Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Energy Sistem PRO+ E-Reader is Now Available

1_.V1432051300._We first reviewed the Energy Sistem PRO back in February and were impressed by the fact it ran Android and allowed users to install their own apps. One of the drawbacks that it was running e Ink Pearl, which is fairly old by today’s standards. This has since been remedied with the advent of the Energy Sistem PRO+ that has e Ink Carta.

E Ink Carta displays utilizes a new electronic ink formulation and technology to provide a dramatic 50% improvement in contrast ratio and over 20% improvement in reflectance over previous generations of E Ink Pearl. It basically results in faster page turns, support for higher resolution displays and less ghosting.

I think the Energy Reader PRO+ is a viable investment for those looking for a solid alternative to Kindle or Kobo, because its platform agnostic. The device itself has a resolution of 1024×758 pixels. It has a touchscreen, which makes it easy to click and navigate around the UI or just simply flip the pages in your favorite e-Book. It also incorporates a front-lit screen that allows users to read in the dark.

Underneath the hood is a ARM Cortex A9 1.0Ghz dual core processor and 8 GB of internal memory. It also has the option to expand the memory up to 64GB with a SD/SDHC card.

The PRO+ is available to order from the main Energy Sistem website and costs 129 €. 

The Energy Sistem PRO+ E-Reader is Now Available is a post from: Good e-Reader

E Ink Announces New Signage Tech, but No E-Paper

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E Ink has a storied track record of announcing new e-paper at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas or SID Display Week. It looks like the company doesn’t have any new plans to develop anything new for e-readers this year, instead they are focusing on digital signage.

When it comes to digital signage, E Ink primarily focuses on grocery stores and big box retailers with their Spectra technology. This segment has accounted for 100% percent year over year growth for the past two years, and E Ink expects similar growth in 2015 as well.

This year, instead of developing something entirely new, e Ink has expanded on their Spectra product line to include yellow. Spectra yellow gives retailers further choices in how they use Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) to promote their merchandise and support their branding strategies, giving retailers the choice of either red or yellow, in addition to black and white.

"The Spectra product was engineered to deliver multiple color options from the beginning," said Dr. FY Gan, vice president and general manager of the ESI Business Unit at E Ink. "The delivery of the yellow product option shows the flexibility of E Ink's three pigment system. More importantly, it provides retailers with color options for their pricing systems that can better engage the customer. Spectra red or yellow provide retailers with the same visual clarity and power saving attributes of E Ink's products."

I am somewhat disappointed that there is no e-paper coming out this year, since e Ink basically controls the market. They have bought out all of their competition or have sued them into oblivion.

E Ink Announces New Signage Tech, but No E-Paper is a post from: Good e-Reader

How to Get Ready for Anime Conventions

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With the summer now upon us, a slew of conventions will be heading our way. Whether it's the small anime con held at your local university or the day-long journey to Comic Con, everyone tries to make it out to at least one. But while cons may be the highlight of the summer to some, there are always those who find it an unpleasant experience. I've certainly heard my fair share of people complaining about cons. As someone who has always had a good time at cons, I've started thinking about ways you can make it better. So for everyone who's had a bad experience – and for those who might be attending their first con this summer – here are five steps you can take to ensure your next convention is a great one.

1: Be Prepared

Yes, I'm throwing the Girl Guide motto at you first off. It's gotten me far in life. There are lots of practical things you may forget in the hectic preparation. Not all cons will let you bring water or snacks, but look it up beforehand. If you are allowed to bring in a water bottle, definitely do that, and if not, buy one immediately. Cons can get hot, and it's easy to get dehydrated. You'll also want to make sure your money is in a safe place, along with any ID or important documents. A bag may not go with your outfit, but no one's going to complain about it. If your bag has a cool print, if anything you'll be complimented. Although this first tidbit may see like a buzzkill, it will prevent you from that stressful realisation of "Gah! I forgot something!" later in the day.

2: Cosplay

Some people may balk at the idea, but it is much less complicated than you think. If you're already an avid cosplayer, and have a beautiful, well-crafted outfit, that's great. But if you don't have the time, resources, or courage, it isn't hard to throw on a football jersey and cosplay Eyeshield 21. In the words of a cosplaying friend of mine, "it doesn't matter how you look, if it's big or small, if you look like the character or not. What matters is how you feel." Cosplays are great icebreakers, conversational topics, and give you a guaranteed compliment that will boost your morale for the day.

