Portable Ebook Reader

The newest premium eBook reader, the Sony PRS-950

Get the lowest price on the Sony PRS-950 here!  And check out our review below!

The Sony PRS-950 is the company’s leading eBook reader as the second generation of the Sony Daily Edition. It has several more advanced features than its siblings the PRS-350 and PRS-650, the most important among them being wireless connectivity i.e. it offers both Wi-Fi and 3G connections. Its Wi-Fi connectivity enables you to browse the internet using the new web browser while its free 3G services allow you to browse Sony’s eBook store to get the news, new releases or any other eBook title wirelessly.

The Sony PRS-950 also features an improved glare-free 7” touchscreen with a new Pearl display that makes reading easier under any lighting conditions.  This is due to the latest incarnation of the Sony Reader Daily Edition having the extra protective coating layer on the screen removed to greatly decrease reflectivity issues.  Also, NeoNode’s zForce infrared technology has made its touchscreen very responsive, something previously unavailable with e-ink screen technology.  Lastly, for its size the Sony Daily Edition is very compact and light, weighing in at 9.5 ounces.

Let’s have a look on the specifications of the Sony Daily Edition PRS-950:

• 7” e-ink Pearl display touchscreen with 16 levels of gray scale and 1024X600 pixels.
• Built-in 2GB storage. Also gives you a SD card slot & Pro Duo card slot.
• Stores around 1200 e-books.
• Regular newspaper delivery.
• Built-in WiFi as well as 3G connectivity.
• WiFi works for web browsing.
• Supports the Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC formats.
• Features 2 English dictionaries with 10 translations.

And now some of the feature highlights of the Sony Reader Daily Edition PRS-950:

• Impressive Touchscreen – This is the latest feature of the Sony Daily Edition e-readers. Its high contrast and much darker blacks make it as easy to read as an actual book. Coupled with the infrared touch sense technology and reduced glare, this really makes the Sony eBook readers stand out. A stylus is also provided for using the touchscreen.
• Web Browser – The Sony PRS-950 makes its move into the “premium” category with the inclusion of a web browser (only accessable through WiFi, not 3G, same as the Kindle and Nook). Sites can be loaded in either web or mobile versions and the results show that regular sites are easily readable. You can even bookmark your favorite URLs with the help of an onscreen keyboard. Activating hyperlinks is also very easy with the touchscreen.
• Smart Text Handling – Adding memos, notes or scribbles is a breeze with an interface that straddles the line between an ereader and a 7″ tablet.  Bookmarks, built-in dictionary, manual controls for adjusting the contrasts, hyperlinks activation, creating, managing and deleting collections , etc. all give the Sony Daily Edition the feel of more than just an eBook reader.
• Exclusive Size – The Sony PRS-950 is the only available e-ink eBook reader with a 7-inch display, perfectly balanced between a portable pocket model like the PRS-350 and the unwieldy 9.7” Kindle DX or iPad.

Here’s our quick pros & cons list for the Sony PRS-950:

Pros

• Very compact given the large screen size
• Glare free touchscreen
• Wireless connections with WiFi & 3G connectivity
• Supports EPUB

Cons

• Minor limitations with the web browser
• Stylus is unnecessarily large

Verdict

The Sony Daily Edition PRS-950 is an advanced touchscreen eBook reader featuring wireless connectivity. Its metallic looks are very appealing and it’s light and easy to handle. Possessing a unique feature set, it’s a great, full-featured ereader for just about anyone.

Buy the Sony PRS-950 here!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Samsung E6 and E101 are the first e-book readers from the manufacturer which were recently revealed at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Both e-book devices are touchscreens: the Samsung E6 comes with 6-inch E-ink display, while the E101 features 10-inch one. Unlike other portable devices, Samsung E6 and E101 were introduced with handwriting capabilities directly onto the display. The tool allowing users to annotate their reading selections, calendars and to-do lists is an electromagnetic resonance (EMR) stylus pen which utilizes EMR technology. The Korean giant was also serious about low power consumption of e-books’ displays delivering natural reflect light similar to that of printed paper.

The Samsung e-readers support a wide range of file formats include e-pub, PDF/a, TXT, BMP and JPG. The E6 and E101 are equipped with Samsung’s text-to-speech (TTS) built-in technology. Both models come with Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) capability allowing customers download books and newspapers wirelessly as well as transfer them from other devices thanks to built in Bluetooth 2.0. The readers are powered with 2GB internal memory and microSD memory card with maximum 18GB storage. The company’s partnership with Google means there is a lot of content available for E6 and E101 users. When speaking about battery it may deliver up to two weeks of use only with 4 hours of charging.

