eBook readers in HK?

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Posted by Highway-9 (42 days ago)

To clarify my earlier post. Many formats can't be loaded directly into a Kindle, but the goal posts are constantly moving as the software (Java interface and Linux OS) are brought up to date.

The download rates rates for non-conforming documents (through the Personal Document Service) has increased substantially and in the UK there is a 40% premium. Another problem arising is different rates for different countries and a 'roaming' rate. The conversion is free!

This is to say users will be paying a minimum of 50% more than they used to.

Kindles problems are many. (1) The downloads are closed (there is a DRM 'fix') whereas other systems allow sharing between different systems, some up to 5. The DRM filetype is: .AZW, but it supports non=DRMed Mobipocket books (.MOBI, .PRC), .TXT files, HTML, and Word (DOCx).; (2) Filetype .PDF is now supported (USB or download); (3) There are only two fonts (fixed) - Caecilia and Neue Helvetica, both by Linotype - the font is determined by the download but font SIZE can be adjusted (6); (4) UK subscribers have to order the Kindle from the US website and then wait ... until it is shipped across the Pond; (5) Kindle colour is white - great for highlighting dirt and fingerprints; (6) The international version is different from the North American version as it uses 3G for downloads (administered by those closed shop guys at AT&T - think iPhone). This eliminates the need for a computer for downloads BUT read on below. There is also a concern about consumer rights as the EU, and some other countries, are much tougher than the US. Canada, as usual, is not considered an 'international' country though Mexico is. Go figure; (7) Kindle uses Whispernet, uses EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimised) technology which only runs over CDMA networks, which is not supported in Europe. Unfortunately, GSM runs the world. In VietNam the CDMA network is being rolled-up and replaced with GSM! (8) Forget free web browsing or blog reading, as Sprint does in the US, in Europe and likely elsewhere in the world; (9) There are substantial differences between hardware and services in the US and elsewhere, so much so that there is minimal opportunity for an Kindle equivalent of cell roaming; (10) The competition, iRex, using Qualcomm's Gobi chipset to provide support for both CDMA and GSM networks; and Sony, which has stuck with GSM only todate; (11) The Kindle screen is small - 6" diagonally-measured screen whereas the Sony is 7" tall, while iRex offers 8.1" diagonal; (12) Kindle has a keyboard whilst the others allow scribbling with a finger (the Sony) or stylus (Sony and iRex).

The Kindle has a few things worth noting: (1) Kindle has a basic web browser and it has an Amazon search feature - hardly a Google; (2) Kindle can play MP3s copied to either the internal storage (180MB user usable) or SD card on a random shuffle basis; (3) Kindle can play Audible audiobooks, but not download them over the "Whispernet" EV-DO service. They have to be downloaded using the Audible manager on to a PC, then copied over via USB; (4) Documents for conversion can be sent to "username"@free.kindle.com and e-mailed back to your PC at the e-mail address associated pf your Amazon.com account. Then transfer the document using USB.

MY ADVICE, from a technicl point of view is to wait for the Barnes an Noble offering coming before Christmas or another company, Plastic Logic, who expects to release an e-reader next year.

Remember, eReaders are like cars, you need fuel. Amazon is like hydrogen fuel - it works but hard to find the pump. Open standards are by far the best. There are now software conversion programs to flatten the playing field; Kindle has been hacked and is, sort of, open; the are also software packages that allow D-I-Y reader document preparation.

My interest lies in the potential of using eReaders for manuals or guides. I am waiting, however, for the new Tablet computers - some with two pages (screens) - before deciding upon a final determination.

Kindle is too limited, needs radio access, contents are out of user control. Most importantly WHERE WILL REPAIRS BE DONE? A netbook only costs a little more but has so much more bang for the buck/pound/yuan.

(Please excuse typos - small smartphone keys operated by fat fingers!)

(I am based in Vietnam)

Posted by Highway-9 (38 days ago)

Google Targets E-Readers With Web-Based 'Editions'

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Google plans to launch an online store to deliver electronic books to any device with a Web browser, threatening to upset a burgeoning market for dedicated e-readers dominated by Amazon's Kindle.

The Web search giant said Thursday it would launch Google Editions in the first half of next year, initially offering about half a million e-books in partnership with publishers with whom it already cooperates, where they have digital rights.

Readers will be able to buy e-books either from Google directly or from other online stores such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Google will host the e-books and make them searchable.

"We're not focused on a dedicated e-reader or device of any kind," Tom Turvey, Google's director of strategic partnerships, told journalists at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The announcement comes a week after Amazon said it would introduce the Kindle into 100 countries outside the United States, pushing its leading position in a small but fast-growing market in which its competitors include Sony's Reader.

Technology research firm Forrester expects about 3 million e-readers to be sold in the United States this year, from a previous base of about 1 million, helped by lower prices, more content and better distribution.

Top U.S. bookseller Barnes & Noble has been reported to be planning an entry into the e-reader market to complement a large online bookstore it launched in July.

Google Editions will allow Google to make money for the first time out of one of its book ventures — which also include a controversial project to scan and index tens of millions of books through partnerships with libraries.Google will share revenue with publishers, and also with online retailers in cases where readers buy Google-hosted books through a retailer's site. It already partners with publishers to make their physical books searchable and available for sale.

Turvey said Google would give publishers 63 percent of revenues and keep 37 percent for itself where it sold e-books directly to consumers.

In cases where e-books were bought through other online retailers, publishers would get 45 percent and most of the remaining 55 percent would go to the retailer, with a small share for Google, he said.

Readers will be able to access e-books they have bought through Google on any device including PCs, laptops, netbooks and smartphones like Apple's iPhone through their gmail account, Google said.

The device need not be connected in order to read the book, after it has been accessed once, and payment can be made to Google through its online payment processing system Google Checkout, which stores users' details in a personal account.

Forrester media analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said Google would not necessarily steal market share from Amazon, although it would strengthen the position of others who support open standards usable across a range of devices, such as Sony's.

"Certainly it presents collective competition to Amazon, but for many consumers the word 'e-reader' is synonymous with the Kindle," she said.

Microsoft had also been rumored to be planning a reading device, but Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said last week it had no need, since it already supplied the software that runs the most popular device for electronic reading, the PC.

Google is also trying to settle a lawsuit in the United States with U.S. publishers and authors over its Google Books project, in which it has already scanned about 10 million books through partnerships with libraries and plans to scan many more.

Google wants to improve its Web search by including the bulk of the world's knowledge that is contained in books by indexing the books and displaying varying amounts in Web search results, depending on whether the books are in or out of copyright.

(I am based in Vietnam)

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