Things just got a bit interesting in the e-reader market and in many ways, we should have seen this coming.

Remember the “Alex” e-reader device (top left) announced by Spring Design the day before Barnes & Noble formally announced the Nook device (top right)? It was a dual display e-reader based around the Android OS which we commented was very similar to the upcoming Nook device. Well guess what? We weren’t the only ones to think so as Spring Design announced today they have filed a lawsuit against Barnes & Noble for violating its intellectual property rights with the new Nook e-reader.

Eric Kmiec, VP of Sales and Marketing for Spring Design had this to say in their press release:

“We showed the Alex e-book design to Barnes & Noble in good faith with the intention of working together to provide a superior dual screen e-book to the market.”

Spring Design claims they first developed and filed for patents on the “Alex” e-reader back in 2006. Further, the company states:

“Since the beginning of 2009 Spring and Barnes & Noble worked within a non-disclosure agreement, including many meetings, emails and conference calls with executives ranging up to the president of Barnes and Noble.com, discussing confidential information regarding the features, functionality and capabilities of Alex. Throughout, Barnes & Noble’s marketing and technical executives extolled Alex’s “innovative” features, never mentioning their use of those features until the public disclosure of the Nook.”

Now the real question is – did Barnes & Noble actually violate any IPs with the Nook? Did they create the Nook independently of the Alex? Can any of this be proved in the court of law?

We’ll say this much – Barnes & Noble certainly doesn’t need this legal trouble if it plans on combating Amazon.com in the e-reader space. Here’s hoping Spring Design and Barnes & Noble can work things out because the Nook certainly is promising .

Technorati Tags: Spring Design, Barnes & Noble, Alex, Nook, e-book reader

“Information at a glance”. That’s Ambient Devices’ slogan and it’s readily apparently in two of their latest products – the Cirrus 7 Day Forecaster and Centerfield Baseball ScoreCaster.

Both devices deliver quick and easy access to two popular topics, weather and baseball, without needing a computer, Internet, or wireless connection (as with other products from Ambient Devices, data is transmitted via the free Ambient InfoCast Wireless network). Now of course the Centerfield Baseball ScoreCaster would have been more useful in March than say now but hey, at least the World Series is going on right now.

Let’s start things off by looking at the features of the Cirrus 7 Day Forecaster.

• Provides weather updates from AccuWeather.com for over 150 U.S. locations
• Delivers up to date high/low temperatures, wind speed and directions, precipitation, UV index, Pollen & Air Quality Updates
• Color-changing dial shows the temperature instantly. As the temps change, the dial color changes to reflect the weather outside
• Large, easy to read icons
• Favorites button for instant access for up to 5 locations, dimmable back-lit screen, and adjustable kickstand

The Centerfield Baseball ScoreCaster features:

• Scores, schedules, and standings for every MLB team – from sprint training to post-season
• No setup needed – just plug it in
• Color-changing dial shows you your team’s game status – glows green when your team is winning, red when they are behind, yellow when it’s a tie game
• Shows staring pitchers, home/away status

Both devices are available now at Best Buy with the Cirrus 7 Day Forecaster priced at $149.99 and the Centerfield Baseball ScoreCaster priced at $129.99.

Technorati Tags: Ambient Devices, Cirrus 7 Day Forecaster, Centerfield Baseball ScoreCaster

October hasn’t exactly been a great month for Belkin.

First came Belkin’s recall of TubeBase products last week involving a washer which may cause an electrical short circuit when plugged into a vehicle’s cigarette lighter adapter. This time the company is recalling the Belkin SurgeMaster Surge Protector due to the following issue:

“The molding of the plastic 360 degree rotating plug, which allows for easy cord movement, can crack or detach from the plug assembly, posing a shock hazard to consumers.”

Belkin has received seven complaints about cracking of the plug molding which luckily has not resulted in any injuries thus far.

