9/1/10: Sony Unveils New eReaders
Sony Corp. today announced a new edition of their smallest and least expensive eReader, the Pocket Edition. The new model also comes with touch capability, allowing the reader to swipe the page to turn it. The earlier model of the low-end reader did not have a touch screen.
The picture at right is pink, but the model is also available in white.
Interestingly, Sony has also introduced a new touch screen technology. In their older models with touch, the screen was less vivid than with other eReaders because of a special overlay that was required for touch control. In the new edition, the screen senses a touch command through the use of infrared technology. This means a better contrast to the screen—one of the biggest complaints leveled against their devices.
Sony has also increased storage of the Pocket Edition, allowing four times the amount of storage available on last year’s model.
In another major enhancement, the screen of the Pocket Edition will have the same 16 shades of gray scale resolution as its more expensive siblings. The older model allowed for only eight shades of gray.
With these enhancements the price of the Pocket Edition is increased by $29 to $179. The price of its Touch Edition has also gone up to $229, a $59 price increase. For this $59 the owner will be able to access the internet through WiFi, missing from last year’s model, enjoy increased storage and the new laser touch screen rather than last year’s overlay screen.
9/1/10: Bad News from Brick and Mortar Borders
Things continue to look bad for the brick and mortar side of the book industry. The nation’s largest, Barnes and Noble, has been facing declining sales of its paper books for years, and Borders joins that club, reporting today that their sales for this quarter sales fell 12 percent to $526.1 million from last quarter’s $594.2 million for last quarter.
This resulted in a loss of $46.7 million in income for the quarter, which is higher than for the same quarter of last year when it posted a loss of $45.6 million.
You may recall that Borders was late, late, late getting into the electronics end of the book business, which is the only bright side left in the publishing industry. But, they did open an electronics book store in a partnership with Kobo and began carrying the Kobo Reader and another second-tier reader. They recently added the more up-scale Cruz Reader for $199.99 in an effort to shore up their business model.
The move to a borrowed on-line strategy does not bode well for the struggling giant. To their credit they now recognize their problem (red ink has that effect in business), but they represent the laggard side of the industry, and their response has not been effective as of yet.
8/31/10: Staples to Sell Kindles
Reuters news service is reporting that Staples, a retailer with locations over much of America, will begin selling Kindle readers in its stores.
Office supplies retailer Staples Inc will begin selling Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle, the latest deal that will expand the availability of the e-reader at retail locations.
Staples will start selling the devices at its more than 1,500 U.S. stores starting in the autumn, the company said on Tuesday. It plans to sell the $139 version of the Kindle, the 3G model and the more expensive Kindle DX.
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has sought to make its Kindle available at more stores as it competes with devices such as Barnes & Noble Inc’s Nook and Apple Inc’s iPad to win a larger share of the growing digital books market.
In April, Target Corp reached a deal to start selling the Kindle in its stores, while electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc said it would sell the Nook at its 1,070 stores.
Forrester Research estimates that Amazon has sold about 5 million Kindles since the product’s launch in 2007, and that Barnes & Noble has sold 1 million Nooks since it introduced the device last year.
8/31/10: Kobo Reader and Aluratek Cut Prices by $20 at B&N
The only thing surprising about these price cuts are how tardy and anemic they are in responding to the new reality of eReader hardware prices.
Both these devices occupy the decidedly low end of the eReader spectrum. Screen resolution and gray scale metrics are poor, as is just about everything else about these machines.
In my view, it doesn’t make sense to spend $129 on a Kobo, when for only $10 more one could get a Kindle 3 with WiFi.
For a reader with the absence of quality of the Kobo, a $79 price is probably more appropriate.
The Aluratek would probably bring in about $49.99 and be a fair value—for those who don’t like eReading very much. This device doesn’t use an E-Ink screen.
and it has a 5” screen.
For a review of the Aluratek, follow this link. For the Kobo: Computerworld Review of Kobo
8/29/10; IPad vs Kindle for eReading
The is an interesting article this morning on JK of the Run, where Darrell Etherington details his preferences for the Kindle for eReading and how he uses the iPad. His reasons are well grounded and, as it must be, personal. To read the article follow this link.
As interesting as his reasoning are the responses to the article, which show that for many who own both products the iPad is still the favorite. But, Kindle has its own fans who, owning both machines, still prefers the Kindle for reading.
My own experience favors the Kindle for eReading. I use it much, much more than the iPad when reading a book. I find the iPad too heavy. I can’t say the screen bothers me, because I can’t hold it up long enough to experience eye fatigue.
8/24/10: Barnes and Noble Report Gains in eBook Sales
B&N released their financial report today for the end of their first quarter, 2011 period.
Total sales for the first quarter were $1.4 billion, a 21% increase compared to the prior year. Total sales are a total of its three divisions: store sales, internet sales (which include sales of physical books through its web site as well as eBooks), and its college bookstore sales.
Books sold through its stores actually declined about 2%, to $1 billion. This has been the trend for some time. But web sales rose 45%, thanks mostly to eBooks and the Nook. In the report their CEO said that their market share of eBooks now exceeded their 17% market share of hard cover and paper back books.
eBook sales are largely powered by sales of the Nook, their proprietary eReader. B&N reports that 25% of those who buy a Nook are new customers to B&N, and that Nook owners have increased their purchasing by 20% from last year.
It was also reported that eBook sales are consistently higher week over week.
I am happy to see B&N’s success with the Nook and eBooks. It is clear they have finally become aware of how important the internet and eBooks have become. I hope their moves into that arena were timely enough to save the day for them.
8/23/10: Amazon Outselling Apple iBooks 60-1
One author who sells the electronic editions of his books on both Amazon and iBooks said that Amazon accounts for about 200 sales a day, while iBooks sells about 100 a month. One cannot draw too many conclusions about the state of the entire electronics book market from this one incident, but is may be more indicative of the actual state of things than one might first imagine.
The story appeared in CrunchGear: Click here to read the full article.
8/20/10: Color for the Kindle Coming?
There are two news items that point to color for the Kindle within a year or two.
First, Qualcomm announced that they are to build a $2 billion plant in Taiwan to make their Mirasol screens. In case you may not remember, Mirasol is a screen that produces color images using a technology similar to E-Ink. In other words, it is an externally illuminated screen that produces stable, readable images, but in color.
It also produces the images with exceptionally low power drain.
The color is not up to internally illuminated standards. They are decidedly less brilliant. But, they look better than other attempts, and, within a year or two they may be almost as good as LCD or LED.
In an explanation as to why Qualcomm is investing so heavily in the new plant, an executive of the company mentioned that they have secured a “major contract” for the 5.7 inch screens. Now, everyone who follows the industry knows that Qualcomm and Amazon have been discussing an arrangement for many months. So the obvious, and perhaps wrong, assumption would be that Amazon is contracting for a large number of color Mirasol screens for 2012 delivery.
But, this may not be true. It could be someone else, for example, the Russian eReader manufacturer, Pocketbook. They are hoping to bring out a color eReader even earlier, and they, too, have been in talks with Qualcomm. The demo model Qualcomm 
showed is shown above. You can see the color, but it isn’t very colorful.
In an earlier news item, in late July, Amazon admitted they have tested Mirasol in their labs, but would not comment in their late July interview about whether they would use it. So there are plenty of suspects, including some potential Android slate devices that are rumored to be going with a passive color, such as Mirasol provides.
We are left with uncertainty as to who will use this new technology, but we know for sure that some manufacturer with deep pockets has enticed Qualcomm to pony up two billion dollars to build the plant.
8/13/10: New Sony Readers Headed Here Soon
Reports on the web say Sony has two new Readers headed to market soon. An up-dated PRS 650, which will carry a 6” screen, and the PRS 350 will sport a 5” screen.
Improvements include: Better contrasts, higher memory (for the 650), up to 2GB from 512K, WiFi (650 only), and the possibility of 3G on the 650. Both devices will have a new user interface, note taking ability, USB 2.0 and the ability to read Microsoft Word documents. With this feature you can put your own documents on the Sony. They will keep the ePub and PDF file formatting, making it one of the more versatile readers on the market.
Sony has not gotten much press lately, the iPad and new announcements from Amazon and Barnes and Noble have taken all the oxygen in the media.. But it is welcome news that Sony intends to stay in the game. There machines have always been reliable and functional, and their availability is growing, with presence in Target and other mega-retailers.
8/9/10: Verizon to Sell iPhone by January?
A couple of otherwise isolated facts published today to point to the strong possibility that Verizon Wireless will begin selling a CDMA version of the iPhone in January, 2011.
The first piece of news is provided in an article by Steve Cheney, a writer for TechCrunch and run in at least a couple of blogs, including Blogrunner. Click here to read the full article.
The gist of the article is a reported purchase of a large number of CDMA chipsets by Apple from Qualcomm, the dominant maker of the CDMA chipset used in most mobile phones. Recall that AT&T uses only GSM for its cell technology rather than CDMA, the obvious conclusion is that Apple is going into production with these new chips.
The article further points out that the delivery of the chips is for December, which, then, points to a January delivery of a CDMA iPhone.
Further evidence of a shift in distribution of the iPad comes from reading between the lines of AT&T’s most recent quarterly earnings report. As quoted from Endgadget:
“AT&T’s quarterly earnings report makes it sound like the telecom may finally lose its iPhone exclusivity deal. While a class-action lawsuit recently confirmed the handset was originally locked to AT&T / Cingular fora full five years, the company’s Q2 SEC filing has the company making a considerable number of familiar excuses why AT&T’s cellular business will thrive even “as these exclusivity arrangements end.” While the iPhone isn’t mentioned by name, it’s hard to imagine sentences like “We believe offering a wide variety of handsets reduces dependence on any single handset” could refer to anything else. . .”
Of course, the new CDMA iPhone could also be going to Sprint, the second largest CDMA carrier, behind Verizon, but that would be a major surprise.
