Ebook readers: Many new models fail to impress

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I hate to say it, but it feels like ebooks are taking over. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), I came across so many ebooks that they started to blur together into one idealistic fantasy.

Every electronic startup that has the capacity to design and produce an ebook reader is pumping them out by the dozen, and that's on top of all the mainstream ones that are already established. And though the Amazon Kindle was what many consider to be the start of it all a few years ago, many other companies such as Sony already had ebook readers around.

However, it was Amazon's big marketing campaign that catapulted the ebook reader to fame in the eyes of book lovers and college students around the world.

Which brings me to this year's CES. Ebook readers more or less stole the show, with multiple manufactures announcing and demonstrating new products. Throughout the month of December leading up to CES, there were announcements and leaks of the ebook readers to come.

The Bookeen's Orizon, the RCA Lexi, the iRiver Story, the Jinke SiPix readers, the Hanvon WISEreader, the Cool-er readers from Interead, the Ocean and Tidal series from Copia and a pair of E6 and E10 e-book readers from Samsung. Those are some of the interesting ones.

The real contenders include the Alex from Spring-Design, which is basically what the Barnes & Noble Nook should have been, and with a possible partnership with Borders, it could really take off. The finest ebook reader products at CES were the proLogic QUE proReader and the Skiff Reader.

Even Google is going to get on the ebook wagon, with plans to offer ebook sales that have downloadable books available to both ordinary computers and mobile devices. So with the buzz about ebook readers reaching a boiling point, one has to wonder just how useful such a product can be.

Sure, if you go through 23 novels and seven textbooks each semester, you should probably already own an ebook reader. However, for the rest of us mere mortals, ebook readers need to offer some more features to grab our attention.

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Aluratek Libre eBook Reader Pro Review

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Those of you considering the purchase of a dedicated eBook Reader may be under the impression that your only choices are from Sony, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’d like to show you one affordable alternative. It’s the Aluratek Libre eBook Reader Pro.

Hardware Specs

RAM: 117MB free
Display: 5″ (12.7cm) ePaper display
Supported formats: PDF, TXT, FB2, EPUB, MOBI, PRC, RTF, BMP, JPG, GIF, and animated GIF picture, MP3
Expansion slot: SD up to 32GB
Dimensions: 6.0 x 4.25 x o.5 in
Weight: 8 oz.
Battery Life: 24 hours (2 weeks standby time)

Package Contents

eBook Reader PRO
2GB SD card filled with 100 books
USB Cable
Power Charger
Hand Strap
Earphones
Carrying Pouch
Quick Start Guide
Warranty & Registration Card

Let me start out right away by telling you that the Libre Pro does not offer a wireless feature like the Kindle and Nook. You will be required to load your books manually instead of buying them through the device. Aluratek helps you out by providing an SD card with the reader that has 100 books preloaded. They are classics such as Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, War and Piece, Wuthering Heights, etc.

Books can also be purchased through ebooks.com

Having owned both the Kindle and Nook, the small size of the Libre was immediately noticeable when I first took it out of the box. The display is only 1 inch smaller though. Click the image above for a larger view.

The Libre’s case is made of charcoal colored plastic that doesn’t show fingerprints or smudges. In hand the reader feels solid and does not flex when squeezed.

The slightly recessed display takes up most of the front of the device, with buttons on both sides and below. The back of the reader has a slight ‘hump’ that holds the non-user replaceable battery.

The main controls are located below the display. On the Left is a combination page next/page prev button and next to that is a grouping of buttons that offer font resizing, screen rotation, menu, and also another set of page next/page prev buttons (left arrow and right arrow).

The Left edge of the Libre offers a third page turning method with a spring loaded sliding bar. Slide it down to turn to the next page, slide it up to go back a page. Raised ridges allow your thumb to keep a grip on this bar. I don’t like this method and find myself using the dedicate paging buttons below the screen.

On the opposite side, there are ten numbered buttons that are used to select books from the list view. These buttons are also used to enter text for search terms.The top edge has a power status LED and an attached cover……which protects a mini USB port and SD card slot. The USB port is used to charge the device and for data transfer of the device itself and the inserted SD card. The Libre mounts as removable drives automatically on Windows and Mac computers.The bottom edge has the power button and 3.5mm headphone jack.

The interface is pretty simple. Turn on the device for the first time and you’re greeted with a list of installed books. To read a book, you can either press the corresponding numbered button next to it or scroll to the desired title with the Dpad and press the OK button to select it.

