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eReader & iPad News – 7/20/2010

Richard — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:40:35 +0000

Sharp Announces eReader

At a press conference today Sharp announced two new ereaders that should be available later this year. Both are color LCD devices – one with a 5.5-inch screen and a larger model with a 10.8-inch display.

Akihabaranews reports that Sharp plans to introduce its ereaders into the US market and suggests that Sharp will be looking for a carrier to partner with. There are also a few photos there to check out.

Sharp will apparently be using a proprietary ebook format that also has multimedia capabilities. From Sharp’s press release:

Sharp Corporation has developed XMDF, a next-generation e-book format (hereinafter “Next-generation XMDF”) with advanced features that allow users to enjoy video and audio content, in addition to current features such as texts and still images. With next-generation XMDF as a core technology, Sharp will within this year provide digital platform to promote e-book distribution service and launch compatible reader devices to enter the e-book market. Various publishing houses (newspaper, magazines, catalogs), printing and agent companies in Japan and overseas market will be supporting Sharp to launch this e-book business.

Sharp’s next-generation XMDF is an advanced version of the current XMDF format. The current XMDF format has been commercialized in 2001 and is used in e-book contents including Japanese novels and manga comics. The next-generation XMDF enables easy viewing of digital contents including video and audio, and allows automatic adjustment of the layout to match and meet publishers’ needs. With this digital platform, Sharp plans to enhance users’ e-book lifestyle with more sophisticated user interface technology, and at the same time will contribute to expand the e-book market. XMDF allows users to browse the same content on multiple terminals including smart phones, PCs and TVs and also streamlines publisher’s e-book contents production.

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The Times Paywall – the Glass is Still 1/3 Full

The Financial Times is reporting that visits to The Times website have fallen by two-thirds since Rupert Murdoch decided to add a paywall to the site. While this is a large drop, it is better than the 90 percent drop in traffic that some had expected.

Murdoch’s hope is that combining subscription fees with more targeted advertising can generate more revenue.

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enTourage Systems Partners with Cengage Learning

enTourage Systems has steadily been announcing new digital textbook content that is being added for its enTourage eDGe ebook reader. Today enTourage announced an agreement with CengageLearning to add its catalog of etextbooks as well.

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FileMaker Go for iPad and iPhone

FileMaker, Inc announced today that its FileMaker Go apps for iPhone and iPad are now available. The new apps allow users to easily view, edit and search for information in FileMaker databases from their iPhone or iPad.

From the press release:

Ideal for mobile teams, FileMaker Go provides access to databases created with FileMaker Pro and hosted on FileMaker Server or FileMaker Pro. FileMaker Go can access databases residing on a Mac or PC using a local wireless network or over the Internet via Wi-Fi or 3G. All changes are instantly updated in the hosted file. FileMaker Go users can also copy databases between their desktop or laptop computers and FileMaker Go via File Sharing in iTunes, perfect for single user databases. Databases may also be downloaded by email, popular file sharing sites, or the web.

“Imagine being able to check inventory levels, update the status of a project or add a new customer contact and share it with your remote sales team – just a few of the many workgroup tasks made easy with FileMaker Go for iPhone or iPad,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services for FileMaker, Inc.

FileMaker Go for iPad is $39.99 and the iPhone version is $19.99.

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Odds n Ends

Richard — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:45:54 +0000

Just a few things I have not posted on yet.

1Cross Tech eReader

This is a curious new ereader that was on display at CeBit. There is an e-ink screen on the left and a small LCD screen with a keyboard on the right side. The hinged design allows the two sides to be folded back-to-back for easier one-handed use. There is a video of the 1Cross on the video page.

enTourage eDGe unLoved at Engadget

Engadget has a review of the Entourage Edge by Joanna Stern that is pretty negative. It sounds as though the Edge will need a few firmware updates. That should sound pretty familiar by now. More worrisome is that Stern also found the processor to be underpowered and a bit sluggish at times.

PocketBook Reviews at Nate’s Ebook News

Nate the Great has several video reviews of the PocketBook 360 and the Pocketbook 302 that are well worth watching. The PocketBook 360 looks like a good and very portable ereader for those on the go. I like the detachable hard screen cover.

Irex DR800SG Covers

Since I cracked the screen of my Neo, I’ve been understandably somewhat overprotective of my Irex DR800SG ereader. Until I get a cover I’m leaving it at home where it is safely ensconced in a drawer when I’m not using it. I’ve resolved to practice safe ereading from now on – so should you!

The only cover available for the Irex DR800SG so far is a white leather thingie from Irex that just doesn’t do it for me. The sleeve that came with doesn’t cut it either as it does not provide enough screen protection.

Well, not to fear – new covers for the DR800SG from M-Edge will soon be here. Besides the Executive and Latitude model jackets, M-Edge will have three shoulder bag style cases for the new Irex ereader.

