e-Reader

Iriver Story HD review: A pixel-packing e-reader

Products like the $139 Iriver Story HD are a challenge to review. Why? Well, because it's a perfectly decent, reasonably priced product that has one glaring drawback: it doesn't have any significant advantages over its closest competitors, the Kindle, Nook, and Kobo Touch Edition. So, why buy it?

Iriver would like to have you think that the Story HD's higher-resolution (768x1,024 pixels) display should be a mitigating factor in your choice. That has enabled the company to tout it as the world's "highest-resolution 6-inch e-reader." Except for the additional resolution, however, it's … Read more

Apple forces Amazon to alter Kindle app

Updated 3:50 p.m. PT to reflect Barnes & Noble updating its Nook iOS apps.

Apple has finally brought the hammer down on e-reader apps, enforcing its new in-app subscription rules that require app developers to strip out any links to external mechanisms for purchasing digital books or subscriptions.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Canada-based Kobo have all updated their iOS e-reader apps, with Barnes & Noble temporarily removing its Nook for iPad app from the App Store and sending out a press release late in the afternoon saying it would soon update the app to offer the "… Read more

Google Books and Kindle to get 'Harry Potter' series

Amazon Kindle readers will not be left out of the "Harry Potter" series when it begins arriving in digital format for e-readers later this year.

Amazon officials told TechCrunch that it is working with Pottermore, the Web site set up to distribute the digital version of the books for e-readers.

Yesterday, Google announced it that it would be getting the "Harry Potter" e-books for its Google Books platform. Google said it is also working with Pottermore.

Some reports speculated based on the Google announcement that Amazon's Kindle might be left in the cold with no … Read more

Nook2Android turns Nook into full Android tablet

Barnes & Noble Nook Color owners now have a new option that can turn their e-readers into full-fledged Android tablets.

Sold by a company called Nook2Android, a SanDisk microSD card preloaded with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the Android Market essentially transforms Nook Color readers into Android tablets.

Available in three sizes and prices ($34.99 for 8 gigabytes, $49.99 for 16 GB, and $89.99 for 32GB), the SD card plugs directly into the Nook, letting the device boot into Android mode. A boot menu gives users the choice of loading Android or the Nook operating system, while removing the card will automatically transform the Nook back into its normal e-reader state.

In Android mode, Nook owners can use the built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n to surf the Web and run various preinstalled apps, such as Gmail, Facebook, and Pandora, according to Nook2Android. Apps can be downloaded and installed directly from the Android Market. The company also promises that using the cards won't affect the Nook's internal memory or void the warranty from B&N.… Read more

Amazon lets students rent Kindle textbooks

Amazon today unveiled a textbook rental service for the company's Kindle e-reader. Students can rent e-textbooks for as few as 30 days and extend rental periods in one-day increments.

A key feature is you can keep annotations and highlighting after the rental period ends. The notes are stored in the Amazon cloud and can be automatically synced if you re-rent a textbook. The amount of storable highlighting allowed is determined by the individual publishers, according to an Amazon spokesperson.

Of course, the devil is in the details. John Wiley & Sons isn't saying how much highlighting they allow … Read more

Google eBooks and Iriver launch Story HD e-reader

Back at CES in January, we got an early look at Iriver's Story HD, a new e-ink-based product that the company was touting as the world's "highest-resolution 6-inch e-reader." Well now, that e-reader is set to launch July 17 with the Google eBookstore on board, making it the first Google eBooks e-reader.

The 7.3-ounce Story HD, which retails for $139.99 and sports an electronic paper display made by LG, offers XGA (768x1,024 pixels) resolution and has 63.8 percent more pixels and faster page turns, thanks to an advanced processor from Freescale Semiconductor … Read more

'Upgrade' to a Nook, get 30 free e-books

Barnes & Noble is using free e-books to entice current e-reader owners to also buy a Nook.

Starting tomorrow, consumers who head to Barnes & Noble stores with their current e-reader in hand and buy a Nook will receive 30 free titles. The e-books, which will come on a free 2GB microSD card, span several genres, including cooking, classics, and history. The retail value of the free e-books is $315, the company said.

Barnes & Noble's offer won't require users to trade in their old e-readers. Instead, they simply need to show it to employees to take advantage of the deal. According to Barnes & Noble, the deal is available on the company's standard Nook, which retails for $139, or the Nook Color, which costs $249.

In its announcement of the offer, Barnes & Noble was quick to say it believes that users buying its Nook to replace another device would be receiving an "upgrade," further igniting debate over which e-reader--the Nook or the Kindle--is best.… Read more

Samsung, magazine publishers demo new tablet editions

NEW YORK--In the hope of spurring a publishing renaissance, the big magazines continue to try to take advantage of the growing popularity of tablets and electronic readers.

The publishers of Time, Wired, Better Homes and Gardens, and Popular Mechanics got together last night with Samsung managers to demonstrate how their updated tablet edition, Next Issue, operates on Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Next Issue Media (NIM) is the company formed by Hearst, Conde Nast, News Corp., Meredith, and Time Inc. to spearhead their joint efforts into selling their publications on tablets.

A NIM executive showed the gathering of … Read more

E-book stores get massive Star Wars update

The expanded Star Wars universe, which spans thousands of years through books, video games, TV shows, and other media, sheds further light on many additional compelling sagas that occur around the original story. However, many of those writings have never been available in e-book format, testing the patience of Jedi everywhere.

As of yesterday, owners of Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Sony Reader and Apple iOS (via iBooks) devices can purchase a larger selection of books from the expanded Star Wars canon that were previously unavailable in their respective stores.

More than 100 books ranging from the Old Republic to a time well past the new Jedi Order can be purchased for $7.99 (or higher). Noted Star Wars publishers LucasBooks and Random House have unleashed a massive collection of titles from famous authors such as Timothy Zahn, Michael Reaves, Kevin Anderson, A.C. Crispin, Michael A. Stackpole, and many others. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1499: Finally, Venn diagrams come to social networking! (Podcast)

On today's show, we're kind of down on Microsoft Office 365 and poor MySpace's future, but we feel a tiny bit positive about the overlapping circles of nerdiness that could be possible with Google's new Plus social networking beta. Also, find out what you love on Google, if you can, and see all the movies you want for $50 a month. Plus: our new favorite word! Philanthrodorks!