eReader Outfitters News

Looking to Big-Screen E-Readers to Help Save the Daily Press

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:06:45 GMT

May 4, 2009 Looking to Big-Screen E-Readers to Help Save the Daily Press By BRAD STONE The iPod stemmed losses in the music industry. The Kindle gave beleaguered book publishers a reason for optimism. Now the recession-ravaged newspaper and magazine industries are hoping for their own knight in shining digital armor, in the form of portable reading devices with big screens. Unlike tiny mobile phones and devices like the Kindle that are made to display text from books, these new gadgets, with screens roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper, could present much of the editorial and advertising content of traditional periodicals in generally the same format as they appear in print. And they might be a way to get readers to pay for those periodicals � something they have been reluctant to do on the Web. Such e-reading devices are due in the next year from a range of companies, including the News Corporation, the magazine publisher Hearst and Plastic Logic, a well-financed start-up company that expects to start making digital newspaper readers by the end of the year at a plant in Dresden, Germany. But it is Amazon, maker of the Kindle, that appears to be first in line to try throwing an electronic life preserver to old-media companies. As early as this week, according to people briefed on the online retailer�s plans, Amazon will introduce a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks. An Amazon spokesman would not comment, but some news organizations, including The New York Times, are expected to be involved in the introduction of the device, according to people briefed on the plans. A spokeswoman for The Times, Catherine J. Mathis, said she could not comment on the company�s relationship with Amazon. These devices from Amazon and other manufacturers offer an almost irresistible proposition to newspaper and magazine industries. They would allow publishers to save millions on the cost of printing and distributing their publications, at precisely a time when their businesses are under historic levels of pressure. �We are looking at this with a great deal of interest,� said John Ridding, the chief executive of the 121-year-old, salmon-colored British newspaper The Financial Times. �The severe double whammy of the recession and the structural shift to the Internet has created an urgency that has rightly focused attention on these devices.� Perhaps most appealing about this new class of reading gadgets is the opportunity they offer publishers to rethink their strategy in a rapidly evolving digital world. The move by newspapers and magazines to make their material freely available on the Web is now viewed by many as a critical blunder that encouraged readers to stop paying for the print versions. And publishers have found that they were not prepared to deal with the recent rapid decline of print advertising revenue. Publishers could possibly use these new mobile reading devices to hit the reset button and return in some form to their original business model: selling subscriptions, and supporting their articles with ads. The current version of the Kindle has proved in a limited way that this is possible. Even though its six-inch black-and-white screen is made for reading books, Amazon offers Kindle owners subscriptions to more than 58 newspapers and magazines, including The Times, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. (The Journal subscription costs $9.99 a month, The Times is $13.99 a month and The New Yorker is $2.99 a month.) Subscribers get updates once a day over a cellular network. Amazon and other participating publishers say they are satisfied with the results, although they have not released data on the number of subscriptions that have been sold. For the all the hope publishers are placing in dedicated electronic reading devices, they will be encumbered at the start with some serious shortcomings. Most use display technology from E Ink, a company in Cambridge, Mass., that was founded in 1997 based on research started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology M.I.T. Media Lab to develop thin electronic displays capable of mimicking the readability of regular paper, while using a minimum amount of battery power. The screens, which are currently in the Kindle and Sony Reader, display no color or video and update images at a slower rate than traditional computer screens. That has some people in the magazine industry, in particular, keeping their hopes in check until E Ink evolves. �I don�t think we would be anywhere near as excited about anything in black and white as we would about high-definition color,� said Tom Wallace, the editorial director of Cond� Nast, publisher of glossy magazines like Vogue and Wired. �But technology changes at a pretty high clip these days, and if we are now in the Farmer Gray days, it will be only a very short while until we are in the video game era.� Another hitch is that some makers of reading devices, like Amazon, want to set their own subscription prices for publications and control the relationship with the subscriber � something media companies like Cond� Nast object to. Plastic Logic and Hearst have said publicly that they will take a more open approach and let media companies deal directly with readers and set their own prices. Then there is the looming presence of Apple, which seems likely to introduce a multipurpose tablet computer later this year, according to rumor and speculation by Apple observers. Such a device, with a screen that is said to be about three or four times as large as the iPhone�s, would have an LCD screen capable of showing rich color and video, and people could use it to browse the Web. Even if such a device has limited battery life and strains readers� eyes, for many buyers it could be a more appealing alternative to devices dedicated to reading books, newspapers and magazines. Such a Web-connected tablet would also pose a problem for any print publications that hope to try charging for content that is tailored for mobile devices, since users could just visit their free sites on the Internet. One way to counter this might be to borrow from the cellphone model and offer specialized reading devices free or at a discount to people who commit to, say, a one-year subscription. Then there is the possibility that all these devices from Amazon, Apple and the rest have simply not appeared in time to save many players in the troubled realm of print media. �If these devices had been ready for the general consumer market five years ago, we probably could have taken advantage of them quickly,� said Roger Fidler, the program director for digital publishing at the University of Missouri, Columbia. �Now the earliest we might see large-scale consumer adoption is next year, and unlike the iPod it�s going to be a slower process migrating people from print to the device.� �And all of us are very worried about how newspapers are going to survive in the next few years if we don�t see any turnaround in the economy,� Mr. Fidler said. Whether or not the situation is hopeless, newspapers and magazines now find themselves weighing offers of aid from outsiders. When asked at the debut of the Kindle 2 in February whether the Kindle could help the print media, Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon�s founder and chief executive, said he thought there were �genuine opportunities� to save journalism. �And we�re excited about helping with that,� he added.