3: Study Beforehand

It may seem a little boring and tedious, but knowing what you're up against can take away half the stress for you. Beforehand knowledge of who's going to be there, when, and what kind of events are going can help avoid awkward conversations such as, "So…what do you want to do?" If you meet a cool person, instead of standing around trying to keep a conversation going, ask if they'll join you for such-and-such. And having a semi-solid plan of how you'll spend your day is a great method to make sure you don't waste your time. Much like planning a vacation! Another helpful tip: when you first receive the official brochure, take a moment to sit and study it. Put a star beside the things you want to do. If you want, you can even track your estimated path around the con, the way you would the rides at an amusement park!

4: Social Events

While a lot of us, myself included, are more introverted and don't enjoy social functions, there's never any harm in simply scoping them out. There's more than one kind of event at cons. Dances, speed dating, walk-offs, and glomp-games name a few memorable things you can do. Even if all you do is awkwardly stand off to the side, after a time you'll gather up the courage to join in. And even if you don't, no one will give you two looks about it. After all, half the people there are just as awkward as you.

5: Have Fun!

This may seem like the cheesiest possible thing to say, but in all honesty, a con is what you make of it. If you go in with a negative attitude, complain about every little thing that goes wrong, and pay attention to the worst things only, you will leave feeling dissatisfied. This is a really simple fix – just be happy and see the bright side of everything! Going alone? Make new friends, always easy when surrounded by people who like the same things you do. Stuck in a long line? Chat with those around you and take pictures of all the cool costumes passing by. The special guest you really wanted to see couldn't make it? Look at what else is going on. You may end up finding something new that interests you, something you may not have known about before.

A con should be a fun experience you look back on fondly. Follow these steps and see if your next con is more fun than you thought it would be.

How to Get Ready for Anime Conventions is a post from: Good e-Reader

Glose Expands to Android

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Glose is a digital reading service where eBooks become a collective experience where you can read other peoples notes on any given passage or see popular phrases that were highlighted. The company has just announced a brand new Android app that can  downloaded today from Google Play and the Good e-Reader App Store.

Just like an online book club, Glose creates communities of like-minded readers to share opinions, ideas, knowledge, and stories through the books they read. Books become more engaging, fun and interesting – TechCrunch has called it, "reading on steroids.

Glose's premium catalog of ebooks range from literary classics and influential nonfiction works to new releases, bestsellers, and books featured on The New York Times and Time Magazine best-books-of-all-time lists. The entire collection features elegant, custom-designed covers with re-formatted text.  Many feature beautiful animated covers, which honor these timeless, culturally significant literary masterpieces.

"Our mission is to allow people to discover new books, find the ones they have been wanting to read, and engage in great discussions about these books with other like-minded readers," says Glose CEO Nicolas Princen. "People can now begin reading any book of their choice with no payment upfront—and that changes the whole user experience."

"We are really excited to build communities of readers and spread the written word on the hundreds of millions of Android smartphones and tablets.

Glose Expands to Android is a post from: Good e-Reader

The Best Websites to Discover New Books

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Casual readers often face challenges when new books come out by authors they love. Sure you can visit the local bookstore every few weeks and check out what is new and notable.  Today we look at the best websites that focus on e-book discovery, finding a great new read or simply getting notified when a new book comes out. Some of these companies have been around for a decade, others have just come out in a the last few years. All of these sites are heavily endorsed by millions of readers who depend on them for their day to day reading needs.

Fictfact – Designed to track books in series – existing back lists, new additions, & your personal reading stats within each series.

FictionDB – Complete book lists for over 250,000 authors and the service comprises of over 750,000 unique titles. They allow you to establish reading lists and search plots, synopses, time periods, dates, subgenres and much more.

Author Alerts – This service allows you to establish authors you want to be notified about and then sends you a ping whenever a new title is released.

Library Thing – Users add books to their catalog by entering titles, authors, or ISBN numbers. LibraryThing then searches the Library of Congress, all five national Amazon sites, and over 700 world libraries, and returns with precise book data. Users can then edit the books in their catalog, tag their books with their own subjects, and use the Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal systems to organize their collections.

Fantastic Fiction – This service keeps track of all new book releases. It also has proper bibliographies for over 30,000 authors and information on over 350,000 books.

Shelfari – This site launched in 2006 and was acquired by Amazon in 2008. It is one of the oldest and most respected book communities. Shelfari makes it incredibly simple to recommend books because the most valuable book recommendations come from your friends and people you trust. Great recommendations can also come from people with similar book collections, so Shelfari highlights these users and directs you to their shelves where you can discover what you have in common and books you might enjoy.

