ABC7 /Consumer Report look at 9 readers for bookworm mothers. Collections for Kindle 1 maybe?

Now that things are quieter on the Apple front except for the Gizmodo Lost iPhone prototype story (the latest stories in chron order:  Cnet analysis;  Daring Fireball's John Gruber look at the laws;  Dilbert's take; Wired's team finds "finder";  and CNet finds helpers) with dramatic night visitations apparently encouraged by Apple, reporters are now writing about the Kindle again, without relating it to the multi-function iPad except to remember that the Kindle is a smaller, less expensive, dedicated e-reader for those who like that kind of thing.

Click on the picture at top left or here to see ABC7's videoclip of their news report in which they discuss what they and Consumer Reports found when teaming up to look at 9 different e-book readers, including the Nook, Kindle, Sony, and iRex readers, in order to make recommendations for Mother's Day.

The accompanying story by Ric Romero at KABC, Los Angeles, notes there's "a lot of misinformation" out there.  That's for sure.

They interviewed some people for the story and said that one person, Kate Lombardi, will be adding fewer books to her shelves, but she's reading more books than ever now that she has a Kindle. "It's made me look at books in a different way, and buy them in a different way, so I'm buying more," said Kate.

They found that while the iPad is backlit and people can continue reading in the dark, it weighs twice as much as most e-book readers.  And they noted that it's not easily readable in bright sunlight.  While it gets points for versatility and doing "most things pretty well,"  they found it "not the best choice just for reading e-books" per Paul Reynolds of Consumer Reports.

Rich Fisco of Consumer Reports, one of several testing the Nook, found the interface problematical in that the bottom LCD screen is "little" and is "all you get for navigating around, picking books, moving though pages, and typing in titles for searches and such."

Yes. ABC7 and Consumer Reports recommended the Kindle, a fact I'm putting in for the Kindle-edition readers as it takes longer to follow links on some image-heavy sites when reading blogs via the Kindle.

Much has been made recently of the idea that the iPad can cause insomnia.  Many of us thought this was almost surely not true.   A researcher at the UCLA Sleep Disorder Center told Eyewitness News that no study or research has been done that proves iPads cause sleeplessness.

HOPE FOR KINDLE-1 USERS FOR KINDLE ORGANIZATION/COLLECTIONS?
At the Amazon Kindle forums, 4greatscotts posted a response said to be from Amazon Customer support to the plea that Kindle-1 users also get some type of organization for their first-generaion devices, though the programming and instructions won't be the same because the cursor cannot go to places on the screen as the later model does, due to a slower screen and navigation through rows instead of individual words or alpha characters.
  Here's the posting by about this (no confirmation from Customer Support Team yet).

'Posted on Apr. 29, 2010 4:55 PM PDT
4greatscotts says:

Here is the response I received from customer service today when I asked if they were going to do an update for K1 owners.

We have heard from many of our Kindle 1st generation customers that you would
like to have a better way to organize your growing Kindle libraries.  We are
currently working on a solution that will allow you to organize your Kindle
libraries.

At this time we aren't able to provide you the exact time of when this update
will release, but I'd suggest you to continue checking back our website
regularly.

Thanks for using Kindle!

Best regards,

Prakash T
Amazon.com
We're Building Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company '

---

 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.
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A bit more on the iRex DR800Sg e-reader

UPDATE to the main iRex e-reader story

At the left are the Kindle DX and the iRex DR800Sg side by side.

  For the $89 difference between the two:

1.  PDFs will be considerably smaller on the iRex and, as I mentioned yesterday, they are already often too small on the Kindle DX.
2.  The 3G wireless for the Kindle allows web browsing with no limits on sites and with brief emails doable.  This allows direct downloads to the Kindle device from a few other bookstores.
But the iRex wireless will go only to the Barnes and Noble store and to NewspaperDirect and no emails would be possible.

  Where the iRex will shine is in the look of the periodicals it can bring you from the NewspaperDirect site (as well as the choices available), as those are laid out as they are with the actual newspapers rather than using the generic text used for the Kindle subscriptions with just a few photos for the latter.  The SD card will be needed for the added storage space that'll take.
  Questions:
  How much will the iRex's periodical-subscription costs be?  No word on that yet.
  What will be the speed be like, with the e-Ink screen?

