08:58 AM by Adam B. in More E-Book Readers | iRex

iRex has announced they new generation of reading devices. They are title the iRex Reader DR1000 Series.

There will be three models:

1. DR1000 Base
   • Base Model Reader

2. DR1000 S
   • Includes Wacom Touch Screen Tablet for taking notes

3. DR1000 SW
   • Includes Wacom Tablet
   • Includes Wifi and Bluetooth functionality

All readers will include 1GB of storage memory via a replaceable SD card. They will also have usb functionality to connect with a computer. A user should be able to "print" any document to the DR1000 from within Windows in order to view it.

Details are still coming in, and an interview with iRex is planned.

What do you guys think? What questions do you have for iRex?

Related: New Irex Reader 1000 thread

09:13 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

Over the past few days we have been getting reports from members of MobileRead that Fictionwise has started blocking Kindle PIDs. I just checked my account, and it's happened to me, too.

If you have a Kindle registered at Fictionwise, you will need to log in to your account and request that Fictionwise Support remove or replace that PID before downloading and Kindlizing another Mobipocket ebook. You cannot do it yourself, unfortunately.

It's possible for Fictionwise to do this because all the Kindles have a PID that is slightly different from the other Mobipocket devices (they have an asterisk "*" as the eighth character of the PID). I bet this was a deliberate design choice on the part of Amazon/Mobipocket. I believe this because www.Mobipocket.com drops the asterisk from a PID. Most of the other Mobipocket retailers also drop the asterisk. Fictionwise was the only major ebook retailer that did not.

It looks to me like Amazon/Mobipocket is pressuring retailers to close the few remaining loopholes that let Kindle owners buy ebooks from anyone other that Amazon. However, I may be jumping to conclusions because only existing Kindle PIDs are disabled. If you remove the bad PID, you can reenter it and it will be accepted as valid.

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

In case you've missed any MobileRead news from this week, here is our usual roundup:

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• BeBook claims 30k sold e-reader units, adds Mobipocket
• Sony Reader on pre-order at the Fnac (France) ; ebooks coming soon too !
• Sony Reader added on Sony.fr
• Tor Restarts Their Free E-Book Program
• Plastic Logic Opens Its Manufacturing Facility
• New Irex Reader 1000
• BeBook Mobipocket support arrived

E-Book General - Deals, Freebies, and Resources

• Free serialized novel "Corduroy Mansions" to begin

E-Book Devices - iRex iLiad

• iRex Announcement Monday September 22

Miscellaneous - Feedback

• Custom e-book covers - would you like them?

10:03 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

It isn't exactly a secret being kept under lock and key that BeBook had plans to introduce Mobipocket support for their e-book reader, but now we've received word that the upgrade is going to be officially released later today.

It took some time to finetune this update. There's a pretty simple explanation: we wanted the update to be perfect.

It was tempting to release an earlier, near perfect version, but our programmers and the MobiPocket programmers convinced us to be patient.

You can download the upgrade from here:

• BeBook update 39.151.878 bytes
• MobiPocket Reader (this version has support for the BeBook; it'll take some more time for Mobipocket.com to update their website as well) 4.271.104 bytes

You will have to unpack the firmware, copy it on an SD card, and plug it into your BeBook device. Press and hold the V+ (volume up) button while switching on the reader. The update should then begin.

Enjoy.

08:23 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

Forbes has an early story on what Irex might announce next week. It might not be true, but I think it is. According to Andy Greenberg:

On Monday, Netherlands-based iRex Technologies is slated to unveil the iRex Reader 1000, the first in a wave of e-reader devices that promise bigger screens and improved interfaces and functionality.

...

The iRex Reader 1000 offers a 10.2-inch diagonal E-Inkscreen, far larger than Kindle's 6-inch screen or even iRex's own 8.1-inch diagonal iLiad, its last e-book model. That stretched display is designed to work with any file format, be it an e-book, a full-sized PDF, a Word document or HTML. Like earlier iRex devices, it sports a stylus and touch screen for taking notes and marking documents.

He even has a price estimate:

Business-targeted readers also come with business-sized price tags. Though Plastic Logic won't yet reveal the price for its device, iRex says its basic reader will start at $650. (By contrast, Kindle sells for $360.) Adding a writable screen to the iRex reader will cost another $100, and equipping it with wi-fi, Bluetooth and a 3G cell connection for downloading documents will raise the price to $850.

This last bit is worth a giggle:

Even with its outsized price, the new iRex reader won't offer two features also missing from other electronic books: color and video capability. In fact, the 16 graytone screen takes about eight-tenths of a second to refresh when loading a new page.

A round of applause for skyblue, who found the article for us.

08:23 AM by Timoleon in E-Book General | News

Just read this on BetaNews: (Sounds like they are serious! )

"Plastic Logic, flexible e-paper display company, cut the ribbon today on its own factory in Dresden, Germany. This will be the factory that manufactures its e-reader device which will compete with Sony's Reader and Amazon's Kindle.

Just as the company announced at the debut of its own e-book reader at DEMO in San Diego last week, the Plastic Logic facility opened today.

The company's focus is "plastic electronics" -- most notably the polymer substrate it has designed for E Ink's trademark VizPlex imaging film which renders it flexible and highly shock resistant. Naturally, the company is excited that it will be able to begin production of its e-reader, which is expected to ship in the first half of 2009.

Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta announced that his company's has become the world's first "commercial-scale plastic electronics manufacturing facility." Indeed, many of the processes and technologies used to make Plastic Logic's products have not been used anywhere outside of Cambridge's R&D lab."

06:12 AM by Adam B. in More E-Book Readers | iRex

From the i-to-i blog.

iRex is planning to make a big announcement on Monday September 22nd. It apparently involves both hardware and software. It seems they're not content to stay still while Amazon and Sony steal their thunder. They're planning to "unveil a new era in digital reading", so one can only guess what that would mean.

Karel states that he will "share more details" about what's coming, so I doubt we will see a new product for sale on Monday.

Let the speculation begin (again).

04:43 PM by RWood in E-Book General | News

Tor has restarted their free e-book program with two free e-books this month and they promise to follow it with an additional e-book each month following. From an email I received and as reported by carandol in the Deals, Freebies and Resources forum, there is a catch to the free e-books -- you must register for their SciFi & Fantasy blog.

The first e-books offered are Dogland by Will Shetterly and The War of the Oaks by Emma Bull.