Daily Bits

kindle

E-Ink in Color Coming Soon!

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Proponents of Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook will always tell you that the E-Ink display trumps its LCD counterpart any time. You’ll hear arguments revolving around “no glare issues,” “it’s just like reading a real book,” “it’s like looking real paper,” and more. Of course, one cannot overlook the fact that E-Ink has one drawback – it is in black and white.

If the lack of colors on e-book readers is your main reason for not getting one, then you might just change your mind in the near future. Last week, Hanvon Technology, a company based in Beijing, announced the first ever color E-Ink display. The announcement was made during the FPD International Trade Show in Tokyo.

Now you may be thinking that this is old news as we just heard about the color Nook. You have to bear in mind, though, that the new Nook is going to use LCD instead of E-Ink – something that old timers have been shaking their heads about. Then there’s the Apple iPad, which is great as a color e-book reader as well, but it also makes use of LCD.

This new development from the Chinese company just might give e-readers a boost, although it might not be anytime soon. As good as E-Ink is for reading, it does have limitations such as lack of sharpness. It is also not that colorful as compared to LCD. More so, E-Ink is not able to fully handle video. Still, its developers are confident that the technology will be embraced by consumers in the future.

For someone who is in the market for an e-book reader, this development is certainly something to monitor, although I might have to stick with the good old black and white displays for now. What do you think? Does the color E-Ink have potential?

e-Lending on Kindle Soon Available

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Well, it is not really called e-Lending – I just made that up.  Think about it this way, though – when you buy “real” books, you may end up lending them to your friends.  If you are the kind of person who does not let other people touch their precious books, then forget about it.  However, if you are like me, and you have borrowed or lost many a book along the way, then you’ll get the implications of this development.

Last week, Amazon made two announcements:

  1. Kindle newspapers and magazines can be read on Kindle apps.  This means that even if you do not own a Kindle, you can read these materials on your device that has a Kindle app (which can be acquired for free).
  2. Kindle e-books can be lent to others who have a Kindle or who have access to Kindle apps.

Here is a snippet of that announcement:

“…we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable – this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.”

Interesting concept, isn’t it?  I know that there are individuals who freely share their e-books (which are acquired via other means), and this development probably does not concern them.  For those who take copyright seriously, though, the lending feature will certainly be welcome.  I don’t know what to think about the idea of not having access to your e-book while it is on loan, though.  True, if we’re talking about physical books then there is no question about it, but why does this have to apply to e-books?  Another thing – we already know that many publishers just might provide lending rights.

Nothing is set in stone, though.  Amazon says they will let us know more when the features are available.  Till then, we just have to wait.

Kindle Singles to Make Debut

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I have been spending hours and hours talking about and thinking of the Kindle and the Nook recently.  I know I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy any new gadget for the rest of the year, but the impending (major) change in my lifestyle is prompting me to take a good look at e-book readers.  As I always am when obsessing over a gadget, I have been reading up on the Kindle and the Nook a lot.

Today, I just learned about a new format that Amazon is introducing for the Kindle.  Dubbed Kindle Singles, these e-books are going to be shorter and cheaper than is the current norm.  What prompted this development is the fact that content does come in varying lengths.  Just like in traditional print, books can be thick novels, really thin paperbacks, or even pamphlets.  In Kindle terms, e-books can come in the form of long novels, short stories, magazine articles, blog posts, or even Twitter updates.

Materials that are going to be labeled Kindle Singles are going to be anywhere from 10,000 words to 30,000 words.  In terms of traditional print, this would be around 30 pages to 90 pages.  The really good news is the pricing structure will be more attractive to consumers.

For now, the new section of the store is not yet up and running, but with the official announcement having been made, we should see it pretty soon.

While I am not a Kindle owner as of yet, I consider this development as a plus point for the device.  Now for some advice…which e-book reader would you recommend that I get?

Photo credit: gillyberlin

Amazon Launches Kindle DX

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So you thought the wars were limited to computers, gaming consoles, and mobile phones only. If so, you are wrong. It looks like there is a war between e-book readers going on, and it is getting exciting.

Three years ago, this wouldn’t have been happening. With the onslaught of various e-book readers in the market, it is not surprising that manufacturers are trying to outdo one another now. Amazon just announced that it’s souped up Kindle is going to be available on the 7th of this month – that’s today!

