Barnes and Noble Nook Ebook Reader Wondering what to buy this Christmas ? Then take a look at ebook readers. The Amazon Kindle has got a new competitor in the Ebook Reader field. Barnes and Noble, one of the largest booksellers on the planet, has decided to get in on the act. They have created [...]

Barnes and Noble Nook Ebook Reader

Wondering what to buy this Christmas ? Then take a look at ebook readers. The Amazon Kindle has got a new competitor in the Ebook Reader field. Barnes and Noble, one of the largest booksellers on the planet, has decided to get in on the act. They have created the Nook ebook reader, why call it the Nook? Who knows? The Nook will however be a direct competitor to both the Kindle Ebook Reader and the Sony Reader.

The nook should be available from November 30, and will $259. It will have Wi-Fi and AT&T 3G wireless connectivity, a 6″ E-Ink display (which makes the screen look like paper), plus a smaller separate color touchscreen to be used as the primary input device.

The nook is the first ebook reader based on the Android platform and features a MicroSD expansion slot for extra storage. One significant innovative feature of the nook that the Kindle Ebook Reader does not have is the “LendMe” feature. Publishers license some books for sharing, these ebooks can be lent once by the person buying it for up to two weeks.

As often seems to be the case the nook is a US-only device.

It also features a built-in WiFi adapter, allowing free access to AT&T-powered hotspots in B&N retail stores.

It does not however have the Kindle’s text-to-speech tools and the battery life is 10 days, compared with 14 days for the Kindle.

According to Wired the Nook makes the Kindle look old-fashioned.

If you would rather have a netbook for Christmas than an ebook reader then check out the very impressive Acer Ferrari One netbook  – it is very red, very fast and one of the best netbooks around. Happy shopping !

The world of ebook readers has been very busy of late. Amazon has been making a whole pile of money with its Kindle ebook reader - so much so in fact that it has decided to make the Kindle available in the UK and the rest of Europe and to make a Kindle for Pc application [...]

The world of ebook readers has been very busy of late. Amazon has been making a whole pile of money with its Kindle ebook reader - so much so in fact that it has decided to make the Kindle available in the UK and the rest of Europe and to make a Kindle for Pc application available for free download, so you can read ebooks on your PC.

Plastic Logic has also decided to join the fun with its Que ebook reader, aimed more at the business market as you can also use it to read Word files, Excel, etc…

Plastic Logic QUE Ebook Reader

Here are some facts and figures.

Kindle For PC

Free to download

Available in November.

Available for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows XP.

 360,000 Kindle ebooks will be available

 Windows 7 version will have more features

Transfer previous purchases free.

 Kindle notes or highlights will be synchronized.

You don’t lose your place if you switch from PC to Kindle or iPhone.

Choose font size and select the number of words to appear on each line.

$9.99 to download best-selling books

Asus to Produce Ebook Reader Competitor ASUS is to launch an Eee Reader which will act as a competitor to the Kindle Ebook Reader but with much more versatility and functionality than the Amazon and Sony devices. It is expected it will be available for Christmas. According to The Times it may not only have [...]

Asus to Produce Ebook Reader Competitor

ASUS is to launch an Eee Reader which will act as a competitor to the Kindle Ebook Reader but with much more versatility and functionality than the Amazon and Sony devices. It is expected it will be available for Christmas.

According to The Times it may not only have dual color touchscreens, but it will probably beat Sony and Amazon on price.

Asus were the first into netbooks so they have a track record and it will be interesting to see if they can bring some meaningful competition to ebook readers.

Having a second display could be useful for a virtual keyboard and internet browsing, so that device will compete with both netbooks and ebook readers. Asus says it may also build in speakers plus a microphone/Webcam for cheap Skype calls.

It is probable that there will be budget and premium versions, with the premium version featuring 3G.

At the moment the two cheapest ebook readers are the 6″ Amazon Kindle 2 ($300) and Cool-er eBook Reader ($250). According to the Times Asus wants to market its device at close to $160.

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader Too Expensive Say Pundits ! If the Kindle 2 were cheaper it would be better. It has shortcomings, but could be the first in a long line of ebook reader that people would be willing to buy if it was a bit cheaper. But in this economy it is not likely [...]

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader Too Expensive Say Pundits !

If the Kindle 2 were cheaper it would be better. It has shortcomings, but could be the first in a long line of ebook reader that people would be willing to buy if it was a bit cheaper. But in this economy it is not likely that many people will have the $359 needed for a non essential item. For that type of money you can get a netbook computer. or a good digital camera

There si also a problem with the cost of ebooks $9.99 is bad enough for a few million pixels but some books actually cost $16.99 are they nuts !? When you can buy the real thing for $17.99 and sell it later as a second hand book and get som eof your dosh back.

So why the price hike? Amazon says “prices change from time to time” so there you have it – if you don;t like it tough !

