| I have attended many different publishing and technology events this year, such as IDPF and Book Expo America, and covered O’Reily Tools for Change, Digital Book World, FutureBook and the London Book Fair. I have sat in on close to 70 different speaking engagements and there is one consistent theme. It is trendy to hate on Amazon. Many speakers are capitalizing on anti-Amazon sentiments to attenuate a point or to give them instant credibility in the audience’s eyes. It’s quite easy to get a cheap pop by insulting them or to make a lighthearted joke. Almost every single speaker this year referenced Amazon or painted them in a negative light. It is quite easy to go after a target that has seen monumental success and pioneered both e-Readers, eBooks and digital publishing. Amazon gets unjustified hatred just to get a headline. I always laugh to myself when even well-known authors or owners of other publishing websites hate on Amazon. They often do it at the very beginning of their speaking engagements or when answering audience questions. I can expect about half of the speakers will do this and I laugh about their consistency to hate. You don’t have to insult a company or put them down just to illicit an audience response. Sure, it’s a company that everyone knows, but there is zero point in making yourself look like an idiot by jumping on the bandwagon. Amazon is the most profitable eBook company in the world and has the most dominant line of e-readers. They have the most successful self-publishing platform and give free digital copies away when consumers buy the print book. They make the most money out of all the other resellers online. People try and emulate them in this sector, just like so many tablet and phone companies tend to emulate Apple. I implore the greater internet at large and public speakers at publishing events to think twice before mindlessly placing blame on Amazon to get a cheap pop. If you have to seem relevant through insults and finger pointing, you don’t deserve to have people take what you say seriously. Opinion: Why It’s Trendy to Hate on Amazon is a post from: E-Reader News |
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Opinion: Why It’s Trendy to Hate on Amazon
Opinion: Amazon – The Empire We Love to Hate
| You’d be hard pressed to attend a publishing event and hear someone sing the praises of the largest online retailer in the world. Amazon, who started life as a book and ebook selling website, was at one time the darling stepchild of the publishing industry, a way for the once-Big Six to reach a potentially larger audience than they were at the time. They were happy to pat Amazon on the head for a job well done if the retailer could help them sell a few more books. But from its humble beginnings, Amazon grew to be a force to be reckoned with. With a global reach and its dominance in both the book selling and book publishing industries, more than a few frowns appear when you talk about Amazon with publishing industry professionals. It has even been dubbed “The Evil Empire” in some circles. So when did the transition happen? Was it when Amazon decided it wasn’t enough to make a few cents per copy of books that the industry still had complete control over? Was it when ebooks came along and the technology giant proved that low-cost, instant access, digital reading was not the flash in the pan that critics predicted? Or was it when Amazon threw open the gates with KDP and let anyone become an author? While the fear and loathing were already well underway, the final straw in the coffin for Amazon’s reputation in publishing came with the creation of its own traditional publishing house, Amazon Publishing. The company brought industry icon Larry Kirshbaum to lead the way, and quickly turned a lot of long-held customs in publishing on their heads. Amazon Publishing offered higher royalties than traditionally published authors were used to receiving, as well as discarded the quarterly-payouts system of royalties in favor of the monthly payments that even no-name self-published authors enjoy. But whatever the cause of the animosity between Amazon and the rest of the industry, there still begs one question: if everyone hates Amazon, how did they get to be so big? Someone must have made them who they are. If consumers, authors, and industry professionals alike want to dismiss the retailer as the Evil Empire, why do they spend their money with the company? Are we guilty of proclaiming that Amazon is the death of books and bookstores, even while secretly hiding under the covers with our laptops and ordering low cost books and household items with free shipping? Through its own business practices of offering fast product delivery, above par customer service, and prices that no one else seems to be able to even reach, let alone beat, Amazon grew into the entity that it is now. But we’re the customers who put them up on that pedestal.
Opinion: Amazon – The Empire We Love to Hate is a post from: E-Reader News |
Cote Details Limits of Apple’s Relationships with Publishers
| In a seventeen page document from US Judge Denise Cote filed on September 5th, Apple learned the full extent of how it is expected to conduct business with publishers from now on. This expectation arose as a result of the price fixing allegations that rested on Apple and five of the then-Big Six publishers; Random House was not named in any of the investigations or resulting lawsuits, and has since merged with Penguin, who was named. In the ruling, Cote outlines not only what expectations there are for price adjustments, discounting, selling, and conduct, but also gives a strict deadline for Apple to report any future misconduct. Apple is also required to hire an outside non-Apple employee who will oversee all of its future deals with publishers in order to avoid anti-trust violations. The document even specified how many months Apple is to maintain this status with each publisher who was named in the lawsuit. A link to the full seventeen pages can be found on Scrib’d by clicking here. The full amount of damages that Apple will actually pay out will be determined by May 2014.
