Customers who placed early orders for Barnes & Noble's Nook e-readers will get them in time for Christmas, the company said Wednesday, despite its statements to the contrary a few days ago.
Barnes & Noble: "Just kidding on that latest delay."
(Credit: Barnes & Noble)Got whiplash yet?
On Friday, the retailer told some customers by e-mail that it aimed to get the device to customers by Thursday, Christmas Eve. Those who did not get the gadget in time would get an e-mail notification on Wednesday with a $100 Barnes & Noble online gift certificate, the company said.
It appears those gift certificates won't be showing up in in-boxes, however, as the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that all B&N's Nook shipping orders will in fact be fulfilled. "We're pleased to tell our customers today that we're shipping out all our orders in time," Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble, told the paper.
Various shifts in plans have plagued the Nook since B&N officially entered the burgeoning e-reader market in late October. At that point, customers placing early preorders were told they could expect the Nook to ship by the end of November.
In November, however, the bookseller pushed that date back, telling preorder customers they could expect shipment by December 11. The company declined to say how many e-readers had been preordered.
Then, later in November 20, B&N announced on its Web site that its e-reader, a challenger to Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader, is officially sold out through 2009 and customers ordering after that date wouldn't receive the device until January 4.
A not-so-merry holiday gift for Amazon.com: hackers say they've successfully cracked copyright protections on the company's Kindle e-reader, making it possible to export e-books to other devices.
One hack reportedly resulted from a Kindle DRM challenge issued on Israeli forum Hacking.org. On that site, an Israeli hacker known as Labba claims to have created a tool that lets e-books stored on the Kindle be transferred as PDF files.
A U.S. hacker has written a program to crack copyright protections on the Kindle for PC application.
(Credit: Amazon)A U.S. hacker who goes by the name "i♥cabbages," meanwhile, created a program called Unswindle that promises to convert books stored in the Kindle for PC application into a different file format.
The free Kindle for PC app lets book buyers read their books right from their PCs without having to buy a Kindle reader. Unswindle has to be used in conjunction with MobiDeDRM, a program by another hacker named "darkreverser."
Posters on i♥cabbages' blog give Unswindle mixed reviews, ranging from "works like a charm" and "worked flawlessly" to descriptions of various errors.
... Read more
With all the buzz over the tiny LCD screen on the bottom of Barnes & Noble's Nook, I was excited to get some time with the Entourage Edge, a device that pairs a large 9.7-inch E Ink screen with an even larger 10-inch LCD touch screen.
I got that chance on Monday, when the company stopped by CNET with a prototype of the product, which is set to ship in February for $490.
The goal of the Edge, the company says, is to offer a device that can replace the textbooks and notebooks carried around by typical high school students.
"We just thought here was a way to take technology and apply it to what they carry around," said Entourage Systems Vice President Doug Atkinson. "The initial goal was to put a 30-pound backpack in a device. I think we've achieved that."
There are a lot of features to like about the three-pound device, although, it definitely has the look and feel of a first-generation product.
The Edge's main selling point is, of course, the fact that it has two screens to do true work on. Unlike the Nook, which uses its color screen only for navigating the eBook and as an on-screen keyboard, the Edge's LCD can be used to run a variety of Android applications or to browse the Web.
The electronic ink side, meanwhile, can be used not only for reading books, but also for taking notes, using a stylus.
One of the Edge's many neat tricks is letting you go back and forth between the two screens. ... Read more
(Credit:
Plastic Logic)
Plastic Logic, the maker of the much anticipated, vaguely understood Que e-reader, will finally announce availability, pricing, and design at CES 2010.
Although its business division is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Plastic Logic's technologies were born in Cambridge, England. The research team spent 10 years finding ways to use plastic transistors for the e-reader screen instead of silicon.
Professors at the Cavendish Labs in Cambridge eventually came up with a flexible e-reader, one that can't shatter, unlike the Kindle's and Nook's glass screens.
Manufacturing is commissioned to a company in Dresden, Germany, and for all we know, there may be thousands of Ques waiting to be shipped.
Plastic Logic, which will distribute its e-reader in Barnes & Noble stores, doesn't appear to view the Nook or Kindle as competition. The company is targeting business professionals who may benefit from an e-reader with an interactive platform offering the likes of digital sticky notes, annotations, and drawings.
Next up for Plastic Logic is a full color e-reader, backed by ... Read more
CNET News Poll
He's not just wearing it to be jolly. He always dresses like this.
(Credit: Matt Hickey)If you'd have told me a year ago that late 2009 would see a new format war brewing, I would have said, "Great, I love a good format war!"
If you'd have told me it would be an e-book format war, though, I might have laughed at you and made fun of your stupid Christmas sweater. Because a year ago the Kindle was the only game in town, and by the looks of it you shop at the Mervyns outlet.
