You may not have heard, but Friday saw the release of the newest iPhone. It’s a 3G phone that sold for $199 (8 GB) and $299 (16 GB). Also released on Friday was the newest firmware for the iPhones and iTouches which made available third party applications for the first time*.
Two of the [...]

I would like to develop an “If You Like Series” here at Dearauthor. Essentially, I want to build a library of cross referenced authors so that if a reader is searching for a particular read and likes a particular author, she might find a new author to glom onto.
I’m trying to do a better [...]

Jeff Bezos refuses to divulge how many Kindles Amazon has sold but he claims that the Kindle sales make up more than 6% of total Amazon book sales. In response to questions from Mossberg about why ebooks, Bezos talks about the value added component of ebooks such as dictionary lookup or change in font [...]

I know I promised to do a piece on the history of Net Neutrality legislation and what is the current state of the governmental proposals. I still intend to do that within the next couple of weeks. Today, though, is June 1, and next Tuesday, June 9, Steve Jobs will announce the release [...]

SB Sarah wrote me and asked if I would think bad thoughts about her if she bought a Kindle. I said yes but if she agreed to write a review for me, I would think less bad thoughts.  Here it is.
***
My introduction to eBooks came largely when I started reviewing romance novels, because [...]

Astak inc is showing off three different sizes of e ink ebook readers at the International Digital Publishing Forum conference. The smallest one has a 5″ screen and is going to retail for $200.00. There will also be 6″ and 9.7″ sizes. The larger devices will have wi fi and bluetooth capabilities. [...]

Author Sandra Schwab of The Lily Brand and Castle of the Wolf bought a new Cybook and wrote up a wonderful review of it. I asked for permission to republish the posts here for the Dear Author readership. The Cybook can be ordered directly from Bookeen, a French company, or through Baen’s Bar.
[...]

899.00 AUD

=

796.239 USD

Australia Dollars

United States Dollars

1 AUD = 0.885694 USD

1 USD = 1.12906 AUD

Dymocks has partnered with iRex to sell the iLiad eBook reader in Australia. The iLiad is a unique e ink device in that it has a touch sensitive screen and wifi capabilities. The device supports [...]

Over at Gizmodo, I saw that the Palm TX is on sale from Palm for $199 with free wireless keyboard. The Palm TX has a screen size of 3.8″ and can read eReader, Mobipocket, Adobe and HTML files. It also has wi fi capabilities.
It was one of Dear Author’s recommended [...]

Kindletalk.com is a new website for Kindle users. It’s an Amazon owned site per the whois data. The first question posted by an “admin” is “The Sony readers are everywhere but have not had much success. The Kindle is more expensive but has many more feautures[sic], the most important one being wireless access [...]

The Amazon Kindle is available for order. The price is $399 with free shipping. There are some author testimonials from people like James Patterson, Michael Lewis and Neil Gaiman who all extol the marvelous screen which you would think that Amazon invented. It did not. It’s eink technology and the Sony Reader [...]

Despite the fact that the PR gathering tomorrow was supposedly a secret, everyone on the internet knows that Amazon invited a number of publishing representatives and technology folks to New York for a PR event to take place on November 19. No details were given, but based on the people that were contacted and [...]

My first portable reading device was a multi function device and a multi function device is what I use now. I remember asking my neighbor (who is an eBookwise user) what she thought of my Sony Reader. She loved the display, but for the price, she thought it needed to do more. [...]

I’ve used both dedicated eReading Devices and Multi-function devices and if I had a dedicated eReading device that had a backlight, I would use that one probably exclusively. Dedicated eReaders are those devices whose primary function is to serve as an ebook reader. Most dedicated devices also have an mp3 player, but for the most [...]

Christmas shopping is right around the corner and I’ve noticed a number of commenters indicate that they are getting something for ebook reading for Christmas. Because of the hated Digital Rights Management and nearly 10 different software platforms for ebooks, deciding which device to buy can be more traumatizing than braving the 5 am [...]

Commenter Anji was the first to bring this to my attention but I did see it in the inbox (thanks guys for feeding my iPhone addiction) and all over the news when I got home from my business trip yesterday. Apple will be releasing a software development kit (SDK) so that developers will find [...]