The Irex DR800SG is also available now at Amazonthrough a third-party seller which might at least save you some sales tax if you are looking to buy one.

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CES 2010

Richard — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:17:00 +0000

I was able to spend about a day at CES this year. If you are a gadget boy/girl then going to CES is kind of like being a kid again in a mega toy store with a large candy department on the side. If ereaders are one of your most favorite gadgets, then being at this year’s CES was kind of like being Willy Wonka and getting a ticket to a chocolate factory.

One problem though, is that many of the gadgets one sees and gets to hopefully try out are prototypes and are not always fully functional as well as being subject to change (or cancellation). In some cases this seemed to be very true for ereaders this year. Many of the ereader demos only had a few public domain titles loaded, and a few had dead batteries from all of the handling.

I managed to break my camera while at CES (Spirit Guide: fortunately grasshopper could fix it when he was back home & had access to his mini tools), so some of the pics are taken with my cell phone – sorry!

Some of the booth designs are pretty amazing. The cell phone picture at the top, which is of Samsung’s walls of flat panel screens does not do it justice.

The picture at the left is of a large touch screen at Intel’s booth with 500 slowly spinning cubes, each of which represents a live website. If you touch one of the cubes a small detail window opens for a few seconds. All powered by a thumbnail-sized Intel chip. Have we left Kansas yet Toto?

eReaders at CES 2010

Plastic Logic Que

Plastic Logic’s Que was probably one of the most eagerly anticipated ereaders at this year’s CES.

The display is quite good; newspapers look good on the Que. As you probably know by now, the Que display utilizes plastic rather than glass to create a shatterproof screen. Overall, the Que felt a bit too plastic to me. The bezel is a shiny acrylic or similar material, and I expect it to be very scratch prone. I think Plastic Logic would have done better to use a matte material.

The announced price of the Que ereader is somewhat stratospheric; $649 for a 4GB model with WiFi, and $799 for an 8GB model with both WiFi and 3G. At these prices it will probably be in pretty direct competition with the Apple iSlate.

Notion Ink Adam

Notion Ink’s Adam tablet is Android powered and is the first announced device to use Pixel Qi display technology. I really wanted to have a look at this, but the closest I could get was a non-powered demo in a glass case at the Nvidia booth.

According to an Nvidia booth-boy, the only working unit at CES was in the hands of Notion Ink Director Rohan Shravan, who was booked up giving private demonstrations with it. Liliputing.com was the happy recipient of one of these sessions and you can see their video and reviews.

Pixel Qi looks very promising. Engadget said in a post yesterday that they have been told that a manufacturer that “everyone is familiar with” will be announcing a Pixel Qi equipped device in 2010. Hmmm…wonder if the manufacturer alluded to has a name starting with the first letter of the alphabet and is named after a fruit or a river?

Irex

Also at the Nvidia booth was an unpowered (or maybe just the batteries were dead) Irex DR800SG ereader. I couldn’t do much with it as it had no power, but I still think that the design has promise; an 8-inch screen in a package that is the same overall size as a Kindle with 6-inch screen.

Still no idea when this will be released. There were some rumors of a mid-January release, but Irex seems to have a history of setting release dates that don’t materialize. There is still nothing on Best Buy’s website about the DR800SG.

Liquavista

Liquavista is one of the color display technologies that should be making its way into future ereaders. Liquavista is based on existing LCD manufacturing infrastructure. This display tech is capable of displaying color video while using very low power. It looks as though it won’t be integrated into an actual ereader that you can buy until possibly the end of 2010 or more likely early next year. Qualcomm has said that its Mirasol color display technology is on track to enter production in the fall of 2010, so it may be able to beat Liquavista to market by a few months, but of course we will have to wait and see.

The colors and video playback in the Liquavista reference designs displayed at CES were quite impressive. The display does look very paper-like.

iRiver Story

The Story ereader by iRiver has been selling in Asia and Europe, and is supposed to make it to the US this month.

iRiver is a Korean company best known for its portable music and video players. The Story is iRiver’s first foray into ereaders.

The Story has a chiclet style keyboard similar to the Kindle ereader. The display is a 6-inch e-ink screen. There is 2GB of internal memory plus an SD card slot. There should be an MS Office doc viewer as well as some sort of comics viewer. Adobe Digital Editions as well as non-DRM’ed epub should be among the supported file formats.

The Story ereader seemed to be solidly built, but other than the features noted above, there wasn’t anything that seemed to really differentiate it from the other ereaders out there. Refresh times and navigation seemed to be pretty much on par with other current ereaders. The price and availability has not been announced yet, but the Story was selling for about $290 in Korea. I don’t see this ereader being really competitive unless it is priced less than the Kindle or nook.