Cote Details Limits of Apple’s Relationships with Publishers is a post from: E-Reader News |
71% of Travelers Prefer Print Books Over e-books
| As the summer holidays come to an end, research conducted by Heathrow Airport has shown that 71% of travelers would rather pack their suitcases full of books than opt for a lightweight eReader. Books fare far better around sunscreen, swimming pools and sand, but our love of a good paperback goes deeper – 67% said they prefer to stick with print because they enjoy the feel of a real book in their hands. Over 1 in 10 (12%) want to leave technology behind altogether whilst abroad. Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 67% said they turn to friends and family for their reading recommendations, closely followed by librarians and book-sellers (22%). Auto-generated online suggestions were found to be least helpful – 33% felt that the recommendations were too stereotyped, and 15% argued that they were just plain dull. Heathrow Airport Retail Director Muriel Zingraff-Shariff said: “There's no doubt that the popularity of eBooks has boomed in recent years, but when it comes to relaxing on holiday it seems you just can't beat a good book. People want a break from technology whilst they're abroad, so it's understandable that people would rather swap their Blackberry for Malorie Blackman.” Simon Smith, Managing Director at WH Smith Travel said: "Books remain a valuable part of people's holiday experience. Our stores at Heathrow are always popular with customers and we're delighted to continue to offer a great range of bestselling titles, airport exclusives and fantastic promotions to the 70 million passengers who fly through the airport each year." 71% of Travelers Prefer Print Books Over e-books is a post from: E-Reader News |
Good e-Reader Magazine August Edition
| Welcome to another edition of the Good e-Reader Magazine! In this months issue we cover the Kobo Launch and all of the new devices they have officially announced. We also look at the top news from the month and essential stories you need to know about.
Good e-Reader Magazine August Edition is a post from: E-Reader News |
Friday, September 6, 2013
Whats the deal with Front-Lit e-Readers?
| e-Reader technology has come a long way since 2006 and many of the latest devices pack a front-lit display. Unlike LCD screens that emit light from behind the screen into your eyes, this e-paper technology evenly distributes the light from the bezel onto the screen. This is easier on the eyes for long reading sessions and the Kobo Aura, Kindle Paperwhite, Nook Glow and many others use this technology. Today we want to give you a visual demonstration about the virtues of front-lit technology. Many people like to read at night or next to sleeping partner and not keep them up like a lamp would. The e-Readers in this comparison all allow you to augment the luminosity levels to optimize your reading conditions. It is important to note that this technology is using e-ink display screens and lights that are on the bottom of the bezel, pointing upwards. Whats the deal with Front-Lit e-Readers? is a post from: E-Reader News |
Digital Comics Deals for the Weekend: Here Come the X-Men
| It’s all about superheroes this week, in one form or another. September 4 was the 50th anniversary of the X-Men, so comiXology has the Fall of the Mutants issues on sale for 99 cents each, and they are also offering the first volume of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men for $3.99, a substantial discount off the usual price of $8.99. Now, this is kind of interesting: I subscribe to Marvel Unlimited, so I could read most if not all of those Fall of the Mutants comics with that. But I just this week noticed that Marvel has special offers for MU subscribers. The latest offer (it’s good until October 7) is All-New X-Men #1-10 and Uncanny X-Men, vol. 3 #1-5, for 99 cents each. Since Marvel Unlimited is not a download service—you don’t keep the comics when your subscription ends—I was curious how this worked, so I bought a comic. I was shunted over to the Marvel comic store, which (although it doesn’t say this anywhere) is powered by comiXology, so when I opened the comiXology app on my iPad, the new comic appeared. It’s interesting to see Marvel building some synergy between these two digital comics services. Meanwhile, Dark Horse is putting the spotlight on their own superheroes in this weekend’s 99-cent sale. Highly recommended: Francesco Francavilla’s retro-noir Black Beetle comics, featuring action-packed stories and art ripped straight from the cover of a pulp novel. There’s also Sledgehammer, Michael Avon Oeming’s The Victories, and a good handful of others, so check ‘em out. The manga scene is quiet, but Digital Manga is offering 20% off on light novels through September 13. Digital Comics Deals for the Weekend: Here Come the X-Men is a post from: E-Reader News |
Kindle MatchBook: Buy a Paper Book, Get the eBook for Cheap or Free
