Sorry folks, yet again I don’t have any racy videos to share. We here at Tekkie Freak try to be a family friendly web site. But, I thought you all might enjoy seeing the marketing vid that Barnes and Noble has released to show off their new ebook reading device: nook. The name kind of makes me feel like I should be having tea inside a huge tree trunk with a gnome or something…but I’m guessing that’s what they were going for. After all, I always like to feel cozy and drink my coffee while reading. Enjoy:

Ok, so I just couldn’t help myself with the headlines this morning. Unless I’m missing something (which is entirely possible) there is no Apple tablet. This looks promising…really promising.  This is the Microsoft Courier “tablet” and rather than an ebook reader (though I’m sure it can do that) it’s more meant to be a “journal/agenda”…think Dayrunner on steroids?  It looks like they’re going for the female demographic.  Apparently this baby is running windows 7….so it should be really interesting to see where this goes.  This is getting much closer to my vision of being able to have a thin/small tablet type device that’s large enough for my aging eyes to see and allows me to “read” a magazine in full-color with it’s full formatting.

And honestly, I’m still a bit bitter!  I’m a self-described Trekkie who has thought someone should make a 7″ or 8″ tablet since the days of Next Generation (remember their tablets).  It seems like all these companies are scrambling because they’ve somehow realized there actually is a market for this sort of thing.  I’ve been waiting on this kind of thing for 20 years.

Here’s a video that I found on youtube.  Looks really nice, but I’d love to see a bit more of it’s functionality (ebook reading, surfing, media) if there is any at this point.

At any rate, my faithful readers…enjoy looking at all the new technology coming out!!

Are you going home to Mommy this Thanksgiving or Christmas?  Well, if you are and you’re bringing your Kindle…people are going to want to look at it and play with it and touch it.   Trust me, I know.  Are all those bodice rippers just sitting there on your home screen for everyone to see?  Check out this video,  Molly Wood shows you how to hide those titles that you’d prefer your future in-laws didn’t see. Enjoy:

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.

Ah yes, it is only October, but this Christmas it is going to be  the season of ebook readers present.  As someone who used to read ebooks and news on her palm pilot 15, possibly even close to 20 years ago.  I am absolutely tickled Pink that the ebook reader market is taking off.  Last spring when I ordered my Kindle, it wasn’t the only ebook reader on the market, but after my usual researching it seemed the best of the bunch.  Now, I’m watching the Barnes and Noble Nook.  Mine is already on pre-order.  It’s being released on November 30.  It runs the Android operating system, displays PDF’s, and has both 3g and wi-fi (again the 3g is AT&T)…for a network that constantly whines about not being able to handle all the iPhone traffic I’m not sure why they would pony up use of their network for this…but well I guess they’re better than nothing.

Some great things about the Nook.

• Pricing is the same as Amazon Kindle 2 at $259.  Again I’d like to see the majority of ebook readers selling for $199 as I think this is the price point where MOST consumers will take the plunge.
• Free wi-fi in all Barnes and Noble stores.
• When you are in the store, you can read any electronic book free.  Just like when you are in the store you can page through any of the real books on the shelves without buying.
• It has an SD card slot.
• Replaceable battery (This has always annoyed me about the Kindle 2).
• It runs the Android operating system (though kindle also runs on linux).
• You can lend your books to other people.  This was a HUGE rant for many people with the kindle.
• Access to Googles extensive library of free books.

Anyway, you can check out the device and pre-order here.  It’s supposed to ship by November 30.

Plastic Logic recently announced it’s QUE Ereader. Details so far are pretty sketchy, but you can get you very own in January of 2010 at the product launch during CES. This reader is being billed as the first ereader for the professional. It has a touchscreen, does PDF, word, powerpoint and excel documents.

The device sports and 8.5″ x 11″ screen and 3g wireless provided by AT&T (ewe). Not that I’m opinionated or anything. It
will also be driven by the Barnes and Noble online store. I couldn’t find any information on pricing. I’m guessing it will be more than your average consumer will care to spend.