Affected models are the SurgeMaster Surge Protector, models F9G930-10, F9G930v10, F9G930-10-W and F9G930-10-SN, all manufactured in 2003. Grey models F9G930-10-GRY and F9G930fc10G-CL are not a part of this recall.

If you have one of these units, you should stop using it and contact Belkin for a replacement unit. For more information, contact Belkin toll-free at 800-952-1465 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.belkin.com/recall

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Belkin SurgeMaster Surge Protectors Product Recall

[Reprinted from NetbookTech]

So here you are.. about to hit the road with two devices. In one hand you have an e-reader device like the Amazon Kindle or the newly announced Barnes & Noble Nook. In your other hand, you have a highly portable 10.1 inch netbook allowing you to surf the web, check your email, and work on various PC related activities. Taken separately, each device is highly portable and lightweight.. but taken together, it’s one device too many for travel. Wouldn’t it be great if one could merge the functionality of these two devices into a single platform?

Well that’s exactly what a company called enTourage has done with the formal introduction of their eDGe dualbook device. This portfolio-shaped device combines the functionality of an e-reader device with the functionality typically found on a netbook system into a single system.  With the eDGe in tow, you’ll be able to read books, surf the web, jot down notes, send and receive emails, watch and listen to multimedia clips etc.

What makes the eDGe so unique is its employment of dual displays. The left side display is a 9.7 inch e-paper display ideal for e-reader/note-taking activities while the right-side display is a 10.1 inch touch-screen LCD display ideal for netbook-like activities. Powering this convergent device is the Google Android operating system which ultimately translates to potential access to thousands of third party applications.

The eDGe’s e-reader screen and e-reader features include:

• 1200 x 825 resolution
• Glare-free screen
• Support for zooming
• Ability to read in sunlight
• e-Ink technology allows you to take notes right on the book you are reading
• Enter drawings with stylus or enter text using your hand or virtual keyboard
• Supports ePub and PDF file formats

The eDGe’s right-side display and netbook features include:

• 1024 x 600 resolution
• View images on the e-Book using the color display
• Type text using virtual keyboard
• Built-in audio recorder
• Built-in video recorder for capturing stills or movies in MP4 or 3GP file formats
• Plug in headphones or microphone
• Web browsing
• Email
• Contacts, Calendar, Alarm clock
• Library function to manage your books

Other features of the eDGe include:

• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Optional 3G connectivity via EVDO or HSDPA
• Built-in 1.3 megapixel camera
• Bluetooth support for external keyboards
• Weighs 2.5 pounds
• Measures 8.25 x 10.75 x 1 inch closed
• 3GB of internal memory
• Supports SD cards or USB flash drives
• Lithium Ion Polymer battery – lasts over 16 hours utilizing the e-reader screen and up to 6 hours running the LCD display

To support the launch of the eDGe, enTourage Systems has secured more than 200,000 trade books and is working with publishers to secure text books. The company will also have access to more than one million free public domain books digitized by Google as well as access to major magazines, newspapers and periodicals.

Expect the enTourage eDGe to be available in February of next year for a price of $490. You can pre-order the eDGe now by going to this webpage: http://www.entourageedge.com/entourage-edge.html

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: enTourage Systems eDGe dualbook

It’s official folks – Barnes & Noble enters the e-reader market with the formal introduction of the “Nook” e-reader device. Yes, this wasn’t at all surprising given the amount of information that’s been leaked out by the press over the last several weeks. In fact, everything you’ve seen and/or read probably was true including:

• This is the first Android-based e-reader device to hit the market
• It comes with two screens – an E-Ink display and a color touch-screen LCD display
• Built-in 3G wireless access via AT&T mobile broadband
• Wi-Fi access at Barnes & Noble stores
• A new eBook lending program (more on this in a bit).

OK – let’s get into the details of the Nook because this device just seems really really cool (yeah I know – that’s real descriptive on my part isn’t it?).

