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A few more Kindle 3 covers and cases no comments
Since my last post on Kindle 3 covers and cases there 
have been a few new covers that have trickled in. I suspect that making ereader covers (or covers for any device that has a new model released periodically) can be a treacherous business. Imagine if your company had a warehouse full of Kindle 2 covers when the Kindle 3 was announced. Your inventory would probably suddenly have halved in value – and even at half price you would have a very difficult time selling it all.
Acase Kindle 3 covers
Acase makes several types of leather covers for the Kindle 3 and iPad.
The Acase Kindle 3 covers hold the ereader in place with corner straps or a leather frame depending on the model. Several colors are available.
Kindle 3 covers from Acase get good reviews and range in price from around $17 to under $30 for a model with a built-in LED light.
TrendyDigital Kindle 3 Covers
TrendyDigital makes several Kindle 3 covers.
Besides the plain brown and black varieties of the Folio Case, there is a version available that comes with a world map on the cover for $25.00. TrendyDigital’s Spring Collection features the same cover with colorful canvas exteriors featuring designs with butterflies, flowers and more. These are priced at $29.99.
Trendy Digital also makes the MaxGuard Plus case which utilizes a leather pocket to hold the ereader in place. This should help with shock protection in the case of a dropped Kindle. Magnetic fasteners are used to close the cover. This faux leather Kindle 3 cover also is available in versions to hold the ereader in either the left or right sides. Priced at $31.99.
The photos below show the Folio Case on the left, MaxGuard Plus in the center and one of the Spring Collection covers on the right.
Piel Frama Kindle 3 Leather Case
Piel Frama is a manufacturer of luxury leather cases for gadgets and is based in Spain. Piel Frama covers and cases are made by hand from the highest quality materials and with very strict quality control. 
Of course all of this does not come cheap – the Piel Frama Kindle 3 Premium Leather Case is priced at $89.00.
Piel Frama uses a leather frame to hold the ereader in place. For added protection a plastic stiffener is sewn inside the cover. There is a single compartment to hold papers and documents. Several colors are available, including red, blue, pink and green. There are also Piel Frama covers
A few more Low-Priced Leather Kindle 3 Covers
The SimpleCase for Kindle 3 is made of genuine leather. A double zipper is used for the closure and elastic corner straps are used to secure the ereader in place. Pockets for cards and documents are built in. Priced at $26.99.
The Bundle Monster Kindle 3 cover is also made of real leather. This cover uses elastic bands at the corners to hold the ereader and a magnetic clasp on a strap for closure. Document compartments are included. This cover is $21.99 and comes in six different color choices.
The Kindle 3 Leather Executive Folio Cover from Kiwi Cases is also made of real leather and is reasonably priced at $24.95. Features include elastic corner bands to hold the ereader in place; magnetic snap closure; slots for business cards, papers and ID. Available in either tan or black. This cover is also made for the Nook Color ereader.
The photos below show the above covers in order of mention — left to right.
£149.00
£109
