Everyone wants the Kindle

Those wishing to receive an Amazon Kindle book reader before Christmas are resorting to auction site eBay, and paying a 200 percent premium in the process.

“Due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is sold out. Because orders are prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis, please ORDER NOW to reserve your place in line. Your Kindle will not arrive by December 24th” (www.amazon.com).

Electronic book readers are not new, but Amazon thinks it has found the secret to success: a library of ebooks that can be downloaded over the Kindle’s built in EV-DO network. Amazon currently offers 90,000 books, including 101 of 112 current bestsellers. Electronic books cost $9.99 from the company.

search.ebay.com range between $600 to over $1,000. One sale even reached $1,500 before bidding ended, nearly four times the $399 retail price.

[Source]

Inside the Reader

RapidRepair has completed the new Amazon Kindle disassembly guide. With the slicing and dicing complete, you need only look down to see the internals of the new Kindle from Amazon.

More photos.

Sony Reader PRS-505 disassembly. Step-by-step disassembly guide.

Which eBook Reader is the Best?

Found an interesting discussion on Slashdot:

«

»

I cannot decide between Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader. I've read some reviews, but their motives can be somewhat suspect. So, I come to the most tech savvy group around to ask: which eBook reader is the best? If not Kindle or Reader, then what?

There are many interesting answers, just several examples:

«

»

I own the original Sony Reader. If you mostly download your own books, then the new (PRS-505) Sony Reader is better than the Kindle. The Amazon ebook store is the biggest around, but it's still nothing compared to what is available in print. In fact, it's nothing compared to what's available on IRC...

..If I were Amazon, I would have released a cheap reader to go along with my expensive reader. Something like the 1150, with just one or two modern improvements (USB file transfer).

«

»

I would recommend the Kindle for only one big reason: Text search capability
It's hard to believe that in 2007, the latest Sony reader has no ability to search through the text of a book. This is important for technical reference manuals and textbooks, and was a dealbreaker for me. I don't use the Kindle store (other than to purchase one book when I first got it), so I leave the wireless off to save batteries.

I find the Kindle is dead simple to use. Plug it into your computer with USB, drag some Mobipocket, RTF, or TXT files onto it (convert your .PDFs with free Mobipocket creator), and there you go. No DRM necessary, unless you buy books from the Kindle store.

Also, some people will complain about no native PDF support on the Kindle. This is not a bad thing. Sony reader displays PDFs, but shrinks an entire 8.5x11 page down to the size of the tiny screen, so it's almost unreadable! This is why you must convert your PDFs into Mobipocket format first, so that the Kindle can resize the fonts, etc., and it becomes an actually readable e-book, and not a glorified thumbnail viewer.

Full discussion is here

Kindle photos

While Amazon Kindle is out of stock, some of the lucky customers already got it. Here is the photos of unboxed Kindle taken by AppleInsider :

All photos (source)

Amazon Kindle vs Sony Reader and more

Rob Beschizza from Wired Gadget Lab has made a comparison sheet of the most modern ebook reader devices including: Amazon Kindle, Hanlin eReader V3, Sony Reader PRS-505, iRex Iliad, and several more. Here it is:

Original post at Wired gadgets blog.

Amazon Kindle video reviews

Introductory video that providing a demonstration of the new Amazon Kindle eBook reader:

CNET "First look from the Labs" Kindle review:

An explanation of Amazon's Kindle e-book reader and some of its features by Computerworld. Includes footage of the device.

View More Kindle info at Amazon site »

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Kindle is a portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines and blogs to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

At 10.3 ounces, Kindle is lighter and thinner than a paperback book, carries two hundred books, and includes built-in access to The New Oxford American Dictionary and wireless access to the Earth’s biggest encyclopedia, Wikipedia.org.

Kindle specifications:

Screen	Resolution: 600 x 800 pixels Size: 7.5" x 5.3" Colors: 4-level
Operating system	Linux (2.6.10 kernel)
Input	QWERTY keyboard, select wheel, next/prev/back buttons.
CPU	Intel PXA255.
Memory	256 MB (180 MB available), SD expansion slot.
Connectivity	EVDO/CDMA AnyDATA wireless modem, USB 2.0 port (mini-B connector), 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, Builtin speaker, AC power adapter jack.
Battery	3.7V, 1530mAh lithium polymer, BA1001 model.
Physical size	7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches (19.1 x 13.5 x 1.8 cm)
Weight	10.3 oz (292 g)
Media types	Kindle (.azw), Plain text (.txt), Unprotected Mobipocket (.mobi, .prc), MP3 (.mp3), Audible (.aa).
Price	$400

As Amazon said: "..Kindle customers, no matter where they are in the U.S., can wirelessly shop the Kindle Store and download new content — all without a PC or a WiFi hot spot. Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so there are no monthly wireless bills and no service commitments for customers. The Kindle Store contains over 90,000 books that can be purchased and delivered wirelessly to Kindle, each in less than a minute. Customers can choose from hundreds of top newspapers, magazines and blogs and have their subscriptions auto-delivered wirelessly..

View More Kindle info at Amazon site »

Ebook Reader blog is now online!

This blog is devoted to eBook reader devices. eBook readers news, review links, links to the interesting sites will be posted here.