First information about the upcoming Microsoft e-Reader began circulating last September and since then the vast Internet Community was very much interested in what lies behind the name Courier. Steve Ballmer did not want to disclose anything about the new device, but lately bunch of useful information and pictures came forth from unnamed but presumably reliable source. At a time convenient to slightly turn the story of Apple iPad.

Microsoft’s e-reader device, Courier will be extremely portable. This means that everything weighs just a pound (0,5 kg), and that device will be less than an inch (3 cm) thick. While closed (it will have a shape of book when open), its outer dimensions will be compared with photographs 4×6” (13×18 cm) format. It is interesting which OS will power the device -  contrary to popular belief this will not be Windows 7, but rather Windows CE 6, with the Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor inside…

The touch screens of the device can be used with hands, fingers and included pen. With pen you can draw a and write. There will be an in-build camera and headset output support. Price is still unknown, but as device closes to its release in second half of the year, more details should appear…

More on Microsoft Courier – New generation of e-book / i-pad kind of touch tablet device…

People who bought brand new e-book reader during recent holidays, were a bit worried that what might get shown at Consumer Electronics Show 2010 might ruin their day.. But despite CES had more e-book readers on show as any year before, there was nothing revolutionary that would cast shadow over your brand new Nook or even Kindle (especially if you bought the international version)…

Among top dogs on the show were QUE proReader, Entouraged eDge, Samsung e6, Spring Design Alex, Skiff, iRiver Story, Aluratek Libre Pro, Booken Cybook Orizon, DMC Worldwide… What is really showing that ebook readers are taking off, is the amount of noname chinese ebook reader device, which could be seen everywhere.

While new devices bring a lot of the new features on the table, none tops best reading experience and best content support, which two existing rivals (Kindle and Nook) already offer. But still – competition works in favor of the customers, so we welcome all new devices. We will try to review them first hand, when they are available on market…

Also – can’t wait to see what new devices will be shown early march at Hannover’s CeBit… Still awaiting big news on ASUS’s ebook reader, which should bring down the price tag considerably…

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Last October company Plastic Logic announced its e-reader device Que. And in this year's CES the product was finally presented. Que e-book reader device has an integrated WiFi for wireless data acquisition, and also integrated 3G module. The A4 sized screen 10,7 inch in diameter (8.5 x 11 inch) is touch-sensitive, based on mixture of new plastic display technology the QUE has been working on for last 10 years already known E-Ink tech from Viziplex. The device has 4 or 8 GB of integrated memory, and supports all kind of document types: office files, PDF, eBooks, ePub… It comes with a software that allows synchronization of calendar with many applications (Outlook, Blackberry, MAC), and you can also convert all sorts of files to QUE. Device if just 1/3 inch thick (0,8 cm), and weight about a pound (0,5 kg).

QUE allows reading e-mails, PDFs, ePublicitations, e-books, viewing entire schedule, markup on documents, editing documents (office), writing emails… and obviously aims to be more than just another e-book reader. Looks like QUE declared war on paper, as it supports digital tasks thru the whole business day…  All in all beautifully designed, in a high quality device, with crisp clear touchscreen, with long battery life. It comes with intuitive user interface, and access to one million titles to choose from (Barns & Noble), and also offers digital subscriptions to e-magazines/e-newspapers.

QUE's e-ProReader will be available in april 2010. Price will start at $649.

After the phenomenon of netbooks and nettops in last few years, everybody is waiting for the next boom. The coming years could be dedicated to simpler devices, particularly electronic book readers. Big players in the industry of computer equipment that moment does not want to miss it, and is therefore already preparing the relevant product. We are talking of ASUS, father of netbook with their EEEpc. ASUS announced, that they will offer its own e-book reader by the end of this year. Reader will primarily be well equipped in the area of connectivity, it should also include a wireless technology, 3G and WiMAX. Well-informed in the industry say that the device is equipped with 9-inch screen, which will give it a unprecedented advantage on current mainstream series of ebook readers with 6-inch screens (Amazon Kindle, Sony DX, others)…  What we know of ASUS, we are sure that the pricing will be aggressive as well! The only big mystery which remains is – regarding provider of content for it. Will it rely solely on local import function to load PDFs, .doc. txt. rtf… or will it be able to buy from online book stores?

Amazon recently lowered price on it’s Kindle e-book reader to $259 (from $299), which might add a nice sale boost for the upcoming holidays. But the really awesome news is Kindle with global wireless, which is now available in over 100 countries world-wide. Devices is based on existing Kindle model, but includes extended 3G capabilities thru AT&T network. This means that it still works in US, but user can also buy/download books abroad! This makes Kindle cheap e-book reader which still has leading role technology wise.

Amazon will ship first international Kindle on October 19th, but you can already preorder it on amazon web site.It looks like device will have AT&T’s SIM card, and will be data roaming in all supported countries 3G networks – a cost covered by Amazon… Price of International Kindle is $279!

It is very promising, that Amazon succeeded in negotiating with publishers, to allow distribution and sale of e-books on international grounds – something still unheard of with music/tv/cinema rights. Amazon highlighted Penguin press to be the most forthcoming and progressive with ebooks!