• Size and weight of a standard paperback book
• Main display is E Ink Vizplex display
• Secondary color touch-screen display used for browsing through cover art, flipping through a library, or searching for books using a virtual keyboard
• AT&T 3G wireless built-in right now – no set-up or monthly costs
• Wi-Fi connectivity support
• Lend e-books to friends for up to 14 days at a time via the new “LendMe” technology. Choose the book you want to share and send it to a friend’s Nook, iPhone, iPod touch, select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones, PCs or Macs with Barnes & Noble eReader software
• “Reading Now” virtual bookmarking feature allows you to pick up where you last left off in your book – whether you’re on your Nook, or on your iPhone, iPod touch, PC etc.
• Nook contains up to 1500 eBooks and comes with expandable microSD slot with support for up to a 16GB microSD card
• Transfer PDF files to the Nook for your viewing pleasure

In support of the Nook launch, Barnes & Noble also announced they were expanding their eBookstore to feature over 1 million titles – with most bestsellers and new releases going for $9.99 a title. You’ll also be able to subscribe to more than 20 newspapers including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and others. Finally, Barnes & Noble is also now offering digital subscriptions to a variety of publications.

The Nook will begin shipping at the end of November for a price of $259. You can pre-order the Nook now at www.nook.com and in stores starting today (Thursday).  The first 10,000 customers to pre-order the Nook will also receive a free eBook of Malcolm Gladwell’s widely acclaimed best-seller, “The Tipping Point,”

So the question everyone is asking at this point – is the “Nook” an Amazon Kindle killer? It’s obviously too early to tell but from the early looks of things, the Nook has a lot going for it. Of course once the device starts shipping, and the reviews start flowing in, things could readily change. However, Barnes & Noble has a couple of things going for it. It’s got a larger e-Book collection than Amazon.com; it’s got retail store fronts all over the country allowing customers the ability to not only view a physical book but have the option of buying the digital title on their device; and it’s based around Android – which could mean endless possibilities down the road (think additional applications).

We’ll end things with a look at the technical specs of the Nook:

• Measures 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches and weighs 11.2 oz
• E-Ink Vizplex display
• 3.5 inch color touchscreen LCD display
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi access and AT&T 3G wireless access
• Free Wi-Fi in all Barnes & Noble stores
• 2GB of internal memory and support for up to 16GB microSD cards
• Rechargeable battery that can be charged via USB or a power adapter. 3.5 hour charge time from wall outlet.
• Read up to 10 days without charging and the wireless turned off
• Load photos to the Nook for personalized screensavers
• Built-in MP3 player
• Built-in mono speaker
• 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack
• Supported file types include EPUB and eReader Formats, PDF files, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3
• micro USB connector

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Barnes & Noble Nook e-Book Reader

OK.. so we’ll all know for sure in a few hours but I thought I’d pass along this tidbit courtesy of the Wall Street Journal (via News.com) about the forthcoming announcement of the Barnes & Noble new e-reader device. We’ve seen the pictures and now we have a name and a supposed price.

According to the Journal, the new B&N device will be called the “Nook” and will be priced at $259. The device will also feature the ability to “lend electronic books to others” which I’m surprised that publishers were actually OK with but I’m sure we’ll find out the exact details shortly.

At $259, we’re talking about a device with the same price point as the entry level Amazon Kindle yet featuring dual displays – a larger electronic ink display and a smaller color touch-screen.

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: Barnes & Noble e-reader, Nook, e-reader

Doesn’t it seem like all of a sudden e-book readers are all the craze these days? With the relative success of the Amazon Kindle, the continued push by Sony with the Sony eBook store and Reader devices, and the upcoming Barnes & Noble e-reader announcement, e-books have clearly garnered a great deal of press recently. Now on the heels of the impending B&N announcement comes the “Alex” – a new e-book reader device by a company called Spring Design and based on the Google Android OS.

Similar to what is expected out of the Barnes & Noble e-book reader, the Alex features a dual-screen display design with the upper section being a monochrome electronic paper display (EPD) and the lower section being a color LCD display. Users can read their books, documents, subject matters at hand on the top display and then bring up images, video clips, notes etc related to the subject matter on the lower display.

