Kindle Sony Nook

Amazon Hits a Homer with Kindle 3

bill — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:15:40 +0000

D Pogue’s “State of the Art” column in today”s NYT (New Kindle Leaves Rivals Farther Back) is almost a hymn of praise to the minimizing winning features of the new avatar “Kindle3″. In comparison to its main rival, the new,neat multipurpose Apple iPad, K3′s diminished dimensions (21% less than previous models), mass (only 8.5 oz), and price ($140 [non WiFi]) win his praise and admiration. In fairness, he does list iPad competitive features, including non E Ink color imaging, touch screen control, and multiple apps. Also, he touches upon other contenders-the Sony Reader with its touch screen, and Nook’s WiFI, color capability, and [limited] “lendability”. However, in the end, the new Kindle 3 gets his nod for a coup in the e-readership consumer market.

Barnes and Noble and the E-Book Revolution

bill — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 02:04:09 +0000

J Bosman writes in the 12 Aug 2010 NYT that mega book chain Barnes and Noble sees the electronic writing on its walls, and is responding. Fearful that the book store may go the way of the record store, they are changing their product mix to keep up with the retail times. As previously noted (Nook Nook), they are playing up the Nook reader, highlighting it with more dedicated space in all of their retail outlets. At the same time they are cutting back on print book shelf space to sell more family friendly educational toys and games.

The Apple iPad: ¿Death Knell for Kindle & Kith?

bill — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 01:53:56 +0000

R Stross muses in the 8 Aug 2010 NYT as to whether or not next-gen Kindles, as read-only implements, will be able to survive against the iPads of the future. She notes that iPad owners, in the first two months post launch, bought ca 2 1/2 books/machine, very competitive with Kindle’s sales of 3 books/user for roughly the same period. The Kindle remains more reader friendly than the iPad, and some consumers already own both, but the allure of the multitasking Apple may win out, consigning Kindle & its kindred to the device graveyard where dedicated word processors lay.

A Busy Week of e-News

bill — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:37:56 +0000

Several articles appeared in the NYT this week of interest to the e-reading community. To summarize:
íPrice War!
Amazon is releasing the “Kindle Wi-Fi” (you guessed it, it connects only through Wi-Fi, not a cellphone network) at the bargain price of $139. Barnes & Noble counters with its Wi-Fi Nook at $149, and Sony has the (non Wi-Fi) Reader Pocket Edition listed at $150. Apple’s multipurpose iPad remains in the >/=$499 range. The Kindle 2 is also being updated with a new improved model, lighter & smaller but with the same reading surface, for $189.

Nook-Nook
B&N will devote a larger footprint to its Nook displays, dedicating 1000 sq ft “boutiques” in @ of its stores as a try-em-out petting zoo for its Nook line. Publishers and retailers, incidentally, are hoping that e-readers will be hot gift items in the 2010 holiday season, given the very rapid fall in price point toward the magic number of $100, where electronic devices become impulse buys for many.

2(The Enriched Books are Coming!)
Shades of JR Rowling’s “Daily Prophet” in the Harry Potter movies: There are now e-books available with embedded videos, utilizing the multimedia apps of the iPad (Sorry, Kindleers can buy these at the Kindle Store, but can’t use this on the K machine itself). These books, including “Nixonland” and novels by David Baldacci and Ken Follett, are somewhat pricier than regular e-books, but do sound like fun.

Amazon unveils new Kindle, starting at $139

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:54:10 +0000

Just weeks after lowering the price of the Kindle e-book reader from $259 to $189, Amazon unveiled a fully revamped Kindle on Wednesday. It’s sleeker, better looking, easier on the eyes — and starts at $139.

This new Kindle, Amazon’s third generation, is smaller by 21 percent, and 15 percent lighter too. It has much improved contrast, 50 percent better than before, answering a significant complaint among dead-tree purists who compared the device’s e-ink screen unfavorably to real paper. It’s available in two colors: graphite and white.

