08:05 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

Chinese e-reader site MobRead is reporting that PVI now has final approval from the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission to buy Massachusetts based E-ink Corp.

Up until it announced the purchase of Eink back in June, PVI had licensed Eink's technology and was (still is) the primary manufacturer of epaper screens for ebook readers like the Kindle, Sony Reader, Hanlin V3, Cybook, etc.

07:51 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

The Chinese ebook site MobRead is reporting that there will be an e-reader trade show in Shenzhen, China from 16-18 March.

You may not know this, but there is a _huge_ ebook reader market in China. The handful of devices that have appeared in Europe and the USA are just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally dozens of models that are made only for the Chinese market. I just looked over the map of the trade show; there are nearly 500 booths laid out. You can learn more about the show here:
http://www.ouge-miexpo.cn/er/

I can't go (unless someone else pays for it).

07:21 AM by seagull in E-Book General | News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ow_29_12_2009/

This was on BBC Radio 4 yesterday (I think iPlayer is UK only, sorry!), I haven't listened to it all yet. Anybody else listened to it?

09:07 PM by wallcraft in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

There is a test version of the very latest FBReader for the SmartQ 5/7. See Testing wanted: FBReader 0.12.1 for SmartQ, which includes a download link and asks for feedback.

05:24 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

You may have seen the reports that Blio will be demoed at CES. It's not on any schedule, but I finally found out where and when. I have confirmation from a contact with Kurzweil Technologies that Blio will be on display in the Microsoft booth. I was also told that Steve Ballmer will mention it during his keynote address (Wednesday, 6:30pm).

The Juggernaut is awake, and it's throwing its weight behind a new and unknown format. This may not be new to you, but I've glanced through all the coverage on Blio and I don't see Microsoft mentioned anywhere. Have you?

P.S. On a related note, I also found the support site for Blio: www.blioreader.com.

12:48 PM by anurag in E-Book General | News

From http://gizmodo.com/5435814/first-loo...y-ebook-format:

Blio, officially debuting next week at CES, lets you read your ebooks as they're intended to look on paper. Clearly, Kurzweil is signaling his choice of tablets over e-ink, and his first shots are definitely persuasive.

With apps planned soon for the iPhone and PCs, Blio's cross-platform functionality makes it a natural fit for something like the Apple iSlate, which along with other tablet devices should be perfect for reading cookbooks, children's books, and any other illustrated tome. It marks a natural evolution away from the current stock of ebook readers, which are bound by the drab black and white of e-ink.

...

10:23 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

I came across another e-reader yesterday, and I have to say that it intrigues me. The Insdream SX601 was developed by Sanxo Technology,which is located in Shenzhen, China's Silicon Valley.

The SX601 has rather unique screen in the ereader market. Instead of the expected Vizplex, it has a gray scale DSTN screen. According to the manufacturer, it's as energy efficient as an epaper screen and its only disadvantage (weaker contrast) is balanced by a faster refresh.

Specs:

• 6" screen, 16 grayscale level
• MP3 support
• MicroSD slot (up to 4GB)
• speaker
• headphone port
• portrait & landscape mode
• FBReader

***********
The manufacturer has a photo gallery here. Yes, it does look like a Kindle clone. I also think it looks like the screen image was photoshopped. Yes/No?

09:10 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

In this installment I will cover the hidden and less well known exhibitors.

Irex
Maker of the Iliad and Digital Readers, this company isn't registered as an exhibitor, but does have a booth number on its website. I checked, and the booth belongs to Qualcomm, who I assume provides the 3G chip for the DRs.

Notion Ink
This company just announced a tablet running Android, and has said that it will be on display. I checked, and this company will be in one of the Nvidia booths (there are 3).

Qualcomm
This company was on my list for another reason: Mirasol screen technology. I can't wait to see it.

LiquaVista
This company has more cutting edge screen technology than you can shake a stick at (including epaper).

Popular Mechanics
I know it looks a little strange to have this company on my list, but I have 2 reasons to visit this booth. My original reason was that it was a Hearst magazine and I was going to ask about the rumored ebook reader (this was back before the Skiff announcement). Also, Popular Mechanics has been demoing a new digital magazine concept platform. I want to see it, naturally.

Nexar Technologies
I still don't know if this one is for real, but Nexar has a dual screen netbook in its product listings. I figure it's worth at least a walk by the booth to check it out.

NBC Universal
I confess that I don't know why NBC is coming to CES, but I bet there is a good reason.

Marvell
This is a CPU manufacturer, and it announced a new line of CPUs a couple months back. The CPUs have the epaper screen controller on the same chip. The Entourage Edge is using one.

Netronix
This is a key player in the ebook reader market, so it's something of a puzzle why they're not listed as an exhibitor. But Netronix will be at CES sharing a booth with Team Research, distributors of the Astak EZReader line of ebook reader.