kindle

Irex officially unveils new wireless e-book reader

Back in August we wrote about the impending arrival of a new, touch-screen, wireless-enabled e-reader from Irex, and now the company has officially unveiled the product, the DR800SG, which boasts a 8.1-inch screen and costs $399.

While Sprint provides the Amazon Kindle's wireless service, the Irex e-reader will use Verizon for its 3G wireless connectivity. As with the Kindle, the "free" wireless plan offers unlimited e-book and periodical downloads and is included in the price of the DR800SG.

Irex reps previously said that they would be pairing their new e-reader with a large e-book retailer, and not surprisingly, the DR800SG has a tie-in with Barnes & Noble's e-bookstore. For newspaper and other periodicals, Irex continues an already established partnership with NewspaperDirect, which serves up "1,140 newspapers from 87 countries in 41 languages in their original layout."

Just as importantly, Irex has brokered a deal with Best Buy to sell the DR800SG in Best Buy stores nationwide. According to the New Times, this week "Best Buy is training thousands of its employees in how to talk about and demonstrate devices like the Sony Reader and Irex, and adding a new area to its 1,048 stores to showcase the devices."

Here are the DR800SG's highlights:… Read more

BOL 1064: Urine in the sky with diamonds

That beautiful silvery comet you saw in the sky recently was actually astronaut urine. No joke. We also avoid talking about pee for most of the show. Bing is still on the rise and Facebook is making money. Wow. Things are looking up all over. Just be careful when you look up. There's astronaut pee up there.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1064

Facebook grows and makes money http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8258117.stm

Bing grabs 10 percent of search market http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10354394-75.html… Read more

Is this your Kindle?

On her way back from the airport the other day, our photo editor Sarah found a Kindle in the back seat of a New York City taxi cab. Being the honest person she is, she asked me if there was any way to get it back to the owner.

Well, it's actually not that easy to track down the owner of Kindle, especially if that person has a fairly common first and last name, as the owner of this Kindle does. We actually e-mailed him at the Kindle address that's registered to the device but it doesn't … Read more

E-book readers still owned by small niche

The tech industry buzzes a lot about e-book readers. But how widely are they actually used?

Among 1,529 consumers who responded to a July 2009 questionnaire from research firm In-Stat, only 5.8 percent currently own an e-book reader. And only 11 percent of those questioned said they planned to buy one in the next 12 months, according to the In-Stat report released this week.

Those low results may be even more significant given that In-Stat's survey audience consisted of high-end consumers who typically adopt new technology earlier than the general public.

Another study released last week by … Read more

BOL 1057: Bridge Out Loud

The monkeys are running the zoo: Rafe Needleman, Brian Cooley, and Brian Tong, with producer Lynn Fu, cover the iPhone finally getting MMS, Google's patent on its home page, Amazon re-delivering 1984 to Kindle, and the closure of the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1057

AT&T says MMS coming to iPhone on September 25 http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/09/att-says-mms-coming-to-iphone-on-september-25.ars http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574

It’s official: AT&T Wireless sucks: … Read more

Amazon apologizes for deleting Kindle e-books

In an apology, Amazon has offered to redeliver copies of George Orwell novels that were mistakenly deleted from Kindle owners' libraries, or provide a gift certificate or check for $30.

In July, Amazon received a torrent of criticism--not to mention a lawsuit--over its decision to delete copies of "1984" and "Animal Farm" from Kindles after it discovered that certain versions of those e-books were added to the Kindle library by an unauthorized publisher. However, the move to erase lawfully purchased copies of books written about the overreaching hand of a central authoritarian government struck … Read more

Shmoop sends your kids to school--online

Shmoop, an online learning tool designed for high-school students, has unveiled several new categories and a whopping 115 iPhone apps.

The site now features study guides on poetry, bestselling books, civics, and biography. It already offered in-depth information on U.S. history and literature.

The timing on Shmoop's announcement is certainly appropriate. School is about to be back in session. Students will be needing Shmoop's online offerings to help them get through class.

But just how they use Shmoop's features is up for debate.

The basics Shmoop is basically a study guide, although the site's founder … Read more

Study paints Kindle e-reader a dark shade of green

Claims that the Amazon Kindle electronic reader is more environmentally friendly than paper books hold up, according to an analysis by the Cleantech Group.

The research and media company drew on existing studies to do a lifecycle analysis and found that the carbon emissions from electronic books are far lower than traditional book publishing.

Taking into account the manufacturing and mining required to produce an electronic device still gives the Amazon Kindle a significant edge, according to the study which was done by Emma Ritch.

"The roughly 168 kg of CO2 produced throughout the Kindle's lifecycle is a … Read more

BOL 1051: Firefox 3.5, now safe for porn

Yes. Snow Leopard reviews are out, and I have my favorite. But the more interesting story is Mozilla finding out that people didn't want to upgrade because they're afraid of the awesome bar exposing their porn. So they introduced private browsing mode fast. We also welcome Jon Strickland from HowStuffWorks to the show and he helps us understand how we can turn any story into an Apple story.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) Episode 1051

Best OS X Snow Leopard review I saw http://twitter.com/rstevens/status/3582198132… Read more

E-paper sales expected to hit $9.6 billion in '18

Electronic paper is stacking up to be a high-growth market, according to a new report.

Sales of e-paper displays are projected to soar from $431 million this year to $9.6 billion in 2018, market researcher DisplaySearch said Wednesday.

The number of units sold is forecast to grow 22 million this year to 1.8 billion in 2018.

E-books are currently the main use and sales driver for e-paper. Most e-book readers, such as the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, use the electrophoretic display technology from E Ink. A few e-readers, such as Fujitsu's Flepia, use a different technology … Read more