The rumors of the Amazon Kindle are reaching a fevered state (okay, maybe only in my mind) but I was thrilled for some reason when I read at Engadget that Kindle ebooks were showing up as “other formats”. I did a quick search and sure enough, every book that I know off that is [...]

Sony has just officially announced its 2008 eBook Reader which will be sold at expanded Borders locations. According to the Press Release, the new Reader will retail for $300 ($50 cheaper than the original price point of the 2006 reader) and come with a USB cable, software and cover. For extra money, you [...]

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) will start selling its product in November. The OLPC project is designed to provide a laptop for every child in a developing nation so that the technology divide would not further impoverish those without. For $399, you can get a funky green and white child friendly laptop delivered [...]

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The guys over at MobileRead noticed that the Borders Beta didn’t have the Sony Reader listed or any ebooks. In fact, in searching ebooks, Bob Russell noted that you received a sad error message: ” Did you mean books?”.
Cheer up guys, Borders and Sony are launching a co branded eBook Store and will expand [...]

Even before the iPhone was released, we were told that by Jobs it would be a closed system. A closed system prevented third party applications from being developed and installed on the device. This changed slightly as Jobs invited developers to create Safari based widgets. While it was not impossible to read [...]

image from jdawg.
Sony has a new ad campaign presumably to stir excitement about the next generation of Sony Readers likely to debut this fall. It’s slogan is “Sexier than a Librarian.” Now having seen SuperLibrarian, Wendy, in her slinky black halter dress this summer, I can certainly say that no electronic device is [...]

The MobileRead scoops have done it again. They spotted a French newspaper account of Amazon’s new e venture. According to a French newspaper Les Echos, Amazon is launching its Kindle and an epaper store to feature enewspapers on October 15. Maybe a bunch of business folks will buy the Amazon Kindle [...]

Over the weekend, an enterprising coder released an eBook widget for the iPhone. It reads only html files, but its a better solution than what iPhone users have currently. The problem is it requires you to hack into your iPhone. I’ve read the process and it looks way confusing. I’m still hoping [...]

Bookeen’s newsletter just arrived in my inbox. The specifications and high resolution photos are up at the Bookeen site.
Specs of the Bookeen v. Sony Reader

 
Bookeen
Sony

size
7.4" x 4.7" x 0.3"
6.9” x 4.9”x 0.5"

weight
6.13 ounces
apprx. .8 oz

screen

6" E Ink® Vizplex600×800 pixels
166 dpi
B&W, 4 gray-scale
[...]

Last December I blogged about the ebook readers that were to hit the market in 2007. Unfortunately, none have made their appearance although word is that a few are still slotted for an imminent debut. The buzz still points toward the Amazon Kindle as being the most widely anticipated. Despite the talk [...]

Andrew Marr admits that his “enthusiasm for traditional books is just this side of pervy.” In an article for the Guardian, Marr relates his love for traditional books, admits his predilection for reading news and other sources on the web, and falls for the seductive properties of the e-reader: the size, the portability. In [...]

Someone once asked (I think it was Laura Florand) whether I ever feel like quitting blogging and I do. Particularly on Saturday nights when I am supposed to be blogging about ebooks and ebook technology. I feel like there isn’t anything new to say. DRM is bad. New York needs to [...]

Publisher’s Weekly reports that the London Book Fair is ripe with gossip about the Amazon Reader. It is reported that Amazon is to release the reader this spring, dependent on content. Amazon Reader will likely run Mobipocket which Amazon purchased a few years ago.
Publishers have already been looking at it for months. [...]

The prospective manufacturers of a new ebook reader posted this picture and the following specs at Mobile Read:
Project of the device for reading electronic books
Screen: 6 “SVGA Electronic Paper Display (not E Ink Corporation)
CPU: ARM7, 73 MHz
SRAM: 1,0 Mb
ROM: 256 Mb (it is used 248 Mb)
USB 2.0
SD/MMC: up to 2.0 GB
Formats: TXT, XML (FB2), [...]