This week we got our hands on the Nook, the tight little ... Read more
(Credit:
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)
Start-up Spring Design has been denied an injunction to halt Barnes & Noble from selling its Nook e-reader, according to court documents.
The company had requested the injunction, in addition to monetary damages, as part of a recent lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose, Calif. The suit charges that the bookseller misappropriated Spring Design trade secrets in the design of its Nook, which launched October 20, the day after Spring Design announced its Alex e-book reader.
The court's decision (PDF), based on a Monday hearing, denies Spring Design's request for a preliminary injunction, but states that a halt to sales could still be appropriate if the plaintiff ultimately prevails. The court also says it will expedite the pre-trial process to accommodate Spring's request for an early hearing.
Barnes & Noble does not comment on litigation as a matter of policy, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. CNET has contacted Spring Design for a comment and is waiting to hear back.
The Nook, like Spring Design's Alex (which has yet to be released), combines a color touch screen with an e-ink display, and both readers use the Android operating system. In its lawsuit, Spring Design said it showed its plans for the Alex to Barnes & Noble, which showed interest in the product and gave no indication it was working on a similar device.
So sales of the Nook will move forward for now, though not without hitches of a non-legal sort.
... Read moreUpdated at 6:38 p.m. PST with comment from Barnes & Noble spokesperson.
If you're planning to head into a Barnes & Noble this week to get your hands on a Nook, put your plans on hold. Barnes & Noble said Sunday that it won't be featuring the e-readers in stores for sale or demonstration until December 7 due to excess demand for the device.
"A very limited supply, along with demo units, will be available in our highest-volume stores only, beginning December 7," Mary Ellen Keating, Barnes & Noble's senior vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, told CNET in an e-mail. The bookseller had originally hoped to have a limited number of the much-anticipated e-reader in some stores on Monday.
You're going to have to wait a little longer than expected to see one of these displays in person.
(Credit: Barnes & Noble)The week delay comes because the bookseller is making it a priority to deliver the $259 Nook to customers who ordered the device before November 20, Keating said, ... Read more
Win this Kindle!
(Credit: Amazon)While we've got no Nooks to give away, we do have a spiffy Amazon Kindle to offer up for today's daily holiday giveaway. The Kindle remains our highest-rated e-book reader, and I know you want one.
Quick thanks goes out to Amazon.com and CNET's Shopper.com for making this prize available to Crave readers. In case you didn't know it, Shopper.com powers CNET's price-comparison engine and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products.
Normally, the Kindle would cost you about $259, but you have the chance to get it gratis.
So, how do you try to win this Amazon Kindle? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.
- Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
- Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever
On Sale Now: $259.00
View the latest prices for Amazon Kindle wireless reading device (U.S. and international wireless, latest generation)
Amazon has announced small enhancements to certain Kindle models.
(Credit: Amazon)Just in time for the holidays and facing heavy competition from Barnes & Noble's upcoming Nook e-book reader, Amazon has announced that it has improved the Kindle's battery life when the wireless connection is turned on and will now be offering native PDF support for its e-book reader. Both the battery-life boost and native PDF support will be available to owners of new Kindles and some older models via a firmware upgrade.
In a press release, Amazon says the Kindle now has battery life of up to seven days with wireless turned on compared with four days previously. However, battery life with wireless turned off remains the same (around two weeks).
"Battery power management for portable wireless devices is a complex technical area, and the battery life improvement announced today is the result of a six-month firmware improvement and testing program," the release notes.
As for the native PDF support, Amazon says you can now "read professional and personal documents in their original ... Read more
On Sale Now: $259.00
View the latest prices for Amazon Kindle wireless reading device (U.S. and international wireless, latest generation)
(Credit:
Ditto Book)
Though Amazon and Barnes and Noble are grabbing headlines with e-readers aimed at consumers, Ditto Book--a CES 2010 exhibitor--is marketing its device for niche markets.
The $249 e-reader doesn't compete with Nook and Kindle specifications, as it is not wireless, has a 6-inch screen in four shades of gray, and doesn't support the standard ePub format yet.
Its focus is on customization; companies interested in ordering the e-reader in bulk can add a logo, brand name, color, and welcome screen. A unique option is to load the e-readers with bundled content.
Ditto is a subsidiary of Macrotron Systems, a Silicon Valley company that offers design, engineering, and manufacturing services. By targeting corporations, nonprofits, and possibly education agencies, the company might be able to stand alongside its larger competitors.
The device is also available to consumers, but customization requires a 250-unit minimum. According to business developer Hentry Jebasingam, Ditto Book's goal is to support many formats, including ePub within the next few months.