Samsung E6 should be available in March for $399 with black and white colors. The 10-inch version of E6 will cost $599.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Sony Daily Reader PRS900 is the company’s first model with wireless broadband connection that has been released in December of 2009. The Daily Reader comes with brilliant 7-inch touch display which can be used by fingers or stylus. Much like the Amazon Kindle, the Daily Edition uses 600 x 1024 Vizplex e-ink screen   providing users flawless navigation and comfortable layout of content. In portrait mode, the eRader features about 30-35 lines of text visible making the experience very similar to that of a printed paperback book. When the reader is in landscape mode, you have the option of switching to a 2 page at a time view. The eReader is also optimized for newspapers and provides crisp text and images that are very natural and easy to read.

Most notable for PRS900’s customers, will, however be the capabilities for wireless access via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network. With Sony’s latest generation Daily Edition on your hands you will access to over one million free public domain titles from Google Books and sharing sites to Raeder Store and personal publishers. Unlike the Amazon Kindle which limits the ebook formats to their own amazon.com and pdf ebook formats,the Sony PRS900 supports a wide range of file formats including EPUB, Text, RTF and Word, in addition to Sony’s own BBeB (LRF) formats.

Measuring just 0.6-inch thin and weighting only 12.75 ounces the Rader Daily Edition is also really compact and easy-to-hold device. Sony was also serious about PRS900’s long battery life allowing it to display around 12000 continuous page turns from a single charge or to deliver 7 days with wireless switch on.  The PRS900’s package comes with 3.5mm stereo jack and up to 1.6 GB Dual Memory Card Expansion Slots for Memory Stick Duo and SD Card up to 32 GB. Additinal accessories will include AC adaptor, leather cover, travel case, USB cable, pre-installed SIM card and stylus. Joining two other new Sony models the Reader Pocket and the Reader Touch editions the Sony PRS900 will be available at a price of $399.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Speaking about digital readers, you may have noticed new marketing models for e-books being developed as of 2010 and bringing along new electronic gadgets that take the world by storm. E-readers can enhance the reading experience with their design and form, ease of use, and advanced features. Having the world’s largest e-readers series IRex Technologies pick all the incredible features you’ve come to expect in IRex digital reader.

Coming in the market at the end of the first quarter 2010, the impressive IRex Digital Reader 1000s is the largest, yet thinnest e-reader ever and it is packed with features. The 1000s completely substitutes paper, not only featuring store ebooks and different documents, but also letting you to make your own handwritten notes in your documents. Yes, you are not mistaken; using a conventional pen, you will write on your digital paper as you would on original. Let’s continue see other interesting details that are starting to emerge in IRex’s new reading device.

The 1000s e-book reader is a light as a real book, has a sleek design and easy to hand it everywhere. Dimensions of the 1000s include being only 1.2cm deep and weighing less than 570 grams. As sharp and natural as reading ink on paper, user will enjoy DR1000s digital reader and will be able to get access to the largest online newspaper kiosk offering over 1020 newspaper titles from 81 countries, including The Telegraph, Washington Post, USA Today, Die Welt, NRC Handelsblad, Le Figaro and The Wall Street Journal Europe.

One of the most obvious distinctions you will find on the IRex DR1000s is its huge screen. At 10.2 inches, this e-book offers ideal reading experience almost with any digital document, even A4 or letter-sized documents look great on the IRex digital reader. IRex have integrated Wacom Penabled touch sensor input with stylus. Use its stylus to navigate freely around your digital library, or even to annotate your books and documents and manually enter your notes. Around the edge of the screen you will find also nine capacitive buttons that are dedicated to fingertip use.

A good e-reader starts with a good base- an exceptional operating system. Interestingly, the iLad runs an open Linux operating system, allowing developers to create third party applications for it. Still, the company was serious about that level of functionality, it would surely have provided some enhanced features beyond. The IRex digital reader is a great device for its intended purpose of document management in a fully electronic office. Currently supported formats include PDF, Mobipocket, TXT, HTML JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF and BMP and is expected additional formats to be supported in the future. All these file format documents can be directly printed into a readable format on your IRex Digital Reader, allowing you the convenience to always have all your paperwork at hand.

For connectivity 1000s is equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and features a basic browser. The 1000s don’t have wireless access to an ebook store but as noted above, IRex 1000s will have access online newspaper kiosk offering over 1020 newspaper titles from 81 countries. The digital reader comes with 2GB of storage, which should hold around 1,500 books. The battery used is a lithium iod and with software version 1.0 the reader consumes about 150 mA per hour, resulting in about 8 hours of battery life.

The IRex digital reader 1000s finally offers a way for companies and individuals to cut out the billions of pages of printed paper they produce each year. The IRex digital reader 1000s can be a great choice for the business professional, offering great readability for large digital documents, a lightweight design, and connectivity. It does, however, retail for $750 USD.

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Popularity: 25% [?]