| Earlier this week, before announcing the Kindle Paperwhite 2, Amazon made headlines by introducing something they plan on introducing in October called Kindle MatchBook (no, it’s not Kindle-branded matches). Kindle MatchBook allows customers who purchase the printed copy of a book to get the ebook copy for cheap—$2.99, $1.99, or $0.99—or even free. What’s great […] |
Oyster Offering All-You-Can-Read eBooks For $9.95/Month
| Oyster is out to win over the reading community with an offer that is hard to resist: a library full of ebooks for just $9.95 a month. No wonder the Oyster offer is being equated to Netflix, which has a similar monthly plan for watching videos. At present, there are 100,000 ebooks at Oyster, with none of them being free titles. Oyster has signed up directly with publishers such as HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Rodale. Smashwords titles are also available. Amazon has a similar offer in place, the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, where subscribers of Amazon Prime service have at their disposal over 350,000 ebooks for an annual fee of $79. However, Prime members will be limited to borrowing just one ebook a month. The Oyster offer stands out in that it offers as many ebook one might need for just a few bucks more. However, there is a catch: the service is only available for iOS right now and that too, only for the iPhone. The iPad version will be made available during fall though the team behind Oystem isn't revealing when will they appear on the Android landscape. Meanwhile, the service is as per invitation only at present as it's still under beta testing with about 100 subscribers trying out the service. Further, owners don't get to own the ebooks they have borrowed from Oyster, for the moment the monthly subscription is discontinued, all of the ebooks will vanish from your device. The Oyster offer though does make a lot of sense for the academicians or research professional who need to refer to lot of books. But then, there is no stopping anyone from trying out the service – once it is launched that is – for avid book lovers too will love to be part of the Oyster service. "We’re trying to allow people to spend less time deciding if they should read a book and more time just reading it," revealed Eric Stromberg, one of the co-founders of Oyster.
Oyster Offering All-You-Can-Read eBooks For $9.95/Month is a post from: E-Reader News |
McGraw-Hill Connect Update Makes the Platform More Versatile
 Photo courtesy of guardian.co.uk For the growing number of platforms that offer some form of digital learning or e-textbook options, the race to compete in the already crowded field is driving innovation. For companies who already began with a strong foundation in academic and K-12 publishing, all that remains is to improve the technology and offer the most comprehensive use of the digital capabilities. Educational mainstay McGraw-hill initially began its digital learning dashboard with Connect, and this week announced an update to the already strong platform. "For this update of Connect, we worked closely with researchers, instructors, and students to create the industry's most intuitive and effective online learning environment," said Stephen Laster, chief digital officer of McGraw-Hill Education, in a press release. "We made significant investments in real-time reporting for quicker insights into emerging classroom dynamics and process automation that frees professors for higher value teaching activities and adaptive learning technologies that personalize education. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with students, educators and institutions to ensure Connect and all of our digital learning solutions deliver the industry's strongest engagement, retention and learning results." While the comprehensive list of enhancements and features can be found at connect.mcgraw-hill.com, some of the new updates include Course Builder and Assignment Builder updates which opens access to LearnSmart Advantage™, and offers several time-saving elements, an update to the LearnSmart user interface, the introduction of a new Section Overview feature, and more comprehensive Share/Copy functionality.
McGraw-Hill Connect Update Makes the Platform More Versatile is a post from: E-Reader News |
Podcast: New and Featured Content for September
| Listen to our September collection highlights podcast to learn all about new content in OverDrive Marketplace and be automatically entered for a chance to win $500 in content credit.
This month's podcast features publishers of beloved mysteries and thrillers, best-selling Chinese language content, illustrated children's eBooks, high-low titles for struggling readers, contemporary Hispanic literature, and more. We also cover September sales, where you can receive 30–60% off select content from a variety of publishers—all in under 15 minutes.
But the perks don't stop there—just by listening to this month's podcast, you'll be entered into a drawing to win $500 in content credit, which you can use to purchase titles in OverDrive Marketplace for your collection.
September's podcast is available all month on OverDrive’s Learning Center. See you there!
