According to an unnamed source, the Spring Design Alex e-reader which was supposed to be release in early March 2010, is now all set to start shipping on March 16. Initaly the device was also rumored to be releasing on Feburary 22nd. It is not known what is the reason behind the delay.
Asus seems all set to enter the ebook reader market this year with a bang. Yesterday they announced their 6-inch color touchscreen ebook reader, the DR-570, going on sale later this year. Now some details are out about a second such device from Asus, dubbed as the DR-950 which should be coming much sooner. It features a much less colorful but still functional greyscale display but still having some cool features as detailed below.
Ebook readers are the next big thing in the gadget market. Already the giants in the game have brought out exciting gadgets like Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Reader and B&N’s Nook; and they are all selling out like hot cakes. AluraTek has now announced their new Libre eBook Reader that could possibly point to a new range of such devices targeting the budget shopper.
More details below.
Ebook reader seems to be the next big thing in gadgets with everyone from startups to giants want to get a piece of the pie. While it remains to be seen whether the ebook reader market will grow to the extent these companies are expecting it to be, it hasn’t stopped BenQ from being the latest contender in the market.
BenQ has just announced their entry with their nReader device which will debut in Taiwan in January along with an online ebook store. The ebook reader device will later go on sale in Japan and China. The ebook readers currently in the market are the extremely expensive Amazon Kindle and Sony’s Reader series. Many others will be launching e-reader devices the coming year, at around the $150 price level.
In the battle of the eBook reader giants, like Amazon with its Kindle and Barnes & Noble with their “Nook”, Sony is indicating that they are not out of the game yet, but putting up their 3G enabled Sony Reader Daily Edition for pre-order @ $399 from SonyStyle.com . The e-reader joins the other devices in the series, the Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition and comes with a 7-inch touchscreen display.
The Reader Daily Edition is also capable of internet connectivity via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network for the users to browse, purchase and read books and magazines on the go. Some select newspapers will also be available on the reader. The wireless connectivity is available free of charge and you can also load content through USB. Sony will announce their magazine and newspaper content provider partners within the next month.
The Frankfurt Book Fair witnessed the unveiling of Ectaco’s second eBook reader. Christened jetBook Lite, the new eBook reader will soon hit stores in the United States and will sell for a price of just under $150.
What we like about the jetBook Lite is that it exactly knows what we want. Built to support a range of language options, be it English, German, Spanish, Russian, or Polish, the jetBook Lite is most likely to arrive at Barnes & Noble.
‘Alex’ is all set to become the world’s first Android-based ebook reader device. Rumoured to be launched by California-based Spring Design, on Tuesday, it will be an e-reader with full browser capabilities and dual screen technology, dubbed the ‘Duel Navigator’.
The reading space is on a 6-inch E-inch EPD while the text is enhanced with content that can be viewed on the 3.5-inch LCD. Since it runs on Google’s Android OS, the device can browse the web, view video, audio, photos and notes. Browsing is possible over WiFi or mobile networks such as 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM.
Kindle doesn’t seem to be kindling any hope for Amazon. The European release came about as expected but then, who is the telecom player that will get it going still remains an unanswered question. The Kindle e-book has not been able to find a telco who would be its supplier.
That in fact is the Amazon version of the story. What we understand is that Amazon has not yet even tried to talk to any of the European telecom companies as to who will have the e-book contract. The UK’s mobile phone companies feel irked that they haven’t have still been contacted.
Amazon is going global with their Kindle e-book reader. Not that we didn’t see that coming, but late Tuesday the Seattle-based e-tailer has announced they’ll be introducing a new version of the Kindle that can wirelessly download books in the US and more than 100 countries worldwide.
“We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Founder and CEO. “Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
Another e-book reader device has hit the market with iRex Technologies announcing their new 8.1-inch DR800SG e-reader in direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle and Sony Readers.
The device, which has an 8.1” pen-based touchscreen, along with 3G wireless connectivity courtesy of Verizon, has 2GB of internal memory with ability to get content from Barnes and Noble eBookstore. It will be capable of reading many formats like the ePub format as well as other DRM capable ebook formats.
