E-Readers with Web Browsers, and WiFi vs 3G cellular access

At the right is a photo of my Kindle being used to look up reviews at Costco before any purchasing decisions.

  (You can click on the picture to see the larger image.)

 Now that Spring Design's $360 Alex is out and the Barnes and Noble Nook has been updated to enable web-browsing (I tried it out the other day), it's a good time to review what the differences are between those units' web-access and the Kindle's.

  A good example is from an email sent me two days ago by a woman whose son is in Spain with his Kindle (Int'l version sold since Oct '09) and who had just sent her an email from his Kindle --

" He is riding on a bus in a very rural area between Madrid and their destination city in northern Spain. "

 As a U.S. resident with the International Kindle, his cellular wireless web browsing is enabled also, when travelling abroad, at no added cost (as Amazon's wireless costs in the U.S. are said to be considerably less expensive for the company than is possible in other countries right now, though Jeff Bezos has said he hopes to make web-browsing available globally eventually).
  The speed of access of the Kindle's experimental browser has improved in the last few months.

  I have tips on speeding up the access and a downloadable file with links to mobile-device optimized sites and a guide for that.

Almost two years ago, I was riding in an Airporter going across the San Francisco Bay Bridge and used the older, original Kindle to send an email to someone.  With the shallow keyboard, you will not want to send a long email, but you can send short notes.

  Many gadget sites don't know that this almost-anywhere web-browsing is possible with the Kindle but not for the Nook, Alex, Sonys, Kobo or iPad (although the latter's web access when you're near a WiFi hot spot is a lot more pleasureable and colorful).

A LISTING OF THE DIFFERENCES
  1.  Cellular Wireless access from anywhere - That's 3G cellphone-type access from anywhere you happen to be if there is a cellphone tower nearby (AT&T or Sprint for the Kindle, depending on the model).
  The bookstore can be accessed wherever you are while reading a book.
  For the Kindle, that's true globally as well, and residents of the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico have general, unlimited web-browsing enabled, at no additional cost.
  Non-USA residents not in those 4 areas have 24/7 free 3G wireless access to Wikipedia on the Kindle.  The other devices are limited to accessing only their stores with that 3G access for downloading.

  The Kindle, Nook, and Sony Daily Edition all use cellular wireless for book-downloads from their bookstores and at no added cost to the user.  Book downloads are doable essentially anywhere.

  That is not doable with the Alex, the Kobo, most Sonys or the current WiFi-only iPad.  I've read that many current iPad owners are trading up to the later 3G model due in May.

  The $629 iPad coming out officially on May 7 will use 3G and that will also require an additional $15-$30 for any month that this type of access is used on the iPad.

 The Alex will not have this type of access either, on its first, current model, but it's planned for a later model.

Web-browsing (in addition) using the 3G cellular network access
Only the Kindle has this (in the 4 geographic areas listed above), and it's at no added cost.
I'll indent the next part so that it's clearer as it's about a unique feature.

This particular cellphone-style access to the full web instead of just to the bookstore means you can access Google or ESPN or NY Times, etc. (preferably in their mobile-device versions for speed) almost anywhere you happen to be, whether in a bus, in your dentist's waiting room, in the car (as a passenger or stopped), in any restaurant, etc.

  The portability factor is large with many.
You can also download books directly to the Kindle from a few other online book sites this way, detailed at the free-books page.

  What's unique about the Kindle's access is that if you're sitting, waiting somewhere (almost anywhere in the world) reading a book on the Kindle International, you can begin a highlighting of a word or phrase on the page, finish it with a spacebar and the Kindle copies that word or phrase into the search bar -- and then you can press the 5-way navigation button to the right until you see and click on "Wiki," which will take you to the Wikipedia pages that match the search phrase (your Wireless feature would have to be turned On of course).

 When finished, press the Back button, and you're back where you started on the page in the book.  The Wikipedia feature works for any Kindle International model, globally, with wireless access available in their area (most).

