So after watching the keynote address from Steve Jobs yesterday regarding the iPad…I’m feeling a little bit on the fence.  Sure, I understand their naming convention (iPod, iPad)…but seriously iPad? I dunno it’s just a bad name.  Sorry Steve.  And yes, I am drawing conclusions on a product I haven’t even seen, touched or used yet.  But it doesn’t multitask, there’s no flash and as far as a music device: my iPod touch is just the right size.

Enter HP’s Slate.  I’ve been having trouble finding lots of specifics on the slate.  But it looks like it’s a nice size, and should make a great ebook reader/web browser/video player.   Due out sometime in 2010, I think this will be an awesome addition to the new lineup of tablets.

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!!!

Well Everyone, it was bound to happen. Borders didn’t want to be left out in the cold.  The Alex ereader looks LOTS like the Barnes and Noble Nook except for the 3.5 inch display on the bottom of the device is obviously taller.  The Alex is going to allow for full web browsing, video playback and music.

It looks like the Alex ereader will be available on February 22, 2010 and will cost $359.   The Alex looks promising, though they’re going to have to offer some incentives to get that price to match the other ereaders available at $259.

The Alex, with it’s larger 3.5″ LCD display will offer full web browsing capabilities and it runs Android, yay.

Check out the AWESOME Alex website here:

http://www.springdesign.com

It looks like 2010 is most certainly the year of the ereader.

Thanks to one of our forum members, Ben, I’m posting about this great looking Android Tablet.   This looks like a great device, has the nice large screen so you don’t have to give yourself a headache from looking at teeny tiny fonts on your cell phone.  And, it’s running android.  If you guys haven’t noticed I’m a little bit biased toward Android….it’s a great open source OS and I’ve been reasonably impressed with my Android-based myTouch.

The tablet should be available in 7, 11 and 15 inch screen sizes.

There’s no information on cost, but it sounds like this is going to be sold through one or more of the cell phone carriers and subsidized.  It should be coming out the first half of 2010…so I guess the rest remains to be seen.

Here’s the link to the original story.

http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/

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.

My goals for 2010 are many, but I’m hoping to get our forums up and running.  I hope to provide everyone with tons of great information on latest gadgets.  I’ve been focusing mostly on electronic reading devices such as the Barnes and Noble Nook and Amazon’s Kindle.

Please head over to our Tekkie Freak forums where I hope to get some great discussions going.  Thanks for all your ongoing support in 2009, and here’s to a fabulous 2010.  I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy 2010.

Jill

You will be required to register to use the forums, but hopefully you’ll find tons of great discussions and interesting information.  So far, the forums are centered around electronic book readers, but I’m always open to suggestions.  I absolutely love Android devices so will probably be adding some new categories for Android devices.

The link to the forums is up in the left hand corner or click below:

http://www.tekkiefreak.com/forum

Jill

Here’s the article compliments of the Huffington post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/borders-plans-to-sell-ebo_n_394072.html

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