The Libre does not use an E-ink display like the Kindle, Nook and Sony Readers. Aluratek calls their display ePaper. It reminds me exactly of the old days of PDAs. Specifically the Palm V. Back in the day, the Palm V/Vx was my favorite PDA because the screen was so easy to read. The Libre is just as easy… as long as you’re in a well lit room. This reader does not have a backlight. For those of you that don’t like the E-ink flashing that occurs when turning pages, this reader does not suffer from that affliction.

you can choose from 6 different font sizes.

The initial load time of books can take several seconds depending on the size of the book. But once loaded, there is no lag in page turning. I tested the reader with plain old text files, ePub files, PDF files and JPG images. I didn’t have any problems viewing TXT or ePUB files, but some PDF files would not display and the reader would sometimes freeze when trying to load or display some JPG images. I also encountered issues with the reader freezing when using the Find feature.

The Libre is able to bookmark pages, but it does not offer any type of annotation features. It does offer a couple of interesting features that other readers don’t offer though. It has the ability to play MP3s in the background while you read, and it also has an auto page turning feature.

I’ve been really impressed with the battery life. I’ve been reading on and off with the Libre since receiving it the 2nd week of January and it’s still going strong on its initial charge.
Conclusion

I like the size and price of the Aluratek Libre Pro eBook reader (you can find it for less than $150 at various online retailers) and I think it’s a good device for someone that doesn’t need higher end features like annotations, dictionary and wireless. I do think that the software is a bit glitchy and hope that a firmware update takes care of JPG and PDF freezing issues. Even with those occasional issues, I still recommend this little ebook reader as a good alternative to the big boys.


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India's First Ebook Reader, Pi, Launched

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One lakh digital books are available to Pi owners from infibeam.com. The company plans to add more books over a period of time. Pi gives users the option to upload their own content from a PC or any other device via USB.

Infibeam.com is also in advance talks with a number of newspaper publications to provide subscription based access to large number of newspaper content to its consumers.

The Pi has an internal memory of 512 MB which is expandable via SD Card Slot upto 4 GB. File formats supported are PDF, txt, .doc, EPUB, JPG, PNG, GIF and MP3.

“The idea of Pi has been with us for the past two-years and a lot of R&D effort has gone in the same. We are proud to have created India’s first-ever reading device. Pi should not be seen just as a device but has great socio-economic ramifications, just imagine a doctor consulting his latest medical journal on the fly, or a lawyer looking at the latest case laws or even students having access to his text book in less than a 180 gm device. We can look at many such applications that have the potential to redefine how Indians view and look at content,” said Vishal Mehta, founder and CEO, infibeam.com.

The Pi weighs approximately 180 gm and is less than 10 mm thick. Its storage capacity is up to 350 books with expandable capacity to store an additional 2000 books. It has a battery life of 4 days or 10000 refreshes.

Pi is available at infibeam.com for pre order booking at an introductory price of Rs. 9,999 and comes with a one year warranty.

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TFTS Medium Logo Sony Holding Off On Color eBook Reader Current Color eReader Screens Don't Meet Sony's Quality

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Before that thing called the Kindle, Sony was one of the first companies to offer an eBook Reader, although, without the subsidiaries of the Kindle Store, their eReaders have been pretty expensive and sold mediocrely. A few eReader screen manufacturers (including big dog E Ink) have showed off prototypes of color displays, but Sony isn’t impressed.

Fuji Noguchi, deputy president of Sony’s Digital Reading division said that Sony is “considering making color e-book readers, but there is no electronic paper whose quality is high enough for us.” Quite a blow to E Ink and all the other manufacturers who have showed off color
prototypes.

Obviously, this is a hot issue as the iPad was revealed a few days ago with it’s strong iBook application. Of course, the iPad has a color LCD screen
, with 132ppi, and could be a strong competitor to the current eReader market place.

However, Noguchi believes that an electronic paper solution, vs. the glass OLED screen of the iPad, will appeal to most readers over a longer period of time. Despite facing strong competition from the Kindle and the Nook, Sony is doing well in the market they invented.

Noguchi reported to the press that sales of their eReader lines have been quadrupling on a year-by-year basis ever since the product line launched in October 2006. He even pointed out that activation was slow on Sony’s servers this past Christmas Day as so many people tried to register their new Sony Readers.