SOME QUOTES FROM WEDNESDAY answered a few questions:

STYLUS NOTE-TAKING NOT READY YET
and WHY NOT a HAND-TOUCHSCREEN?
PC World/internetnews.com
  Kevin Hamilton, CEO for IREX in North America, explained that

' "Instead of a finger-driven touchscreen, the DR800SG uses a magnetic resonance stylus, in part to maintain the brightness of the display," said Brons.
  He said the additional transparent touch layer needed to enable finger navigation would have decreased screen brightness by 15 to 20 percent.
  Hamilton noted that Sony's Reader uses just such a touch layer, with the expected detrimental effect on brightness.  Clicking is performed with the stylus or by pushing down on the flip bar [on the left side), which is pushed from side to side for page-turns.

 He added that while the device is ready for electronic ink based note taking, the application that enables the function wasn't quite ready but would be added later as a free update.

 The edge of the unit is blank except for a power switch and a mini-USB socket. Installed in the battery compartment on the back is a 2GB SD Card, which can hold up to 1,500 e-books and can be replaced with a larger-capacity card. '

AIRTIME CHARGES LATER MAYBE
'  He noted, however, that there may be airtime charges for future vertical business applications if they consume a significant amount of wireless bandwidth. '

THE KINDLE'S UNNECESSARY BELLS & WHISTLES?
NetbookBoards.com has this:

' IRex CEO Hans Brons has taken some shots at the Kindle already, hinting that Amazon’s device is too limited and at the same time too fancy.
“We’ve tried to create [an] as neutral as possible device – without any whistles and bells and what have you.” '

Well, that's one way of saying iRex doesn't have some bells & whistles that the Kindles offer, such as web-browsing and email capability + easier notetaking capabilities while iRex currently has ready only the virtual keyboard.  But maybe NetbookBoards was a bit harsh on the statement there.


FULL CONTENT FROM NEWSPAPERS, ADS TOO, HELPS PUBLISHER REVENUES
InternetNews quotes a statement at NewspaperDirect pointing out that full content of periodicals will be downloaded with no missing pieces, and with all the ads:

'...PressReader allows users to download over 1,000 full-content newspapers in their original format, with all the articles, pictures, cartoons and advertisements found in the printed editions.  This ensures that all 1,000 publications on the iRex are recognized as audited paid circulation by international audit bureaus, a critical factor for publishers looking to increase revenues and reach. '

VIDEOS - The first one mentions that the iRex DR800Sg software doesn't work with Macs currently.
  As I mentioned yesterday, the newspaper layout is a BIG plus.  Watch CNet's videoclip on the new 8.1" model and then the youtube video by "pressdisplay" showing what the iRex newspaper editions are like although this one is showing the larger 10" iRex DR1000S.

  They're beautiful but if you look at these from the perspective of someone about to READ the content shown, the print is really tiny so at times there may be a lot of zooming involved.  Note that in the first video though, which is on today's 8.1" model, the newspaper layout is for the full page and when you stylus-click an article you want to read, you get a very straight text-version of the story that looks easy to read.

  Again, the size is iffy.  Large for a novel and small for pdfs and newspapers.  If they ever bring down the cost of the 10" model ($989 for the iRex DR1000s) that'll be the one that works for serious academic and business use once the interface problems reported are gone. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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Books, blogs, auto charger, iRex and Barnes & Noble - Update2

UPDATED 8/25/09 to correct the recommendation for the Ambrose Pierce Devil's Dictionary, as that edition has problems with the Table of Contents.
  Original posting was 8/24/09 at 10:12 am

1. Kindle Blogs & News Feeds
Many will have received in email a notice that the Kindle Daily Post is now available for the Kindle.  This Amazon Kindle-dedicated blog contains the daily Kindle news we've been able to read on the Kindle device only when we were at the 'store' while Kindling with wireless turned 'On.'  I suppose that was because we'd also be more likely to buy something while there.  In the meantime, people like me then seldom saw this otherwise interesting daily.
  Now you can get that daily blog for your Kindle at no cost.

  Another blog available along with 7,000+ other ones Amazon offers for the Kindle device is this one, Kindleworld.  Delivery includes the full text of Kindleworld's latest 25 articles (with images), delivered whenever there's a new entry or updated information (usually daily).  Each Kindle delivery replaces the previous one, so there's no clutter.

 Selecting this blog, if you haven't subscribed earlier, starts a 14-day free trial.  The Kindle version is easier to navigate than the usual RSS feeds are on a Kindle and you can search the blog for info in the latest 25 articles, which might be worth 99c/mo. for some.