Technophobia E-book Readers

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:28:28 GMT

"I didn't think e-book readers would ever catch on until an 83-year-old relative of mine got one. He swears by it. And he can barely e-mail!" MICHAEL SMITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL PUBLISHING FORUM): It's true, they're really taking off. It's because they're getting so much easier to use. Why not just read a book the old-fashioned way? What's the advantage of an e-book reader? Portability, the ability to save space, and even privacy. It's about the size and weight of a slim hardback--but some can hold more than 200 books. All the books are digital, so you don't have to worry about crowding your bookshelves. And if your guilty pleasure is, let's say, Louis L'Amour western novels--and that's my guilty pleasure, I've read dozens--no one, not even your significant other, will know how many you're downloading or what you're reading. And the disadvantages? You can break or lose them. Are they really that easy to use? Yes, just plug them into your computer with a USB cable, like you would your digital camera, and download an entire book in about a minute. The cost is typically under ten dollars a book. Any kind of book? Thousands and thousands in every category you can imagine. Including audio books. What about reading on a screen? Isn't that strange? It takes a little getting used to. But once you get immersed in the story, your awareness of the technology just flows away. There are so many readers on the market now! Where to begin? The most popular are the Sony Reader [sony.com.], iLiad [irextechnologies.com], Cybook [bookeen.com], and Kindle [amazon.com]. They cost between $300 and $600, and mostly look similar--white, gray, or black with a 5- or 6-inch screen. The screen is crisp and the type is black and white, so it resembles an actual printed page. There's no glare, and if you want bigger type, you can change the font size. You can also flip through and bookmark pages. You can even read in direct sunlight. Any big differences? Kindle doesn't require a laptop or extra software. It'll download books without a cable wherever you are. You can also get newspapers automatically delivered to your Kindle every morning. It's made by Amazon, so you can only download material from Amazon.com--but luckily their inventory is huge. I don't know the iLiad as well, but it has great features. You can write on it--it allows you to make notes and underline text--and you can even sketch or draw. One really big advantage of the Cybook is that you can purchase a no-hassle replacement plan in case of accidental damage. Which one do you use? A Sony Reader. It feels very comfortable in my hands. The controls are right where my hands naturally rest when I am reading a book. And it weighs about 9 ounces, which is an average weight. Are there any kinds of books that don't work with an e-book reader? This technology isn't particularly friendly to anything illustration-heavy, like design books. The screens are relatively small, and they're black and white. Once I have my reader home, where should I shop for books? There are large selections at two sites: fictionwise. com and booksonboard. com. There are two other Web sites I would recommend to anyone exploring what to buy and how to use e-book readers--teleread. org and mobileread.com. They have news, reviews, and blogs about the various e-book readers on the market or new ones coming out. I check those sites daily. In my line of work, in such a fast-changing industry, I'm always running to keep up with what's new. * MICHAEL SMITH; IDPF.ORG.

iRex Official Statement About Recent Issues

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:23:18 GMT

Untitled Document

Tue Oct 21, 2008 Hans Brons, CEO

Dear Customer, Over the last weeks there have been some issues related to the iRex shop, the iRex iLiad and iRex Digital Reader 1000. We apologize for the fact that we have been limited in our response so far and we understand and accept the criticism of not having addressed you properly, which has been an omission from our side. Let us start by looking at the different issues and how we intend to solve them:

* Since the introduction of the iRex Digital Reader 1000 we have received a huge amount of visits and orders at the iRex shop. The back-end system was not prepared to deal with such unexpected large volume. One of the known issues that you might have seen was that the status of the order was not correctly updated. This also affected our ability to initiate shipments. Once it became clear that our system was unable to handle the volume, we have initiated the necessary actions to solve this situation. These improvements are currently being implemented and we expect from next week onward to ship all orders in accordance with the dates indicated on the shop product page.
* In addition to the large volume of website visits we also received a huge volume of e-mails at shop@irextechnologies.com with inquiries about the product, orders and shipping status. This number even grew higher as a result of the above issues. With only limited capacity for the shop operations and, at the same time, solving the above issues, we were not able to respond to all e-mails within an appropriate time. We apologize for this and within the next week we aim to respond to all e-mail inquiries within one business day.

