E-reader

The QUE, a proReader from Plastic Logic designed for business professionals, will be sold at Barnes & Noble stores next year, it was announced this week. Rather than being a standard e-reader, the QUE supports document formats most business users need such as PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel documents and more.

QUE is the size of an 8.5 x 11 inch pad of paper, about a 1/3 inch thick, and weighs less than many periodicals. It features a shatterproof plastic display, is wireless-enabled, and has the largest touchscreen in the industry (at this time). Read more

Barnes & Noble jumps on the e-reader bandwagon with the introduction of nook. The company states that nook is the first Android-based eBook reader and the first to offer a color touch screen for navigation in addition to the E Ink display. I guess this is true, since Alex by Spring Design (who also claimed to be the first) doesn't even have a release date yet. nook is also the first eBook reader to provide 3G wireless access on AT&T's mobile broadband network and access to Wi-Fi for Barnes & Noble in-store browsing. And, yet another first, nook lets you share your eBooks with friends for up to 14 days at a time. Just choose the book you want to share and send it to your friend's nook, iPhone/iPod touch, select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones, and PC or Mac (loaded with the required Barnes & Noble eReader software).

nook will be available at the end of November for $259. Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders now at www.nook.com and in stores. Barnes & Noble is also giving the first 10,000 customers who pre-order a free eBook of Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller, "The Tipping Point."Read more

Spring Design just announced Alex, the first e-reader based on Google Android. Not only is Alex an e-reader, you can browse the Internet over Wi-Fi or mobile networks such as 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM.

Featuring dual screens, the first screen is a 6" E-Ink EPD display for reading e-books and the second is a 3.5" color LCD screen used to support Internet content from the text on the main screen. You can also capture web content from the LCD screen, and toggle to view it on the EPD screen. Browser features such as bookmarking, history, and security settings are built into the device. Earphones, speakers, and a SD card slot are included. Read more

If there is one thing you can count on for the holiday season, it's that at least one tech gadget will be on everyone's wish list. With that in mind, Best Buy has launched a new Gadgets and eReaders section. Starting today (October 11), you can visit your local Best Buy store to play with these devices hands-on.

The new Gadgets and eReaders collection will include products from Sony, Sharper Image, Leapfrog, Rubik's Cube and more…totaling more than 120 products, with prices starting at just $5.Read more

Amazon announced yesterday they are lowering the price of the Kindle to $259, down from $299. Also, they added a new Kindle to the line-up—Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless. With the new model, you can wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories. It is available for pre-order now for $279 at www.amazon.com/kindle and it ships October 19.

The Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless is just over a third of an inch thin (0.36 inches) and weighs around 10 ounces. The device features a 6-inch electronic ink display, 2GB of memory to hold about 1500 books, and has an experimental Text-To-Speech feature, where the Kindle can read most newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you. You can also choose between six different text sizes. Need to make notes, highlight an entry or add a bookmark? You can do that as well.

Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless will be available in over 100 countries on October 19. Pre-order yours now at www.amazon.com/kindle.

Rumor has it that Amazon is already working on a third generation Kindle e-reader device. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new Kindle is going to have a larger screen, designed to make it easier to view newspapers, advertisements etc. It is also thought that the new Kindle will have touchscreen features.

Although Amazon won't comment, speculation has it that the new Kindle will be available in time for the holiday shopping season. This doesn't surprise me given the decline in print advertising and the increase in popularity of digital reading. With a larger screen, newspapers and magazines may have more of an opportunity to get much needed ad dollars. And of course, Amazon would benefit from the increase in sales around the holiday season.

What do you think? Is Amazon working on this too fast, given that the Kindle 2 has only been around a couple of months?

The wireless subscription service is what makes the Kindle stand out from the crowd. It allows you to receive news articles directly on the device without having to open a Web browser — the coolest feature. The Kindle 2 is redesigned with sleek buttons, and screen. The Kindle 2 is slimmer than the first generation, and is more like a device for readers.

The first Kindle was more like a computer/cell phone/PDA looking device. The Kindle 2 is exactly what people want in a digital reader — simple, sleek design.

The “rumor mill” is anticipating an Apple product to compete in this space. I am sure Apple is waiting patiently to drop it’s digital reader onto the market. Plastic Logic will enter the space in 2010. Plastic Logic will have a larger screen than the Kindle or Sony Reader. The Sony Reader was the first to revolutionize this technology, and in Sony fashion they dominate this space because they got there first.

The Kindle 2 will be available on February 24, 2009 for $359 and we recommend that you pre-order to reserve your new reader.