Tag: ereader
The New Kindle: Smaller, Faster, Cheaper
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jul.29, 2010, under Gadgets
Today, Amazon announced the newest generation of Kindle, its popular e-reader.
As hardware is wont to do, the newest version of the Kindle has become smaller and lighter while retaining its 6-inch reading area. Contrast on the screen has improved by 50%, and page turns are 20% faster. Storage on the device has doubled, and battery life is up to an entire month. And for you type geeks, new custom fonts and hinting on the device mean that words and letters will be more crisp, clear and natural-looking.
What more consumers will be interested in, however, is the price on the WiFi-only version of Kindle: a cool $139, which undercuts Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader by $10.
Kindle with 3G wireless connectivity will still retail for $189, and Kindle’s larger, newspaper- and magazine-oriented DX model is selling for $379.
The new devices will ship to customers in more than 140 countries and 30 territories starting on August 27.
We last saw some significant Kindle price cuts in June, when the device’s price tag dropped $70 from $259 to $189. At the time, we chalked this move up to a price war with the Nook, which is Kindle’s closest competitor in terms of price and features. Although the iPad is competing with e-readers for consumer dollars and is a popular hypothetical choice among this blog’s readers, single-purpose e-readers are priced to win this particular battle.
And Kindle’s not doing too badly in terms of selling e-books, either. One author has already sold a million copies of his novels in the Kindle Store. And Amazon says their Kindle editions are now outselling their hardcover books.
Given the low new price of the WiFi-only Kindle, would you be more inclined to purchase this device, either for yourself or as a gift, than you would have been previously? Ultimately, do you think consumer demand is broad enough to continually support both tablets and e-readers indefinitely, or will the does-it-all functionality of tablets win out in the long run?
StealthArmor now available for your Apple iPad
by neetika on Mar.30, 2010, under Gadgets, Top Gadgets
Let’s face it, as our mobile computing devices get smaller and smaller, they get more fragile. To protect our precious gadgets, we wrap them in cushiony cases to protect them from a devastating fall to the ground. But these cases increase the bulk, reducing the convenience of the small form factor. One new option for iPhone — and now iPad — owners is Fusion of Idea’s StealthArmor.
This is a special film that applies to the back of your product to protect it from scratches, dents, and dings. It won’t save your iPhone from a four foot drop to the ground, but it will protect it from all the other stuff in your pocket, purse, or manbag. Or, in the case of the iPad, it’ll protect it from all the detritus on your coffee table, couch, or night stand.
StealthArmor material uses a new heat-bonding technology and is uniquely designed compared to other protective covers in the device accessories marketplace. StealthArmor was originally developed in the automotive racing world to protect car exteriors from flying asphalt at high speeds. Russ Taylor, who heads up Fusion of Ideas and races a Mitsubishi Evolution X in his spare time, applied the StealthArmor concept to design highly resilient protective material for electronic devices to preserve their sleek outer shells from daily scratches and dings.
