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

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• Amazon unveils sleek third-generation Kindle (macworld.com)
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Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Comparison of e-book readers, eink, Nook, Wi-Fi

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.

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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

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Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has announced its intention to enter eBook market in June, 2009. Then there were some preliminary announcements of deals with publishers. But as Sony (NYSE:SNE), B&N (NYSE:BKS) kept releasing their own products everyone seemed to forget about the search engine company. With Amazon Kindle vs. Nook, Sony vs. Kindle and iPad vs. everyone and their dog nobody seemed to take Google eBook initiatives seriously. One year ago I believed and I still do that if someone were to dethrone Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) as eBook leader, it would be Google and not other eInk reader manufacturers and definitely not Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Read more: http://blogkindle.com/2010/05/google-editions-to-compete-with-amazon-kindle-in-ebook-market/comment-page-1/#ixzz0nHwswPyW

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The ads were directed by Angela Kohler, the winner of a contest run by Amazon last year. And the fact that they are running in very expensive time slots suggests that Amazon is trying as best it can to drown the loud, insistent and, who knows, magical footsteps of the iPad.

Source: Cnet

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A new report from ChangeWave Research reveals that less than half of the people who own an e-reader would have bought that same e-reader if the iPad was already on the market.

That’s an ugly stat for Amazon, since the Kindle is the undisputed king of the e-reader market, at least today.

Source: Business Insider

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• Kindle, You Are So Dead [Ipad] (gizmodo.com)

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Is Barnes and Noble’s Nook this year’s Kindle killer? Nearly: The sleek e-reader offers some notable improvements, but it’s still plagued by problems common to the Kindle and similar devices. Perhaps that’s not a ringing endorsement, but don’t close the book on the Nook just yet.

Look and feel: At just under 12 oz., the Nook weighs about as much as a mid-sized hardcover book, though it’s only about as wide as the cover and as thick as a few chapters. The main, black-and-white screen occupies the bulk of the surface area; below it is a secondary color touchscreen, used mostly for navigation. Throw in the white trim, and it’s that iPod-on-steroids design we’ve come to expect.

Navigation: The majority of the Nook’s operations have been relegated to the touchscreen, leaving only forward, back, and home buttons as part of the device’s body. As you’d expect, the touchscreen changes depending on what you’re doing, displaying a keyboard, an options menu, a flip book of book covers, or arrow keys to move the cursor on the main screen. Those spoiled by the iPhone’s touch-responsiveness will find the Nook slow on the uptake, but when it comes to packing maximum control and flexibility into minimal space, this design element does wonders.

Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Handhelds, iPhone, IPod Classic, Kindle, Smartphones, Touchscreen

Here are parts of the Nook’s review on PC Magazine that gave the Nook 4/5 stars:
The Barnes and Noble Nook E-Reader ($259 direct) will be difficult, perhaps even impossible, to find this holiday season, and that’s a real shame. With a clever second display that acts as a touch-screen interface, a huge library of titles, and instant wireless downloads via AT&T’s 3G network or Wi-Fi, the Nook might just be the most sophisticated e-Book reader on the market.
…
As I write this review, the Nook is sold out until the next batch of units arrive early next year. You can pre-order one online or at your local Barnes & Noble store. If you simply can’t resist buying an e-book reader this holiday season, and you want something to put under the tree, the tried, tested, and readily available Amazon Kindle is probably the way to go—and it’ll cost you the same $259 you’ll pay for the Nook. It is worth stopping by a Barnes & Noble store before you do, though, to try out a Nook. Once the company builds in book sharing, rolls out custom content for store visitors, and irons out some minor software kinks, the Nook could top the e-book best-seller list.

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Perhaps to avoid consumer confusion, or to grab back a few headlines from Barnes and Noble’s sweet looking Nook e-reader, Amazon has dropped the Sprint-powered U.S. Kindle and now sells just the international version along with the super-sized DX. And the price has also been dropped to $260, the same as the old Kindle 2 and the same as the Nook. It looks like this fight is on.

Those of you who already bought the International Kindle for $280 upon launch, you’ll get a $20 refund from Amazon.

[Source: Wired]

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