Dual-Screen “eReaders”

Both MSI and Asus have their dual LCD screened ereader concepts on display at CES, but these really seem like netbooks with two screens rather than ereaders. Perhaps if the screens were to use Pixel Qi they would be more viable as ereaders. As laptop/netbooks, however, both could be quite good. The two screens can work separately or together as one larger screen, or one screen can serve up a virtual keyboard.

enTourage eDGe

After Plastic Logic’s booth the enTourage Systems booth was probably the busiest ereader show at CES.

The Kindle Chronicles has a good CES interview and video of the eDGe in action.

My take is that while the eDGe with all of its study tools and bells and whistles would be good for students and their etextbooks or perhaps as a netbook replacement, it is obviously overkill for someone looking for just an ereader. It is rather bulky for reading in your bed or armchair. Also it appears that the eDGe ereader will be tied to enTourage’s ebook store for DRM’ed ebooks. Currently enTourage claims to have 200,000 ebooks in addition to the usual Google public domain suspects.

At a price of almost $500 the eDGe is more expensive than most netbooks as well. Still, it is the most interesting multipurpose “ereader” that I’ve seen yet. A lot of thought obviously went into its development, and the eDGe is capable of doing just about anything you would ask of it.

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eReaders in 2010

Richard — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:00:00 +0000

2009 has been a great year for fans of ereaders despite the poor economy (they call this an economy?) and all of the associated pain that it has caused so many people. We have had some great ereaders introduced like the Kindle 2, the Kindle Global and now the nook (which we hope will be great as its software evolves). More importantly, ebook readers are increasingly showing up on the mainstream consumer’s radar. This is good because the more ereaders and ebooks that are sold the more titles that will become available as ebooks.

Almost every week another tech company announces another me-too ereader. Most of these new gadgets are undifferentiated in terms of features, but the increased competition is driving prices down and forcing the leaders such as Amazon to rapidly add improvements to their existing ereaders. This rapid proliferation of devices may be confusing to many would-be buyers, but in the end the competition and increased choice is good for consumers who take the time to research their buys.

Of course, if your nook is now not going to arrive until next year you will not be so upbeat, but cheer up! You could always buy yourself something like a Zhu Zhu Petto comfort yourself through the holidays!

2010 looks even better, with lots of new tech on the way. The way in which Amazon has parried the competition by means of feature upgrades rather than introducing a brand new Kindle ereader for the holidays suggests to me that they are planning on including some of this new tech in the next Kindle when it’s ready. Lets take a look at some of the more promising technology which should arrive at an ereader near you in 2010.

Faster eReader Hardware

Faster hardware for ereaders means faster page turns and quicker navigation and library management. Marvell has partnered with e-Ink to integrate their Armada SoC into ereaders in the near future. Not only is this new hardware faster (page turns up to three times faster), but since it integrates multiple features including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 3G modem and power management on one SoC it will help to bring manufacturing costs down, which will mean cheaper ereaders.

Marvell’s Armada system is also designed to offer fast renderings of high resolution PDF documents, so we should see improvements in PDF handling in next gen ereaders.

Some of the already announced ereaders on the horizon that utilize the Armada SoC include the Plastic Logic Que, Spring Design Alex and the enTourage eDGe. I’m pretty sure that we can expect the next gen Kindle ereaders to be on this list as well.

Flexible eReader Displays

I would also be very surprised if the Kindle 3 and Kindle DX 2 don’t make use of flexible displays. By flexible display I’m not talking about an ereader that you can wrap around your wrist and wear like a watch. Flexible displays use plastic and are relatively unbreakable, as compared with today’s easily cracked glass ereader screens.

There are several manufacturers working on flexible ereader displays, including e-Ink, which makes most of the screens for current ereaders. Even Bridgestone (yes, the tire company) is working on flexible electronic paper. Plastic Logic’s Que also uses a flexible e-ink screen. You won’t be able to bend the screen as in the photo (courtesy Plastic Logic), but it will be shatterproof.

Flexible ereader screens will no doubt also pave the way for ereaders for children. Parents will obviously feel more comfortable buying such an expensive piece of technology for their kids if it is not so fragile. We could well see a Kindle for Kids next year. On the other hand, I can imagine that some manufacturers may not want to open this particular can of bookworms. Even though a credit card is required to open an ebook account, I would not be surprised if we have congressional hearings and demands for ebook ratings. Next thing you know – ereaders with V-Chips.

Color eReaders

For the average person who mostly reads novels, color screens are probably not a necessity, although being able to see the book cover and graphics in color would definitely be a welcome feature. Color becomes much more important for etextbooks and for reading periodicals and other graphics-rich content on ereaders. This is also a feature that will make ereaders appeal to more people and help the devices to become more mainstream.

