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Device Update: New companies enter the ereader marketE FUn, bModo and BenQ are jumping on the tablet bandwagon.Two ereader trends are emerging: First, the rate of new devices in the ereader market space is slowing down. The IFA Berlin electronics show and the Frankfurt Book Fair were high-water marks. Since then, the overall rate of new product announcements has dropped. This is probably explained by the second trend: Pundits and analysts are already making their recommendations for the holiday shopping period. What most manufacturers are realizing is that the window of opportunity for gaining any significant share of holiday-related purchases is rapidly closing. The combination of these trends means that until the new year begins, there will probably be fewer product announcements than we've seen in past months. That said, there have been a few devices announced recently that merit consideration. What's most surprising about this set of new ereaders is that they're from companies that aren't strongly associated with personal electronic devices. E FUN's Android tablets
Preliminary information indicates that the Next1 will have a suggested retail price of $149.99 and the Next2 will be available for $199.99. Initially, the devices will be available from the Home Shopping Network. bModo's Windows7-based touchpad Tablet PC
Additional hardware capabilities include: Bluetooth 2.1 and 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 2 USB Ports, an SDHC card slot, and a Mini HDMI port. The Microsoft Windows 7 Premium options will include an ereader, Internet Explorer, and support for standard PC applications. bModo has also included a launcher application called Bossa Nova2 that will allow users to switch between a Windows 7 desktop and a Bossa Nova graphical user interface, which is designed to optimize the touch capabilities of the device. BenQ Launches nReader K61 with 3G and WIFIFollowing on the footsteps of their initial introduction into the ereader market, the K60, BenQ announced the availability of their newest model, the K61. This new model comes with several upgrades, including integrated WI-FI, 3G, and a touchscreen. Additional hardware specifications include 2GB of internal memory, USB support, and an SD-card slot capable of adding 16GB of additional storage. Now available in Taiwan for slightly more than $300, the K61 features a 6-inch touchpanel with support for drawing and taking notes. Other news (and a tipping point for copyright infringement)The biggest news last week was the unveiling of Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 is mostly a response to the iPhone, rather than the iPad or other tablets. While it's safe to assume the new Windows Phone 7 mobile platform will soon see ereader applications from Amazon and Kobo, PC Magazine says there's currently a shortage of applications available for the new mobile platform. Perhaps the most striking news this past week was an article by Adrian Hon about his experiences with ebook copyright infringement. Hon relates his experience purchasing the hardback copy of Iain Banks' latest novel "Surface Detail." Out of curiosity, he checked to see if he could find a copy of the book online to load on his iPad. As he rationalizes, he already bought a copy of the book, and he'd rather not tote around the 627-page tome. Not only did he find a high-quality EPUB copy of the novel, but he also found copies of other bestsellers. Why is Hon's article important? I've been tracking this topic for a while and until now, the only books that were being shared online were in PDF format. I think it's a tipping point because current best-selling hardcover books are now available simultaneously on file sharing sites. This provides clear evidence that people are sharing purchased EPUB files. In my opinion, ebook copyright infringement hasn't really been a real threat to publishers. It's been more like the pink elephant in the room that senior executives discuss. Hon's article should be enough proof to make publishing executives recognize that the threat from ebook file sharing is now real and it will affect ebook sales. Related:
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E FUN, a consumer electronics designer and marketer, 
The
Comments: 3
John R [21 October 2010 11:18 AM]
I agree with your thoughts about Ebook piracy. Now that people have a good way to consume these ebooks, the only thing barring them from actually paying for the content is the price. The prices are just too high for the "convenience" that comes with ebooks. I bet that many people don't feel they should pay the same price as a paperback when the digital copy comes with all of its DRM goodness.
The only publisher i've encountered that actually gets this whole ebook business right is O'Reilly; I get the book on every platform, substantially smaller prices w/r/t the actual book, and cheaper prices if I already own the book.
Harry Turner [22 October 2010 02:26 PM]
>"I've been tracking this topic for a while and until now, the only books that were being shared online were in PDF format"
Not so. For many years there have been many fiction torrents stuffed full of .mobi ebooks. Pirated fiction books have been common in .lit and .rtf since back in the days of Microsoft Reader. Most of the pirated fiction is sci-fi, spy, fantasy, thrillers, and increasingly the bestseller list. Possibly you've been looking only for techie tomes, encyclopaedias, and weighty academic non-fiction titles - which do indeed tend overwhelmingly to be in PDF. There seems to be a distinct file-type split, in the preferences of book pirates.
John Pansini [27 October 2010 11:46 AM]
Will these new e-readers read ebooks in pdf with embedded audio?
Thanks for an excellent overview of these new products.