The main reason I post this, which is about the iPhone, is that this instrument has one of the best eReader screens of all smart phones. I find my Droid screen entirely adequate for reading electronic books, but it lacks the finer features of the iPhone. But, I will not give up my Verizon account in order to get an iPhone, but I would seriously consider getting one if it were offer by Verizon. I hope I have this option by the next time I have an up-grade option.
8/7/10: Physical Books are Dead in 5 years
The web is alive with the story taken from an interview by Maria Bartiromo with a group of techies from the Technology Conference in Lake Tahoe, CA. Among the guest interviewed was Mr. Nichols Negropante, whom you may know as the f
ounder of One Laptop per Child Foundation. Mr. Negropante made a strong case that physical books would be dead within five years. By “dead” he didn’t mean there would be no physical books. He meant that electronic books would be the dominant method of distributing books by that that time. (Mr. Negroponti is pictured below)
He made the case by looking at the history of other technologies over the last decade or so who 
have succumbed to the digital age: music and film, to be precise.
I do expect electronic books to become the dominate force in publishing, but the revolution will go well beyond books. Magazines and newspapers are already well begun in this transition; medical records are slowly getting there,as are many other forms of physical record keeping that are becoming increasingly expensive and more difficult to maintain.
8/4/10: Barnes and Noble Put Themselves on the Market
Barnes and Noble put themselves on the sales block yesterday, catching the entire industry by surprise. 
With 720 stores across the nation, and with sales of books at $300 million a year, B&N should be on top of the world. But they are not.
This large chain has run into a number of problems over the last few years that have proven too much for them to handle, at least up to now. Their stock price has fallen 37% since June. Investors lack confidence in B&N to pull it off.
Their story is near-tragic–caught in the forces of market trends that went against them and then not having an effective response until it was too late. They have stayed consistently behind the curve over the last years, and they became victims of the trends that otherwise could have propelled them into the digital age.
The largest and longest trend going against them is about twenty years into its maturity: Americans are buying fewer books and, generally, reading less.
Secondly, sales of books are gradually shifting from paper to electronic titles– a trend that B&N was late to recognize. Furthermore, sales of electronic titles, which is what they need to gain traction, are largely driven by the hardware device that the user owns. B&B didn’t have one until late last year, and were delayed further by inventory shortages, flaky software and miscellaneous muck-ups . Not good timing for B&N.
Finally, the last trend they were not aware of until it was too late was the change in shopping habits of that precious slice of the American demographics known as book buyers. Book buyers began staying away from the mall book stores, just as B&N was completing its purchase of B. Dalton, a book chain whose stores were located predominately inside shopping malls. This miss was a bad one. It left B&N with a lot less cash and a lot more of under-performing assets on the books, while the trend against them accelerated . Book buyers left the malls to shop the big-box retailers like Costco and Wal-Mart.
Metaphorically they have to catch the tail of the crest—never a good place to be in surfing or in business. The likely outcome is that they will be thoroughly tumbled and scrubbed along the bottom before this ride is over. It is possible that they may not survive the trauma.
The news, though, is not that B&N is bankrupt, but that they are going private. Adding to the oddity is that the founder of B&N, Mr. Leonard Riggio, may be one of the bidders to buy the company and take it private. He now owns almost 30% of their stock, and he could probably raise the money to buy the rest with proper leverage applied.
I certainly do not know how this story ends, but the board of directors obviously feels that taking the firm private will give them a better chance to “maximize shareholder value.” For sure, though, it is B&N’s present stockholders chance of reclaiming at least some of their investment before all its cash is gone.
I don’t see how going private will help them sell Nooks and eBooks; even more troublesome, I don’t know how going private is going to make present management any more prescient.
8/2/10: Amazon Sells Out of First Production Run
After being announced only about four or five days ago, the first production run of Amazon’s $189 3G+ WiFi model is already sold out for the late August delivery. A visit to their site this morning reveals the following notice:
Temporarily Sold Out. Order now to reserve your place in line
Due to strong customer demand, Kindle is temporarily sold out. Order now to reserve your place in line. Orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis. Orders placed today are expected to ship on or before September 4th
I am astonished that their ordering is going this well. All the talk of this being the last leg for E-Ink seems to have been well off the mark.
The same is true for their WiFi-only model. Sold out, and now taking orders for September delivery.
8/2/10: Android Smartphone Sales in U.S. Exceed iPhone Sales for First Time
A late June survey of American smartphone owners reveals that Android devices have, for the first time, outsold iPhones in the same market. The graphic below tells the tale.
There are only four of the seven lines that we need to bother with—those that occupy the top spots on the right side of the chart. The top line is RIM, which represents Blackberry sales Notice its slide in market share has steadily fallen for it Q2-09 position of 45% of the market, to its current level of 33%. This is, of course, still dominant, but Android is closing fast, if the trend continues.
The second line down from the left side is the iPhone. Notice that it steadily eroded RIMs market share until the Android began taking off, shortly before the forth quarter of 2009. After this midpoint, iPhone market share has itself eroded from its high of 34% to its current level of 23%. In this respect, the chart and its underlying statistics may be misleading. The sales reflect the earlier version of iOS, and none of the iPhone 4 (iOS4) sales were made until just after the beginning of Q3 of this year. It is entirely possible that the iPhone will regain some of the lost share once the span of Q3 has been tallied.
The orange line is Microsoft, and it, too, has steadily lost share from its high of 20% in Q2, 2009 to the more recent 11% at the end of Q2, 2010. Windows certainly needed a makeover, and perhaps it is not too late for their new Phone 7 to turn their fortunes around.
One other caveat for this chart: RIM will introduce their new operating system, OS6 as early as tomorrow. RIM seems to be counting on the new OS to reverse their fortunes, but the bloggers and pundits on the web are skeptical of their ability to pull this off.
The most remarkable revelation of these data is how quickly Android has taken off. I don’t think anyone can now say that it is not a viable competitor to all the more entrenched operating systems that have dominated smartphone sales in the past.
8/01/10; Random House Sees eBook Sales @10% of U.S. Revenue Next Year
Chief Executive Markus Dohle told German magazine Der Spiegel, that e-book revenue had already jumped to 8 percent in the United States and expects it to jump to 10% by next year. This is less than Amazon has forecast for all eBook sales in the U.S., but is still an important forecast for Random House. 
Mr. Dohle said that he did not expect e-books to generally overtake printed books in the next five years, which Amazon does, but, he does expect eBooks sales to be from 25% to 50% for Random House by 2015.
One of the reasons the Random House estimates are not as high as Amazon’s is that they do not presently sell their electronic titles on the iPad’s iBooks site.
“We’ve got to think very hard about whether we want this drastic change in our business model,” he said. “The question is if publishers know how to find the right retail price… This hasn’t been our job in the past.”
“One hundred days in the iBook store won’t decide about success or failure,” he said. “We think we have to tread carefully to find a business model that is sustainable for the years to come.”
This kind of delay can only help Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The longer iBooks cut off from the world’s largest book publisher, the more difficult it will be for Apple to catch up with Amazon and B&N.
8/01/10: Ghana Improves Literacy With Kindle
Worldreader.org has just completed a test in the village of Ayenyah, Ghana, where 20 Kindles were used to help one villages’ children improve their reading skills.
Lead by Mr. David Risher, who worked for Amazon for five years, the results were summarized:
“During this trial, we found that the Kindle e-reader and digital books helped new readers learn to read, got the kids reading more, and gave access to hundreds of thousands of books, in less time and at lower cost than printed books.”
A key element in the success of the trial was Ghana’s wireless infrastructure, which provides cell phone service to much of the country—land lines are not so widespread. This allowed the villagers of Ayenyah to download new books (the free type) using the 3G connectivity of the Kindle. According to the report, it took about 45 seconds to download a new book.
The next step is to expand the tests to four schools and use 336 Kindles in the trial. The Ghana Ministry of Education has already approved the test which will begin in October.
For the full article on Read Write Web, click here.
Watch the video below to see the project in action.
7/31/10: Reaearch in Motion to Launch Blackpad in November
It is being reported all over the web that Research in Motion, the maker of the famous Blackberry smart phones, will launch an iPad-lookalike in November. 
The specifics are just dribbling out through any number of leaks, but here is what they are reporting:
Same size screen as iPad (9.7”) and same overall dimensions.
WiFi connectivity plus Bluetooth, with Bluetooth being used as a tether with smart phones to access the internet over 3G.
Price will be $499, and a front and back camera will be included.
Blackpad will be the name and e-mail security will be its game.
This brings to four the heavy hitters stepping up to the iPad plate. HP will supposedly have their WebOs device ready before the end of the year. LG will have an Android OS on the market, too, and Microsoft has put emphasis on catching up. It will be a fun fall season to see how these pan out.
7/30/10: How Things Stand After the Latest Round of Competitive Moves by eReader Vendors
Reaction to Amazon’s new products: The bloggers and other news media writers are consistently positive about Amazon’s new Kindles. They applaud the upgraded capabilities of smallness, lighter, faster and more screen contrast, and they love the lower prices. Although often spoken of as a price war, which it is not. A readjustments of prices was expected: unit sales are now in the millions, at least according to estimates, and prices would have gone down eventually even without the iPad.
Another reaction that seems to be gaining acceptance is the realization that the iPad and the Kindle readers are not direct competitors. True, both devices allow eReading, but they are in no way otherwise related. The iPad is close to being a full computer, while the Kindles are devoted to a single purpose, electronic reading. They do compete in a small way, but, they are not direct competitors. Each can be successful doing its own thing.
Barnes and Noble is continuing their assault to make the Nook a major player in the eReader market. They announced today that they will be devoting 1000 sq. ft. of store space to a special section for the Nook. The new section will be located near their coffee-shops, and will features tables with working Nooks on display and staffed with personnel who can answer questions about the Nook, and show those interested in how to use it.
This is a good way for B&N to utilize their brick and mortar advantage over Amazon. In the past there has been no way for Kindle buyers to actually get their hands on a unit before committing to the purchase. Although Amazon is adding independent retailers to its channel of distribution, they are not showing up on retailer shelves yet. I keep visiting Target stores to find one, but all I have found lately are Sony Touch Editions and Pocket Editions. For now, this is advantage—B&N. With this move, I expect them to narrow the gap with Amazon.
