So, my loyal Tekkie Freak readers.  I know this question has been burning in your minds for the past couple of years.  Are you feeling guilty over your recent ereader purchase?  Is the guilt setting in because you purchased an iPad? Are you worried that you’ll never be able to make up those carbon credits and Mother Nature will be forced to punish you?  Well fear not my green friends (and No I’m not talking about Beast Boy from Teen Titans), if you are the proud owner of an ereader or iPad and you actually use your devices then you are indeed being green!  If you are using your electronic devices to actually read books, you will need to read around 20 electronic books to offset the environmental impact for production of that device.  Producing a paper book requires about 7 gallons of water, while production of an ereader or iPad requires less than 2 cups of water.   You only have to read 12-15 books on a Kindle or an iPad to offset water consumption.

Check out the full article below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/23/AR2010082303608.html

If you’re not really keen on the ereader scene and prefer to read your books printed on paper, then don’t forget to check out all the great options available such as going to your library, or purchasing used books from the flea market or used book store. Read on!!!

The new Amazon Kindle 3rd generation ereader is getting great reviews.  Unfortunately, Tekkie Freak was unable to obtain a review unit, so I have to wait for my real unit to ship on or before September 18.  I already have a Barnes and Noble Nook and am really looking forward to getting the new Kindle.  So, my loyal readers be prepared for some comparisons between the two readers.

So far, in my daily surfing I’ve seen numerous reviewers and bloggers trying to compare the Kindle to the likes of the iPad.  Let me just say that these are two completely different devices, with two completely different uses.  If you’re in the market for something that lets you surf the web, play your your you tube videos and holds your entire Pink Floyd music collection, then the iPad is for you.  If you would have a device that allows you to read titles from Oprah’s book club (or maybe a trashy novel) then an electronic reading device fits the bill.  Basically, if you’re not a reader you probably won’t like an ebook reading device.  It’s not rocket science, folks.

Honestly, I do like the Barnes and Noble Nook ereader, but for some reason I just really prefer to have physical buttons on my devices.  I also own an Android based phone and again, no physical keys. Unfortunately, I have an entire year left on my phone contract so for now I’ll have to “just deal.”

Anyway, when my new 3rd generation Kindle arrives you will be the first to know.

As someone who is actually looking for an alternative to the iPad….I’m sitting here mid-July and so far I haven’t seen any news regarding when/if any of these supposed android tablets are going to ship.  Wasn’t it back in January that bunches of these companies promised ship dates of mid-summer?  So far the most promising of the bunch looks like the Notion Ink Adam.  Rumors are all over the place on this one.  I read one blog that claims it’s shipping late July to mid-August.  Frankly, I’m starting to get antsy to get a tablet.  I know some folks have been so irritated at having to wait that they’ve just gone and gotten the iPad.  At the moment I’m annoyed at Apple (what else is new).  I downloaded the ios 4 update to my 2nd gen ipod touch and apparently there are some features they’ve left out for the 2nd gen….home screen wallpaper, bluetooth, mutli-tasking…uh why even allow the thing to update? Is this some ploy to make me want to buy new hardware? Well ok, it makes me want to buy a non-apple tablet. Let’s get real…the 2nd gen ipod touch is absolutely capable of doing home screen wallpapers.  Then again I digress.

So far I’m hoping the Notion Ink Adam will come into being since that’s the tablet I’m looking at purchasing.

This tablet has great specs though pricing claims anywhere from $400 – $800.   Since I survive on a tight budget I’ll probably be looking for the less pricey model which just an LCD display.

Some Adam Features are:
Pixel Qi transflective display
NVIDIA Tegra T20 chipset
180 degree Swivel Camera
1080p Full HD video playback
integrated WiFi, Bluetooth and UMTS/HSDPA
So anyway, to all you tablet developers…please please please bring something to market so we as consumers have an alternative to the iPad.

Thank You, Thank you very much!

TekkieFreak

So Apple just announced it’s new iPad tablet.  It will be available for purchase in 60 days (That puts us right around March 27, 2010).   Cost will be $499 for 16gb, $599 for 32gb and $699 for 64gb.  Tablets have wi-fi built in and you also have an option to get them with 3G capabilities for an extra $130.   3G can be purchased via AT&T for $14.99 for 250mb and $29.99 for unlimited data and there is NO Contract required.  You just pre-pay and away you go.

