| Sony and Amazon have a storied history in e-Reader production and both companies have been in the hardware game for a long time. Amazon started producing e-readers in 2007, while Sony started in 2006. The Kindle Paperwhite 2 and Sony PRS-T3 reflect the very latest generation in e-reader technology and today we look at how both fare head to head. The Sony PRS-T3 features a six inch e-ink Pearl display screen with a resolution of 1024×768. Underneath the hood is a 1 GHZ Freescale processor and 512 MB of RAM. Sony says that the built in memory is 2 GB, but when you take it out of the box for the first time, you only have a paltry 1.2 GB of storage space. If you are a voracious reader, you must invest in an SD Card. Sony has a number of things going for it that make it stand out in the crowd. It has physical page turn keys and is still able to be interacted with via the touchscreen. It also has Evernote integration to send notes right to your account. If you borrow eBooks from the library, Sony has a Overdrive app that allows you to borrow and read books. Speaking of reading, Sony has always offered amazing PDF support, and this model allows you to reflow the text or pinch and zoom. There is also a bookstore you can tap into via the built in WIFI. The Reader Store has undergone a facelift over the course of the last year and now has an excellent eBook rating system thanks to iDreambooks. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 features a six inch e-Ink display screen with a resolution of 1024×768. Unlike the Sony, this model has a built in front-lit display that allows you to read in the dark. Underneath the hood is a 800 MHZ processor and 256 MB of RAM. There is 2 GB of internal storage and the majority of your content will be held in the cloud. Amazon has a number of things going for it, such as one of the best bookstores in the world with over 2.1 million titles. It has also Flashcards and translation support to assist in discovering new words and learning a new language. One of the things I like is the new way it handles what page you are on and how far you are in a book. X-Ray continues to have a wide appeal, with being able to come back to a book weeks later and check out the people, places and things. You can get a sense on who the main characters are and whats happened in the book. Over the course of this video tutorial we look at the GUI and what users can expect their home screens to look like. We also dive into the eBook experience with books purchased from their bookstores and also side loaded PDF’s. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 vs Sony PRS-T3 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 vs Sony PRS-T3
Lack of Editing Is Only for Self-Published Authors? Think Again.
| To err is human, but to sweep it under the rug is completely corporate. With so much talk in recent news about the poor quality of indie authors’ works and data that shows that only about 59% of self-published authors go so far as to pay a professional editor before hitting that publish button, it’s easy to forget that the traditional publishing industry has its fair share of mistakes, too. The famous Twilight series has a glaring error in book one–we’ll skip the discussions of the other five errors–but apparently Bella liked to watch the “dust moats” instead of “dust motes” as they floated around in the vacuum in front of her face. But now, the highly anticipated release of a sequel in the Bridget Jones Diary series, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, has not only an error…it contains about forty pages of a different, unpublished book somewhere in the middle of it. According to sources in the publishing house, it’s the printer’s fault, and not the fault of the person whose job it was to send the printer the file. More importantly, Vintage enacted a swift recall of the printed book, which contains an excerpt of an as-of-yet unpublished book, the autobiography of Sir David Jason. Can’t we all just admit that mistakes happen, regardless of what side of the industry you’re on? As for the book itself, it seems to be a far cry from the lighthearted romcom that more filmgoers than readers may remember, as starring Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant.
Lack of Editing Is Only for Self-Published Authors? Think Again. is a post from: E-Reader News |
NYCC 2013: Jet City Takes Off
| Among the many, many booths at New York Comic Con was one for Jet City Comics, Amazon’s comics imprint, which launched last summer; the booth was also promoting their science fiction/fantasy imprint 47North. Jet City’s Justin Gollenbeck took a few minutes to talk to me about the new comics, which have already been showing up on our digital comics best-seller lists, on the strength of pre-orders alone. Three graphic novels were being promoted at the con; the first, Meathouse Man, will be released on Tuesday. Based on a short story by Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin and illustrated by his niece, Raya Golden, it is a “darkly subversive modern tale” set on a planet where “corpse handlers” somehow animate brainless bodies to do their will. This 36-page comic is a Kindle-only book and is currently priced at $2.99. The second title, also by Martin, is The Hedge Knight, a prequel to Game of Thrones, adapted by Ben Avery and illustrated by Mike S. Miller. In this graphic novel Dunk, a former squire, sets out to reinvent himself as a knight by winning a tournament, and along the way he picks up a squire of his own, Egg. The Dunk and Egg stories have been published as short stories and as graphic novels in the past, but the graphic novels are long out of print. Finally, Wool, due out later this winter, is a based on Hugh Howey’s prose novel, adapted by the veteran comics team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and illustrated by Jimmy Broxton; Palmiotti and Gray were at the con signing posters at the Jet City booth on Saturday. While the first two comics mentioned here are done-in-one graphic novels Wool will be published as a Kindle Serial: Buy the first issue at $4.99, and the five subsequent issues are automatically delivered to your Kindle for free. If you happen to come in in the middle, all the previous issues will be automatically added for free as well. The first issue is due out in February, but you can download a preview for your Kindle now. NYCC 2013: Jet City Takes Off is a post from: E-Reader News |
Kobo Aura vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2
| Amazon and Kobo have some of the deepest digital ecosystems in the world and have millions of books, magazines, newspapers, graphic novels and manga. The Kindle Paperwhite 2 and Kobo Aura are the best e-readers currently in the world and have raised the bar with their innovative glowlight technology and showcasing the largest generation e-Ink internals. How do these two devices stack up against each other? Today we look at the hardware, software, front-lit display and ecosystems. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 features a six inch e-Ink display screen with a resolution of 1024×768. The front-lit display has received a small upgrade and gives a better illumination experience then the previous model. One of the neat little features is a software enhancement called "Max" which instantly brings the brightness level to the maximum. Overall the touchscreen is more responsive and text has higher contrast to make text more legible. This is most noticeable on the homscreen when you are sweeping through the eBooks Amazon is trying to sell you. There is less flickering, which makes it a little more more responsive. This is due to e-Ink Regal, which is new technology. Underneath the hood is a 1 GHZ processor and 256 MB of RAM. There is 2 GB of internal storage and the majority of your content will be held in the cloud. Amazon has never included a Micro SD as an avenue to manually expand your memory. During our review session, we were actually having having storage issues with a three larger PDF files and a number of sideloaded eBooks. The Kobo Aura maintains the standard six-inch approach that the company made famous with their entire product line. It currently has a super high resolution e-Ink "Clarity Screen" with 212 DPI and sixteen levels of grey. Really, the resolution is the exact same on the Glo, and has not broken any barriers on using a next generation e-Ink display. This e-Reader has the exact same front-lite technology that was found on the original Kobo Aura HD. This will allow readers to adjust the brightness settings to suit their environment. Currently, Kobo has the best front-lit screen in the business and has surpassed Amazon in terms of quality. To turn the screen light on, there is a button at the very top and then a virtual slider bar to control the brightness. It is powered by the quintessential Freescale i.MX507 1 GHZ processor and has 1 GB of RAM. There are 4 GB of internal memory, which can be enhanced via the Micro SD Card. This is something that separates the two brands, as Amazon has never offered expandable memory via SD. Side by Side the front-lit display is better on the Aura then it is on the Kindle. The Kindle has a better storefront experience with Kindle Worlds, Singles, Serials and other interesting aspects. It also is designed better in terms of ease of use and intuitiveness. In the video below we document the entire hardware and software experience. We show you how both readers handle PDF and eBooks, and even sideloaded content. Kobo Aura vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 is a post from: E-Reader News |
