09:53 AM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

A new ebook reader is going to be announced next week at the CeBIT show: It's called the BOOX. I've heard back from developers, and they will be releasing more info tomorrow. Here is what we know so far:

Technical Specs
Content Formats Supported
EPUB PDF HTML TXT CHM MOBI
JPG/BMP/PNG/GIF/TIFF
MP3

Interfaces
Touch Screen
USB Type A Connector For USB Memory Stick
SD/MMC Slot
2.5mm Stereo Audio Jack
(Optional)WIFI 802.11g Wireless LAN

System Specification
Processor: 532 MHz
Ram: 128MB
Flash memory: 512MB
Screen: 6-Inch

The specs say it has a touchscreen, and if you look at the picture you'll see that only one button is visible below the screen. I wonder if that button is anything like the Zune swipe pad?

Onyx will be at CeBIT next week at Hall 19, Stand B18. If anyone who will be there can take some pictures, we'd appreciate it.

Update: Onyx added more product information to their website this morning. My rpevious information source was a product listing on the CeBIT website. Read here for more information:
http://www.onyx-international.com/cms/product-box.html

06:01 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Amazon Kindle

Walt Mossberg, the eminent technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal, just handed down his verdict on Amazon's Kindle 2. Walt considers the K2 a "well-designed, satisfying piece of hardware", fixing most of the design flaws of the earlier Kindle (such as accidential page turns or the book cover falling off). In summation he says, "[F]or serious book readers who are tired of toting around stacks of books and periodicals, the new Kindle is finally a pleasure to use."

Article: Amazon's Kindle 2 Improves the Good, Leaves Out the Bad

Related: Walt Mossberg reviews the Kindle in the WSJ (Nov 11, 2007)

04:30 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

It's been a long time coming and we've heard a lot about the "Kindle killer", but now is the time for Indigo's Shortcovers to open its doors and show us what's inside.

• Public launch is tomorrow, February 26th
• Shortcovers will be launching on iPhone, Blackberry and Android
• The service will be available globally, but launching with US and Canadian currencies
• Shortcovers will have 200,000 first chapters of books, 50,000 full books at launch, but adding much more content in the coming weeks from top publishers such as Random House, Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins.
• Shortcovers’ eBooks will cheaper than their hardcopy counterparts – ranging in the $4.99-$19.99 range.

It should go without saying that we're eagerly waiting to hear of your first Shortcovers hands-on experiences.

10:54 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Apple Devices

Kevin of jkOnTheRun tested two very popular free iPhone apps for reading e-books. One is Stanza, the other is eReader. His first impressions: Stanza looks prettier and pagination works better and quicker. eReader, on the other hand, has more theme options (background and text color).

One important difference is that Stanza supports various e-book formats, including those without DRM, whereas eReader uses exclusively the eReader PDB format (with and without DRM).

Related: Best ebook reader for iPhone?

10:43 AM by Jason in E-Book General | News

Although the company will not confirm, industry sources report that Prime View International is gearing up for mass production of flexible electrophoretic displays (EPDs) by the second quarter of 2009, with production of color displays soon to follow.

Article: PVI To Mass Produce E-Readers

10:24 AM by freecia in E-Book Readers | Amazon Kindle

Kindle made it into today's xkcd web comic for those of you who don't read the geeky comic strip.

I'd say it is a Kindle 2 from the rounded corners.

10:13 AM by RWood in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

I just picked up the Process Text Group's ABC Amber ePub Converter. It converts ePub files to other formats including:

• DOC
• RTF
• HTML
• PDF
• CHM
• TXT
• LIT
• PDB

Italics and em dashes are preserved in most conversions (not in TXT, LIT, and PDB.) For those of us that do not have readers that use ePub it is a quick way to convert those files that are not available in out format and create them. It does not work on DRM files.

Note: This converter does not produce ePub files.

Priced at $19.95 (or less as part of a bundle), there is a free 30 day trial at http://www.processtext.com/abcepub.html

Full disclosure: I am not associated with Process Text Group, I have used their products for many years -- both the free converters and the paid converters.

05:45 AM by KindleKat in E-Book Readers | Amazon Kindle

Well, sort of...

Interestingly, the teardown revealed an empty space for a SIM card slot, which might indicate Amazon's got firmer plans for the Kindle's international debut than they were willing to talk about at the launch.

Engadget