  2.  WiFi wireless access - This works when you are set up to use a WiFi network that is in your home, your office, or in certain hotspots you might find such as Starbucks or McDonald's.  You'll normally need to do a special connection to the network the first time, and if it has the minimal security recommended, you'd need the private code for it.  Sometimes it requires a log-on screen.
  Barnes and Noble Nook users would be able to use it at that store.

 This is the type used by the current iPad, and Alex. (Turns out the Kobo uses only either bluetooth or the simple USB cable method to get e-books onto it._

 The cellular-wireless iPad ($130 extra, or $629 total) will be ready late April for those who pre-ordered it, and the official release is May 7.  As mentioned, there are web-access fees ($15-$30) charged for any month you use that type of wireless for an iPad.  AT&T will provide the web-access.

  SPECIAL NOTE:  Apple has identified a WiFi problem in some iPads and they readily replace the iPad when you contact them.

  WiFi networks, although limiting you to local areas, are faster, generally, than cellular networks, for web-browsing.

NOOK web-browser upgrade
When I was at Barnes and Noble, a very helpful customer support person named Amanda (El Cerrito, Ca) took me through quite a bit of it.

  The Nook's newly enabled web-browser, although limited in where you can use it, uses the bottom LCD panel to 'Goto' the web.  When you get a webpage, the slice of it that you can see in that small window is in color, and when I tried a photo site, it was really pleasing to see that, even if you can see only maybe a 5th of the photo since part of the lower screen is still used for other things.

  The one thing that was somewhat problematical was that when I was on a webpage and wanted to go to another one and called up the GoTo or Location box and started typing the URL, the Nook's e-Ink screen above would flash and refresh after each and every keypress.  That was disorienting.  I spent only 20 minutes on it, but maybe there's a way to avoid it, or they'll fix that with the next update.

  If I'd never used a Kindle and known about its ability to use the web browser anywhere, I still probably would have bought it on the spot.  I saw it on the first day, so everyone was very 'up' about it and I enjoyed getting webpages on it.  The Nook is a great looking reader but, as a Kindle user, I still find it has too many menu steps and I don't enjoy controlling the top with the bottom controls on a separate screen, as it makes me feel as if I'm operating a remote control with accompanying mini-delays.  Nook owners have no problem with that though.

  My 2nd choice now would be the Nook, unless they improve the Alex, which has a full screen at the bottom, but it's $100 more expensive than either the Nook or the Kindle.

FUTURE COMPARISON OF MAJOR DEDICATED E-READER FEATURES
  I'll probably update this and will eventually do a a blog entry comparing the various features of the dedicated e-readers mentioned.  By then, there'll probably be another dozen e-readers out.

IPADS AND OTHER TABLETS.  IPADS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON MARKETPLACE
  And now, other tablets competing with the Apple iPad are also gearing up for release, while the iPad is often out of stock at stores.  Amazon marketplace stores have new iPads at elevated prices for those who don't want to wait, but I'd check the quality ratings and number of ratings for the stores.

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See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest free non-classics, shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics.) Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Alex, Kindle: e-reader web browsers. Apple 'pad' name-grab

E-readers and web-browsing capabilities

The long-awaited Alex is shipping today.  This e-reader has a lot of great features, including web-video in that small window below.  From what I remember, text accessed via the web browser can be transferred to the e-ink screen above to read on the e-ink screen.  I don't know if that will be done with still photos or illustrations; ads haven't shown any.  (The lawsuit Alex makers filed against Barnes and Noble re its somewhat look-alike Nook is still active.)

WiFi Only, No Cellular Wireless
Unfortunately, the Alex, in this iteration, will not have the feature of cellular wireless almost anywhere you happen to be (the way that the Kindle, Nook, and Sony do) for instant downloads of books wherever you are.