It is increasingly looking likely that we will see color ereaders on the shelves by the 2010 holiday season. I’m guessing that it’s not very likely that the next Kindle generation will have color, but probably Kindle 4 and Kindle DX 3 will.

There are a number of color technologies being developed for ereaders, but perhaps one of the more interesting ones is Qualcomm’s Mirasol. This technology was apparently inspired by the iridescence of butterfly wings. Qualcomm has said that Mirasol color ereaders that are also capable of video playback are on track to ship by the end of 2010.

It also looks good for Pixel Qi screens to hit the market in 2010, and it is very likely we will see ereaders with this display technology. Pixel Qi displays can switch between a transmissive mode (like a regular LCD screen on your laptop) and a reflective mode (like an e-ink display). This type of display should be cheaper than a regular LCD display and also use less power. In its reflective mode it does use more power than an e-ink display, so ereaders using this tech will probably need charging more often than current e-ink based solutions. This type of display would no doubt make great notebooks that can double as ereaders.

An Increasingly Crowded eReader Market

The ereader market will no doubt continue to be swamped by a flood of me-too devices with few stand out features to differentiate between them.

We will as well see an increasing number of multipurpose devices that also claim ebook reading as one of their functions. This type of device especially seems to appeal to non-hardcore readers who cannot imagine buying a device specifically for reading.

Convergence and multi-functionality can be a good thing; it can make devices more versatile and useful, and it can cut down on the number of devices that you need to buy and carry with you. If you do a lot of reading though (and most people find themselves reading more after buying an ereader), you want to make sure that the reading screen is paper-like and not backlit. Reading a book on an LCD screen is kind of like looking into a flashlight – it’s okay for awhile, but it gets tiresome if you read for longer periods of time. Many serious readers will also not want a device that is constantly providing distractions to their reading.

There are several convergence devices already announced and supposedly on the way. Asus has said that it is making a dual screen “ereader” that was supposed to be out by the end of this year. This device seems like more of a netbook with two screens than an ereader. If it were to make use of a Pixel Qi screen however it could prove to be interesting.

Many people seem to be waiting for the much rumored about Apple tablet. It remains to be seen however how well it will serve as an ereader. I suspect that it will be like reading on a larger version of the iPod Touch – perfectly okay for casual reading, but hard on your eyes if you do plan to read a lot of books on it. There are some rumors that Apple will have at least two versions of its tablet, and that the more expensive version will have an OLED screen which doesn’t need backlighting and is therefore better for reading on.

One interesting looking multipurpose device is the enTourage eDGe. This gadget has an LCD screen and netbook capabilities along with an e-ink screen for reading. Below is an interesting video of the enTourage eDGe, which appears to be aimed at students. It definitely has a very robust set of study tools.

Finally, one trend that I wish would not continue into 2010 is the naming conventions that many companies are using to name their ereaders. Surely we can do better than the seemingly random series of letters and numbers and awkwardly capitalized names that are in vogue at the moment. I guess though, that in a world where even pizzas have names like Mega XL it’s a bit much to ask.

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enTourage eDGe eReader/Netbook

Richard — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:01:13 +0000

Entourage has an interesting device they are calling the eDGe (somebody really needs to get ereader names under control), which is supposed to be available in February 2010.

As you can see from the photo, it is half netbook and half ereader.

The netbook has internet browsing, can play movies and lets you view pictures from books you are reading on the ereader in color. It has a 10 inch screen and also comes with a video camera and audio recorder. Wi –Fi is built-in, but 3G requires an optional EVDO or HSDPA modem. There is a virtual keypad, but BlueTooth is also included, so you could add an external keypad. There is an SD card slot and you can also use a USB flash drive. The eDGe is based on Google’s Android. Battery life is not that great, but the battery is removable so you could carry a spare.

The ereader has a 9.7 inch e-ink screen with Wacom tablet technology. This gives you a stylus based touchscreen without glare issues. There appears to be a robust set of study tools including annotations and freehand drawing, etc. Your are also able to email your notes and journals to others.

Currently only ePub and PDF are supported. Entourage says they will have their own ebook store, but support for Adobe Digital Editions would add access to DRM’ed content.

Obviously at 2.5 lbs the eDGe would not be good for reading in bed, or for carrying around in your pocket, and all the bells and whistles the eDGe comes with are not cheap. The eDGe will sell for $490.

What interests me is that Entourage was able to put together a package like this for the same price as the Kindle DX. And if you just look at the ereader half of the eDGe equation it is pretty impressive. Full on study tools like the eDGe’s ereader has are what are needed in order to be embraced by students in the classroom. If Amazon is serious about being accepted in schools and used for etextbooks the DX needs to have features like this. And with Amazon’s much larger resources and sales volume they should be able to bring it to us at an acceptable price.