Not sure what Barnes & Noble has to say about the “Nook” that it didn’t discuss yesterday, when it unveiled its new e-reader. But the bookseller’s press conference this morning, scheduled for 9:30 EDT, gives us an opportunity to try a little crowd-sourcing experiment: Send me any questions you have and I’ll try to ask the company on your behalf.
It’s e-reader preview week, apparently. Last night, Plastic Logic formally named its would-be Kindle killer; tomorrow, Barnes & Noble is supposed to show off its own branded device. This morning’s entrant: Spring Design, which says it has produced a reader that boasts two screens and an operating system that runs on Google’s Android. What it doesn’t have: Big-pocketed partners to boast about.
Plastic Logic, which has been talking up its coming e-reader for some time now but hasn’t actually started selling it, has a little more to say: It will have more to say about its coming e-reader in a few months.
Oh, and its coming device has a name–the Que.
Had to see this one coming: Amazon is chopping the price on its plain-vanilla Kindle e-book reader and is introducing a new version that will allow users to download books when they’re outside the U.S. Your move, Sony–and every other would-be Kindle competitor.
The Kindle gets plenty of attention, but the e-book reader is still a niche device. When will that change? When it gets cheaper. A lot cheaper, says a new Forrester study.
Sony started selling e-book readers long before Amazon, but blew its lead. So how can it catch up with its new device, which looks and works much like the Kindle, but costs $100 more? Maybe Sony can do it with the help of free books from your local library.
After Sony unveiled its new line of readers this morning, I posed that question to Sony executive Steve Haber, who immediately pointed out that his “Daily Edition” machine has a slightly bigger screen than the Kindle 2 and boasts a touchscreen.
Here’s another company choosing a side in the coming e-book war: Irex Technologies, a Dutch company that plans on selling a Kindle-like reader in the U.S. this fall, has allied itself with Barnes & Noble’s online bookstore. Earlier this summer, would-be Kindle rival Plastic Logic announced a similar pact. And in other “e-book reader made by someone other than Amazon” news, Sony has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow.
Flickr is one of the Web’s most popular photo-sharing sites. Flickr users’ camera of choice? The iPhone–even though the image isn’t great, the flash is nonexistent, and the only way to zoom is to move your hand closer.
Can the hype surrounding buzzy tech like Twitter, the Kindle and cloud computing get any louder? No, pronounces tech consultancy Gartner Inc., which has a very official-looking chart to make its case. But are you better off being on top of the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” or working your way up the “Slope of Enlightenment”? Who knows?
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos didn’t make it to his company’s earnings call today, but he did find time to apologize for Kindlegate–Amazon’s ham-fisted removal of George Orwell novels from his customers’ e-book readers. Great, right? Almost.
Here’s another set of customers for AT&T: People who buy e-book readers from Plastic Logic, the would-be Kindle killer due out next year.
Privately held Plastic Logic says it will rely on AT&T to supply its gadgets with a wireless connection, in the same way that Sprint is the network provider for Amazon’s Kindle.
Are you one of those Kindle owners who stuffs your device with cheap e-books? Enjoy it now, say analysts at Bernstein Research. Because they’re not going to stay cheap, or at least, not quite as cheap, forever. Right now Amazon makes much more money selling you a hardcover book than a digital one. That can’t go on indefinitely.
The last time Amazon held a press conference in New York City was in February, when it introduced the Kindle 2.0. Now the company has scheduled another one for Wednesday morning at Pace University in lower Manhattan. Expect a new large-format device that’s optimized for reading newspapers and magazines.
The Dutch firm already makes a line of e-book readers and says it will have an innovative color screen ready next year. And its CEO confirms it has talked to News Corp. But there’s no deal yet.
Want to buy an e-book reader but can’t decide between Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s version, the Reader? Then you’re in the minority: Most folks are choosing Amazon’s device, even though Sony’s sells for $60 less. Sony’s newest gambit to change that: A tie-up with Google that will add half a million free titles to the Sony book catalog.
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
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