Archive for the ‘amazon’ Category

Amazon Fires Back With $164 Kindle 3G With Offers

Amazon is now offering the Kindle 3G, originally $190, for $164 with “offers.” This new version integrates 3G wireless alongside Wi-Fi, something the new Nook pointedly does not have. This new version will also include offers aka advertisements, allowing you to see a bit of flimflammery with your regularly scheduled ebook.

The Kindle Wi-Fi with offers costs $114, twenty dollars less than the Wi-Fi Nook. Both are available now.

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Foxit eSlick E-Reader Nears its End

Smaller e-readers are dropping like flies as yet another device maker has announced it will get out of the e-reader hardware business.

Foxit has said it will “cease development” on its eSlick device that was once touted for being among the cheapest in the market and offering excellent support for PDF files. Instead it plans to offer its software to other digital books providers, says Foxit in a press release.

The death of the eSlick comes on the heels of similar news about devices from companies such as Audiovox and Plastic Logic. Price cuts by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, extreme competition and a shift in consumer interest toward more multi-purpose tablets have taken their toll on e-readers.

In contrast, Amazon’s newly revamped Kindle sold out in just days after its launch a week ago.

Since Amazon introduced the first generation Kindle in 2007, e-readers became one of the hottest consumer products. The category attracted more than a dozen companies, all of whom bought a black-and-white screen from E Ink, packaged it into a plastic casing and competed for consumer attention.

Mostly Kindle clones, many of these e-readers were near-identical in how they looked and the features they offered. Smaller e-reader makers also had to contend with Apple’s iPad, which launched in April. The iPad took away some consumers who were looking for features beyond just the ability to read digital books.

Meanwhile, Amazon stormed into a price war dropping the price of the Kindle 2 to $190 from $260 in response to cuts from Barnes & Noble on its Nook e-reader. A latest version of the Kindle with only Wi-Fi capability costs $140, now $10 cheaper than a similar Nook version.

This price war took its toll on smaller e-reader manufacturers. Foxit, which once claimed to have among the cheapest e-reader in the market, has now been left behind. It’s e-book reader with a 6-inch black-and-white E Ink display now costs $200.

For a small company like Foxit clearly cutting price on the eSlick to beat the Kindle is not a sustainable. Not surprisingly, Foxit says it will now focus on licensing its PDF and ePub technology to companies in the e-book market. As e-book sales grow, it is becoming clear that the e-reader category will have just three major brands: Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony, and a rival to take them all on: the Apple iPad.

See Also:

• Upstart E-readers Fade to Black as Tablets Gain Momentum
• 5 Things That Will Make E-Readers Better in 2010
• E-Readers Will Survive the Onslaught of Tablets
• Plastic Logic Que E-Reader Turns Into Vaporware
• Gallery: E-Readers Push Boundaries of Books

Photo: Foxit eSlick (knuton/Flickr)

Christmas shopping at Amazon? Better finish up today

You know that Christmas is next week, right? That means you only have eight days left to finish your shopping. If you planned on using Amazon though, today is the last full day that the retailer will guarantee its free super saver shipping will get your product to you by December 25. So go, my friend, go order your girlfriend a cubic zirconia earring set. She’ll love it.

Entelligence: Of ebooks and suburban moms

There was a raging debate going on last week at Engadget HQ over the role of dedicated ebook readers that spilled over on to the Engadget Show. You can watch the show here, but essentially big boss Joshua Topolsky and Paul Miller feel that the new Barnes and Noble Nook is going to be a hit — the one machine that gets suburban moms to buy. On the other hand, Nilay Patel, rationally (as he agrees with me) says it’s not going to happen and there’s no mass market for dedicated ebook readers. I’m going to weigh in and say Nilay is probably right.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is not entirely an integration vs. convergence story. I believe there’s a market for dedicated devices: cameras have not been displaced by music phones, media players have not been displaced by music phones and ebook readers could serve bibliophiles, especially those who travel a lot. However, mobile reader apps like those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble can easily tap into more casual markets, allowing users to leverage the investment in screens they already own instead of buying a dedicated device. That’s one reason why I think it has been important for Amazon and B&N to get their ebook platform onto as many devices with screens as possible, and why Sony’s making a mistake by ignoring the opportunity.

Continue reading Entelligence: Of ebooks and suburban moms

Filed under: Handhelds

Entelligence: Of ebooks and suburban moms originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin nuvifone G60 going for $100 on Amazon

You know what’s insulting? Charging $300 for a nuvifone G60 in the year 2009. It’s cool, though — Amazon, as usual, is our knight in shining armor by swooping in with a $99.99 deal on contract, making the idea of a one-trick pony nav phone with a closed platform and hellish browser just a little more palatable. A big, fat caveat emptor still applies, of course.

Filed under: Cellphones

Garmin nuvifone G60 going for $100 on Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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