· The last piece of news is a reply from Sony Corp to a suggestion that they would have to cut their prices to match the newest moves by Amazon. Sony’s executive charged with the Reader product line insisted that Sony will not join in the “race to the bottom” as was suggested. He went on to tout the Reader line as having “touch” features that had yet to be met by the competition, etc., etc.
MY hope is that those in Tokyo have a better perspective and realize that pricing is an important factor in selling electronic readers. If not, then I fear for Sony’s viability in this new market.
Taking all these developments into consideration, it looks as if the stage is set for the next round of competition among the three players who dominate the hardware side of the electronics reading industry: All are staying with E-Ink. Each is emphasizing its own strengths:
Amazon with the largest installed base and largest book selection is girding up for strong price competition and continuous improvement in the finer points of the Kindle. And, they are beginning to expand their channel options to allow for hands on use before buying in stores operated by independent retailers.
Barnes and Noble is using its brick and mortar advantage to tout its good looking Nook, and Sony is going to try to keep living off their legacy products, regardless of how long in the tooth they are.
As things stand today, recent estimates provided by Codex Group say that the Kindle year-to-date ( Mid June), has sold about two million units, while the Nook has sold about six hundred thousand. This is about a 3-1 advantage for Kindle, but it should be encouraging for B&N to have made up so much ground in so little a time. I wish Codex Group had put Sony in their estimates, but they didn’t, so we are left guessing how this venerated Japanese firm is coping with the state of affairs after the iPad.
7/28/10: Kindle 2 is out of Stock. Does This Mean a Kindle 3 is on the Way?
John Biggs, writing for Crunch Gear, says:
“It seems that all Kindle orders have been frozen and, it seems, that Jeff Bezos is hanging around New York right now and will speak on Charlie Rose tonight. While I seriously doubt that Bezos will whip out the Kindle 3 on the Charlie Rose show (he’ll probably talk about ebooks outselling hardbacks) it seems there is definitely something afoot.
There have been multiple reports that Kindle sales are stopped and if you go to Amazon right now you’ll notice the Kindle – not the Kindle DX – is out of stock. Kindle is probably Amazon’s hottest selling product so for them to put a hold on it is akin to Apple putting up the “The Apple Store is Down” sign.”
Perhaps this is a reflection of the tripling of Kindle sales after the price cut. Perhaps, but, perhaps not. I certainly think a Kindle 3 is somewhere beyond the drafting table but not yet ready for introduction in the market. This is another story I will be following with great interest.
7/28/10: $150 Tablet at K-Mart This Week?
Reports have surfaced that K-Mat will begin selling a 7” Tablet with 800×480 TFT touchscreen, 2GB of internal memory, WiFi, and with a SDHD card slot for additional storage. Running Android 2.1 rhe chief surprise is that the Archos GenTouch78 will retail for $149.99.
These are not spectacular specifications. Screen resolution is not great, memory is low, clock speed is said to be 800 Mhz and the processor powering it is yet to be specified. But at $150, if it works at all, it will open up portable computing to many.
Yahoo news reports that the GenTouch’s media player can handle video files up to 720p (which would have to be downscaled for the WVGA display) and supports e-books in text, PDF, ePub, and HTML formats.
The sale dates are confusing. The circular published by K=Mart says the sale at $149.99 is good until July 31, but it has yet to show up in all stores. One person at YouTube has posted a video of his experience with it:
My intention is to get one the day they are put on sale, so I can review it. Stay tuned for further developments.
7/24/10: Microsoft is Armed for the Future
The blogosphere is ablaze with the information that Microsoft recently signed a new agreement with the maker of ARM chips, the reduced instruction set chip that has become the standard for cell phones. Enhanced ARMs are also used in smart phones, and, of course, is the basis of Apple’s A4 chip that runs the iPad.
It is not news that Microsoft has a relationship with ARM. Windows for cell phones was ported to the ARM family a long time ago. It served as the basis for Microsoft’s first smartphone OS. But, the new agreement puts Microsoft on the high ground which only a few other firms have occupied, including Qualcomm, Samsung and Apple. The new agreement allows Microsoft access to the lowest level of the ARM architecture to the point where they can now modify some of the basic functions, just as Apple did with the iPad.
This does not mean that Microsoft is necessarily going to develop an ARM based chip that will run their version of the iPad (remember the Courier?). But, that is the most intriguing interpretation. First, it makes sense. Trying to fit a smoothly running touch interface kludged from Windows onto an Atom, for example, would not be a good idea–it wouldn’t be competitive. HP has discovered this fearsome fact, and went shopping for a native touch-based OS, which they found in Palm. Microsoft may have made this same discovery.
Secondly, Microsoft must have realized early on how important the iPad was as a new platform for computer users. But hardware producers were not breaking down Microsoft’s doors for an OS to run on their planned pad devices. Rather they were jumping ship to Android, which, even with its own limitations on large screens, was vastly superior to Microsoft’s crippled smartphone OS.
These factors point to this new contract as something more significant than simply tweaking their Windows Phone 7–they didn’t need to modify the chip to make that happen.
Of course, there is another option that could explain the move: arranging for a more capable port of Windows 7 to the existing crop of ARM-based smart phones–or at least a versions of Windows 7 that would be adequate for smartphone implementation.
Whatever the outcome, we are all atwitter over the inscrutable motives of the world’s largest software company. I wonder how long it will be before word begins to leak out of Redmond, and I wonder how many executives at Microsoft own an iPad?
7/22/10: Amazon Signs Exclusive Deal with Wylie Agency
Amazon said Thursday it has struck a deal that will give it exclusive rights to sell some of the great works of 20th century literature in electronic form. The deal gives Amazon a two year exclusive on eBook versions of Saul Bellow’s and Philip Roth’s novels, among others.
One of Mr. Bellow’s works, “The Adventures of Augie March” is included, for example. The same is true for“Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth.
An agreement with The Wylie Agency gives Amazon exclusive rights for two years to sell e-book versions of novels including Saul Bellow’s “The Adventures of Augie March” and Philip Roth’s “Portnoy’s Complaint” among others. None of these books have been available for electronic editions in the past.
This will help Amazon’s Kindle eReader cope with existing eReader competition such as the Nook, Sony Readers and the iBooks app for the iPad.
Amazon said the new titles are on sale for $9.99 each.
Nook eReader now Available for Android Smartphones
Barnes and Noble has joined Amazon, Kobo and Borders in offering an Android app for the Nook eReader. Having been a member of B&N eBook site, I downloaded the Android app this morning. The installation went smoothly and as soon as I signed in to my account all of my B&N eBooks showed on screen immediately.
This completes the Android sweep of the major electronic title vendors. It is now possible to read eBooks from all the majors on virtually any computing device, whether PC Windows, Macs, iPods, iPads, netbooks, laptops, iPhones and Android phones. iBooks, Apple’s entry into the world of eBooks, lags the other vendors with its books available only to Apple products.
Look for “Nook” in the Android marketplace.
6/28/10: Kindle App for Android Smartphones Now Available
Just downloaded the Kindle app for my Droid. It works great—all my Kindle library was ready to move from archive to the active menu, and I began reading where my last position was synced.
Great job by Amazon—they were only a week behind Kobo, and my library on the Kindle was much larger than the few items I had from Kobo. I now have Kindle readers on: Kindle 2, Droid, iPad, Netbook, Laptop and two desktops, plus my wife has it on her desktop.
With all the speculation about who will win the eReader war, I think there will be many winners, because eReading is not confined to one device. I read my downloaded electronic books and magazines on whatever device I happen to have with me when I have the opportunity. That is the best of all worlds, and Amazon has done a great job of making this possible. Kobo has it, too, and Barnes and Noble will be a little behind the curve, but not much.
There is not a doubt in my mind that the eReading battles going on now are great for users.
6/28/10: Amazon Kindle Reader for iPad Updated for Video/Audio
Amazon released an update yesterday for their eReader for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch that allows the reader to play full motion, embedded videos and audio. 
There are about a dozen titles thus far that have video/audio enabled, but I think over the years there will be many additions to this meager inventory of today.
This is one area where electronics editions of books will be able to fully engage the user’s visual and audio senses. Paper books would be able to include a DVD with the book, but it will not be the same.
One of the books now available with embedded video/audio is a travel guide for London. Rick Steves’ London 2010. This book features the full text of the printed edition, but also includes videos of narrated walking tours .
The Kindle, of course, will not have this feature, given its E-Ink screen, but the iPad will. I hope Amazon doesn’t forget their apps for PCs and Macs with this upgrade. It would be great to have it available on a laptop or desktop, too.
6/21/10: Nook Price Break: $149 WiFi, $199 for 3G– Amazon Follows Within Hours
Great news for those shopping for a new E-Ink reader. Barnes and Noble has cut the price for both its models of the Nook. The Nook with WiFi only now sells for $149 and the 3G version for $199. Link to B&N site:
Couple this with the price reductions that Sony has recently made on its three models and you get a picture of falling prices for E-Ink screens, something many of us have been anticipating since the iPad came out in April.
Not to be outdone, Amazon responded a few hours later with the Kindle 2 reduced from $249.99 to $189.99. I was caught off guard by the quickness of Amazon’s response. The price cuts were overdue, so they lied up quickly.
One other piece of news about eReaders. I was in a Staples store earlier today and they are now displaying and selling Sony Pocket Edition for $169 and the Sony Touch Edition for $199—both about $50 less than they were not too long ago.
6/19/10: Kobo Beats Amazon and B&N With Android eReader App
Good news for Android users. Kobo, an independent eReader producer and bookstore, has released their Android eReader. I downloaded it this morning to my Droid, and I’m happy to report it works well. Kobo has a fair number of free books along with many popular titles for $9.99.
Their reader is also available for PCs, Macs, and Blackerry. They are the first of the big four eReader providers to make the port to Android. They keep a copy of your library on their website, so all titles in your library are available to all your devices once you register.
