Oct 28

Kobo eReader Hits $99 Mark!

I knew this would happen before Christmas! UberGizmo has the story about Borders dropping the price of the Kobo eReader to $99.99 in a lead-up to the holiday season. (The sale is marked with an October 31 closing date, but it’s also rumored to have a Nov. 15 cut-off date. Regardless, I wouldn’t waste any time taking advantage of the offer.) Check out the Borders offer here.

Looks like they’ve extended the sale to their entire suite of eBook Readers: Velocity Micro Cruz Reader for $169.99 and the Velocity Micro Cruz Tablet at $299.99.

If these prices have dropped now, imagine the wrangling that’s going to go on as the holiday shopping season draws near. Some industry insiders suggest we might see a $79 eBook Reader before the new year.

Oct 27

Barnes and Noble NookColor

B&N NookColor7-inch Full-Color Touchscreen

Built-in WiFi

$249 Price Tag

What do you think?

I have a feeling it will create more trouble for iPad than it will Kindle. Die-hard readers seem to be happy with E Ink.

Click Image for the B&N NookColor Page

Oct 26

Barnes and Noble Launches “NookColor”

The new generation of B&N’s Nook has been released. The $249 full color “NookColor” tablet eBook Reader is destined to ship Nov. 19. Check out the full story at CNNMoney.

Oct 26

Readers will pick the Bestsellers in the Digital Age

Many thanks to Jorgen for dropping off a link to an interesting piece at ProspectMagazine called “Do writers need paper?” As I said, it’s interesting and covers a wide selection of topics that are especially of note as all reports show the eBook Revolution growing beyond our wildest dreams. While I feel sorry for the worried authors quoted, I am reminded of the many millions of writers who went to their graves unread because they did not fit into the old publishing model.

Oct 25

A Full-Color Barnes and Noble Nook?

PCWorld reports that Barnes and Noble has leaked information about a full-color eBook reader (Nook Color ala iPad) that it will launch tomorrow. The rumored tablet comes with a full touch-screen, and projected LED technology.

Let’s hope this is going to be offered in addition to the E Ink Nook. Anyone who has tried to read a novel on an iPad will attest that it can present some challenges to the serious reader.

Oct 24

Amazon Finally Allows Kindle eBook Lending

Suite101 has the story that a lot of Amazon Kindle users have been waiting to hear. You’ll soon be able to lend your favorite Kindle titles to friends. There are conditions, but the lending feature may be nice value-added to those expensive eBook titles.

Oct 23

HP Tablet Hits the Market

Here’s a story about the $800 HP Slate. It looks slick and it’s expensive, but let’s hope the marketplace gives it a better rating than CNN does here.

Oct 22

The Nook is Headed to Walmart for Christmas

Check out this MarketWatch report on Barnes & Noble, Inc.’s announcement that their NOOK eBook Reader will be sold through Walmart’s 2,500 stores, arriving on the shelves as soon as October 24, in time for holiday shopping.

With Apple already offering the different versions of iPad at Walmart can Amazon’s Kindle be far behind?

Added to the other eBook readers rushing to market for the holiday season, I see a price war in the near future. Perhaps we’ll get that $99 E Ink eBook Reader sooner than we expected.

Oct 21

eBook Piracy Shifts into High Gear!

Many thanks to Jorgen for dropping by with a link to the Telegraph.co.uk and a chilling story by Adrian Hon about the current state of eBook Piracy. (At least in his opinion. I, for one, think the wider public is less comfortable with piracy than Hon speculates.) I do agree, however, that the reasons for the piracy are as old as the music industry’s near-death-experience.

Publishers charge too much for eBooks and refuse to see that they cannot graft their outmoded business models and profit structures onto the digital age. Until that changes, piracy has a reason to exist.

Oct 20

Kobo Wireless eReader

GoodeReader.com reviewed the new Kobo Wireless eReader and found few flaws on the upgrade to the original. New to the market , at $149 it’s bound to cause a stir among similarly priced competitors like Kindle, Nook and Sony eReader. While I was hoping Kobo would get adventurous and break the $100 price barrier, they are showing up wireless in a price range that they created.