If bookstores disappear of course then the ebook purveyors will have a monopoly and then where will we be ?

The Kindle 2 is better than Kindle 1. It’s sleeker and easier to read and the battery has an excellent lifetime — over two weeks if you switch the wireless connection off. Whispersync is also a col feature that automatically remembers where you left off reading.

Amazon has other problems at the moment too though -namely they are being sued by the Discovery channel for patent infringement. So that might cost Amazon a few bucks in lawyers fees if nothing else.

Onyx Boox Alternative to the Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader The Onyx Boox is an interesting alternative to the main market leader in the area of ebook readers the Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is expensive at $359 so it is to be hoped that the Onyx will be a bit cheaper. The specifications are very similar [...]

Onyx Boox Alternative to the Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader

The Onyx Boox is an interesting alternative to the main market leader in the area of ebook readers the Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is expensive at $359 so it is to be hoped that the Onyx will be a bit cheaper. The specifications are very similar to the Amazon Kindle

Onyx Boox Ebook Reader

6″/ 8″/ 9.7″ E Ink® Vizplex® EPD display
Touch panel with full screen scribble
128MB RAM or above
16-level grayscale
USB 2.0 with OTG support
512MB Flash or above
2.5mm Stereo Headphone Jack
400MHz processor or higher
1600mAh replaceable Li-ion battery
Wi-Fi/CDMA 1XRTT/GPRS/3G (option)
SD/MMC with SDIO & SDHC support
No keyboard
Details/Thumbnail/List page view
Search and dictionary support
Text to speech (TTS) support
Change font size & family
Bookmark/Table of contents
Zoom in/out
Formats Supported
PDF/TXT/HTML/MOBIPOCKET/EPUB/CHM/PDB/JPG/PNG/GIF/BMP/TIFF/MP3/WAV

It is being launched now at Cebit in Germany

Ebook readers are the latest must have gadgets, ever since Oprah said the Kindle Ebook Reader was her favorite gadget. Amazon has just released version 2 of its Ebook Reader and version 3 is apparently on the way for the end of the year.

The Boox features a 16-level grayscale e-ink screen whichm as the case with all ebook readers worthy of the name that looks like paper.

It also lets the user write on the screen and take notes while reading a book.

The Onyx Boox ebook reader uses new-generation e-ink screens which offer extremely low power consumption. You can read for a number of weeks on each full charge (although that would seem to me to depend on how often you use it).

For a video presentation of the Onyx Boox Ebook Reader see Onyx Boox Ebook Reader Video

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader 2 The Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader 2 is finally here. It was launched amid much fanfare by Amazon and no less a personage than best-selling author Stephen King himself in mid February. The Kindle Ebook Reader 1 had been sold out for months and so the Ebook Reader 2 was keenly [...]

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader 2

The Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader 2 is finally here. It was launched amid much fanfare by Amazon and no less a personage than best-selling author Stephen King himself in mid February.

The Kindle Ebook Reader 1 had been sold out for months and so the Ebook Reader 2 was keenly awaited. It turns out it is a fine improvment over the version 1 – being slimmer and lighter and incorporating text to speech where you don’t even have to read your books anymore – the Kindle will read them to you.

Stephen King also wrote a special novel especially for the Kindle -called Ur.

Sales are expected to be brisk and the price has been kept at the same $359 dollars much to the disappointment of many who think it way to expensive.

Some specs :

Weight 10.2 oz,
Size just over 1/3 ” thick – - 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″.
3G wireless capability to download books anytime with no need to find Wi-Fi hotspots
The display looks like real paper and has 16 shades of gray for even sharper images – 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi,
Kindle Ebook Reader now holds over 1,500 books

All in all a success and analysts expect sales of over 1 million Kindles in 2009 which means 350 million dollars for Amazon plus all the digital book sales.

Ebook Readers – the Future of Publishing? Ebook Readers were virtually unheard of a year or so ago, now news about them seems to be popping up all over the place. Along with some good reviews by respected journalists. Many people think the Kindle Ebook Reader represents the future of publishing, given their ability to [...]

Ebook Readers – the Future of Publishing?

Ebook Readers were virtually unheard of a year or so ago, now news about them seems to be popping up all over the place. Along with some good reviews by respected journalists. Many people think the Kindle Ebook Reader represents the future of publishing, given their ability to allow you to carry about hundreds of books in electronic format i.e. without the weight of hundreds of books.

Consequently I think we will see a lot more of them being sold in the run up to Christmas.

So what exactly is an Ebook Reader ? Well it is an electronic device onto which you download the electronic format of books or newspapers or magazines in exchange for some money, so that you can read them on the screen of the ebook reader. This is the most interestin gaspect of ebook readers. The screen uses electronic paper, a new display technology that ensures that screen is as sharp as ink on paper and in fact is like reading a book.

The best know ebook readers are made by Amazon and Sony.