Other features of Alex include:

• Full Internet browsing with wireless connectivity support over Wi-Fi and 3G networks (EVDO/CDMA and GSM)
• SD card support for data storage
• Provides the web as a “handy reference library” – allowing users to capture and cache web content from their online experience on their LCD display and then also view it on the EPD display
• Insert images, videos, and notes as “web grabs”
• 6 inch E-Ink EPD display and 3.5 inch color display
• Comes with earphones and speakers

Spring Design is currently in conversations with major content partners and plans to release the device to selected strategic partners by the end of the year.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Spring Design, Alex e-book reader, Android e-book reader

If you can’t wait to hear what Barnes & Noble has in store for us in the e-book/e-reader market, then you’ll definitely want to check out Gizmodo’s gallery of leaked pictures of the upcoming B&N e-reader. Here are tidbits about the new device:

• There will be 2 displays – 1 large 6 inch e-ink display with a resolution of 800 x 600 and 1 smaller multi-touch color LCD display with a resolution of 480 x 144 and a 150 dpi resolution.
• The e-ink display is for reading books while the lower multi-touch color display is designed for navigating through book selections
• Buttons for search, home, “BN”, next/previous page
• No word on carrier but Barnes & Noble may go the international route which means supporting GSM

Just a few more days till we know the full details..

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Barnes & Noble e-reader pictures, Gizmodo

Circle October 20th on your calendars folks. Barnes & Noble sent out invitations to the media for a New York-based event on that day – a day most suspect will be the official unveiling of Barnes & Noble’s entry into the e-reader market.

The media has been buzzing about this ever since the Wall Street Journal and Gizmodo reported last Thursday that B&N was planning to enter the market with their own 6 inch touch-screen device based around the Google Android OS to compete against Amazon and Sony. 

While B&N entering the e-reader market isn’t necessarily a surprise, what is surprising is the rumor about the possible use of Android as the OS. This certainly opens the device to many more possibilities in terms of features and specifications. What exactly could we be dealing with here is quite fascinating. Think of it – the device could actually have a useful web browser built in. It could possibly leverage the thousands of applications that are now showing up for the Android OS. The possibilities to what this device could accomplish are possibly endless.

Of course, I might be dreaming here.. so I’ll stop with the second guessing until the day of the announcement. B&N after-all is still in the book/media business so I should keep my expectations at a minimum… (but I can dream right?)

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: B&N, Barnes & Noble

The Kindle just got a bit more attractive folks. Amazon.com announced today they were lowering the price of the Kindle to $259 (down from $299). In addition, Amazon announced a new Kindle model for those of you needing international wireless coverage called the “Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless.” This new Kindle with international coverage is available for pre-order now for a price of $279 at www.amazon.com/kindle

Unlike the U.S. version of the Kindle which supports the Sprint wireless network, the new Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless works with AT&T’s GSM wireless network and as such, is supported in over 100 countries and territories around the world. (yeah I’m not a fan of AT&T 3G wireless either.. grumble). Main features of the new international Kindle device include:

• Measures 0.36 inches thick and weighs just over 10 oz
• 6 inch electronic ink display
• 2GB of memory holds up to 1500 books
• Read for over two weeks with wireless turned off and up to four days on a single charge with wireless on
• Text-to-speech support
• Automatically syncs with Kindle and Kindle compatible devices – syncs customers last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless, Kindle with U.S. Wireless, Kindle DX, and Kindle compatible devices like Kindle for iPhone
• Wirelessly send, receive, and read personal documents in formats such as Word and PDF
• Comes with New Oxford American Dictionary
• Choose from six different text sizes
• QWERTY keyboard allows you to annotate text, highlight, and clip key passages and bookmark pages

The new Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless will be available for shipment to customers in over 100 countries around the world starting on October 19th.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Amazon Kindle, Amazon Kindle with U.S.& International Wireless