Sorry Sony, this looks like a great reader, but my guess is that this reader isn’t going to do much damage to Kindle sales.  And truthfully, I haven’t had my paws on one yet, though would love to see one.

The good:

• Hello? Touch screen.  Yes, I realize that e-ink is a rather new technology, but touch screens have been around for years and years and years.  Ever heard of a Palm Pilot?  I know some of you are old enough.  I love my Kindle, but I would love my kindle even more if it had a touch screen and every person that I have ever showed my kindle to, starts getting their paw prints on the screen, because they are trying to touch the screen to select things.  So yeah, this is the feature that would sell me on the PRS-600.
• Google Books.  Again, has anyone seen this most wonderfully amazing piece of work from google? Books, magazines.  Yeah, I absolutely LOVE this.  If I could read PDFs on my Kindle I would be so so so happy (see “the bad”).  I must admit the PDF thing makes this HUGELY tempting to me.
• Library books.  Yes, I’m not sure how exactly this works, but the sony reader allows you to actually “borrow” library books. How can you not love that?

The Bad:

• No wi-fi, no connectivity.  Say what Sony?  Seriously, I’m so over having to actually use a physical cord to plug my devices into my computer and “sync” them.  Frankly, I’ve been annoyed with my iPod touch of late for this very reason.  Yeah, Amazon has this one locked in (pretty much) – A 3g connection that works most anywhere (my Kindle even connects up in the North woods of Wisconsin – albeit it’s not 3g).  Sony could offer a wi-fi connection to sync books, magazines and newspapers and yeah this creates a little more difficulty for the user in that they’d have to find the nearest coffee shop or restaurant with free wi-fi to connect.   I’ve never been one to turn down a nice hot dark roast though so personally, I wouldn’t have a problem buying a cup of joe somewhere so I can connect and sync.
• No response to Amazons lower price point on the 6″ Kindle. I think Sony is going to have to lower their price on this for sales to really take off.  Sony does offer a smaller “pocket size” reader with a 5″ screen (no touch screen) for $199.

The Reality:

The Sony PRS-600 looks like a great ebook reader, but like the Kindle, nothing is perfect.  I guess I’m not willing to wander around with 2 devices so I can get the great benefits of both.  The PDF reader again is FABULOUS, but to me a magazine just isn’t a magazine without color photos and formatting.  So for now, I’ll stick with reading news and novels on my Kindle an wait for a product that comes a bit closer to my “ideal” before making another purchase.

Sony Digital Reader Touch Edition – Black (PRS600BC)
Price: —

34 used & new available from USD 119.99

Check out this great video review of the Sony PRS-600:

Ah yes, steampunk is your friend.  I love that steampunk look so my new theme is very reminiscent of steampunk.  If you ever watch Warehouse 13, you’ll see tons of steampunk.  After all, who says a gadget blog has to look boring? Not me.  So hopefully, I’ll have some new and wonderful tech and gadget new for you and again please bear with me as I get my blog going.  Onward and upward!!!

Also, new at Tekkie Freak is that I’m turning off  comments for now.  I love “real” comments from folks, but most comments I get are simply spam-type comments.  So in the future, I may consider some sort of forum format, but for now I just don’t have time to sift through all the spam and delete them.

Ok here’s the link to subscribe to the Tekkie Freak RSS Feed, it’s a ltitle quick and dirty, but at least you have the functionality.

Well, it seems Amazon has reduced their price on the Kindle 2.  They are now $259 for a US only version or $279 for an international version.  They will also be shipping the international version all over the world.  I paid the full $359 for my Kindle and I have to say that so far I still love it.

Enjoy.

Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, U.S. Wireless)
Price: —

23 used & new available from USD 180.00

Welcome to the NEW Tekkie Freak.  I’m just now working on re-doing my entire blog…so my look may change and I’m looking forward to providing you all with tons of brand new, interesting content.  Enjoy!