GoodReads – Likely one of the largest social book communities where people follow authors they like and get notified when new books come out. The site staff also have excellent curated reading lists, so you can discover new authors. You can think of GoodReads as a large bookclub.

Leafmarks – Leafmarks is a place where you can keep track of what you’ve read, review books, organize your books in shelves, express yourself openly and creatively, and engage in group discussions with other readers. Through challenges and “Leaves” that you can unlock by reading and reviewing books, the site hopes to foster an even greater love of reading and inspire a new generation of readers to see it as something fun and rewarding. This is a new site, so its populated with tons of data yet.

Which BookThis website has a delightful new way of generating book suggestions. The site gives you a number of scales to use to determine what type of a book you are looking for. You can choose a set point between unpredictable and expected, beautiful or disgusting, conventional or unusual, optimistic or bleak and many more. Then, the site generates book suggestions that fit your request. Loads of fun to play with the different options and you're guaranteed a book that fits your mood perfectly.

Your Next Read: What attracted me most about Your Next Read was the visual layout. Enter a book you've enjoyed, and a graphic is created that connects it with other, related books. A lot of the recommendations I got were similar from what I saw elsewhere, but were for the most part books I was very interested in reading. My only caveat: the blurb about the book is just from Amazon, so it doesn't give much real information about the quality of the book.

The Staff Recommends: You know those little cards at bookstores and libraries that share staff picks? This site captures that idea by carefully choosing a handful of books to highlight at a time.  Each book has an awesome explanation on why it made the list. The site is simple and enticing, making it a pleasure to use unlike so many of the other recommendation sites which barrage you with book choices.

What Should I Read Next?: This site aims to answer that very question without bells and whistles. The search site is ultra-simple and produces suggestions based upon the books you’ve already read and rated. No login is required, but users can save favorite books once registered.

Novelry: Novelry allows users to search not just by genres, but also by more specified subjects and themes.  For example, a search term of “steampunk zombies that battle werewolves” can bring back results specific to the theme, the titles, and character components.

The Best Websites to Discover New Books is a post from: Good e-Reader

Ant-Man: Micro-Tech Challenge

Raspberry_Pi_AM_MC_LogoEven though it’s fairly small, Raspberry Pi can help make big things happen. It’s why we’re pleased to team up with Marvel to offer high school girls within the United States a chance to compete for a trip to Hollywood, California to go to the premiere of Ant-Man and attend a special workshop from Walt Disney Imagineers at the Disneyland® Resort. Read on for more details:

Were you born to build with tiny tech; do you rave about robotics; are your parts and processors pocket-sized, and your artwork actuated? Have you ever wanted to inspire other young girls to share your passion? Then Marvel’s Ant-Man: Micro-Tech Challenge is for you!

Along with Marvel, we’re looking throughout the United States for girls ages 14-18 in grades 9-12 to create and share micro-technology-based DIY projects they have built using readily accessible and found materials. Upon completion of the contest, build instructions for the winning projects will be provided to a STEM-based girls program in the winners' home community. Each winner will have the opportunity to lead a workshop in building her project for the selected program in her community.

Each Marvel’s Ant-Man: Micro-Tech Challenge applicant will design and build a DIY project using at least one inexpensive and readily available micro-technology component of her choosing. Projects can be utilitarian, artistic, or just plain fun.

After completing their projects, applicants will be asked to submit a short video demonstrating them and explaining how the projects will inspire other girls to pursue interests in science, technology, engineering, or math.

Micro-technology, such as a Raspberry Pi, can enable tinkerers, makers, builders, and future Imagineers to execute big ideas with an inexpensive base component that fits in a girl's pocket.

Each winner will:

  • Receive a trip to Hollywood, California for the winner and her parent to walk the red carpet at the World Premiere of Marvel’s Ant-Man on June 29, 2015.
  • Attend a special "The Evolution of Technology" workshop on June 30, 2015 at the Disneyland® Resort where they will meet Walt Disney Imagineers who will introduce them to the broader scope of technology and how innovation is inspired during a behind-the-scenes tour of the Disneyland® Resort.
  • Receive a tour of the Walt Disney Studios.

Winners of Marvel's Ant-Man: Micro-Tech Challenge will be notified by Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Winners and one legal guardian will travel to Los Angeles, California on Sunday, June 28, 2015.

Please visit http://www.ant-manchallenge.com/ to see the official rules for full eligibility and entry requirements, prize description, conditions, and limitations.

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