Any web-browsing would be done only when you're using a WiFi network -- usually at a home or office network or at (hopefully free) hot spots you find.  Unlike the Nook and Sony, the Alex would let you web to any website, and unlike any of the others it could show video in the 3.5" touchscreen LCD screen even if only with a WiFi network for now.

Android-based
It's Android-based, so it offers a lot of flexibility for development, with cooperation from the makers and wireless providers (insofar as cellular wireless costs of apps would need to be calculated and paid by the maker or the customer, if the cellular capability which lies dormant in the Alex is offered later).  The Alex will be using the Borders book store and what they call the Alex Market of bookstores with downloads available.

Erroneous information on the Kindle in the review of the Alex
While reading about the Alex at GoodEReader (which has an excellent summary today of Apple's Steve Jobs's attempt to own the word "Pad" !), I saw this odd paragraph, which unfortunately is what many who don't use the Kindle (or who don't use its added features) tend to think, pegging the Kindle as a one-note device):

"The future should bode well for the Alex in the short term due to its Internet Web Browser built into it, something the Kindle and the Nook do not have the ability to do.  Although to be fair, Spring Designs web browser has driven Amazon to make its own internet browser as a firmware update for all Amazon Kindles within the next 6 months, and they have also opened up a SDK for developers to make applications."

Here is what I wrote in response to that clearly erroneous paragraph:

' The Amazon Kindle has had a web browser on it since 2007, and while it has always been slow, it has gotten considerably faster recently.

Moreover, it's cellular wireless and can be used on the streets - no WiFi network or hotspot needed.

And there is no cost for the ongoing access to this web-data. This weekend I found that a movie I wanted to see was no longer there and I needed to find a good movie elsewhere at the right time and not too far from the favorite restaurant with reservations already made.  Found a good movie in a nearby city, googling via my Kindle while in the (stopped) car.

Then when we got there I had time to use the Kindle in the theater, on a bench there, to find the phone number for the restaurant, so I could change the reservations.

The web-browser for Kindle is mainly due for improvements.  It's been an unusual feature of the Kindle from the start.  Internationally, all Kindle owners with wireless in their cities can access Wikipedia for free from their books. '

Coincidentally, I began this blog March 19, 2009 with an article comparing, using photos, the first Kindle (Kindle 1, 2007) with the Kindle 2 that was released in February 2009.   You can click on the Kindle image above-left, and here, to see that photo-comparison article.

There are also photos of the Kindle DX using the web-browsing feature.

  Both Kindles do the web with no website limitations except the extreme slowness of the first Kindle's web access.  As mentioned, the web access, especially for mobile-optimized sites, is considerably faster in the last couple of months.  Last weekend, both searches came up with results and stories right away, but the first page will always load more slowly as the Kindle pre-loads all the pages involved before showing the first page.  The rest of the pages then come in pretty quickly.

  You can begin a google search from the Home listing page by just starting to type the word(s) you want to google.  In my case, last weekend,
    "date night" theater berkeley
and then use the 5-way button to go to the right until you see the word "google" and then click on it.
There are other options in addition to 'Google' in the choices given.

For tips on getting best web-browsing speed (or dropping colors for better contrast in b&w), see Working with the Kindle web browser and also my blog article on Accessing Mobile-device-optimized Websites.
  In the latter article there's a free, downloadable file that acts as a book, with links to many mobile-device optimized sites, including good sets of them, with the full NY Times available in text format under News in one or more of the sets.

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See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest Free Nonclassics and Late Listed Free Nonclassics pages
  Also, a page of links that confine searches to mid-range priced e-books for those looking for a larger selection of non-classics below $7. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

$0.99 Kindle books, Apple, and e-reader meanderings

The Amazon Kindle forums tend to carry a lot of good info from the members there.  While that's centered around the device, they also discuss finding books.  There's also a specific forum to discuss Kindle books, however.

1. Here's a page for recently tagged 99-cent Kindle books.  Members and authors are doing the tagging to make them easier to find.