* We have identified a battery firmware problem with the DR1000S that is causing battery life to be at least 30% less than expected and even causing a charging issue in some cases. We like to state that there is nothing wrong with your product and the firmware issue will be solved with a software update. We are currently testing the solution and we expect to announce a release date for the software update by the end of this week.

* In line with our tradition of introducing ongoing enhancements, we will released our first software update for the DR1000S yesterday. This software release will solve a number of issues that have been identified since the introduction of the DR1000s. In the coming weeks and months we will continue to provide additional software updates.

* A number of customers have expressed their concern about the future of the iLiad. We like to emphasize that the iLiad products will remain in production and we commit ourselves to continue to support the iLiad platform including future service and maintenance updates. We will continue to actively support third party development projects both by our partners and the community. To that end we will release all the iLiad source codes later this week.

In the coming weeks and months we will strive for a continuous engagement by means of active and open communication and providing ongoing product enhancements. We are committed to remain your trusted party in proving the world�s most innovative digital reading solutions. Thank you! Hans Brons CEO iRex Technologies

Next-Gen E-Readers Arrive

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:03:01 GMT

Amazon's Kindle was fun. Now it's time for electronic readers to get to work. 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. And unlike Kindle or Sony's Reader, this second generation of e-readers aims to bring innovative E-ink display technology to the more demanding, and possibly more lucrative, world of business. 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. [See "The Future Of E-Books."] The new reader shares the Kindle's passive E-ink display technology, which uses real pigment rather than a filtered liquid crystal display to produce black and white tones that make it easily visible in bright sunlight. It also significantly reduces eyestrain even after hours of reading. The E-ink technology also uses just a fraction of the energy typically needed for comparably sized screens, extending the device's battery life to between 60 and 80 hours. At the mid-September gadget conference, DEMO, Mountain View, Calif.-based start-up Plastic Logic announced its own business e-reader prototype--an 8.5-by-11-inch E-ink touchscreen that weighs just ounces. The device is no thicker than a legal pad and can run for up to two weeks without a charge. Although Plastic Logic has yet to name its new reader, which won't go on sale until the second quarter of 2009, the company's chief marketing officer, Joe Eschbach, touts it as a small and sturdy replacement for an entire briefcase. The focus on business users, argues Eschbach, could mean a far larger market than the 380,000 or so Kindles that Citigroup estimates Amazon will sell this year. "The opportunity on the business side is much larger than on the leisure reading side," Eschbach says. "The average person only reads two or three books a year. But the same person probably reads several thousand pages of Word, Excel and Powerpoint files at work." 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. But nonbusiness consumers, take heart: Cheaper, book-focused e-readers are also likely to be revamped soon. Sony has all but confirmed that it will announce a new version of its Reader in early October, though it won't share any details. Amazon is rumored to be working on a next-generation Kindle, though the company says it won't be released before the end of the year. 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. Plastic Logic's device has similar limitations. E-Ink enthusiasts will likely have to wait until 2009 for color E-ink and as late as 2012 for video, says Russ Wilcox, the chief executive of Cambridge, Mass.-based E-Ink, which developed the black and white pigment now used in every paper-like reader. [See "The Future Of E-Books."] But Plastic Logic's and iRex's devices push e-paper development beyond simply reading letter-sized PDFs, says Wilcox. He argues that the two readers signal E-ink's transition to larger-format digital media that include magazines and newspapers. "First we had a wave of e-books. Now we have a wave of something closer to e-newspapers," Wilcox says. "E-ink is the only way to create that size of display that's thin, rugged and has a long battery life. As the capabilities and features go up and up and up, the applications will keep growing."