The new Kindle is called Kindle DX and it is supposed to be the high end version of the original. What can the Kindle DX offer avid e-book readers out there?

One, it has a lower price. It’s still several hundred dollars at $379, but that’s a considerable drop from the original. Then again, that’s still almost $200 more than the standard version.

Two, it has better screen contrast. Figures say that this has been upped by 50 percent.

Three, documents in PDF may now be zoomed in and out.

Four, users can now share selections from books and periodicals via 3G. This comes free with the unit.

Five, the software that comes with the Kindle DX has also been improved, allowing for better organization of one’s collection.

Is all that worth it for the relatively high price of the new Kindle? Perhaps. In any case, head on over to Amazon to check it out.

E-Reader Owners Are Satisfied with their Device but Want More Features

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The NPD Group has released a new report entitled “e-Reader Owners: Attitudes and Usage” and this could very well be used by Amazon in its drive to develop the Kindle into a more powerful and interesting ebook reading device.

Based on the report 93% of e-reader owners were found to be either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their device. A mere 2% expressed their dissatisfaction.

Additionally, 60% of the respondents said that the wireless feature of their e-Reader device was their favorite feature. The second most favorited feature was touch-capability with 23% of  the respondents saying so. Interestingly, among the many e-readers available in the market today, Amazon seems to be the one with the most stable wireless feature. So, does this mean that most of the respondents have the Kindle as their e-reader? While the 23% may not be Kindle users since only the Kindle DX has the touchscreen feature. Unfortunately, the report did not specify what are the respondents e-readers.

Another interesting finding of the report was that e-Reader owners are still looking for more features for the e-reader. Among those features that they are looking for include longer battery life, more book titles and color screens.

As we all know, Kindle doesn’t have a color screen, so Amazon is probably looking into developing a new Kindle that will support this feature.  And what great timing it is that Amazon was reportedly eyeing to buy a start up called Touchco. This company, as you may have guessed specializes in touch-screen technology. Some analysts say that Amazon is preparing its e-readers  for the entry of the Apple iPad by March.

Kindle is Here to Stay, Newspapers Should Get On It

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We’ve all been reading about Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-book reader and how it will affect the publishing industry, more specifically the dying print newspaper market. Many say that in time the Kindle reader would spell the demise of the print media as we know it today. Let’s take a quick look at what the Amazon Kindle can really do.

The Kindle, be it the first or second generation model, allows you to read e-books, e-magazines, and e-newspapers from a diminutive screen anywhere, anytime. You might think that it’s just an iPod loaded with an e-book reader app, but with a larger screen. But what makes the Kindle outstanding is the fact that if you are located in an area covered by the Amazon network, digital content can be pushed automatically to your Kindle reader. And not just ordinary digital contents, but those which you have selected and opted to buy or subscribe to at the Amazon Kindle store. This could range from magazines such as Time and Newsweek, newspapers such as NYT and WSJ, and of course e-books from the Amazon bookstore.

Purchasing digital content from the Kindle Store is fast for as long as you are connected. When you purchase a book, you can opt to have it send wirelessly, and it does so faster than you can immediate. You wouldn’t even notice that the book you purchased will already be in your Kindle. Compare to that to actually going to a bookstore to pick up and interesting book, or ordering it online which will take several weeks to arrive, especially if you are living outside the U.S. The same holds true for newspapers and magazine titles. The Amazon Kindle ensures quick delivery of information.

Now, the question is, will Kindle spell trouble for the dying newspaper industry? Not really. It might reduce the number of print subscribers but not everyone would be willing to spend extra to get the Kindle. While those who are more than willing to spend extra for such a device may not actually be print newspaper readers, or worst don’t read newspapers at all. But with a gadget as cool as the Kindle, it might actually encourage them to start their daily newspaper reading habit.

Rather than killing the gradually dying print newspaper industry, the Kindle reader might actually save it. Of course that is also true with the Kindle’s effect on Amazon’s potential gains as well. Investment bank Collins Stewart predicted revenue of $305 million this year for Amazon, with gross profit amounting to $70 million this year. Not bad, considering the fact that Amazon was just trying to market its main product – printed books and other information material when it created the Amazon Kindle.