2. It's time for the irregularly repeated low-cost books reminder.
  Be sure to check out the most recent Free and under $1 books in the blog entry listing links for those.
  I've added a listing sorted by NEWEST first, for free non-classics there.

3. UPDATED 8/25/09. The photo of Bierce below links you to the best under-$1 edition of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary, republished by Xinware Corporation in Canada, Jan. 2008, and with a working Table of Contents and very good formatting.
 The cover for that one is seen on the right.
  The book highlighted yesterday had problems with the table of content links, and some of the quotations did not wrap well.  Amazon will give a refund for a book that is giving you problems if reported within 7 days.  Call 866-321-8851 to request the refund.

  While there are several editions offered on the Amazon page - most do not have working table of contents and have very rudimentary formatting.  I sampled each one under $1, and one sample even froze my Kindle causing me to need to reboot or reset it twice.  The 80c version I link to here was the best of those under $1 and I didn't try any above that dollar amount, as I'm very happy with this one.  The free one from Project Gutenberg froze my DX each of 3 times I tried it, so I can't recommend the one there right now.

UPDATED 8/25/09 - LATER.  Elmo let me know tonight of a free Devil's Dictionary file made available by "vivaldirules" at MobileRead Forums.  This is extremely well formatted with quotations in italics.  You can get it from their site.  Thanks, Elmo!

Typical of the definitions in this often hilarious and always cynical classic is:

" Gold n. A yellow metal greatly prized for its convenience in the various kinds of robbery known as trade..."

  Caution: the book, 90 yrs old, is wholly impolitic.

4. Auto Charger for the Amazon Kindle 2 and Kindle DX.

5. iRex signs up with Barnes and Noble.  This doesn't appear to be an exclusive arrangement, unlike the one with Plastic Logic where B&N will be PL's sole book store.  Current large-screen iRex models average $850 and that's before any monthly cellular wireless access charges.  Not likely to be (successfully) after the Amazon audience at that price. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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iRex DR1000S 'Paper tiger?' - DX size $989 US

First, I ran across a few more interesting stories and they're linked at my Twitter page, so if you're interested in additional news items that I don't expand on here, you can get them at twitter.com/kindleworld where we're limited to 140-character alerts but can still link you to the full stories.

The iRex Digital Reader DR1000S is reviewed by Bill Ray, of Register Hardware, and he subtitled it "Paper tiger?" which sums up his appraisal, amplified by the 55% Rating he gave it.

  Expectations can be high when the suggested price of this unit, somewhat larger than the Kindle DX, is more than twice the cost of the DX -- at $989 US (£599) for the iRex DR1000S vs the DX's $489, often referred to as "too expensive."

  He says it's not exactly comfortable for reading books due to its size, but I thought I'd feel that way about the DX and have come to find the size just fine.

  The screen is 10.2 inches (in diameter, I assume) with the same 16 levels of gray as the DX, and he finds that it "excels at rendering an A4 page, ideally from a PDF file" and describes it "a joy" and slim enough so that it feels like a clipboard.

As with the iRex iLiad (reviewed by AlexOnLinux after a year of use), it uses a stylus which has slight lag time.  While calling the hardware "superb," Ray writes that the interface is a "mess" with "appallingly designed processes" and:

" Take this scenario: imagine one has finished reading a PDF document and wishes to close it and then delete it. Closing the document involves nine key presses, in the correct order switching between side and bottom buttons, deleting the same document takes another eight: get one wrong and you're back to the start. We've not seen interfacing this bad for a very long time..."

The battery is affected by the capacitive screen if not much by the e-ink display and "would rarely allow 10 hours of reading."  On the other hand he was "using complex PDF files. and taking lots of notes"

For e-books, it supports Mobipocket but he says the model is "not intended for reading books."
  What?  The iRex iLiad (normally $850) deals with all kinds of file formats, so I don't know what he means, unless he means the device is mainly for pdfs, excel sheets and office documents. He adds:

" The value of this class of device is in the ability to make a load of scribbled notes onto a PDF file and then merge those notes into the PDF file for viewing elsewhere. "

 The iLiad model is open and has encouraged hackers to create apps that strip out pages with no notes and which change all notes into red marker -- really useful for ultra long documents.  But this model won't do that, for now.