Kobo home page
Use the apps or Market icon on your Android to download the app directly to your phone.
6/14/10: Sony Predicts eReading to Exceed Paper Reading in Five Years
It’s hard to tell about eReader executives when they proclaim that eReading will continue prospering in the face of the popularity of the iPad. It has happened more than once. The latest episode of hubris comes from 
Sony’s Steve Haber, the man responsible for the company’s digital reading business division. Mr. Haber says that: “within five years there will be more digital content sold than physical content.”
The reason for this whistling past the graveyard is the same for Sony as it was for Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who said that the Kindle would continue selling in spite of the iPad’s success.
Both men have used the same example of why eReaders will survive by insisting that there is a place for standalone e-readers alongside multi-function devices like the iPad. Mr. Haber said that, “it’s just like digital imaging, where you can take pictures with a cellphone – and many people take pictures with cellphones – but if they want the best possible picture they’ll use a point-and-shoot camera or a digital SLR.” Mr. Bezos used the same example a few weeks ago.
This analysis may be correct. I just spent several hours yesterday on my front porch with my Kindle 2, and it was such a pleasure to hold the light-weight reader with the soothing display. When I use the iPad as a reader, its weight is a serious problem after just a little while, and the screen is, of course, not workable out of doors.
It looks like the old-line E-Ink display sellers are going to hold on a little longer. But, I noticed this morning that the Daily Reader from Sony is on sale for $50 off, and that the Nook now comes with a $50 “gift” in electronic discounts for things sold by Barnes and Noble. These are probably the first crack in the dam for an eventual price drop for the old-line readers.
In my view, they may survive, but at a greatly reduced sales level. But if they are to prosper they need to cut their prices by at least $100 or more. This will probably happen when some of the new models hit the shelves later in the year.
6/14/10: Starbucks Throws in the Towel: Free WiFi for All Stores to All People
Good news from Starbucks. On July 1 WiFi will be free at all Starbucks stores to all comers. This is a belated departure from their Walled Garden version of WiFi they had with AT&T, where only registered guests or AT&T DSL subscribers could get a free couple of hours while sipping their latte. It was $2.99 for two hours for everyone else.
Where I live, every coffee shop in town offers unlimited free WiFi, and they have done this for years. The Starbucks store here was left in the dust. I’m glad to see they have seen the light.
6/3/10: Kindle Software Up-date Delayed
Amazon was up-dating its Kindle operating system, version 2.2 to the more robust version 2.5 on a slow-rollout. But, it just announced it is halting this process until further notice while it makes some “small adjustments” to v. 2.5. They did not say what the small adjustments were or why it was necessary, or when the upgrade rollout would resume. They did say that the upgrade adjustment was driven by user feedback.
The new upgrade offers a number of new features to the Kindle 2:
- Facebook and Twitter interaction
- Copy excerpts from texts and post to Facebook and Twitter
- Sort books (and all other documents) in your library into self-defined categories and groups folders.
- Password protection when awakening from sleep mode
- Extra large fonts
- Popular highlights on a book based on highlights of all Kindle users
I hope Amazon gets the changes made quickly, as all these enhancements are appealing.
6/2/10: All Target Stores to Carry Kindle
Perhaps there is life for Kindle after the iPad. In early April Target began carrying the Kindle in a select few of its stores. Apparently the experiment went well, because today Target announced that beginning June 6, all of their stores will begin carrying Amazon’s eReader.
I am surprised at the apparent success of the Kindle in a mainstream retailer like Target. Target is an experienced retailer, and they guard their floor space and inventory with an accountant’s eyes. I can only conclude there was a strong enough demand to get past the bear counters’ sharp pencils.
6/1/10: Aluratek Libre eReader Selling for $120 at Borders
In a review of the Alurateck Libre eReader on April 10th, this new LCD reader was given a lukewarm reception. It is not a strong eReader, but it had some features of note. (Click here to read)
But, with today’s announcement that it will be sold at Borders stores in the U.S. for $120, it looks as if it may be a better deal than at its earlier price well north of $200.
Borders is accepting pre-orders now with an estimated delivery of early July. By August, they say, it will be available in all their stores for the low price.
This may be the second shot in the looming fall in E-Ink display prices–The Kobo eReader was the first.
The Kindle and Sony Readers are still holding out for $259 for their full featured models, but with Amazon’s announcement of a new version coming later this year (see immediately below), surely they will clear out their existing inventory of Kindle 2s with some hefty price cuts.
5/30/10: Kindle Bringing out New eReader in August
Reports from Bloomberg News and the New York Times, both unverified by Amazon, say there will be a new Kindle in August. 
The new Kindle will feature a thinner design, faster screen refresh, and sharper pictures with more contrast. There will be no touch abilities on the new model, but a touch- screen model will be introduced later, perhaps this year. Color will be absent from both models.
This is not an answer to the iPad, but a follow-on model that has been in the works for some time, before the iPad was introduced. It is thought by industry observers that there may be an iPad answer later—much later– but that particular speculation has little traction.
Industry observers and research firms also offer some educated guesses about the state of the E-Ink reader market for this year and projections for the coming years. Bloomberg pulls together reports from several different organizations to offer a current profile:
· 2010 expected sales of eReaders: 6 million, up 100% from 2009.
· Market share: Amazon 60%, Sony 35%, with the remaining 5% spread over everybody else.
· The price of Amazon shares are down 6.7% this year.
There is also a report by a U.K. research firm that projects sales of E-Ink readers will continue growing until 2013, at which time they will begin declining—losing out to iPad-like devices that offer multipurpose use as opposed to standalone eReaders.
Bloomberg article can be reached Here.
The New York Times article can be reached Here.
5/27/10: Barnes and Noble Releases eReader for iPad
Barnes and Nobles released their iPad eReader today. To check it out, follow this lead to their website. 
I am working on a review of their new reader, and should have it ready today or tomorrow. First impressions are that they have done a good job of integrating their PC, iPhone, Mac and, now, iPad readers. You can use your B&N account to read your B&N library on any device from where ever you may be, as long as you have an internet connection.
The addition of the B&N reader brings to three the total eReaders available for the iPad. I wonder if Sony will port their eReader software to the iPad.
5/26/10: More on Amazon’s Kindle Strategy
The picture is becoming clearer about what Amazon plans to do with the Kindle. In an article today at MarketWatch, Mr. Bezos,questioned at a stockholder meeting, insists that the Kindle will stay focused on long-term reading. The benefits of E-Ink screens for long reading sessions is the primary advantage the Kindle has over the iPad and others tablets to come.
“Asked by a shareholder at the meeting about the iPad, Bezos said the Kindle will compete by remaining focused on readers.
“The Kindle will compete with these LCD devices like the iPad by being a very focused product,” Bezos said at the meeting, which was webcast. “Serious readers are going to want a purpose-built device, because it’s an important activity for them.”
Mr. Bezos also answered a question by a shareholder about having a color screen for the Kindle, and he responded: “. . .the ability to offer “high-quality color” on reflective displays “is still some ways out.”
For the full article, click here.
5/25/10: Is an aPad coming from Amazon?
I have been travelling for the last couple of weeks, so I haven’t been able to keep up with new news. On my first day back, I find interesting news from Amazon about their rumored color Kindle.
There has been endless speculation about Amazon’s response to the iPad from the first day of its release. It is well documented that Amazon has been hiring a new team that focuses on color screens, among other things, for some time. But there have been no product announcements.
Now, according to several sources, their work is proceeding, but not in the way I imagined it would. It appears that Amazon is working on a color Kindle, but the form factor will likely be more like the iPad than the Kindle 2.
The new device (I’ll call it the aPad), will feature a touch screen in full color. But, we shouldn’t get impatient. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s guiding light, says that we shouldn’t expect a color Kindle any time soon. He did not mentioned the form factor, so our speculation about an aPad may be off the mark.
In a way, I hope Amazon does offer a competitor for the iPad, but I feel queasy about their chances of success in a head to head competition against Apple’s product. Apple has years of experience with touch screens and finger gestures. Amazon has none, and the bar is set high for the functionality of the iPad.
It is interesting to speculate about, however. On the face of it, Amazon has experience with electronic readers, so I assume that an aPad would focus on eReading as the primary thing their new device does. Other features, like web browsing, games, Netflix, etc., would be secondary. Apple, of course, designed the iPad with eReading as a secondary feature—just something to go along with all the other things it does.
In this respect, Apple entered the eReader market, where it had comparatively little experience, and came out with a great product—their iBooks application. When using my iPad as a reader, I actually prefer to read with iBooks over the Kindle application for the iPad. My preference is based on the iBook’s ability to split the screen into two pages when viewed in the horizontal mode. It seems to me that this could easily be duplicated by Amazon, if they wanted to. Perhaps Amazon didn’t have sufficient experience with motion sensing devices to make this feature available on their first attempt.
The future of this competition is especially interesting. My first guess is that a device dedicated only to eReading is going of questionable value in the future, especially at a price of $250. Perhaps a $100 price point would be more viable, if anyone can make money at that price. This reasoning may be behind Amazon’s plan to soup-up the Kindle. Perhaps Amazon will be able to upset Apple’s cart with their new product.
5/13/10: Plastic Logic Working on Color E-Ink
It is reported that Mr. Achim Ney, Director, SCM and Procurement at Plastic Logic, thinks that Plastic Logic will have a color E-Ink e-reader on the market by the end of next year, 2011.
You may recall Plastic Logic as the UK company that brought the QUE to the CES show in LasVegas earlier this year. The Que has yet to be delivered, and they have reported some technical problems to be ironed out.
Apparently they are not standing still. A color screen e-reader would be welcome, probably, but its success has become much more problematical since the iPad made its entry into the e-reading market.
