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Microsoft Courier more Desirable than Apple iPad?

by Jay Garrett on March 9, 2010

Ok, so the iPad isn’t floating everyone’s boat is it?

I’ve actually been interested in Microsoft’s offering for quite some time now and there’s some more info seeping through about the twin screened tablet known as Courier.

So, we all already know that the Courier will react in a nice way to being stroked and poked by either finger or stylus but the video below also shows that Microsoft’s Courier has shrunk since we first got sneaky peeks at it.

The shrinkage will obviously help it be more portable and, as it looks to be around 5″x7″ and about an inch think, should be luggable +++ :)

It beats the Apple table by seemingly sporting a camera. The Courier, as well as having the pinch-zoom touchscreeness can also recognise handwriting when using the stylus which combined with being able to cope with multiple apps running is going to make Mr Jobs weep. I particularly like the cut and paste using the stylus shown in the vid below.

You are able to keep ‘Journals’ which, given its book-like form factor, are kinda like multi-media scrapbooks. This makes me think that the big M may be pushing the Courier as Filofax for the 21st Century. It’s neat that you can make a journal your homepage so if you’re off to a meeting you can have all your relevant notes, pics, etc right at the front of your do everything organiser.

According to the whispers on Engadget the Courier UX will be purring along using the Tegra 2 OS as found on the Zune HD and not Windows 7 – so a little similar to Apple’s choice of using the iPhone OS and not Mac OSX.

As I mentioned before:  We should be looking at the Micorsoft Courier UX as a small Surface device.  The OS indeed resembles the Surface operating system with the added bonus of mobile niceties such as maps and internetweb.

Reckon it’s a no-brainer to think that the Courier would make a great e-Book reader huh?

Microsoft is aiming to launch this in the second half of this year and it sounds like it will be keenly priced as they’re planning large volume sales.

Colour me interested – what say you?

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Amazon Kindle DX Lands in UK – Will Cost You Though!

by Jay Garrett on January 6, 2010

Some may say – At Last!

Amazon.com has finally announced that it’s going to ship an international version of its Kindle DX to Blighty.

For those unaware of the Kindle DX – think Kindle but bigger.

It has a 246mm (9.7 inch) E-Ink screen and apparently the “Kindle DX is great for personal and professional documents, cookbooks and textbooks – anything that is highly formatted,” so says Amazon.

The Kindle DX also supports Adobe PDF files whereas before Kindles would’ve had to have PDF’s converted to a format it liked.

You can shove around 3,500 books into the memory and you get a week’s worth of reading before needing to recharge it thanks to power only being required to turn pages and not to read.

Free wireless downloads from the built-in bookstore just like the standard Kindle.

Now, here’s the painful part. Amazon only ships this model from the states so you’ll have to pay an “import deposit” of $89 to start off as well as the $489 asking price.

Oh, don’t forget the $20.98 delivery cost – that should bring you around to a total of $600. That’s £375 Sterling. That might not even include VAT!!!!!

For me I’d wait and see what the Apple and Microsoft tablets offer and how much they cost. I mean, 400 notes for an eReader? Even if they’re outselling regular paper books!

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Paradigm Shift Full Colour Touchscreen eReaders for £125 – CES 2010

December 30, 2009 Click to read more →
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It looks like the eReader tag is going to get as confusing as the Netbook is.
My understanding was that an eReader was an e-Ink sporting tablet-esque gadget whos main purpose was to save me carting magazines, newspapers and a load of paperbacks around with me.
Is the gadgety thing still an eReader when it has a [...]

eBooks Outsell Their Paper Christmas Cousins for First Time

December 29, 2009 Click to read more →
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As you’re a Gadgety News reader you’ve probably expected eBooks to overtake ‘real’ books on Santa’s lists for a while but now it has actually happened!
There’s now so much choice if you fancy getting an eBook and, as I’ve mentioned before, the fact that you can have a library in your bag without doing yourself [...]

Apple Tablet on Video Again – MacTablet, Apple iProd, iSlate, iTablet…. Whatever it’s Called it Looks Nice

December 12, 2009 Click to read more →
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It does sound like this Apple Tablet or something similar is going to be coming pretty soon but I really doubt that this is it.
But, saying that, it’s still worth a look at the video.
The flick was posted by French site nowhereelse.fr and their Mac Tablet looks thin, light and is rockin a great touchscreen [...]

Colour e-Book Reader Seeks OEM – Qualcomm Mirasol Display

November 18, 2009 Click to read more →
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Qualcomm’s Mirasol displays have appeared in mobile phones, Digital Audio Players (DAP) and GPS devices but now it seems that its going to join in on the latest craze.
E-book readers
The full colour, 5.7 inch display touting prototype just needs a friendly, loving and understanding OEM partner to take it home and nurture it – and [...]

iPhone eBooks and eReaders out Gun Games for First Time

November 2, 2009 Click to read more →
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For anyone thinking that reading a book on a small screen is a bad idea and the power of paper should never be overlooked then be prepared to rethink.
Whilst the Kindle, Sony Reader, Cool-er and even Alex are pretty certain of the future; Apple’s iPhone has stepped in with its own proof.
The obvious advantage with [...]