Young people today are totally ‘plugged in’ with their cell phones, video games, iPods and other gadgets that they use on a daily basis. Offering students a cool, handheld device to use in the classroom, on the train or in a coffee shop may be a way to make learning fun. Irex digital readers are thought to be a motivator to students to become more involved with their learning.

Irex DR800s is the newest addition to the company’s innovative line of e-readers. At just 1 cm thick and with an 8.1-inch screen, the Irex Digital Reader 800S is just the thing for bookworms everywhere. A unique screen surface differentiates the DR800S from competitive devices, and delivers a natural reading experience in the living room, on the train or in a coffee shop.

The user has the opportunity to enjoy a variety of electronic books, magazines and newspapers with this digital reader that features an 8.1-inch interactive touch screen with a natural, paper-like display and adjustable text sizes. The Irex uses E Ink Corporation’s Vizplex ink-imaging film that is dubbed EPD for electronic paper display and has a 768 x1024 pixel resolution at 160 DPI 16-level grey scale. You can also use  the supplied stylus and menus easily, thanks to electronic touch-screen paper technology. Internal menus are supported in the following languages: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Greek.

Running on Linux operating system and featuring the FreeScale i.MX31L processor, the Irex DR enhances users’ true reading experience that far eclipses what they’d get from a multifunction device. The DR800S supports multiple formats, including the industry standard ePub, rather than a single, “closed” proprietary format along with PDF and JPG / BMP/ PNG / GIF file formats. That’s not all though! The mini-USB 2.0 port on the DR800S lets you download electronic versions of the latest bestsellers and newspapers from the internet. You will copy or transfer your own documents directly to the device without any additional software or fees, just connect to a computer and transfer them to the DR.

An SD card slot is onboard for extendable storage of up to a big 2 GB SD, so the digital reader will contain up to 1,000 books or photos. The 800s is powered by 2800 mAh lithium-ion battery, which lasts for up to 6,000 page turns.  The e-reader has also a build-in sleep mode, which stretches the reading experience even further and lets the device wake up in seconds at the touch of the button.

The dimensions of Irex 800s are 1, 07 cm x 14, 9 cm 19, 3 cm and it weights just 360 g. The device comes with a custom cover and stylus.

The IREX Digital Reader 800s can be found at:

• Amazon for $399 USD

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Popularity: 70% [?]

Plastic Logic is a spin-off company from the Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics. Plastic Logic’s Mission is to lead a revolution in the way people acquire, organize and consume information. The headquarters of Plastic Logic is in Mountain View, California.

Plastic Logic unveils QUE, the first proreader designed for the business professional. QUE is built using unique plastic electronics technology, and was designed to have the benefits of paper, but without weight and clutter. The Plastic Logic QUE ebook reader was designed by industrial design firm IDEO and is the best-looking device in its category.

The QUE borrows a certain Apple-like quality as it’s both extremely thin and very minimalist. The Plastic Logic QUE is an e-reader that enables you to carry reading material wherever you go. After three different debuts, we know QUE will be size of 1/3 inch thick and weighting 16 oz (453 grams), less than many periodicals (about a pound). Besides compact size the QUE is also a beautiful device. The company clearly put a lot of effort into everything from the design to one-touch navigation.

QUE features a crisp, clear screen that looks and reads just like paper. QUE has a lighter 10.7 inch display which is possible more durable than a glass screen. The screen displays your latest emails and calendar, pulled from Outlook along with your favorite subscriptions and books. The user is able to interact with the documents with the touch of a finger. Today the QUE has the largest E link display among ebook readers, as well as the touchscreen interface.

The device’s touchscreen display includes a virtual onscreen keyboard allowing the user to add notes, to include comments, highlight text, scribble free form, and even add a stamp to emphasize a point. No stylus is needed for the QUE.

Plastic Logic’s strategy is to aim its product at business professionals, given the large screen and support for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. Plastic Logic has also given it email and calendar support, together with Outlook sync. QUE users will be able to connect to content and download wirelessly via Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 3G network, the nation’s fastest 3G mobile broadband network. With the QUE software, it’s easy to quickly transfer content from your PC, Mac computer, or BlackBerry smartphone to your QUE.

The company has also lined up a host of business publications to provide content for its platform, including the Dow Jones Company and The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and All Things Digital, Forbes, and Fast Company. The standard 4GB model can hold 35,000 documents or so, and an 8GB version pumps that up to 70,000 or so and the latest adds 3G connectivity. As nice as it is, Plastic Logic promise to reveal the Plastic Logic QUE in March. Preorders for the QUE proreader will be priced at $649 USD for the 4GB model with Wi-Fi or $799 USD for the 8GB model with both Wi-Fi and 3G.

Here’s the original preview article we posted in May 2009 about the QUE.  Seems like Plastic Logic is really taking their time to get it perfect.

Popularity: 30% [?]