Earlier mention of Que and Plastic Logic
The e-reader market is filled with uncertainty since the iPad was introduced. No one knows if the E-Ink readers (Kindle, Sony Readers, Nook, etc.) will remain commercially viable for long. Perhaps they will, and perhaps they will not. But, unless color E-Ink has a much faster refresh rate and more vibrant colors than I have seen in the past, it is doubtful that they would find traction in today’s market. Just an opinion, and not one strongly held, but I am concerned for Plastic Logic as they struggle finding a marketable product.
5/12/10: Verizon and Google Working on New Tablet
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon, mentioned that Verizon is working with Google to design and build an Android-based tablet computer—a Verizon version of the iPad.
“We’re looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience,” he said.
No announcement was made about timing on the new device. I wouldn’t expect to see it in 2010, although I hope I am wrong.
In the race to compete with a device at least close to parity with the iPad, the Android OS probably provides one of the better ways to begin. It is well established with touch-screen abilities, although this needs to be beefed up to account for the greater functionality of a tablet. And it has been thoroughly tested in the smart phone world.
Anotherr contender in the operating system space would have to be WebOS, now owned by HP. The coding and usability of WebOS have gained many strong endorsements within the tech community, so it has to be a legitimate contender given HP’s heft in the market.
There are, of course, several Android-based tablets already announced, but none of them seem to hold much promise in competing head-to-head with the iPad. Verizon and HP, however, bring another level of capability to the competition.
The last possible contender is the new OS from Microsoft, Windows 7 Phone, but that is an unknown entity except for Microsoft’s experience with touch-screen operation on its Zune—a me-too version of the iPod.
5/10/10: iPad to Print….at Some Point
iPad users have discovered the disadvantages of not having a print option on their device. The iPad has a word processing application, so documents can be created. But to print the document you created, you must transfer the document to a PC or Mac that is synced with the iPad, or email yourself a copy.
In an email response from Steve Jobs to a disgruntled iPad owner’s question about getting print capabilities, Mr. Jobs’ reply was a simple: “it will come.”
The picture below is from MacRumors, which originally ran the story.
Unfortunately, Mr. Jobs offered no information about when! I’m glad to hear it is coming. Sooner is better than later, but I am not holding my breath on this one.
5/9/10: HP’s Slate is Reborn as the Hurricane
HP has been busy lately. It bought Palm for over one billion dollars just a short time ago. And now they are already pressing WebOS (the Palm operating system) into immediate service to replace Windows7 on their old Slate device—now renamed the Hurricane.
Not only are they changing operating systems for the Hurricane, they will apparently substitute an ARM family CPU to replace the original Intel Atom chip.
Both changes are needed. The iPad is fast, has great graphics, and its touch screen shows the polish gained from the years Apple has spent perfecting it on both the iPod and iPhone. While the Slate had capable graphics, they were lower in resolution and slower in execution than the iPad. These shortcoming, themselves, were probably enough to have killed the Slate as a competent competitor with the iPad. It is humane to put it to rest before suffering the humiliation of severe defeat against its Apple rival.
If there is a savior for HP in this scenario, it would be found within the ARM family of processors. ARM CPUs are speedy with high resolution graphics, and with significantly less battery drain than the Atom. That solves some big problems with the old design.
Even better, if they use the ARM Cortex A8 chip, they get about twice the speed with about the same battery drain as the ARM 11—the chip closest to the proprietary chip Apples uses in the iPad.
Add the fact that when HP bought Palm it picked up the design engineers who have already worked with the A8. The Palm Pre uses it, which means this same group of engineers on HP’s payroll today were those who had designed the Palm Pre and who wrote the touch-screen software that runs it.
Now the engineers must work on scaling the Palm Pre’s display to the larger screen used by the Hurricane. While not an insignificant task, scaling it is probably doable, and may, in my view, make it possible for HP to reach its goal of a Hurricane in every glass—er, Christmas stocking this year.
I am amazed HP is tanking on such a huge change and then cramming it into a small timing window. But, the Christmas selling season is probably make or break for them, so they have pulled out all the stops. They had to. Once the iPad was introduced, HPs ideas of a slate computer had been reduced to dust.
The pictures below show Steve Balmer, Microsoft’s CEO, holding a preproduction model of the ill-fated Slate at CES in early January. 
The picture below is of Steve Jobs holding an iPad.
Now we know the winner, at least for the first round.
5/7/10: iPad Gets a Rave Review from Conservative Columnist
Michael Gerson writes a regular political column for the Washington Post’s Editorial page. He tends toward the arch-conservative political spectrum in his column. But he was anything but conservative today in his current article. It seems obvious the good gentlemen was completely bowled over by what he can do with this new gadget (I was, too), and he was uncharacteristically liberal in his praise of the iPad.
Mr. Gerson does not own an iPad; Mrs. Gerson’s feeling is that it is too extravagant. Fortunately, he can use the iPad owned by his son, who graciously allows his Dad some time with his prized possession. A short quote speaks volumes:
The iPad is one of the most elegant, useful, astoundingly cool objects ever produced by the mind of man. Da Vinci would drool. Newton would show an equal and opposite attraction. Edison would ignore the objections of his wife and buy one, preferably the model with 64 gigabytes.
From his review, I would expect many additional conversations between Mom and Dad on this subject, and I wouldn’t be surprised to discover the day arriving when there is a second iPad in the Gerson household.
In the meantime, my hat is off to Mr. Gerson for being sensitive to his wife’s feelings. My wife brought up the same objection, but she was more understanding about it, and sardonically allowed me to drive to Santa Rosa and pick one up.
For the full article, click here.
5/5/10: Google to Sell E-Books by Summer
The New York Times reported this morning:
Chris Palma, Google’s manager for strategic-partner development, announced the timetable for the launch of the company’s e-book store during an event at Random House’s Manhattan offices earlier today. Google Editions, as the new store will be called, will launch in late June or July.
To read the full article, click here.
The Wall Street Journal also has a more detailed article here.
Google Editions will offer books in a format that is compatible with “any device,” they say. This could mean they will offer a DRAM free ePub format, or they could also give buyers a choice of format when they download their purchase.
It has been reported earlier that Google Editions planned to offer at least a half a million titles when they open. It is not known if they will create an iPad app for their downloads, or whether they will leave it to the iPad owners to put their purchases into iTunes to be synced, as is done now with DRAM free files.
Google still has a court case awaiting a decision as to their being allowed to distribute out of print books. U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin is expected to rule in that case soon.
This is great news for those who read e-books. We need more choices, plus more competition will help keep prices down and the number of titles up.
5/4/10: Breakdown of iPad Sales
Gizmodo has a survey on its main page asking users which iPad they bought or will buy within the next 30 days. Obviously not a scientific sample of all iPad owners or want-to-be owners, but it’s the best evidence we have for right now.
The results are show below, with 11,339 votes tallied.
No surprise that the lowest priced 16GB with WiFi is most popular, but we must consider that the WiFi only models have been for sale a month longer than the 3G models.
Notice that for those who bought the 3G version, they opted for the 64GB version, the most expensive iPad.
5/3/10: iPad Sells One Million Units in 1st Month
CUPERTINO, Calif., May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that it sold its one millionth iPad™ on Friday, just 28 days after its introduction on April 3. iPad users have already downloaded over 12 million apps from the App Store and over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore.
“One million iPads in 28 days-that’s less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers.”
I don’t expect their sales to slow down much in the next few weeks, because the 3G models went on sale May 2nd. 3G should power another good month for the iPad, although perhaps not as much as the first month.
4/30/10: HP Kills Windows 7 Slate by Ray Hendon
Now we know for sure why HP bought Palm. The Slate that HP spent five years developing was pathetic when compared with the iPad. It was slow, large, clumsy and unattractive. The culprit was, of course, Windows 7 and the full-sized intel CPU. The Slate was powerful—it could do many things well—but it was not what the market wanted. Speed and smooth touch operations was not something the Slate, as configured, could deliver.
Enter Palm with its excellent OS for smart phones, WebOS. Could WebOS be up scaled to run a screen as large as the Slate? Apparently HP thinks so, so two days after acquiring Palm, they kill the Windows and Intel version of the Slate. I look for an ARM or one of its variants to replace the intel CPU, and a scaled up WebOS, built for touch, to be the brains behind the new Slate.
This is just speculation, of course, but I don’t think the two seminal events at HP are mere coincident.
The question remains whether WebOS will have a successful rebirth under HP’s tutelage. It looks as if everyone who wishes to play in the iPad space will have to use either Android or create their own OS. The Asian manufacturers are lining up behind Android. America may eventually do the same, but that issue is yet to be decided.
The downside of this event will be a delayed Slate—I wonder if they can get one out by the Christmas selling season.
4/29/10: Kindle Software Update to Version 2.5 Coming
Amazon announced today that version 2.5 of the Kindle operating system will be rolled out in May. Existing owners will receive their updates automatically when they sync and check for new items. The time table for upgrades will begin in May for most owners, with blocks of users receiving the upgrade at various times during the month. No action is required of the owners.
Amazon estimates that an upgrade will take about 10 minutes from start to finish.
The new OS offers six changes:
1. The ability to organize your books into “collections.”
2. The ability to zoom and pan within a PDF file.
3. Two new fonts and sharper images on all fonts.
4. Facebook and Twitter posts directly from the Kindle
5. Popular highlights that are posted by Kindle owners for books in your library.
6. Password protection when your Kindle is not in use.
I welcome these enhancements, especially the ability to organize my library.
4/25/10: iPad Ban Lifted in Israel
After carefully reviewing the iPad’s WiFi output in their laboratory, Israeli authorities has concluded that the iPad does not represent a threat to their security or to the wellbeing of their citizens. All confiscated iPads will be returned to their owners, and those whishing to bring them into Israel in the future will be allowed to pass through customs.
This is as happy an ending as I could expect. World justice was served by Israel in their zeal to preserve and protect. A quick resolution is welcome news.
4/23/10: Nook Software Upgrade Now Available by Ray Hendon
Barnes and Noble has announced version 1.3 of their Nook software. It can be downloaded directly from B&N web site. Or, you will get an automatic download within the next week or so.
New features correct a couple of the problems I covered in my earlier review of the Nook;
Addition of a web browser so sites other than B&N can be visited.