Initiative aims to give aircrews newer 'paperless' option

Mon, 19 May 2008 19:16:32 GMT

by Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs 4/29/2008 - FORT DIX, N.J. (AFPN) -- Whether it's referencing Air Force instructions or a flight manual, aircrews are required to have documents on hand when completing their mission. The Air Mobility Battlelab, located in the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Fort Dix, developed an initiative to make document reference lighter and leaner in the future with the Paperless Aircrew Publications e-Reader, or PAPeR, initiative. Spearheaded by the battlelab's Maj. Dan Adler, project officer, the PAPeR initiative looks into providing a standard, convenient method for aircrews to view electronic documents different than the standard laptop computer currently used by the Air Force. "Our proposed solution to this is a portable aircrew publications reader that allows aircrews to access their publications anywhere, anytime," Major Adler said. "Through numerous personal interviews, we learned that having something more portable and lighter than a laptop could amplify mission success for aircrews. " Enter the iRex Iliad e-Reader, a "commercial-off-the-shelf" portable publications reader able to store data and read data from USB-compatible flash drives. This device was selected for use by the AMB for the demonstration on the initiative. "Aircrew personnel were given the e-readers for a multi-day period of time to use and evaluate the systems," Major Adler said. "The demonstration also included members using the e-readers in and out of aircraft during day and night operations." As part of the demonstration, Major Adler set out with seven main objectives for the e-readers. First and foremost was ensuring electro-magnetic interference, or EMI, compliance established in Air Force regulations. To do this, Major Adler sent the device to Concurrent Technologies Corporation, a Department of Defense-approved test facility, for an EMI test. "The results show the device's EMI transmissions were well below specified limits," Major Adler said. Other objectives focused on evaluating impact on emergency egress, suitability for approaches and departures and assessing night vision imaging system compatibility, data update procedures, network security measures and functionality and ease of use. "From our feedback, it was determined by a large percentage of those who used the e-reader that it was easy to use, read and control," Major Adler said. "A large percentage also said using the e-readers would make it easier them to do their jobs." The demonstration feedback also indicated some possible improvements that would help durability and readability, Major Adler said. However, overall, the demonstration proved the initiative as a success. "PAPeR successfully demonstrated the ability to store and display electronic publications on a commercial-off-the-shelf device," Major Adler said. "It showed that a small portable device, other than a laptop computer, could replace the majority of individual issue aircrew publications and Air Force instructions." Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lathrop, Air Mobility Battlelab commander, said in his recommendation for the device that it can help aircrews perform their mission with more ease and capability. "Aircrews look for every edge to improve their work environment and perform the mission better," Colonel Lathrop said. "Through further study and analysis, I believe a suitable device can be chosen for this effort." The Air Mobility Battlelab was established in 2001 to identify and demonstrate the utility of innovative concepts with potential to enhance Air Force capabilities. AMB will deactivate in September 2008 as part of an Air Force cost-savings initiative.

Still Waiting for Amazon's Kindle

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:56:34 GMT

Back in early September, I predicted an October debut for Amazon�s Kindle e-book reader. So today, the last day of the month, has rather ominous overtones for those of us who like to be right all the time. According to publishing industry executives back then, Amazon had promised delivery of its keyboard-equipped electronic book reader during the second week of October. Now, those same people say that the company has pushed back that date and is aiming for a launch by the end of this year. Take that with a grain of salt. Amazon and its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, are notoriously persnickety. For example, they delayed their digital music service for two years, trying to find the best customer proposition in a rapidly changing competitive environment, before launching the DRM-free Amazon MP3 store last month. Amazon�s introduction of the Kindle, and its associated e-book hub on Amazon.com, has followed the same path. Word of the device first leaked over a year ago on the tech site Engadget. Since then, Sony has rolled out two well-received versions of its Reader, while Amazon has toiled silently on the Kindle. Still, e-books have yet to capture the public imagination and represent only a fraction of the $35-billion-a-year book business. Publishing executives say Amazon is trying to work out technology kinks in the Kindle and bring as many titles � books, magazines and newspapers � onto the service as possible before launch. One other related bit of Kindle news: In the first story, we reported that the Kindle would wirelessly connect to its e-book store on Amazon.com using an EVDO modem. A person who has seen the Kindle says that the device will connect via the Sprint network. * Link * E-mail this * * * Consumer Electronics, Internet, amazon, ebooks, Sony Related * Black Friday Alert: Big Plasma Sets on Sale * What Goes Down Sometimes Goes Up * Sir Howard�s Download Mess * Quick Bits: Sony Tries to Get Back in the Race

Dutch Bookstore has Scoop with iRex Technologies

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:37:16 GMT

After the French leading newspaper in electronic newspaper publishing Les Echos, which started earlier this month as the first in the world with a daily newspaper on electronic paper, the book industry is next. This will be realized thanks to the innovative electronic paper display technology. Based on electronic paper, iRex offers solutions to read digital content as if it is printed on regular paper, without compromising the reading comfort, like unwanted light reflection. Daylight or a simple reading light is already sufficient to offer a perfect readability. The e-reader costs � 649. Selexyz will provide the first devices with the latest book from Max Westerman, �In alle staten.� Via the website of the bookstore chain, www.selexyz.nl , over 100 titles are available as free downloads. In addition over 49.000 commercial titles are already available via Mobipocket, the e-book format from Amazon. The portable reader from iRex has a built in WiFi module that allows you to download updates and new content wireless. At anytime, anywhere, it is now possible to receive and read digital content. Just like with a paper book the reader can make annotations. But unlike a paper book the reader can transfer the text with the annotations to his PC or forward and share them with friends and colleagues.