Alex the Android eBook has Two Screens and Smartphone Capabilities

October 19, 2009 Click to read more →
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Everyone say hello to Alex the eBook reader.
This lovely, and friendly sounding gadget comes courtesy of Spring Design.
This eBook reader not only has the usual black and white e-Ink screen it has another display that features full colour niceness!
Alex also throws in full web browsing over Wi-Fi and 3G (or EVDO/CDMA in America).
I love the [...]

LG Shows Off Solar eBook eReader

October 11, 2009 Click to read more →
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As we enter the more autumnal months perhaps sitting in the park or on the beach reading whilst catching some rays isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
But the solar-powered eBook from LG Display would love that you did
The 0.7 mm thin solar cell featured in the new eBook measures 10 centimeters [...]

Amazon Kindle Coming Too Late to UK

October 1, 2009 Click to read more →
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2 years.
That’s almost half a century in tech years.
But that’s how long it’s taken for Amazon to spring their eBook reader over to the UK.
Yup – it sounds like we might finally be graced by the presence of Kindle 2 – but do we need it now?
It’s not like we’ve all been forced to keep [...]

Interead Cool-er Coming with 3G and Colour Touchscreens

September 12, 2009 Click to read more →
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Interead is planning to launch a wireless connected, 3G Cool-er with a colour screen by early next year.
The Cool-er is not only bragging about setting up a colourful screen but it’s also thinking about making that bad boy a touchscreen as well!
Before you dismiss that as being mere bluster may I point out that [...]

Asus Bring Dual-Screened EeeBook EeeReader in Time to Un-Kindle Christmas

September 7, 2009 Click to read more →
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You peoples that catch-up with GadgetyNews right here will remember that dual panel laptop by Asus that was rumoured to become their EeeReader.
In June Asus vice chairman, Jonathan Tsang did say that the company had an Asus eBook device, as well as a games machine “better than the Wii” all ready to go – but [...]

Sony Touch and Pocket Readers Come to UK – Preorder Now

August 26, 2009 Click to read more →
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Sony has just gone public and announced that the Sony Reader Pocket and Touch are coming to Blighty and pre-ordering has opened up already on sites such as Waterstones.
The Sony Reader Pocket is equipped with a 5 inch E Ink screen, 512MB of literary room and USB 2.0 sideloading, so it’s a direct competitor to [...]

Amazon Kindle in the UK for Christmas – Chris Kindle?

July 22, 2009 Click to read more →
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The Amazon Kindle could possibly hit the UK in time for Crimbo according to reports out in the interweblogosphere.
Perhaps nudged on at the release of Border’s Elonex e-Reader, Mobile Today reports that Amazon is “frantically working on having the Kindle ready for launch before Christmas 2009″. Deals are in place with book publishers, as are [...]

Elonex Slim e-Book Reader Exclusively Comes to Borders

July 1, 2009 Click to read more →
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Elonex has decided to wade in with the likes of BeBook, Sony and Amazon by introducing its very own eBook reader.
It’s a rather standard, but not necessarily in a bad way, 6 inch reader.
The device is launching exclusively at Borders the UK bookshop along with the new Borders eBook Download Store.
The reader [...]

Bookeen Opus – Pocketable e-Book e-Reader Out in June

May 19, 2009 Click to read more →
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Welcome another e-Reader to the party.
The Opus comes with built in PDF support, something the Kindle 2 doesn’t have.
It weighs a tiny 5.3 ounces and Bookeen’s latest portable device packs a sharp resolution of 200 DPI.
MobileRead reports that even though it’s pocket-sized, the Opus features a pretty standard 6″ display and 1GB of flash memory that can accommodate ePub, [...]

Interead COOL-ER iPod Inspired E-Reader Coming to UK

May 14, 2009 Click to read more →
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Interead is looking to pounce on the band-wagon of the craze that is e-book readers with the COOL-ER.
Jones calls the Cool-er the first of its kind to be designed specifically for the non-technologically inclined reader in mind.
Neil Jones is the company founder and describes it as the “iPod moment that e-readers have been waiting for”.
Looking [...]

Fujitsu FLEPia – Colour Kindle Killer

March 18, 2009 Click to read more →

The UK is still waiting for Amazon’s latest eBook reader but it may already be redundant (if this baby comes over).
The Fujitsu FLEPia is Japan only and isn’t actually planned to be released in the UK – at the moment.
If it is released globally I can imagine a few worried faces in Amazon as the FLEPia [...]

Sony James Bond OO7 Reader – For Your Eyes Only

March 1, 2009 Click to read more →

Poor old Amazon Kindle 2 .
Where it looked to be doing pretty well it just can’t beat the fact that the Sony Reader has just buddied up with none-other than Bond; James Bond.
Although it looks like Q has decided that it wont have rocket launchers, skis or underwater capabilities it is able to hold 150 [...]

Kindle 2 Officially Released – Nothing for UK

February 9, 2009 Click to read more →

Yup.
Kindle 2, son of Kindle, has been unveiled at the press conference held at the Morgan Library and Museum, New York.
Like its predecessor the Kindle 2 features wireless downloading of ebooks over mobile-phone networks, but now has increased storage – enough storage to save 1,500 entire books in fact.
A complete book should take less than [...]