Improved performance—faster page turning
Additional applications: Sudoku and Chess games
Read free while in a B&N store.
I hope they have also fixed the tendency of the Nook to freeze after a prolonged period of sleep.
4/22/10: Two New Tablet Computers Coming by Ray Hendon
Archos, the French firm established in 1988 makes portable media players. It will be invading America, perhaps by the end of the month. The invasion vehicle will be the Archos 7 Home Tablet, a 7 inch screen tablet device that will surf the web and play movies, among other things.
It was announced that it is available from Amazon for pre-order, and the price is $199. For this the buyer will have a player that will support the 720p video standard, 8GB of internal memory and a player of flash video.
According to the Amazon site, the device has a USB port for attaching external devices. Other sources put the central processing unit as a 600 MgHz ARM device, similar to the iPad, but not the same.
There is also a rumor of an 8-inch version coming sometime in the future, but not details on this as yet.
A second 7-inch device, the Dell Looking Glass tablet will supposedly be out before the end of the year. This is similar in specs to the Archos, but it will have Dell’s stamp of its unique 
design and feature set. It will run on the Android 2.1 OS, unless there are other releases of Android by that time.
WiFi, with the new, faster 802.11n receiver will be included, as well as a 3G version for HSPA signals. No pricing information is available.
4/19/10: eBooks Sales on the Rise by Ray Hendon
According to the Association of American Publishers’ report on their annual estimate of book sales in the U.S., sales of all books (electronic, paperback, hardcover) dropped 1.8 percent in 2009. Total sales were $23.9 billion for the publishing industry.
More interesting to eBook readers is that electronic editions of books now account for 1.3 percent of all book sales. This seems small, but by comparison with 2008, eBooks sales skyrocketed 176.6 percent in 2009.
This is just the start. New eReaders are coming out with more appealing features for electronic reading, and more authors and publishers are allowing electronic editions of their works to be sold. More and better eReaders; more titles available—both spell a continuing growth for electronic reading.
4/17/10: iPad Connectivity Problems Pinpointed by Princeton University by Ray Hendon
The first and most repeated failing of the iPad is its poor WiFi connectivity characteristics. Although I reported a few weeks ago that I had not had this problem in my home on in my favorite coffee shop, I did find the problem a few days ago in my favorite brew pub. The pub has a weak WiFi signal, and in attempting to get online I kept getting a DHCP screen that was slow to assign my iPad an IP address. Furthermore, once connected, the signal was dropped soon afterwards, and I had to go through the log on experience all over again.
This problem is not confined to my device (or I should say, the device I used to have—I sent it back yesterday). It appears to affect all iPads.
Now it seems that Princeton University and George Washington University have banned the iPad from their networks because of the congestion these problems were creating for their servers. Cornell University has also been experiencing the same problem, but has yet to pull the plug.
Fortunately, the Princeton team found at least one of the problems. When a computer asks permission to be allowed access to a network, the router must grant that computer a lease on their system. This request is handled by a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). When the lease is approved, the DHCP then assigns a unique IP address to the new lease holder, and surfing can begin.
The problem for the iPad is that the DHCP lease must be periodically renewed or it expires. Under some circumstances, the iPad does not make the request for renewal. This allows their lease to expire, so the next time the iPad asks for service, the service request is denied.
This information from Princeton is invaluable to Apple. This gives them one thing that can be corrected with a software upgrade, once all the details are worked out. Unfortunately, there is still a problem with the sensitivity of the iPad’s WiFi antenna. This problem is not amenable to a software fix, and may require some re-engineering. But, at least one of the problems may disappear before too long.
Source: Wall Street Journal and Read Write Web
4/17/10: Nook to Offer Browser Upgrade and Two New Models by Ray Hendon
There are reports that Barnes & Noble will introduce two new products later this year: Nook 2 and a Wi-Fi-only Nook Lite. Little is known of either new machine except 
that the Nook Lite should sell for $199.
More important for existing Nook owners, a software upgrade (Version1.4) for the Nook will be out next week and will add a browser to the color screen. This is good news for Nook owners who have had to suffer through being able to connect only with Barnes and Noble’s website.
Both of the new devices are due this year—Nook Lite by the end of June, but no time line for Nook 2.
The tip came to Gizmoto from one of their sources. Nook 2 and Nook Lite
4/16/10: The iPad, Single Handily, Threatens Israel but Saves Norway by Ray Hendon
A Tale of Two Cities
In Oslo, it was the best of times. In Jerusalem it was the worst of times.
Yesterday we learned that Israel has banned iPads. Today we learn that Norway relies on an iPad to run the government when its Prime Minister is stranded in an airport.
The picture above is Norway’s Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, of Oslo, sitting in an airport, using the iPad in his lap. Of course, he could be giving command and control orders to the Norwegian military. He could also be reading his email, or he could be playing G-Force10.
Mr. Stoltenberg was returning from the nuclear conference in Washington, and had some spare time waiting on a connection to his home country. Apparently they have a good WiFi connection at the airport where he was waiting.
Personally I am happy that Mr. Stoltenberg has an iPad, and I hope that all Norwegians will be better off by his having it. But, if there were justice in the world, one of two things would have to happen:
1. Either Prime Minister Stoltenberg should have his iPad confiscated at the border and held until he arranges for it to become compliant with Norwegian WiFi standards or be shipped out of the country. Or,
2. All the confiscated iPads in Israel should be returned to their rightful owners with the apologies of the Israeli government.
The techie side of these dramas is that the strength of the iPad’s WiFi output violates both European and Israeli standards, though it violates Israel’s more. Europe allows for a stronger broadcast signal than Israel, but weaker than America . This makes, the iPad of Prime Minister Stoltenberg in violation of European limits. If he is allowed to keep his iPad, then surely other citizens of Norway (if not all of Europe) should be accorded the same privilege. That would be justice, at least for Norway.
Israel has a more difficult problem. Jerusalem is fearful that the high powered WiFi of the iPad will cause harm to other WiFi devices that are in in range. Israeli WiFi receivers are set to a much lower power level and might blow a circuit or something else if hit with such a whammy. I don’t know the merits of this argument. Their fears may be real or not so real, but that call is to be made in Israel.
I hope Jerusalem doesn’t adopt the guillotine as a means of enforcing proper due diligence on their citizens. And I hope Oslo will find a solution that vindicates the Prime Minister. Anyone who plays G-Force 10 is ok in my book.
If justice is served in both cities, each will be a far, far better place.
Source: Gizmoto and others
4/15/10: Israel Bans iPads by Ray Hendon
It seems there is a problem with the iPad’s WiFi implementation, at least in Israel. Apple uses the American standard for it’s WiFi signal, which seems eminently reasonable. But, the Israel’s Communication Ministry demands that WiFi devices used in their country implement the Israeli WiFi standard, not the American.
This little detail obviously escaped the attention of the hapless Israeli citizens who were shopping in America on the days the iPad was being sold. The unfortunate buyers who returned home from America with their prized gadgets in their luggage suffered the extreme indignity of having it confiscated by Israeli customs inspectors. A non–compliant WiFi is a no-no.
For the concerned owners, their non-compliant products are being held as contraband in a secure warehouse until the issue is resolved. I hope for a quick solution.
Source: ReadWriteWeb
4/14/10: Alex Goes on Sale Today by Ray Hendon
I received an email from Spring Design yesterday, the maker of the Alex eReader, announcing that it is available for sale today. It can be ordered at their Website for $399. The Alex was reviewed on March 22, (shortcut).
This is a hybrid type of eReader, with a small color screen at the bottom that can also access the internet through its browser. At 11 oz it is just an ounce heavier than the Kindle 2.
It has built in WiFi, with a 3G model coming later, and it can now be purchased only through their website. They say it will be sold through booksellers later in the year.
It also reads a wide range of eBook formats.
4/13/10: WePad From Germany Challenges iPad
A new company in Germany, Neofonie GmbH, has introduced a new challenger to the iPad. 
Pictured at right, the tablet features an 11.6” screen, two USB ports and a web camera, the manufacturer hopes that their new baby will compete successfully with its more well known rival. It looks to cost about $600 for a 16GB model with WiFi but no 3G connectivity. A 32GB with WiFi and 3G will be about $760.
Another feature that gives it an advantage over the iPhone is that no special software is needed to download any application, including music, videos, books, etc. It also operates on a Linux OS that is said to be compatible with Android. That would bring all of the applications developed for Android smart phones and any tablet running Android to the WePad.
Manufactured in Asia, it is slated to be available in the U.S. by July. For the full article, follow Link to Huffingtonpost Article.
4/12/10: Google’s Android to Bring out Tablet
It is being reported in the NY Times and elsewhere that Google intends to put its Android OS an a tablet device, just as it has with the Droid and Nexus One for smart phones. Google vs Apple article
Android applications for its smart phones is growing exceptionally fast, although it is not up to the iPhone level, yet. But, it looks as if developers are flocking to the new OS, and it would be no surprise if the same didn’t happen if they put Android on a new tablet.
The picture below shows Motorola’s Droid, which uses Android, on the right side and the iPhone at left.
This brings to three the number of heavy hitters that plan on competing directly with Apple’s iPad: HP, with is yet-to-be-named slate, scheduled sometime this year (perhaps in June); Microsoft with its entirely new 
device, the Courier, and, now, Google. There are other competitors already announced, but none with the clout of these three. I don’t count Dell’s 5” screen because of it size. It’s more of a pocket device than a tablet.
The second half of this year promises to be quite exciting as far as new product offerings.
4/9/10: iPad to Multitask by Fall of this Year by Ray Hendon
In announcing OS 4.0 for the iPhone, Steve Jobs also announced that the multitasking that comes with the new operating system will also be available to the iPad by Fall of this year. He did not say that owners of existing iPads would have to buy a new one. So, this suggests that the multitasking will come by way of software upgrade.
This is good news for the iPad. Single task execution is a major impediment in almost all of its applications. There are many times when running multiple copies of the web browser would be quite handy, as well as cutting and pasting between applications without having to shut them down between clicks.
