12:50 PM by Brian in E-Book General | News

Sony's Sir Howard Stringer invited The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown on stage today at the Consumer Electronics Show to talk about e-books during a presentation about Sony's new Reader. According to Engadget, who are covering the event live, here are a few snippets of what Mr. Brown had to say on the subject of e-books:

Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, comes out to talk about e-books.

"For the new generation, e-books will be as natural to them as television is to us. E-books are here. I believe they are her to say. Welcome to the wonderful world of choice."

You can see photos of Sir Howard holding the Reader, Dan Brown on stage, and read the full text of Engadget's coverage here.

11:22 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

According to a note sent out by Lehman Brothers analysts, the Treo 700w launch may - at least initially - not be as beneficial for Palm as expected:

Palm's guidance suggests approximately 560,000 units in the February quarter. As we do not believe channel inventories have much room to rise, we believe Palm must expect sell through to match sell in during February. This would imply approximately 30% sell through growth in the February quarter. Given that this is a seasonally slower quarter for handset demand, the arrival of the 700w is likely to dampen 650 demand further, and that RIM, Motorola, and Nokia either have or will shortly launch new products, Palm appears to be placing a significant amount of weight on its 700w launch. The company has indicated for some months it has the orders to back this growth up. Given anecdotal checks with Verizon, we do not doubt the strength of 700w demand. We are not certain, however, the 700w strength will come in time to bolster the February quarter.

Applying a normal seasonal 15% downtick in handset sales in the first quarter to Treo sell through yields 370,000 units. Variables for a 15% assumption include 1) Palm may benefit from the fact that its quarter includes the month of December but may suffer from 2) the aging of the 650. Nevertheless, should 650 sell through decline to 370,000 units, we believe Palm would need to sell approximately 180,000 700w to reach its guidance. Given that 700w distribution may not reach full strength until the sixth or seventh week of the quarter, this math is aggressive in our view.

Wasn't it TadW who did already ask why Palm missed the '05 Christmas season? Palm stock is currently down by 2%.

[via CE Stock Blog]

07:24 AM by Brian in E-Book Readers | Which one should I buy?

In case you haven't been paying attention or have been incommunicado in an undisclosed location, three new E Ink-based e-book readers are coming soon:Sony's Reader, iRex's Iliad, and Jinke's Hanlin.

Based on the what we know so far about each of these three upcoming e-book devices, which one appeals to you the most? After you cast your vote, please feel free tell us why you voted the way you did in the discussion thread.

Vote after the jump.

Related: Sony's new e-book reader officially announced, More details on the Iliad ER 0100 e-book reader,A Librie for the rest of us

06:20 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

With all the recent buzz about the Windows Treo 700w, it's not a surprise that this week's podcasts from PalmAddict and 1src both cover the device in more detail. PA further talks about its recently established newsletter, Brad Green's Netfront petition, and the Palm-overcloaking tool warpSpeed. 1src covers a continued discussion why we still love Palm OS, rumors on an imminent Treo 650 ROM update, the iQue 3000 Palm OS device, and various news from this year's CES.

04:43 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg has been testing the Treo 700w to see how it stacks up against the Treo 650. His verdict:

Despite some nice new features, the Windows Mobile software is still inferior to the Palm software for one-handed use on the go. Its crucial email and phone functions are also weaker. And there's a serious bug in its email software that affects individuals, though not corporate users. So the Treo 700w is neither as easy to use nor as powerful as the Treo 650. In addition, the screen on the 700w offers significantly lower resolution than the screen on the 650, and the new model costs twice as much -- $400 versus $200.

For individual users, the main advantage of the new Treo 700w is that it is the first Treo to work on Verizon's high-speed EV-DO network. That network delivers data speeds that rival those of home DSL lines. But the speed advantage will be short-lived, because I expect to see a Palm-based Treo in coming months that can also use the EV-DO network ... The Treo 700w will appeal to some Windows Mobile fans, and to some corporate IT staffs. But for everyone else, I advise sticking with the Palm-based Treos.

Related: Palm Treo 700w is here

03:33 AM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | iRex

Thanks to Brian we know Sony's successor of the Sony Librie e-book reader is simply called the Sony Reader. I am not impressed. Well I would have been if iRex hadn't announced it's Iliad Reader a couple of days earlier. Comparison:

Dimensions:
Sony: 6.9" by 4.9" by .5"
iRex: 6.1" by 8.5" by .63"

Weight:
Sony: 8.8 ounces
iRex: 13.7 ounces

Screen:
Sony: 6-inch SVGA 800X600 4 grey scales (same like the Sony Librie)
iRex: 8.1-inch XGA 1024x768 16 grey scales

Internal memory:
Sony: ? "approximately 80 unillustrated books"
iRex: 64MB RAM, 224MB FLASH

Expansion slots:
Sony: SD, Memory Stick
iRex: SD, CF II

Support e-book formats:
Sony: BBeB Book (Sony Librie), Adobe PDF, JPEG, MP3
iRex: Adobe PDF, XHTML, TXT, MP3, others in near future

Others interfaces:
Sony: headphone jack
iRex: headphone jack, WiFi 802.11b, 10/100Mb Ethernet

Price:
Sony: USD $299-$399
iRex: ?

Summary:
The iRex is bigger and heavier. But it also features the better screen, better support for open formats, and better connectivity (which the Sony obviously lacks in).

Related: Sony's new e-book reader officially announced, More details on the Iliad ER 0100 e-book reader

08:24 PM by Brian in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

Here's the first glimpse of Sony's soon-to-be released e-book reader, courtesy of Rick Wilking from Reuters. The device's name: Reader. Expect more details soon as CES gets underway.

Update: Sony has officially announced the Reader in this press release and there is an official product website here.

Specifications and features:

• Dimensions- 6.9” by 4.9” by .5”
• Weight - 8.8 ounces
• 6 inch SVGA 800X600 4-level grey-scale E Ink screen
• Internal Memory Capacity- Approximately 80 unillustrated books
• MP3 playback through headphone jack
• Battery Life - Approximately 7,500 continuous page turns
• Recharges in 4 hours (AC) or 6 hours (USB)
• SD and Memory Stick expansion slots
• Supported formats - BBeB Book / Adobe PDF / JPEG / MP3

According to this article at PCWorld.com, the Reader will be available in April priced between $299 and $399 at $349.99.

More images after the jump.

[via Engadget]

Related: Sony to launch "iPod for e-books" at CES

04:42 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It's been a long time coming, but Palm has finally started sales of its Windows Mobile-based Palm Treo 700w that prognosticators, clairvoyants, and kooks have been anticipating for months. Important links to check out:

Product page
Press release
List of accessories
Media gallery
Treo in 2046x3300