Archive for the ‘ebook readers’ Category

Que: Plastic Logic’s Capacitive-Touch Ebook Reader [Ebook Readers]

Plastic Logic is a dark horse in the ebook reader business, having shown off prototypes of a large, decent-looking capacitive touchscreen ebook reader. Today that reader gets a shiny black finish and an official name—Que.

Yes, they’re calling it the Que, not like “what” in Spanish, but like the letter Q, as in “queue.” It will have a letter-sized (8.5″ x 11″) screen that’s not only “shatterproof” but has a capacitive touch layer that does not appear to get in the way of the E Ink display. We saw this at the D conference back in July, and it looked great then—way better than Sony’s joke of an ebook touchscreen, and doesn’t require a stylus like IRex’s. Even so, Plastic Logic’s boss, Richard Archuleta, told me that the faint honeycomb you can see in the video we shot is now gone, too. It is, from what we can tell, the best ebook touchscreen out there.

Other features of the player include AT&T 3G and Wi-Fi, and the ability to sketch and play with documents. (See Blam’s video below for a general idea.) It will come in a sleek metallic black casing, like what would happen if a Naboo Cruiser went over to the Dark Side. The company is only showing off these teaser pics of the new look, though you can get a pretty good sense of the overall design by comparing the teaser pics with the prototype’s shape.

As nice as it is, Plastic says again and again that it is not going after the Kindle market. They promise to reveal, at CES in January, a comprehensive platform for mobile professionals, namely document management. The goal is to have this thing replace all of the pages that people print out when working away from their offices. Even though Barnes & Noble is a content partner, it seems reading pulp fiction on it will just be a side perk. As you can probably tell, this sort of pitch screams out that the as-yet-unannounced price will not be low. [Plastic Logic]

Massive ‘Google Editions’ eBook Store Pushed Back Until Next Year [Google]

“This time we mean it” was the last declaration Google made about their plans to open an eBook store, set to launch before then end of 2009. And hey, it looks like they did! Well, except for that 2009 part.

Google’s come forth with a few more details about how their store, called “Google Editions” and now slated for the first half of 2010, will work. It’ll open with a staggering 400,000 to 600,000 books to Amazon’s 330,000 and Sony’s 100,000 (though the latter is supplemented by nearly a million public domain books, courtesy of Google, of all companies). 55% of the fees, which will be set by publishers—Google’s already got 30,000 partnerships in place, evidently—will be skimmed off the top, then given to retail partners. If this sounds weird, that’s because it is—Google Editions isn’t quite like the Kindle store in one major way. From Google ’s Tom Turvey:

Google Editions allows retail partners to sell their books, especially those who haven’t invested in a digital platform,” he said. “We expect the majority (of customers) will go to retail partners not to Google. We are a wholesaler, a book distributor.

Another way it’s not the Kindle store? From the sounds of it—and inline with what he heard before—it’s a browser-based shop:

The books bought from Google, and its partners, would be accessible on any gadget that has a Web browser, including smartphones, netbooks and personal computers and laptops. A book would be accessible offline after the first time it was accessed.

In-browser book buying with Google Gears support sounds like a nice feature to add to a book store, but what about the basics? ePub? PDF? I mean, they’ve got to be planning on including some kind of eBook format support, but they haven’t mentioned any at all.

Perhaps the announcement of a certain Google Android-powered, dual-screen eBook reader would be a good chance to clarify. [AP]

Why I Think E-Ink Readers Are Dumb [Rant]

The future of media isn’t on paper. And a device just dedicated to replicating dead trees is a waste of time. Let me show you why electronic ink’s virtues don’t matter as much as its weaknesses do.

Click through the gallery for a blow-by-blow of e-ink’s strengths and failures:

E-ink is a great digital tool for emulating what books were. But a horse with rollershoes can’t keep up with the automobile, so why should we expect a digital book to keep up with modern media habits?

I fell in love with the Kindle last year, but I think you’re a fool to buy one now—let alone any of its lesser competitors—when so much new technology is about to hit over the next six months. I’m giving up on it. I am waiting for a tablet. Same size, different priorities. And unless you love novels and non-fiction more than TV, movies, cookbooks and glossy magazines all together, you should, too. [Fantastic rendering above by Rob Beschizza]

Color Plastic Logic eReader Will Have Barnes & Noble eBook Store in Spring 2010 [EReaders]

B&N will be on the color reader via an eBook store app, according to the gushing rep in this video from CTIA. Interestingly, the news follows rumors that B&N’s own (possibly Android-powered) reader may arrive as early as next month.

And as you may remember, B&N also has its store on the recently-released iRex reader, and the upcoming grayscale Plastic Logic reader. Oh, and apps for the iPhone and BlackBerry. B&N is the freakin’ Borg of ebooks!

In the video, the rep says Plastic Logic’s color reader will be about the size of a paperback. He says no price has been set, but is solid on that spring arrival. Watch out Amazon and Sony. Especially when there are also color readers from Cool-r and Asus in the works. Good times. Thanks for the tips everyone.

Qualcomm’s Mirasol Ultra Low Power Display Is Almost Magic [Qualcomm]

Ebook readers suffer because they use E-Ink, which isn’t in color and doesn’t refresh fast enough to do video. Qualcomm is quietly showing off its Mirasol display, now in full color with 30-frame-per-second video. See for yourself:

The video was shot by IntoMobile. As they describe it, the tech sounds like a massive DLP chip—that is, a panel covered with tiny reflective mirrors. Each mirror can change color but it’s a passive screen, with no backlight (like most LCDs) and no self-illumination (a la OLED). They get lit up by whatever light is in the room. Saving energy is the key here—anytime you eliminate a light source, you cut way down on the juice. No word on when this will appear on devices, but it’s Qualcomm, so you can bet there will at least be some experimental products before too long.

Speaking of experimental products, Time’s Josh Quittner points out, on his blog, that several of Qualcomm’s components could go together to make a formidable ebook device. Besides this screen, they’ve got the multi-network mobile chipset (Gobi), a respectable mobile CPU (Snapdragon), and a powerful media delivery system (MediaFLO). Forget the Kindle—who needs Amazon? Oh right, books. [IntoMobile via Netly]