The quality of the multitasking was not disclosed for the iPad, but it seems quite restricted for the iPhone—it could be a memory problem, but it could also be other things. The iPad comes with various memory configurations, so perhaps those with more memory will be more unrestricted in how much they can multitask.
However it is accomplished, I think it will help sell more iPads to those who need this enhanced capability. It’s one less objection that has to be overcome.
4/8/10: Kindle Coming to Target: Nook to Best Buy
According to spy reports and our friends at Engadget, the Kindle 2 and perhaps the Kindle DX will be held in inventory and sold at Target stores by April 25th. There are similar reports that Best Buy will pick up Barnes and Noble’s Nook by April 18th.Link to Target article Link to Nook article
It is obvious that both these E-Ink platforms need to broaden their availability. Will these special types of electronics readers still be viable now that the iPad is on the market? Perhaps there will be continued use of E-Ink devices for long reading sessions, but I think magazine and newspaper reading is going to the flashier iPad with its superior graphics capabilities.
I am more interested in whether Amazon is going to respond to the iPad challenge with a new product that competes head to head with the iPad. There are obvious reasons they should, or should not jump into that market. Me–too products are not a good idea, though, so Amazon would do well to offer something with some kind of major difference to Apple’s compelling product.
4/7/10: Reviews of iPad applications on all-day marathon
Gizmodo is reviewing all the applications for the iPad that they can do in one marathon session. To check our the reviews Here for details.
Also, PC World has a thorough review of the three office suite type apps for the iPad, words, numbers and keynote. Follow this link: to read the reviews.
4/5/10: Specs on HP ‘s Coming Slate: Ray Hendon
From our friends at lilliputing, we learn that an underground copy of the specs for HP’s Slate product, has leaked to the ever-vigilant bloggers. The specs are universal knowledge by now. 
I can’t pretend to be able to read the data off the graphic provided, so the actual specs are summarized below.
Lilliputing writes:
“Just a few hours after HP unveiled its latest video telling us almost nothing about the company’s upcoming slate PC, the folks at Engadget got their hands on a possibly leaked document outlining the tablet’s specs.
Here’s the rundown: 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 CPU, 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel capacitive multitouch display, a graphics accelerator for 1080p HD video playback, 1GB of RAM, 32GB to 64GB of flash storage, and a battery that should be good for up to 5 hours. Unlike a certain competing tablet, this model will have several expansion options including an SDHC card slot and USB port. It also has 2 cameras, HDMI output, and an optional 3G modem.
Engadget says the 32GB version will run $549 while the 64GB model will set you back $599.”
These specs mean a ton of extra features that go well beyond the abilities of the iPad. With the Atom Z530, you get a huge leap in capabilities: multi-tasking, full Windows 7 support—in other words, this processor will run anything that runs under Windows 7. eReaders, word processing, spreadsheets, Publisher, etc. will all run with the full instruction set of Windows 7 software.Power-wise, the HP Slate slays its opponents.
Of course there will be some unavoidable tradeoffs with respect to the iPad. The elegance and smoothness of the touch operating system on the iPad will be roughed up considerably when you force it into a Windows 7 environment. I don’t know exactly how rough until we see the final product. HP is rumored to be using their own, proprietary touch technology that runs on top of Windows 7, as the basis screen operation. Capacitive and multi-touch are expected, but HP doesn’t have Apple’s years of experience in refining it.
For a look at the complete article: go here.
4/5/10: Early complaints on the iPad
An early compilation of complaints from some iPad users is provided in a recent article on Yahoo. Follow this link.
Common complaints are spotty WiFi connections, even in the same house, crashes of applications, and a less important issue of the iPad not charging on low-power USB ports.
Personally I have not experienced any problems like those mentioned, so I assume they are local issues, or, with regard to the crashing apps, relative to apps that I don’t use.
For a new review on the iPad as an eReader, see my posting today @this location.
3/10/10: Asus to Offer Two iPad Competitors
Asus, the inventor of the Eee PC (Netbook) and now the sixth largest PC maker in the world, has told Forbes Magazine in an interview that it will introduce two Pad-type devices, soon. One will have either a Chrome OS or Android operating system, and the other will run Windows 7.
A Windows 7 version would offer a large advantage over the iPad, with an ability to run all Windows applications, multitasking, etc.
A key fact about the new offerings, however, is missing: what processor will be used? If it is in the Atom line, then there will be a battery—life issue, but I don’t think that Windows 7 will run on any of the Arm chips that are so super efficient on battery life.
We will probably get our first glimpse of the new Asus products in June at Taiwan’s computer trade show. Asus has traditionally used this meeting to introduce important new products.
Mr. Jonney Shih, the Chariman of Asus, feels that the netbook will still have a place in the PC world—keyboards are needed for tasks that virtual keyboards simply can’t replace. He will also continue developing netbooks to get slimmer, lighter and have longer battery life
3/29/10: Videos of iPad using 11 Applications
For those that are interested in the iPad, whether to use it or just want to see what it can do, Apple released today a series of 11 videos on specific applications on the iPad. 
The eleven applications are: Web browser, eMail, Photos, Videos, You Tube, iTunes, iBooks, Keynote (presentation software), Pages (word processing), and numbers (spreadsheet). The Pages and Numbers application must be purchased from Apple separately.
I was impressed with the ease of use and the beauty of the screen using aall of the applications. I recommend it to anyone with any level of interest in the iPad. To watch, you will have to download Apple’s QuickTime,(they will give you that option) if you use a PC. But it will be worth it.
Follow this link to the Apple site.
3/24/10: Kobo Launches New eReader
Kobo, well known as an online bookseller, has brought their own eReader to market. Pictured at right, the Kobo eReader features a 6” diagonal screen of E-Ink, 
1GB of internal memory—expandable with memory card, several color options and an ability to read ePub, PDF and Adobe DRM files.
It also comes with a USB cable for transferring downloads from your computer to the eReader, and a bluetooth transfer ability. Neither WiFi nor 3G is included.
The biggest limitation is that it supports only 8 levels of grey scale (Kindle, Sony Touch and Nook support 16-levels.)
The debut price is $149, so it may prove attractive to the budget minded readers.
You can look it over more thoroughly by following this link.
3/23/10: Interactive Magazine Demo for the iPad
VIVmag, an all digital magazine that costs $6.00 and issue, put a video online recently that shows a sample of the new interactive format for their stories and articles that will be available on the iPad (and, presumably on other slate devices).
I can’t bring the video from the New York Times site because it is in flash (ironic that the iPad will not play flash), so you must follow the link to see it.
It is worth while to get a glimpse of what’s coming down the road in the magazine world. Follow this link to the video and article.
Also, don’t miss the fine article that supported the video, Click Here
3/22/10: Kindle and Nook ereader Software for the iPad
Ray Hendon
Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble are developing e-reader apps for the iPad. Although the iPad will have its own native e-reader, it is important that both of these book-selling giants get their ereader software on the iPad as quickly as possible.
The driving force behind these moves is to sell electronic editions of books, magazines and newspapers—the blades, so to speak. But you can’t sell your blades unless people have your razor. So, the first order of business is to get your razors into the hands of ebook buyers. Then they will begin buying your blades, which are a prime source of high profits.
Normally I would think of the Kindle or the Nook at the razor in this analogy, but that is not the case quite yet. Getting an iPad owner to buy another expensive piece of hardware would be a tough sale. But if they can get their proprietary reading software on the iPad, then the iPad owners become potential customers.
This is a must, because if they fail the consequences are serious. They will lose out on the boom in ereading that is expected from iPad owners, and they will be in trailing positions in a fast moving market.
In this battle against Apple, Amazon is, in my view, better positioned than B&N. Amazon sells more electronic books than everybody else put together—they know this side of the business and have a huge inventory of electronic reading material. They also have the bestselling ereader, the Kindle 2.
B&N has made an effort in online sales, but it lacks Amazon’s depth of experience. Its website is competent for selling ebooks, etc., but it’s not up to Amazon’s quality for making it so tempting and convenient to buy something.
Then there is the Nook. If B&N has any hopes of riding their ereader to the finish line, their executives need a month-long retreat on a remote Pacific island. They need to reassess where they stand with their golden boy and what to do about it. Drawing boards need to be redeployed.
Neither of these giant firms is without merit as an ebook seller. They both have something to offer iPad owners: huge libraries of electronic editions of just about everything.
Therefore, it makes sense that iPad owners would like to tap into theire libraries. I can see some of them going through the process of downloading and installing the program. But Apple has something to say about who can put apps on their site and who can’t. There have been some accusations that Apple plays favorites, although they will probably deny it. It seems clear that Amazon and B&N are going to find out soon enough. This decision about other software readers will be closely watched.
Another example of having to cope with Apple is seen in the pictured at left. This is how the Kindle reader would look on the iPad, we hope. Both these booksellers are working with a handicap for now—Apple would not let either of them have an early released iPad, so they must develop their readers using a Mac simulator—never a good idea for producing a finished product.
Their plans are to purchase an iPad on April 3, and then do the final testing and tweeking on a real-live product.
I think Amazon and B&N would also want to compete on the hardware side. Although black and white E-Ink dominates ereaders today, tomorrow may see many more that have the color and fast refresh of the iPad. This would force them to come out with a new ereader that could compete head to head with Apples new product.
I don’t doubt that color has a major future in some forms of ereading. Either or both of Apple’s competitors may eventually offer a product, but it won’t be anytime soon. So, in the meantime, by offering their own reader software for the iPad, they will be at least able to sell some of their electronic library to the first wave of iPad owners and stay in the game.
3/19/10: HP Slate Available in June for $550
According to our friends at Lilliputing, the HP Slate will be available in the U.S. in June, and translating its supposed euro price of 400, we get about a $550 U.S. price.
Further speculation is that the processor will be some form of Atom, so it will run Windows 7. This will be an edge over the iPad, since there are already an uncountable number of apps for Windows that will run on the Slate. It also means that flash videos will play on the Slate.
