Wireless

The NPD group has released a new report (e-Reader Owners: Attitudes and Usage) on e-readers. It seems that 93% of e-reader owners are"very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their device. According to the report, 60 percent of owners said wireless access was their favorite feature on their e-Reader; touch was mentioned by 23 percent of owners.

Some recommended improvements from owners include more book title availability, longer battery life, and color screens at 42 percent, 39 percent, and 34 percent respectively. Content is important, and while almost half (46 percent) of owners said they were mostly satisfied with the selection of titles for their e-Reader devices, only 39 percent said they could find every title they were looking for.

About 30% say they use at least one another device for reading e-books, such as a PC or a smartphone.

Yesterday Apple finally unveiled the new iPad tablet. This is basically an oversized iPhone (it is running the same OS). It doesn't have an OLED display, nor an E Ink - it's an IPS LCD (which has a better image quality and viewing angle than normal LCDs, but requires more power).

It is also an e-reader - supporting ePub, PDF and Kindle books (via an application). The e-reader app is called iBooks, and there's a bookstore too (iBookstore) that uses the ePub format. Apple also targets this for newspaper with rich content and video support. Apple claims 10 hour battery life with a month of standby.

So will this shake the new e-reader market? It seems hardly likely - it's an expensive, big, heavy device with a very bad battery life, compared to 'dedicated' e-readers. The display might be an issue too - it looks superb, but it's not as easy on the eye as an E Ink. But then again, this is Apple... so you never know. I guess the real question is whether people want a dedicated e-reader that is great for the job, or would rather have a more general-use tablet PC that is also a good e-reader.

Taiwan's Delta Electronics plans to start shipping 13.1" color e-readers at the end of 2Q. They will also ship 8.1" monochrome ones. Both are using e-paper technology from Bridgestone, and are touch-enabled. These will be the first products based on Bridestone's technology, which offers color, efficient e-paper with a fast refresh rate.

 

Delta are still looking for partners who will actually brand and market the e-readers (which can be equipped with Wi-Fi or 3G modules). They will also market on their own, and are looking for content providers in Taiwan.

Via ComputerWorld

China's Hanvon has announced a range of e-readers, the WISEreaders (the N500, N618, N628, N638 and N800). They all use E Ink display (5" to 8"), some has Wi-Fi and some GPRS/3G connectivity, and almost all has touch-display that require a pen and support handwriting recognition.

Hanvon plans to ship the e-readers in 2010, and will market the WISEreaders in the US. They will also seek OEM partners.

Amazon.com announced a new product today, a global-wireless Kindle-DX. It has support in over 100 countries, and costs $489. It's available for pre-order now, and will ship in January 19th.

Via CNet

Interead announces 3 new readers. All of them has the same basic specifications (6" E Ink, 2Gb of internal memory, an SD-card slot).

• COOL-ER compact.
• COOL-ER connect, which adds Wi-Fi and a touch-display.
• COOL-ER 3G, which adds 3G and a touch-display, too.

They have also re branded their existing e-reader as COOL-ER classic.

Sony's Reader Daily Edition is now shipping - the initial batch of pre-orders is shipping today. If you haven't pre-ordered, you'll have to wait till January 15th to get your reader. The Daily Edition has got a 7" E Ink display and free 3G wireless (AT&T). It costs 399$.

Via Engadget