2. A Kindle book that actually costs money :-) has been doing well on the Amazon charts. Active Senior Living.  I'll add the product description -- it's a situation many families face one way or another and this is a more positive book than usual about it all.   (The author does live in an active senior living complex and at first reported her experiences in a blog but people told her to put these into a book.  She explains some of it in a forum thread.)

"   Jan Curran, a vivacious socialite and newspaper reporter, reluctantly moves into an Active Senior Living complex to recuperate from a brutal battle with cancer. She tackles the surprises and challenges of her new life with warmth, wit, and courage, meeting a colorful cast of unforgettable characters in an often hilarious yet profoundly moving story of friendship and hope.
    ... a short excerpt, the "house rules" for the dining room at the Active Senior Living facility:
1. No sleeping in the dining room.
2. Please use tissues rather than the cloth napkins for blowing your nose.
3. No baseball caps or other head gear in the dining room.
4. Women should not dine with rollers in their hair.
5. No bare feet.
6. No pajamas, nightgowns or robes in the dining room.
7. No wine service with breakfast.
8. Motorized scooters in designated areas only.
9. Wait staff will not be responsible for partials or dentures left on dining tables.
10. Wait staff will not be responsible for hearing aids left on dining tables.
11. Second helpings on dessert only. "

  7 customer reviews, 4-1/2 stars, $2.49

3. A Kindle book, A Scattered Life, by Karen McQuestion, was recently optioned for a film - announced by the author in the Kindle forums.  It's been quite popular and has 21 customer reviews, with an average of 4-1/2 stars, and is #2 under 'Family Relationsships' and #4 under "Women's Fiction "   $1.99.

4. Tomorrow, we finally hear what the Apple tablet (iPad/iSlate) actually does, after months of rumors.  It's sure to be an amazing product.

  At this point, articles are appearing that say expectations have been raised so high that it'll be harder for Apple to wow the crowd, but I think they will anyway.
  The problems it may have with buyers, including the e-reader inclined (though Apple will undoubtedly offer magazines in full color) are that the estimated cost by almost all insider word is $750 to $1000 and then a monthly data-plan similar to iphone web plans would be needed for cellular wireless access to the web, unless people just use them on WiFi networks at home or in the office.

  Apple's never given free cellular wireless but if they gave a limited number of hours, they'd probably do extremely well though it's unlikely Steve Jobs would do that.
  If they charged $600 + a reasonably priced data plan (lowest tends to be about $30-$35/month), it could sell pretty well, especially if they surprised us and have a slide-out physical keyboard so that it could replace a netbook while still being light.  For the price I would expect it to be able to replace my netbook, which I use a lot.

5.   The dual-screen EnTourage eDGe (the caps sent me on edge, actually) is attractive but it's heavier than my netbook and has no hard disk or physical keyboard, so I wonder how widely attractive that will be for $490.  That's set for shipment mid-February, as it was immediately back-ordered after a few went out.
The LCD screen and gray-scaled screen look great together, but I can't imagine reading a book on it by holding it the way I do an e-reader. It is almost 3 pounds.

  That one would be bought mainly by web-oriented people who want to be able to write on an e-Ink type gray scale screen and have it included in a file (though not with handwriting recognition as the 9" grey scale Asus DR-950 is said to be offering along with many other features although there's no pricing or availability on the Asus yet).  Estimates for that Asus are around $500.

6. The Alex reader (made by the company which is suing B&N over the 2-screen design after several key meetings with them before the Nook was released), picked up Borders as a partner but the head of Borders just resigned, as that company is not in great shape.  Even B&N is closing many stores.  The Alex, which does, unlike the Nook, have a web browser, will not be offering cellular wireless though in this version.

7. Sorry to meander but I won't be doing any e-reader round-up until later since all but the Asus DR950 were either too expensive for the consumer e-reader crowd or had many key features missing for the price and just didn't inspire me as a buyer.