His "Verdict"

" Despite the disappointing software and outrageous price this is, quite simply, the most effective way to read and make notes on long documents.  If you have to do that regularly, then the RD1000S is the best tool for the job, but try to get the company to pay for it. "

See the article for far more details and many photos. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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Kindle DX's Unsung Ways and a Guided Tour

PD World's Melissa J. Perenson lists
'5 Unsung Ways' by which the Kindle DX will
"transform reading."

'But make no mistake: Kindle DX represents far more than merely more of the same. Kindle DX is a game changer for e-book readers, and one that has a chance to transform how we consume content.'

Her listing includes large print books; children's books; English as a 2nd Language; manuals [one of my own favorites]; and self-publishing as the 5 not normally considered.  Her summary:

'The DX is far more than just the larger premium-priced "hardcover" version of the "soft cover" Kindle 2.  Instead, when it comes to the various different types of content the DX can display beautifully the Kindle DX has the potential to re-write the e-book rules -- digitally of course.'

Here's PC World's Guided Tour by Perenson, with some very good photographic examples of how useful this unit will be in many areas.  Two which stood out for me:   1)  the native PDF capability preserves the original visual layout of a document, retaining readability even with a complex layout, and 2)  an example of highlighting in a biology textbook with an illustration with small, precisely placed text that is far more readable than it would be on the 6" screen of the smaller Kindles and often not correctly converted to even make sense.

  Side note:  Wondering how the iRex iLiad and the Kindle DX fared in a comparison, I found a review which said that using the only type of input available (a stylus) means a wait of .5 to 1 second for a response when drawing and that the bootup time is 40 seconds.  Along with other points made in the review, including its *horrendous* technical support, it looks like no competition there at that price.  Here's an Engadget image of the iLiad, which averages about $860 now.

UPDATE:


Princeton University will provide students
with free Kindle DX's
in three of the courses this coming semester. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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Big Screen Kindle announcement Wednesday?

Well, that's what several papers are reporting.  This was more or less announced some months ago about Bezos' conversations with textbook companies and the goal of a larger unit for textbooks and periodicals coming out by Xmas. But the announcement in only April will likely involve more details already (and a possibly earlier release date?).  Maybe to get ahead of Plastic Logic's goal for early 2010?  And before all the newspapers fail?  Hearst has been putting heavy money behind E-Ink (see previous articles).

Huffington Post's Dave Burdick reports that the announcement is likely to be about the big-screen Kindle's "arrival at universities."

While mulling the more lucrative margins of textbook sales, he quotes the New York Times article today:

As early as this week, according to people briefed on the online retailer's plans, Amazon will introduce a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks ...

In total, six universities are involved in the project, according to people briefed on the matter. They are Case Western, Pace University, Princeton University, Reed College, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State University.

Some would hope it also entails some improvements on the Kindle 2 requested, but there's been no mention of that so far.

Also, pricing will be interesting.  Other big-screen units planned and some already available (iRex) but without wireless, search capabilities, and inline-dictionaries (all strengths of Amazon's Kindles) are charging from $600 to $1000+.  Will newspapers subsidize some of the cost for their readers, when they are already losing millions per year?

The announcement timing is intriguing seeing that Apple's June announcement had been getting the headlines in that their hoped-for MediaPad (no hard news on that yet) might be released via Verizon, with a wished-for larger screen and wider range of offerings but only via WiFi vs Amazon's always "On" wireless.

And then there is EFD or Electronic Fluid Display (Electrofluidic Display Technology, involving color) on the horizon but still very much in development including improving the contrast and then getting it integrated into actual devices.  But apparently it could support the Kindle someday.

UPDATE: OTHER RUMORS:
ENGADGET posted some info from the Wall Street Journal as well as the NYTimes and is offering preview photos, though they ask if it will be 9.7" units, so the photos may be iffy.  
The one on the right looks out of proportion, with the current unit 8" and the new one said to be 9.7"...
  SeekingAlpha reminds us that Engadget pointed out the NYTimes is lowering its subscription price from $14 to $10 (that would include Sundays and many have requested this before subscribing - so natural customer resistance has an effect).  They say in order for amazon to keep the price close, for the larger screen, they'd have to cut out something like wireless, but the college communities are filled with wi-fi spots, so wireless is superfluous there.  WiFi feature rather than 24/7 Wireless?  They add Amazon seems to be doing a front-run around the rumored iPod mediapad/tablet, with the spiffed up web browser and larger screen but still with a [smaller] keyboard.
  The Moderate Voice has an interesting set of thoughts. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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