07:49 AM by Adam B. in More E-Book Readers | iRex

iRex has launched a new iLiad called the "iLiad Book Edition". At €499, it is €150 cheaper than the original.

It seems to have very similar specs as the original iLiad, however it comes in a silver color and does not contain wireless networking.

It also comes with 50 free "Classic" books, presumably in the Mobipocket format.

It is set to go on sale Friday, May 9th.

A press release can be found here.

You can join the continued discussion in this thread.

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

Bite-sized MobileRead for your weekend pleasure:

E-Books - News

• HarperCollins paid notorious hacker to develop piracy soft
• Cellulose electronic paper promises superior display qualities
• Orson Scott Card, "Rowling's hypocrisy is so thick I can hardly breathe"
• 120K E-Ink displays per month in 2H08
• Mobipocket Desktop 6.2 released, still missing support for Kindle

E-Books - Elsewhere on the Net

• Freebie: Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 1

E-Book Devices - Sony Portable Reader

• Sony Germany wants the Reader as quickly as possible
• Sony VP presents Sony Reader during congressional hearing
• libprs500 renamed to calibre

E-Book Devices - Amazon Kindle

• New Kindle Firmware?

Mobile Devices - Handhelds and Smartphones

• PDAMill gives away the Palm game store - for free

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• MobileRead goes German and French

12:20 AM by kovidgoyal in E-Book Software | Calibre

Hi all,

Just a heads up to let you know that libprs500 has now been renamed to calibre and is available at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net

EDIT: Here's a FAQ entry on the name
https://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/user_...e-name-calibre

04:18 PM by Nate the great in E-Book General | News

Unfortunately, it is still missing support for the Kindle that was available in version 6.0.

It looks like it has a number of new features. I wish I could use them, but I have a Kindle.

You can download version 6.2 here.

- If you want to use 6.0 for your Kindle, click here.

P.S. Yes, this isn't a very informative news item. But that wasn't the point I'm trying to make. My main interest is in making sure newbie Kindle owners know they can use Mobipocket Desktop to support their Kindle. Plus, this is a not too subtle reminder to Mobipocket and Amazon that we know Kindle support used to be there, but was removed in Mobipocket Desktop 6.1.
</steps down from soapbox>

02:52 PM by wallcraft in E-Book General | News

In 216,000 Kindles sold? we've discussed this in part, but this isn't just a Kindle issue. According to DigiTimes, PVI EDP shipments are to grow sharply in the second half of 2008:

Prime View International (PVI) expects its 6-inch electrophoretic display (EPD) module shipments to reach 120,000 units monthly in the second half of this year, as demand is growing strong.

The article also states that current shipments are 60,000 to 80,000 units. These are the most authoritative figures I have seen from an industry that hardly ever reveals any unit sales.

EDP screen supply has been the limiting factor in E-Ink reader availability; if this continues to be the case, then somewhere between 700K and 1.4M devices with 6-inch screens will be sold in the next year. Also, since production has been increasing, fewer than 700K devices (perhaps many fewer) were sold in the past year (May '07 - April '08) - my WAG would be 250K readers in the past year.

10:17 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

It's my pleasure to announce that we've finally launched our first non-English forums! We begin with German and French, because these are the two languages that have been most demanded in recent months.

* Link to the German MR forum: Deutsches Forum

* Link to the French MR forum: Forum Français

Hadrian will be moderating the French forums. Make sure you treat him nicely and with the respect he deserves.

We are still looking for a volunteer/volunteers to manage the German forums. If you are a regular MobileReader, enjoy participating in discussions, preferably with some experience in moderating forums, and if you like to be part of the team, please send me a PM.

We are happy to add support for more languages in the future given sufficient demand.

And now... let's spread the word!

12:32 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Want a good laugh this morning? Check out what Orson Scott Card, best known for his Hugo-award winning novel Ender's Game, has to say about J.K. Rowling and her latest copyright suit against the Harry Potter Lexicon.

People who hear about this suit will have a sour taste in their mouth about Rowling from now on. Her Cinderella story once charmed us. Her greedy evil-witch behavior now disgusts us. And her next book will be perceived as the work of that evil witch. [...] Rowling has now shown herself to lack a brain, a heart and courage. Clearly, she needs to visit Oz.

Read his full commentary, you won't be disappointed. So, if author J.K. Rowling and publisher Warner Brothers were successful in suing a middle-school librarian, who provided a reference guide to one of the most successful children books, over copyright infringement, would this make all fan guides illegal? What do you think?

Related Link: Archive of the official complaint

[via Pat's Fantasy Hotlist]

06:18 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

Let's face it. While printing less paper is good for the environment, there is still the problem of a skyrocketing number of electronic products discarded every year. According to the EPA, e-waste is now the fastest-growing part of the municipal waste stream. So what to do with your Sony Reader once it has lived past its usefulnes? It's suprisingly simple. Give it back to Sony.

During yesterday's hearing on Capitol Hill, Sony Exec VP Michael T. Williams spoke about the various Sony recycling programs and about how his company is developing environmentally-friendly electronic products. Of course the Reader served as his grand example.

While Sony will recycle its own products for free, our recycling locations will also accept non-Sony consumer electronics and information technology products. To fully carry out this nationwide e-waste take-back program, Sony and Waste Management Recycle America utilize 138 drop-off centers throughout the country. This is an increase from the initial 75. In addition to setting up permanent collection centers, we are also holding recycling events, coordinating with retailers and local municipalities. By the end of this year, we plan to have held at least 50 special recycling events. Our goal is to have 150 drop- off locations throughout the United States, with at least one recycling location in every state by September 2008. Our longer term goal is to have a collection location within 20 miles of 95% of the United States population at which consumers, retailers, and municipalities can have any product from any consumer electronic manufacturer recycled.

Attached you find a summary of Mr. Williams's speech. It's also available online as a RealPlayer video via C-SPAN (starting at around minute 35): rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e043008_waste.rm