3/18/10: Mac and iPhone Reader Software for Kindle is now available
Amazon announced on the website today that eReader software is now available for Mac computers and the iPhone. Click here for the Mac download
For the iPhone download: Click here.
For a fairly thorough review of how the software works on a Mac, check out ArsTechnica review: Click Here
3/16/10: Ray Hendon
Digital Books to Offer “Enriched” Editions
Some publishers are betting that consumers of elecgtronic editions of books will spend more for so-called “enriched” e-books,i.e., eBooks equipped with special features. A case in point: David Baldacci’s new novel, “Deliver Us From Evil,” which will be available in “enriched” digital form for $15.99 from the Apple iBookstore
The “enriched” Baldacci novel, “will include passages deleted from the final text, research photos, an audio interview and video footage of Baldacci at work”, the Associated Press reports.
The publisher, in this case, is Hachette. They are working with Apple to make sure that the enriched edition will work on the Apple iPad. They are not sure that the same edition will work on the existing Kindle, Sony Reader or Nook.
Amazon is suspected of working on a new electronics reader that would compete with the new format of iPad, but they haven’t announced any dates or product specifications yet.
It is not known if the enriched books will have a wide acceptance, but it marks an important dividing line between screens with internal illumination (iPad, e.g.) and those with external illumination—the E-Ink providers.
3/15/10: QUE ProReader stops taking pre-orders.
QUE ProReader
One of the more interesting electronic readers demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in January was the QUEProReader from Plastic Logic, a British firm that uses only plastic for its transistors.
After CES the firm set up their website to take preorders of the device (starting @$649 for the 4GB model) that would be delivered in April of this year. Yesterday, however, they stopped taking new orders and pushed back the promised delivery date. From the website, when attempting to place an order, one is greeted with the following announcement: “Pre-orders are sold out. QUE will be available online and in select Barnes & Noble stores this summer.”
Among the outstanding features of the QUE was its large screen (8½X11”) size, with 10.5” diagonal display, multiple formats, including all the Microsoft Office formats, and low weight (1/3lb). Strictly black and white, using an electronic ink, it looked great, but I wonder if they felt they could sell their device as it was after the iPad introduction.
Earlier, they had also announced that they were having to fix some type of bugs in the system before it could be released, so production problems were apparent.
This is their first product introduced after several years of research and development. Their website is: http://buyque.barnesandnoble.com/specifications/
3/11/10: A Tour of iPad Competitors
Now that Apple has taken the wraps off the iPad, and set a date for its initial sale, the table is set for competitors in that space (Microsoft, HP, Dell, Amazon and a hundred more) to show their cards. If they want any chance of doing well this Christmas, they had better get their wares on retailer shelves soon—let us see them, test them, etc. Apple is ready: the others are not!
The others are busy putting finishing touches on their own versions of this new class of mobile computing device. HP admitted they have been working on their device for five years. And it is, after all, a new category. The technology has caught up with the bean counters, and some of the great new capabilities of RIISC computers are now affordable like never before.
The first crop of slate-tablet-pads is, in one sense, a reflection of how wide the arms of each company are, when defining what they will do with the new technology. Apple, for example, by eliminating writing on the screens, and the accompanying handwriting recognition software that goes with it, saved much in costs , size and cpu cycles. This was a good choice for battery life, but it will limit the appeal of the iPad for pen-centric computing?
The importance of this feature 
will become clear soon enough, because Microsoft has gone in the other direction. Their Courier puts the pen at the center of their daily use process. One must use their stylus pen for inputting URLs, e.g., and names of files located in the“infinite journal” entries.
HP is going in a different direction by emphasizing the flash part of their device, strongly dissenting from Apples lack of support for flash technology. Whether this will be a game changer or not, we must await the verdict of the Christmas Season. Here is a fairly good account of this difference: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/191153/hp_slate_vs_ipad_focus_on_flash.html
The last quarter of the year will be a comprehensive test of whose stuff sells and whose doesn’t. And the iPad and its competitors are new. They are not bringing subtle or inconsequential changes to the market—rather they are showing a new way of using a handheld device. Another aspect to this change is what it will do to authors and publishers who now have different and powerful ways to make their content more readable, more entertaining, and less constrained than with the old page of paper model.
Apple has a huge advantage in its multi-month lead on getting its product to market. It has another advantage in its image and reputation for producing quality products. This combination has produced a devoted following of gadget buyers who love Apple products.
The following links will give you a look at the new products, and give you some ideas of how you might want to use these new devices.
The first video if a professionally produced demonstration of the Courier: YouTube Video of Microsoft’s Cournier
The second video is a different presentation on the Courier: Additional Demonstration of Courier
The next video is from HP, touting their as yet un-named device which they simply refer to as a slate device.
HP executive speaking about development of the slate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3MSjwUrxT0&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apwIiqIKf84&feature=related
Comparison of iPad, Slate and Kindle
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/01/27/apple.banking.on.color.and.apps/
Pictures of new Dell Mini 5
Chinese “bandit” companies : plan an iPad assault this year==some for as little $300
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9167718/Chinese_companies_plan_tablet_PCs_amid_Apple_iPad_hype
Yet to be heard from in this back and forth, is Amazon. It is well established that they are working on new devices that include color, etc., but no one has stepped forward lately to give an update. If Amazon wants to be a player, they need to get in the game before they are caught up in the prop-wash of these new gizmos.
3/9/10:
HP released a video of their iPad competitor, showing the same capabilities as the iPad except with flash and full Windows 7 support. Yet to be named, it is referred to as their
Slate Device. It looks as all the majors are coming to market with major entries in this new form factor, and many other looking to cash in on the boom. The next video is provided by Adobe, showing the same HP device as the first, but all playing flash versions of movies, songs, and games.
The device also is shown being held in hand and being used. It looks smaller than the iPad, with a greater capability in at least some areas. The Adobe video also mentions that the “slate device” from HP will be available later this year.
It appears that both HP and Microsoft are tired of letting iPad get all the publicity, so they are sneakily allowing peaks at the new product with being pinned down with the details. It’s going to be a great year for exciting new reading and research devices like nothing we have seen in a long time. And this time, as opposed to the last boomlet in new devices, the Netbooks, this revolution is being led from the top rather than the bottom of the feeding order.
Also, the Samsung E6 reader, will go on sale in the Spring at Barnes and Noble stores at a $299 prices, $100 lower than ea
rlier indicated. B&N appears to be hedging the success of its poorly reviewed Nook by opening their retail presence to Samsung.
If the Nook fails to sell, at least they would have something driving sales of ebooks, emagazines and enewspapers.
3/8/10: Ray Hendon
A blog by Craig Mod entitled: Books in the Age of the iPad provides a clear vision of what’s coming in the publishing industry as a new age of digital distribution is unleashed by the advent of the iPad, and other electronic reading devices.
The New York Times has two good paragraphs of distilling much of what Mr. Mod emphasizes:
“Mr. Mod divides content broadly into two categories: content where the form is important, such as poetry or text with graphics, and content where form is divorced from layout, which he says applies to most novels and non-fiction.
This kind of thinking makes a key point: instead of arguing about pixels versus paper, as many book lovers tend to do, it is more useful to focus on whether the technology is a good match for the content.”
What will be the impact on how and what and how much we read? Will the new devices kill Amazon’s Kindle? Are printed books dead? Is it a good thing? How will the print industry respond? To read Mr. Mod’s blog, follow this link.
Mr. Mod, in my view, has a well qualified view of the computer industry and the paper printing industry and how they are going to interact. He has a thorough understanding of both antagonists, but does not himself become a protagonist for one side or the other. His simple rule is to use that medium that is best suited for what you want to read at the time. We will still have paper books; we will still have digital readers, and we will have computer generated graphics and video for much else of what we read. Everything will fit together, but the balance will shift as one medium proves superior for some requirements, and others will be better for others.
Another interesting point is that Mr. Mod also sees the change in the creative side of publishing as authors, journalists and bloggers learn how they can best incorporated these new advancements into their works. This could entail a switch away from “pages” in our presentations. With digital media, there is not necessarily any need for page turning. We will find new ways of flowing content without the constraints of physically turning a page.
To read the Times article, follow this link.
Is the iPad a Kindle killer?
In a recent survey of Amazon users who said they were likely to buy an e-reader within the next six months, the iPad trounces the Kindle.
40% of those who admit their plans to buy an e-reader with six months, express a preference for the iPad, with 28% for Kindle. The Nook is favored by 6%, and the Sony Reader comes in at 1%. Is it too late for Sony?
If this survey holds for the general population, then Kindle can expect a loss in unit sales. But, it isn’t known how long this effect will last. People are generally more excited about new things, and the iPad was introduced in an exceptional way. Steve Jobs is good at marketing.
But, then, so is Jeff Bezos of Amazon. You know that Kindle will have something in the pipeline that will will at least attempt to counter the Apple assault. It is a battle of the titans, in one sense, and it will be exciting to watch it unfold over the next few years.
To read Gizmoto’s article on the subject, follow this link.
Is Microsoft’s Courier an iPad Killer?
With all the hype about the iPad, Microsoft reminds us that they are a player in this space, with their up-coming product, the Courier. Expected in late 2010, it looks great. It is a pen-based device with handwriting recognition, cut and paste, internet browser combo that runs on the Tegra 2 chip. The operating system was borrowed from the Zune.
The Courier is about 5X7 in screen dimensions, so it is a little smaller than the iPad, and it weighs only about 1 lb. 
As you can see from the picture at right, the Courier opens in a book-like way, with two screens, one for browsing and organizing and the one for making notes. You can also pass photos, etc, from one screen to the other. A writing stylus comes with the Courier.
No idea about cost, but that information will surface soon, I am sure.
This looks like a repeat the earlier battle between the iPod and the Zune, a battle that Microsoft did not win. But this device seems to be quite different from the iPad—aimed, as it were, at a different market. Perhaps this will give Microsoft a leg up.
Thanks to Endgadget for the heads up.
For video from Youtube, follow this link.
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