8. The Plastic Logic Que, while expensive at $650 w/o wireless and at $800 with it will really have the business office formats needed (the iRex DR800s doesn't even have the editing feature ready yet), but consumers waiting for the Que(s) were disappointed by the high cost, which includes no web browsing except to stores.

 I'll be definitely watching the Apple scene tomorrow morning.

  I do send out alerts and links to e-reader stories every day.  If interested in following those, if you can stand Twitter :-), go to either http://twitter.com/andrys to see them in chronological order or use   Tweetree instead to see them as they have a more readable listing, since it shows an intro or summary or photo of stories we're linking to.  One can run through Twitter listings a bit faster though.
  In either case you'll also see what are called Retweets or forwarded alerts first found by others who are very much on top of the scene.

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LINKS FOR SEARCHING FOR FREE OR LOW-COST E-BOOKS
  The ongoing set of links for various Searches for free or low-cost Kindle-compatible books. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Lawsuit Could Delay B&N Nook Release

Authorlink.com's headline and Andronica's image and title (on left) with story, duplicate a thought many had on hearing that Barnes and Noble had announced that there would be a delay of the release of the Nook due, they said, to a larger demand than expected.

  The earlier story on this detailed several meetings between B&N and Spring over the latter's "Alex" eReader which, as the photo shows, is so similar in concept to B&N's Nook.

  B&N stated that the first shipment of the Nook will be made at the end of November, but Authorlink reports that "A U.S. District Court has given Barnes & Noble until the day after Thanksgiving to respond to a lawsuit filed November 2 by Spring Design, Inc ... Barnes & Noble apparently received the Court summons November 6, which would make the response date November 26."

  Andronica writes that the court filings state:

' An injunction prohibiting B&N from further use or disclosure of trade secrets – in particular, to prevent any further sales of the Nook and/or any other products using Spring’s trade secrets – is necessary to provide Spring complete relief. '

And they link to court filing and supporting documents and describe the implications of that for the holiday season and longer-term if Spring Design is successful in even temporarily halting sales.

Brighthand is reporting that "Barnes & Noble stores are reportedly going to have demonstration units on the last day of this month, but no units to sell.  At this point, it's not clear if B&N stores will have more than demo units this year; all sales may have to happen on the Web.

  Those who would like to give the Nook as a Christmas present will apparently have to seriously consider buying it unseen, as devices pre-ordered next month might not ship until too late."

  Brighthand also describes the many attractive features of the device which could be experienced if it is ever available for review so that we can see the interface and how well it functions.  With the pluses (loaning, WiFi as an option, a good number of compatible devices, a microSD slot), it won't matter to many that it does not have the Kindle's (slow) cellular-network web-browsing capability.

  eWeek mentions that one of B&N's eReader contracts (Plastic Logic, in addition to iRex) "will aim its QUE e-reader at the SMB (small- to medium-sized business) and enterprise markets."

Authorlink adds:

' Spring Design first developed and began filing patents on its Alex e-book, an innovative dual screen, Android-based e-book back in 2006.  Since the beginning of 2009 Spring and Barnes & Noble worked within a non-disclosure agreement, including many meetings, emails and conference calls with executives ranging up to the president of Barnes and Noble.com, discussing confidential information regarding the features, functionality and capabilities of Alex.  Throughout, Barnes & Noble's marketing and technical executives extolled Alex's "innovative" features, never mentioning their use of those features until the public disclosure of the Nook. [That was a day after Spring announced their 'Alex'...]

Alex, with its unique Duet Navigator™, provides the capability for interaction and navigation techniques of the two screens and furthermore utilizes the capabilities of Android to enhance the reader's experience by supporting interactive access to the Internet for references and links.  As the first in the market to offer an e-book with full Internet browsing while reading and with easy navigational control via its touch screen, Alex is well-positioned to offer the most dynamic and powerful reading device in the market.

It's amazing to me that Spring has not found a bookseller partner for this. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!