Looks like the iPad has a 9.7″ screen and multitouch.  No camera, no flash, and I’m not sure about multi-tasking.

Enjoy!!!

Ah yes, the Barnes and Noble Nook. I received mine on December 9, 2009. So I’ve been using my Nook for about 3 weeks now and I really have to say that I like it. It’s a great little device. It works well with the Barnes and Noble store and it offers support for many more file formats than Kindle. It contains the very same viziplex e-ink display as the Amazon Kindle, but also has a smaller, color LCD screen below the 6″ e-ink display.

The Nook has gotten tons of bad reviews and frankly, I’m not sure why.  It seems to be a great device, so far it’s worked well for me and it runs the Android operating system.  I’ve read 2 books so far on my Nook and have had zero problems downloading, formatting or reading either of the books I’ve purchased.  The wi-fi works fine and as soon as I entered my security key it connected without a problem.

The Nook doesn’t have a web browser available like the Kindle does, and the Kindle browser did come in handy one time when I needed to check my gmail account.  Though it worked, the experience was anything like browsing on a regular computer or even on a cell phone.  So, I can’t say that I miss having the browser available.  A software update that was pushed out for the Nook last week (version 1.1.1) did improve page turns by leaps and bounds and my Nook is running relatively fast and fuss free.  I own a Kindle 2 also and I have to say the experience I get from either device is fairly similar.  Though so far I find myself heading for the Nook when I want to read something.

The only real drawback I’ve found so far is that Barnes & Noble claims a 10-day battery life.  So far, this has been a tad disappointing as I’ve only managed to get maybe 48 hours.  And I don’t leave any of the network connections turned on when using my Nook.  The Kindle battery life seems to deliver much more as advertised as I’ve left the Kindle on standby for at least a week before with little to no battery drain.

I’ll keep you posted.

Mag+ (video prototype footage only) from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Here’s commentary from one of the developers:

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Here’s a link to the story:

http://gizmodo.com/5428619/mag%252B-concept-from-popular-science-publishers-shows-thinking-outside-the-tablet-box

Enjoy the photos.

I checked my account and it still says that it’s estimated ship date is November 30 and that is has not yet shipped. Anyway, if/when my Nook arrives I’ll be sure to post photos and maybe even some video.

freezing actually.  Frankly, the specs package on this Interead Cool-er e-reader is less than amazing and at a MSRP of $250, I think most folks are going to brown bag it for lunch a couple days and come up with the extra $9 to get either the Barnes and Noble Nook or the Kindle 2.

• 6-inch e-ink screen
• 1 gb ram
• SD card slot
• 2.5 mm headphone jack (comes with a 3.5″ converter)
• Formats: EPUB, TXT, JPEG, PDF, MP3 for audio

This device is meant to be for people who are not technologically advanced.  There’s no wi-fi or 3g so all books have to be loaded via SD card or a USB cable.  I’m not sure what Interead is thinking.  You are making a device for those who aren’t tech savvy and you are expecting them to be able to plug this thing into a computer and move files onto it?  For some of my relatives (who shall remain nameless) they don’t understand email…they don’t understand a directory structure and they are seriously frightened to plug anything into their computer.  Then again maybe that’s not the market they’re really going for because those are the folks who are scared to even touch my kindle.

Anyway, truth be told, I haven’t actually tried one of these, but the specs along with the relatively high price tag would make me head for Barnes and Noble (or Amazon).

or it would if I lived in Japan and had $1000 to spend.  Fujitsu is spot-on.  The FLEPIA is the e-book lovers wet dream.

The good:

• It has a full color e-ink screen. XGA. That’s  260,000 colors people.
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• SD Card slot
• 40-hour battery life (not quite the 2-weeks you get with a Kindle), but 40 hours works for me.

The Bad:

• You have to live in or travel to Japan to get one.
• It runs windows CE 5.0….all I have to say to that is WTF?
• $1000 is a little out of my price range and probably also your average American consumer.
• 1.8 second refresh  rate. Ouch.  A tad on the slow side, but did I mention this is full-color?

The Ugly:

• Sorry folks, nothing ugly about this product, except for the fact that we here in the USA are (as usual) in the technological dark ages and can’t get great products like this if we had the cash.