ereader

Customers who placed early orders for Barnes & Noble's Nook e-readers will get them in time for Christmas, the company said Wednesday, despite its statements to the contrary a few days ago.

Got whiplash yet?

On Friday, the retailer told some customers by e-mail that it aimed to get the device to customers by Thursday, Christmas Eve. Those who did not get the gadget in time would get an e-mail notification on Wednesday with a $100 Barnes & Noble online gift certificate, the company said.

It appears those gift certificates won't be showing up in in-boxes, however, as … Read more

A not-so-merry holiday gift for Amazon.com: hackers say they've successfully cracked copyright protections on the company's Kindle e-reader, making it possible to export e-books to other devices.

One hack reportedly resulted from a Kindle DRM challenge issued on Israeli forum Hacking.org. On that site, an Israeli hacker known as Labba claims to have created a tool that lets e-books stored on the Kindle be transferred as PDF files.

A U.S. hacker who goes by the name "i♥cabbages," meanwhile, created a program called Unswindle that promises to convert books stored in the Kindle for PC application into a different file format.

The free Kindle for PC app lets book buyers read their books right from their PCs without having to buy a Kindle reader. Unswindle has to be used in conjunction with MobiDeDRM, a program by another hacker named "darkreverser."

Posters on i♥cabbages' blog give Unswindle mixed reviews, ranging from "works like a charm" and "worked flawlessly" to descriptions of various errors. … Read more

Entourage Systems, Inc. is a first-time CES exhibitor readying its release of the Entourage Edge, a hybrid gadget combining two trending technologies: e-readers and Netbooks.

Asghar Mostafa, president and CEO of the McLean, Virginia-based company, has a strong entrepreneurial background, mostly building technology businesses. Although a variety of people might find it useful, Mostafa sees the Edge catering to college and high school students who could benefit from a lighter backpack.

Amazon vied to fulfill the same need with its Kindle DX, but college students are reluctant in accepting the technology, especially because of its price point.

Entourage Edge delivers … Read more

With all the buzz over the tiny LCD screen on the bottom of Barnes & Noble's Nook, I was excited to get some time with the Entourage Edge, a device that pairs a large 9.7-inch E Ink screen with an even larger 10-inch LCD touch screen.

I got that chance on Monday, when the company stopped by CNET with a prototype of the product, which is set to ship in February for $490.

The goal of the Edge, the company says, is to offer a device that can replace the textbooks and notebooks carried around by typical high school students.

"We just thought here was a way to take technology and apply it to what they carry around," said Entourage Systems Vice President Doug Atkinson. "The initial goal was to put a 30-pound backpack in a device. I think we've achieved that."

There are a lot of features to like about the three-pound device, although, it definitely has the look and feel of a first-generation product.

The Edge's main selling point is, of course, the fact that it has two screens to do true work on. Unlike the Nook, which uses its color screen only for navigating the eBook and as an on-screen keyboard, the Edge's LCD can be used to run a variety of Android applications or to browse the Web.

The electronic ink side, meanwhile, can be used not only for reading books, but also for taking notes, using a stylus.

One of the Edge's many neat tricks is letting you go back and forth between the two screens.… Read more

Plastic Logic, the maker of the much anticipated, vaguely understood Que e-reader, will finally announce availability, pricing, and design at CES 2010.

Although its business division is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Plastic Logic's technologies were born in Cambridge, England. The research team spent 10 years finding ways to use plastic transistors for the e-reader screen instead of silicon.

Professors at the Cavendish Labs in Cambridge eventually came up with a flexible e-reader, one that can't shatter, unlike the Kindle's and Nook's glass screens.

Manufacturing is commissioned to a company in Dresden, Germany, and for all … Read more

If you'd have told me a year ago that late 2009 would see a new format war brewing, I would have said, "Great, I love a good format war!"

If you'd have told me it would be an e-book format war, though, I might have laughed at you and made fun of your stupid Christmas sweater. Because a year ago the Kindle was the only game in town, and by the looks of it you shop at the Mervyns outlet.

This week we got our hands on the Nook, the tight little e-book reader from Barnes &… Read more

Start-up Spring Design has been denied an injunction to halt Barnes & Noble from selling its Nook e-reader, according to court documents.

The company had requested the injunction, in addition to monetary damages, as part of a recent lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose, Calif. The suit charges that the bookseller misappropriated Spring Design trade secrets in the design of its Nook, which launched October 20, the day after Spring Design announced its Alex e-book reader.

The court's decision (PDF), based on a Monday hearing, denies Spring Design's request for a preliminary injunction, but states that a halt to sales could still be appropriate if the plaintiff ultimately prevails. The court also says it will expedite the pre-trial process to accommodate Spring's request for an early hearing.

Barnes & Noble does not comment on litigation as a matter of policy, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. CNET has contacted Spring Design for a comment and is waiting to hear back.

The Nook, like Spring Design's Alex (which has yet to be released), combines a color touch screen with an e-ink display, and both readers use the Android operating system. In its lawsuit, Spring Design said it showed its plans for the Alex to Barnes & Noble, which showed interest in the product and gave no indication it was working on a similar device.

So sales of the Nook will move forward for now, though not without hitches of a non-legal sort. … Read more

Updated at 6:38 p.m. PST with comment from Barnes & Noble spokesperson.

If you're planning to head into a Barnes & Noble this week to get your hands on a Nook, put your plans on hold. Barnes & Noble said Sunday that it won't be featuring the e-readers in stores for sale or demonstration until December 7 due to excess demand for the device.

"A very limited supply, along with demo units, will be available in our highest-volume stores only, beginning December 7," Mary Ellen Keating, Barnes & Noble's senior vice president of … Read more

While we've got no Nooks to give away, we do have a spiffy Amazon Kindle to offer up for today's daily holiday giveaway. The Kindle remains our highest-rated e-book reader, and I know you want one.

Quick thanks goes out to Amazon.com and CNET's Shopper.com for making this prize available to Crave readers. In case you didn't know it, Shopper.com powers CNET's price-comparison engine and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products.

Normally, the Kindle would cost you about $259, but you have the chance to get … Read more