e-book readers

Not to be left out of the fast-growing e-reader and e-book arenas, Borders has announced that it's begun taking preorders for the Kobo, a $150 e-reader that ties into the upcoming Borders' e-book store, which is powered by Kobo Inc. The Kobo eReader was revealed several months ago but after a slight delay, the device will ship June 17 and is being billed as an ideal Father's Day gift.

As the price suggests, the Kobo, which has the same-size 6-inch e-ink display as the $259 Kindle and Nook, is something of a no-frills e-reader with no Wi-Fi or … Read more

The e-book revolution is upon us, and I, for one, am delighted. It's not that I don't love bookstores and real, bound books that you can hold in your hands--I do. But for years I've been smitten by the convenience and environmental-friendliness of books "printed" in digital ink.

Ah, but which e-book reader should you get? I'll save the Kindle versus iPad versus iPod versus smartphone debate for another day. Today, Buy.com has the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 for $139.95 with free shipping.

Chip in with your siblings and you have … Read more

Amazon posted info on its site about a new 2.5 software update for Kindle and Kindle DX users that's coming soon. The company says it has begun rolling out the new software update to "a limited group of Kindle users" and plans a broad release in late May. The big news here is that owners of the second-generation Kindle and the Kindle DX will soon be able to share book passages with friends on Twitter and Facebook, and Amazon's also improving its PDF-viewing support with an enhanced pan-and-zoom feature.

Here's the full list of … Read more

Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book reader will be getting wider exposure via Best Buy stores.

The Nook is due to be available to consumers at Best Buy retail outlets in the U.S. starting April 18, along with accessories such as covers and screen protectors, and free BN eReader software, the two companies said Monday.

The broader retail campaign comes hot on the heels of the Apple iPad going on sale amid intense media coverage and strong consumer interest. Not a dedicated e-reader like the Nook or Amazon's Kindle, the iPad tablet still promises to give people yet … Read more

Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader, which sold out over the winter holidays, is available online once again, the company said Monday.

The Nook is also expected to show up in most B&N stores by midweek.

After running out of the e-readers over the holidays, Barnes & Noble said it kicked production into high gear so it could ship the Nook to its stores by this week--in time for the next gift-giving holiday: Valentine's Day.

Those interested in buying the reader locally can check the Nook in-store Locator to see if any neighborhood Barnes & Noble store … Read more

A new software upgrade is now available to owners of Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book reader. This is the second upgrade since the device launched in early December and it appears to be more substantial than the first, which arrived shortly after the product shipped and addressed a handful of small but pervasive bugs.

Barnes & Noble notes that version 1.2 "continues to improve Nook performance to provide enhanced overall reading experience and in-store connectivity for Nook customers to enjoy exclusive content and promotions in Barnes & Noble stores."

Here are the key updates, according to … Read more

Publishers aren't wasting any time getting their books onto the new iPad.

Publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Kaplan Publishing, McGraw-Hill Education, and Pearson have signed deals to be among the first to port their textbooks over to Apple's new tablet. Heading to the iPad as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch will be their textbooks, study guides, and test prep manuals.

Announced on Wednesday, the agreements were made with ScrollMotion, a company that develops the iPhone e-reader app Iceberg Reader and works with publishers to digitize their books for the mobile market.

The digital textbooks promise a slew … Read more

If you're among those wondering why Apple's new iBooks e-reader app may have looked vaguely familiar, the answer is Apple may have ripped off the user interface from an existing iPhone app, according to Wired blogger Brian Chen.

The app in question is a popular book-reading app called Classics, which rounds up a bunch of public-domain titles in a slick-looking package that features a user interface with various titles perched on a bookshelf.

The article also suggests that the UI similarities extend beyond the top-level interface. "The pages emulate the look of a printed book page," … Read more

Now that the dawn of the iPad is upon us, the inevitable comparisons between Apple's wundertablet and the Kindle--and what it all means for Amazon--have begun in earnest.

For example, in its write-up of the iPad launch, The New York Times said that Apple's new deals with five major publishers basically amounted to a declaration of war. "The announcement puts Apple on a collision course with Amazon," the Times said. And Steve Jobs, while praising Amazon for pioneering the e-book category, told the world that, "we are going to stand on their shoulders and go a little bit farther."

That may very well be true, especially when it comes to stuff like comic books, graphic novels, textbooks, and interactive children's stories, but the war we're looking at isn't the war we're used to seeing in the consumer electronics world, where one piece of gear simply is superior, sexier--and better-priced--than another.

From the get-go, as soon as rumors surfaced about an Apple tablet, many a tech pundit made his or her readers aware that such a device would make for a very strong e-reader. After all, since the iPhone and iPod Touch are already good e-readers, it was pretty easy to assume that an Apple tablet would be that much better because it had a larger screen. And no doubt it will be.… Read more