Kindle International will allow to wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and personal documents to the same high-resolution 6-inch electronic ink display, that was for months praised on original Kindle 2 device. Display looks and reads like real paper. Device can automatically receive newspaper and magazine subscriptions in over 100 countries, and it is possible to import PDF documents to it as well! Download of typical e-book needs less than one minute!

More on Amazon’s Kindle Cheaper + Available Internationally

Amazon has today officially announced the new electronic book reader device – Kindle DX. Kindle DX will be available in early june, but Amazon is already taking preorders. Kindle DX features a larger 9,7-inch E-ink screen, with record resolution for this kind of technology – 1200×824 pixels and with 16 shades of grey. Device will also have a built-in PDF reader, and will allow users to read newspapers without ever needing to scroll, zoom, or pan around a page. Pages will automatically adjust to portrait or landscape orientation like the iPhone and other devices.

The Kindle DX is 1/3 of an inch thick, and its exterior dimensions are 10.4-inches x 7.2-inches x 0.38-inches. It also has 3,3 GB of internal storage, but has a SD card slot, so you can expand it with external memory card. Internally device can store over 3,500 books. The battery life is also improved but Amazon is not yet publishing whole specifications.The navigation buttons for the DX are on the right side of the screen only. Like previous Kindle, device still offers the free EVDO connectivity for downloading books.

More on Amazon gives Kindle DX a Bigger Screen

Every bookworm nowadays is talking about e-books that they download on their computers. Some have printed them out to so they can read it anytime and anywhere they want to. But with this high technology that’s going on around us, bookworms too have become techie about reading. The e-book reader has become a fad for all of us who love to read, whether from hard copy books (softbound or hardbound) or electronically printed books a.k.a. e-books where some of them come free of charge via the internet.

Now that e-book readers have been around the market recently, one of them is Amazon’s Kindle. While new version of Kindle is around the corner, let’s review the original Amazon Kindle, and see where we stand today. If you’ve heard about other e-book readers like Sony Reader or Iliad, those are Kindle’s competitors that are now out in the market that are already selling fast just as Kindle is now doing. For those who are not so familiar about how this handy gadget looks like or works, here some words of wisdom to familiarize you about the latest gadget where you can read mostly any bestseller anytime, anywhere.

The Amazon Kindle is packaged in a unique hard box that looks like a hardbound book with a very simple off-white color and the Kindle name on top. An elastic band serves as the lock for the box at the right side. When the package is opened, you will see the wedge-shaped device on the right side and the accessories on the left. The accessories include a wireless reader, a black leather casing for the Kindle, instruction manual, USB 2.0 cable and a power adapter to charge your Lithium Polymer battery that operates the e-book reader.

Just as the Cybook Gen3 has, Amazon Kindle uses ink technology to make this reader readable to appear just like a real book that doesn’t glare even under direct sunlight. IF you like taking down notes as you read, you can easily bookmark or take notes as you would do with a real book. Plus, you don’t have to worry about missing the last page you read because Kindle will automatically bookmark the page you last read and it will open there when you turn it on again. To take notes conveniently, Kindle has a QWERTY keyboard just below the screen so you can take notes or look for a specific book title either from the Kindle library or on the Kindle Store where you can easily browse a book title and buy it.

The ergonomically wedge shape design makes it easier to use both for left and right handed users with easy-to-use navigation keys so you can use the Kindle even with only one hand.  

Long reading hours will never be a problem if your eyes get a little tired. Kindle has text features where you can adjust the font size to whatever you like so you can read more and at a longer time without straining your eyes.

Wonder what the word you just read means? Now you don’t have to worry about bringing along a dictionary. Kindle has its own version of the New Oxford English Dictionary that has more than 250,000 words with definitions and Wikipedia, the most popular internet encyclopedia, so it will save you time to look up the words so as not to interrupt your reading time.

More on Amazon Kindle

Surprisingly strong growth in demand for readers for electronic books has encouraged the first manufacturers of such devices to consider extending the offer. This resulted in two new readers, which will be available in the coming months, initially only in the U.S.

SONY PRS-700

Sony has introduced the successor to its first generation reader, the new PRS-700. Device again builds upon a touch panel displays. Users can also move between the pages simply by touching a finger against the edge of the screen. There is also a stylus, which can be easily controlled, and features a touch screen keyboard.

Like the predecessor, reader has a 6-inch e-ink screen type, whose black lettering on a white background is reminiscent of a real book. Welcome the new LED indicator light, which allows reading books even where there is no other source of light.

Whole device is dressed in black casing with a soft imitation leather cover that turns up like a cover of a book. By optimizing the components Sony managed to maintain very low weight, which is around 280 grams.

Embedded memory is sufficient for around 350 books, and can be extended further with memory cards SD or Memory Stick Duo. Reader can display PDF, Microsoft Word, Epub, BBeB and text files, but the book can also play audio clips, MP3.
Device can be connected to PC with USB cable. Price will be deducted to $ 400 (around 285 euros at time of writing).
AMAZON KINDLE v2

Almost at the same time as first internet photographs of Sony PRS-700, the rumors and sneak photos of Amazon's informal second generation e-book reader - highly popular Amazon Kindle 2 also boomed. Some believe this is hinting that release of new device could be around More on Sony and Amazon renew electronic books readers