Sony currently has two eReaders for sale (the PRS-300 and PRS-600) with the cheaper of the two on sale for $300. Ooops, turns out Sony is selling three eReaders at the moment (the PRS-300, PRS-600 and the PRS-900) and with the lowest selling for $199. Props to Corey for noticing my mistake – I’ll never trust Wikipedia again.

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EBook readers show up in local libraries

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Two local libraries have recently added eBook readers and many more local librarians said they would embrace the new technology if they had the opportunity.

Barbara Lachance, director of Sandown Public Library, said they have two Kindles and are ready to start lending them any day now.

The Kindle is a device on which users can read eBooks. Although Kindle was the first of its kind, there are other devices on the market. Some of them can hold more than 1,000 books.

Lachance said audiobooks have been popular for years, so the move to an electronic device that can be read like a book was a natural progression.

"We felt we needed to keep up with the times," she said.

One of the Kindles will stay at the library and a second one will be circulated.

Lachance said the library purchased the devices at the end of December for about $275 apiece after she tried one. She said she was surprised at how easy it was to read since she's never been comfortable reading text on a computer screen.

"It's soft on your eyes," Lachance said.

Kimball Public Library in Atkinson started lending its two Kindles last week and so far they've been popular, Director Diane Heer said.

Some people want to try one before purchasing their own.

They're convenient for people who travel frequently and don't want to carry books with them, Heer said.

Lachance said she really became intrigued with the Kindle after Mary White of Howe Library in Hanover gave a presentation on how successful that institution's experience was with the device.

Three Kindles were first offered at Howe Library in October 2008, but they became so successful that they had to purchase a fourth to satisfy the demand, White said.

"At one point, we had 90 people or more on the waiting list," she said. White said the Kindle is popular with people who have difficulty reading the small print in a traditional book. On a Kindle, the font size can be increased to make it easier to read. That's one reason the Lions Club donated money to Kimball Library for a Kindle, Heer said.

Some books available on Kindle also have audio, which allows the reader to follow along with a narrator.

Peggy Thrasher, director of Hampstead Public Library, said she's aware of Kindle's advantages and expects to get something similar soon. She said they're probably going to purchase a different reader that is more compatible with the audiobooks they offer.

Thrasher, like most local librarians, said she's not concerned about people moving away from traditional books and into the new format.

"We're more interested in the content than the format," she said.

But some librarians said they're just not ready to add readers to their collection.

Carl Heidenblad, director of Nesmith Public Library in Windham, said they haven't had any requests for Kindles yet. Eventually, Heidenblad said, he expects they will be added to the library, but it won't be anytime soon.

Bob Rice, director of Pelham Public Library, said eBooks will never be able to replace the original, no matter how popular they become.

"There's something about having the weight of a book in your hands that you can't replace," Rice said.

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Asus juggling new Eee PCs, Eee Pad, e-book readers

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Asus is juggling quite the number of low-powered devices behind the scenes. According to industry sources cited by DigiTimes, Asus will unveil its rumored Eee Pad at Computex in June. The device is said to carry an Nvidia Tegra chip -- most likely second-generation -- and will cost under $500.

In addition to the 6-inch color OLED-based DR-570, the company reportedly has a second e-book reader up its sleeve. The DR-950 has a larger 9-inch grayscale 1024x768 touchscreen and weighs around 12 ounces. Neither e-book will arrive in the first half of 2010 though, the sources said.

The company also has several new 12.1-inch Eee PCs lined up, one of which features an Athlon Neo MV-40, Radeon HD 3200, a six-hour battery, and should launch next month. Others will supposedly use Nvidia's Ion 2 graphics chip with Intel's Pine Trail platform and are expected to appear sometime in April.

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Asus To Launch 2 eBook Readers In Spring

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It seems that Asus might be launching its 6-inch DR-570 OLED eBook reader and the 9-inch DR-950 in the US and Europe markets, and we’re talking about the possibility of a spring release. If the spring release, which is to gauge market acceptance, goes well, you can expect to see readers with color screens by winter. Despite talk of rumored releases, it seems that Asus hasn’t begun mass producing the eBook readers just yet, nor has it released final specs, prices or marketing schedules. Earlier reports indicated that Asus wasn’t planning to launch the readers until the 2nd half of the year, but apparently it has been brought forward due to the popularity of eBook readers.

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