ereader

CES not always the greatest guide for commercial success

LAS VEGAS--We've seen it more than a few times.

A company at the Consumer Electronics show wows the tech crowd in Las Vegas with its new product. It's sure to be a hit, the tech press concludes. Then everyone heads home, gets some sleep, and months later we ask ourselves, "Whatever happened to (fill in the blank)?"

Despite the massive size and reach of CES, the show can actually be quite insular. With so many companies looking to display their latest and greatest products, the media is left scrambling to cover as much as they possibly … Read more

How to turn on night-reading in iOS

The iBooks app was updated this week, and with it comes a new theme for reading at night.

When reading in bed or the darkened cabin of a red-eye flight, your iPad or iPhone can appear too bright even with the screen brightness at its lowest setting. With iBooks 1.5, the new Night theme reverses the colors on the screen: text turns white and the background turns black. If you are reading a book with images, you'll notice that their colors also get reversed, creating a photo-negative look. For reading text, however, the new Night theme is easier … Read more

Content will be key to Kindle Fire's success

After more than a year of rumors, and six weeks after its official debut, the Amazon Kindle Fire is now in the hands of reviewers.

Although it's not being touted specifically as an Android tablet, the 7-inch device certainly will affect the landscape of "iPad killers." With upwards of 5 million Kindle Fires on order for the fourth quarter alone, it could already be considered a success. But what is it specifically that has everyone talking about the Amazon tablet?

How to convert Web pages to e-books

If you want to save that long Web article for later, it's easy enough to bookmark it or send it to a consolidation site. But what if you want to take a look at your leisure using your favorite e-reader?

That's quite a bit trickier, or at least it used to be. There's a nifty bookmarklet called DotEPUB that will convert whatever page you're currently on into the widely used EPUB format. Here's how to use it:

Point your browser to the DotEPUB page. (Note: the bookmarklet will not work using Internet Explorer, but … Read more

How to read EPUB files on your Kindle

If you use an e-reader, it's probably a Kindle, which means it can be a pain to use open-source e-book formats like EPUB. Calibre is a free, open-source e-book manager that lets users convert EPUB files to Kindle-readable MOBI files. Here's how to use it:

Download and install Calibre. When you first run it, Calibre will ask what language you want to use, and to select a folder to use as your e-book library. Next, select your primary reader. From the main screen, you can choose to add books by clicking the large icon in the top left. … Read more

And so it begins: Nook Color down to $149.99

Well, well, well. The Barnes & Noble Nook Color, already a steal when it was selling for $179 and then $169, has dipped even further.

Today only, and while supplies last, DailySteals has the refurbished Nook Color for $149.99 shipped. That's officially the lowest price I've seen, and a really hard bargain to pass up.

Update: If you missed out on the deal, fret not: Buy.com also has the Nook Color for $149 shipped, and the deal runs through Oct. 9 (or until supplies run out).

I have nothing but praise for the refurbished … Read more

Speck launches FitFolio case line for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iRiver e-readers

Speck's FitFolio is one of our favorite iPad 2 cases. Now the company is bringing the line to the e-reader arena, with FitFolio cases for the Kindle, Nook, Kobo Touch, and iRiver Story HD.

The FitFolio for Kindle 3 is already available for $29.99 (in multiple colors), but the cases for the other e-reader models aren't set to ship until next month, company reps told us at an event last night in New York, where we got a sneak peek at all the new cases.Two other Kindle 3 cases, the WanderFolio (see above picture) and BookShield … Read more

Is Apple stonewalling Sony on Reader app?

Call it the case of the missing app.

As Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google have updated their e-reader apps to adhere to Apple's new in-app subscription rules that require app developers to strip out any links to external mechanisms for purchasing digital books or subscriptions, one iOS app from a major e-reader player remains mysteriously unavailable: the Sony Reader app.

You may not remember but Apple rejected Sony's Reader iPhone app back in January for allegedly linking off to Sony's online e-bookstore. I should also note that Sony Reader users have been patiently awaiting Reader … Read more

Scribd launches Float, a new mobile reading app

Scribd, which has become known for being the "YouTube for documents," has launched a new app today called Float, which the company says is designed to improve the mobile reading experience.

We met with Scribd CEO and co-founder Trip Adler prior to launch and he showed us the new app in action. It's actually difficult to describe exactly what it does, but imagine it as a cross between Flipboard, Instapaper, and a filtered Twitter feed (see video below). You select various areas of interest and pick favorite Web sites to "follow" and you get stories … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1510: Google + is Bieber-free! (Podcast)

On today's show, we talk to Ken Parks, director of content at Spotify, who lays down the one rule of music licensing negotiations: you don't talk about music licensing negotiations! Plus, Amazon's tablet is incoming, 41 percent of Netflix users plan to take their ball and go home, and girl power at the Google science fair!