E-reader

This week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, e-reading company Skiff is previewing its new electronic reader. At a quarter of an inch thick, the Skiff Reader is the thinnest device of its kind. Not everything about it is small, however; its 1200 x 1600 pixel, 11.5-inch screen is the largest and highest-resolution consumer e-reading display yet. Perhaps its biggest boast, however, is what that display is made of – Instead of rigid, fragile glass, the Skiff Reader’s display utilizes a thin, flexible sheet of stainless-steel foil. Developed by LG specifically for Skiff, the touchscreen foil-display promises an e-reader that will be much more durable than anything currently available. Read More

What's on your Christmas list this year? 2009 has seen another bumper crop of innovative products designed to make our lives more efficient, more rewarding or simply more fun. If you've got some last minute shopping to do, and you hurry, this might just help - it's Gizmag's pick of the top 10 tech gadgets of 2009. Read More

Interead's COOL-ER e-book reader was designed to be simple, affordable and stylish. Looking very Apple-esque in appearance, the e-reader also weighs less than an average paperback, comes in eight colors, supports all of the major formats and offers eight menu languages. The company says it was an e-reader "designed by readers, for readers". And from next year, COOL-ER readers will also benefit from Wifi and 3G functionality. Read More

The world's largest bookseller, Barnes & Noble, has confirmed it is to enter the e-Reader market with a device called the nook. Powered by Android 1.5 and sporting the now familiar e-Ink text display, the nook also benefits from a 3.5-inch color touchscreen interface for library browsing and book ordering. It allows wireless access to over a million eBooks, magazines and newspapers and purchases can be shared with friends. Read More

E-readers are a welcome alternative to lugging around paper-bound tomes when on holiday, as they can store volumes of reading material in one handy, pocket-sized (well almost) device, and offer users the possibility of hours and hours of uninterrupted reading pleasure. That is, of course, until the battery runs out. LG Display has developed a solar cell capable of extending the battery life of an e-reader, possibly making the anxiety of a blank screen on the last page of that captivating thriller less likely. Read More

Despite being around since the mid-nineties, eBooks have never really taken off and this is mainly down to the fact that eBook readers, which have been available for about a decade, have proven prohibitively expensive and barely more convenient than lugging around a couple paperbacks. Sony and BeBook have seen relative success in recent times, along with the Amazon Kindle, but a new competitor in the form of Asus could be set to breathe new life into the market. Read More

Amazon.com has added an upgraded version of its wireless electronic reader Kindle, with several improvements, its larger 9.7-inch screen the most obvious. The Kindle DX also introduces a PDF reader, auto-rotation and expanded memory that can store up to 3,500 books. Read More