Read the full story on MSNBC

Amazon unveils sleek third-generation Kindle (macworld.com)
Amazon launches a new Kindle, with modest improvements (blogs.consumerreports.org)

Backlist Titles for Kindle

bill — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:06:43 +0000

The NYT (22.07.10) reports that the literary agent Andrew Wylie is opening Odyssey Editions. His company will produce, exclusively for the Amazon Kindle store, e-versions of books that were marketed before the concept of digital rights existed. (While the copyrights for print are owned by traditional publishing houses, there is an ongoing controversy over electronic rights.) Amazon will sell these books for $9.99. The first twenty titles include R. Ellison’s “Invisible Man”, V. Nabokov’s “Lolita”, and S. Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”

19 July 2010: E-Day!

bill — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:13:53 +0000

The NYT announced on July 20th that Amazon.com revealed that they now sell more e-books than hardcovers, at a ratio of about 3:2 (& rising). This has happened in the under three years that Amazon has been in the e-book business.
Amazon is aided in this by the ability of owners of other ‘readability’ devices,ie Smart Phones and Apple’s iPads, to read Kindle-sold books on these platforms, but not vice versa. Also, after the initial iPad buzz & buying frenzy, many of the reading public prefer the Kindle for reading, reserving the ‘iPod Touch-on-steroids’ for its other uses. The falling prices of e-readers as a class also contributed to this milestone in the history of the written word.

Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy?

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:06:11 +0000

If you’re in the market for an e-book reader, the past couple of weeks have considerably changed your options, and for the better. Barnes & Noble’s and Amazon’s new products and price drops have made their e-book reader hardware considerably more affordable, and you now have excellent options available in the $149 to $199 price range. Also, a flood of new reading-centric apps continues to solidify the Apple iPad’s position as the premium media tablet of choice.

Cnet posted 5 questions to ask yourself to help you decide which one to buy:

How much are you willing to spend?

How large of a screen (and weight) do you want?

What’s your screen preference: e-ink or backlit LCD?

Do you need always-on wireless data?

Do you need access to your e-books on additional devices?

Final thoughts: Currently, the Nook, Kindle, and iPad are our top e-book reader picks; however, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Depending what features are important to you–color versus black and white screen, backlight versus readability in the sun, touch screen versus not, cheap versus expensive, lightweight versus heavy–the device you prefer may be different from ours. However, there’s no arguing that the range of choices for e-book readers is better now than it ever has been.

Read the full story on Cnet.

New Generation Kindle DX Announced by Amazon.com

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:55:37 +0000

Today Amazon.com announced their new Kindle DX e-book reader. On the front page of their website, Amazon has begun to take pre-orders for their update to the current Kindle DX. The Kindle DX was a larger version of the Kindle II reader which has been very successful.

The new Kindle DX will have a 9.7 inch screen, a miniature keyboard, and wireless access. Not only will it run Kindle e-books from Amazon.com but also third party files including pdf documents. Some of the new features include greater screen contrast, better pdf zooming functions, better font displays, and even social network features.

Read the full story on The Examiner

Amazon.com offers new lower-priced Kindle DX (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Amazon Cuts Price on Updated Kindle DX (online.wsj.com)

In Price War, E-Readers Go Below $200

bill — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:25:17 +0000

B Stone reports in today’s NYT that the E-reader market battles have just heated up by several degrees:
—Barnes & Noble lowered the price for the Nook from $259 to $199, & has introduced a new $149 model
—Amazon has countered by re-pricing the Kindle at $189, undercutting B&N
—Lesser players-IRex, Skiff, and Plastic Logis (the Que)-are either seeking bankrupcy protection or are delaying the launching of their products. Sony, too, faces the need for probable price cuts for its three models now on sale.

The recent introduction of the Apple iPad, and its general popularity (2,000,000 sold in its first two months, with 5,000,000 ebooks downloads already[!]) is the main driver of these developments, augmented by an increase in price=>some profit margins on e-book sales themselves,made by the industry’s acceptance of the “agency sales model” earlier this spring.

¿The future?: Analysts speculate that i)the market will winnow down to only two or three single purpose dedicated e-reader companies; and ii) within a year ther may be a very serviceable device priced at less than $100.