The Amazon Kindle e-book reader unveiled
By John Pospisil
Amazon is believed to be planning to launch an Amazon-branded e-book reader in October.
The “Kindle” e-book reader will go head to head with the Sony Reader, a 64 MB e-book reader with a six-inch “paper-like” display that can be viewed from nearly any angle in full daylight.
Book publishers are delighted by the move, with Jeremy Ettinghausen, digital director of Penguin, telling the Independent that “with Amazon and Sony both reported to be planning electronic book reader launches in the UK, we are highly positive about the market for digital books.”
According to Ettinghausen, the Kindle will allow booksellers to offer instant digital downloads in cafes, airports and bookshops. Penguin is in the process of digitizing all of its books.
According to an FCC application unearthed by engadget, the 10.2 ounce (289 gram) Kindle e-book reader has a 6 inch screen along with a built-in EVDO/CDMA wireless modem, a mini USB 2.0 slot, 256 MB of internal storage, and an SD slot for additional storage. It measures 4.9 inches x 7.5 inches x 0.7 inches (134.5mm x 190mm x 18mm).
It is believed that the weird looking keyboard you can see in the picture will allow users to take notes and navigate the Internet . Unfortunately, it is also believed that the Kindle will support a proprietary e-book format, rather than an open e-book format.
While Amazon has not publicly commented on the Kindle, the e-book reader is expected to go on sale at around US$400. This is substantially more than the Sony Reader, which at the time of writing was on sale for US$278 (normal price US$349.99).
Could the much delayed, but always expected, e-book revolution finally be upon us?
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September 13th, 2007
There’s a company called M-edge Accessories (www.buymedge.com) that makes accessory jackets/cases for the Sony Reader. They make an Executive style jacket in a variety of colors and a sleeve jacket that’s perferct for taking your Reader to the beach/pool/gym. I use both and highly recommend them for great protection of your Reader!
November 12th, 2007
“Could the much delayed, but always expected, e-book revolution finally be upon us?”
Not for $400 it isn’t. If I wanted to surf the web and such, I’d buy a better cell phone. The Sony reader is far from perfect, but I’ll likely get one later this year.
November 16th, 2007
“Could the much delayed, but always expected, e-book revolution finally be upon us?”
Not if the e-books still cost as much or more than a paper version of the books, and on top of that you have to pay $400 for a reader to read them.
November 19th, 2007
“Could the much delayed, but always expected, e-book revolution finally be upon us?”
Not until the price reaches $100, the device has a colour screen and can read a variety of non-DRMed formats like Palm, textfiles and PDFs.
This is a single-use (and ugly) device that may only marginally appeal to affluent travellers. Even then they may balk at carrying one *more* piece of hardware.
November 19th, 2007
While “the iPod of …” has become a cliché to describe any product with a semblance of distilled design sensibilities emanating from Cupertino, there is one fundamental strategic reason why Kindle won’t be like the iPod: content. The iPod had it, Kindle doesn’t. Read why here:
“Why is the new Kindle eBook reader from Amazon and not Apple?”
http://counternotions.com/2007/11/19/kindle-vs-iphone/
November 19th, 2007
The Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle are relatively comparable on most levels. The Reader is cheaper and it doesn’t charge you for RSS feeds, but some people can just pay for stuff like that. The specs are laid out here:
http://comparati.com/1125-Amazon-Kindle-vs-Sony-Reader
But… The major differentiators are (and these are very big deals):
1) The Kindle has EV-DO internet.
2) The Kindle has 4x the titles to choose from.
You just can’t argue with those two facts. That’s why the Sony Reader was a dud and the Kindle will pave the way for success in this market.