Carrie Smith is a Technical Writer with OverDrive
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Waterproofing your timelapse rig
| You might remember the post we wrote about BerryCam, a way to operate your Pi’s camera board (available from any of our main distributors – check the “Buy a Pi” links at the top right of the page) from your mobile phone, from the other day. Jim, one of the BerryCam engineers, has also been playing with the camera board in another project: a waterproof timelapse rig in a coffee can. This is not, of course, the first timelapse setup we’ve showcased here: but it is probably the most robust and self-contained, and importantly, it’s waterproof, so you can use it outdoors in the sort of interesting weather that’s just begging to be filmed in timelapse. What you’re watching here is the tide on the Isle of Arran: a soggy environment. A parts list, instructions, code, tips on stopping someone mistaking your camera for an abandoned jar of delicious coffee, and tips on what adhesives etc. to use in environments with fluctuating temperatures and humidity are all available from Jim at Fotosyn’s blog. |
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Esquire Weekly Launches on the iPad
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Its curated content spans Style, Gear, Food & Drink, Culture and Women, using text, pictures, audio and video content and the ability to buy clothes, tickets, box sets, and reserve restaurant tables without leaving the magazine app. Sometimes the app will recommend music, videos or television shows and link directly to the iTunes store to make a purchase or rent it. Editor of Esquire Alex Bilmes said: “We are so excited to be the first men’s magazine to embark on this kind of digital innovation and it’s fantastic to see Esquire setting the standard for the men’s market. Esquire Weekly Launches on the iPad is a post from: E-Reader News |
Esquire has developed a new weekly magazine that is exclusive to the Apple iPad. The first 30 days are free and every Thursday a new issue will be automatically delivered to your device.Amazon Matchbook will Disrupt the Bookselling Industry
| Amazon has announced a new program to debut this October that will severely disrupt the traditional bookselling industry. The Seattle based e-commerce giant intends on offering the digital edition at a severely diminished price when you buy the physical book. You will find most eBooks available from $2.99 to free, which gives incentives to purchase both. Matchbook will be launching with over 10,000 titles. Publishers involved include Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Amazon is actively courting publishers to opt into the program and bundle the books together. “In addition to being a great new benefit for customers, this is an easy choice for publishers and authors who will now be able to earn more from each book they publish,” said Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content. Indie authors can find the settings for this program enabled by default, but they have to make sure they are enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing. Self-published writers are really going to add more books to the platform very quickly via the synergy between Createspace, which physically prints books on demand and Matchbook. Self-published authors will obviously will see more value out of this than traditional publishing companies. Many industry analysts are reporting that readers tend to purchase one or the other. Philip Jones, editor of trade publication the Bookseller magazine said “As far as I can tell most people read in one format, so they choose print or they choose digital and it’s quite rare that they read both.” I think this statement is misguided and Matchbook draws parallels between the success of Amazon Autorip, which gives you free MP3′s if you buy the physical CD and Ultraviolet. Consumers love options and some people may be on the fence whether they want to buy into the whole eBook revolution. Ultraviolet has seen a tremendous amount of success buy bundling their DVD and Blu-Ray movies with free digital editions. Barnes and Noble has experienced modest success in their Nook Video program by just doing business with Ultraviolet. You would be hard pressed to buy a disk and NOT have the digital edition. Obviously not everyone will even use the digital edition once they purchase the physical disk, but some will. These people often go on to make more online purchases, whether they use iTunes or Google TV. Amazon is betting that the allure of a free or discounted eBook may bring more people into buying Kindles. Amazon’s chief executive Jeff Bezos told the BBC last year that his firm made no profit on Kindle hardware. Instead it aims to ensure shoppers come to its site to buy compatible eBooks and other goods from which it does make money. Matchbook is going to put the traditional bookselling industry on notice if it even sees traction. Publishers and booksellers will feel a need to buy into alternative business models and bundle their content. This really drives home the buy once, read anywhere mentality that everyone is trying to promote. Amazon Matchbook will Disrupt the Bookselling Industry is a post from: E-Reader News |
Jeff Bezos to Washington Post: Don’t Be Boring
| It could not have been a good feeling to come to work at The Washington Post one fateful day recently and find a memo on your cubicle desk that said, “We’ve been bought out by the guy who founded Amazon.” The world’s largest online retailer is known for cutting edge technology and innovation, and print newspapers are known for covering yesterday’s news. Obviously, any fears about how this model would turn out were completely founded. According to an article for TheVerge.com, Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has now attended two different meetings at The Post, and apparently this most recent meeting ended with a standing ovation for the man who just sunk a reported $250 million into a print newspaper, albeit a news company rooted in history and who is still known for its engaging investigative journalism. There has been a lot of speculation about how the Bezos Effect might impact the stalwart newspaper. One of the most widely thought views is that he will do his utmost to bring the technology behind the newspaper and its digital edition up to speed, something that a number of newspapers flounder with. It will also be interesting to see if the man behind one of the most value-conscious and successful retailers will have any impact on the current method newspapers employ of paywalling their digital content, allowing only so much of an article or a paper to be read for free before requiring payment. As The Verge so interestingly pointed out, this crop of staff members at the paper were not put off by the man who plans to make some digital changes. In fact, while an older group might have expressed some disdain for a changing model for how a newspaper should run, the staff who were in the meeting were pleased with what they heard. That could have a little something to do with the fact that Bezos firmly stated that if any more layoffs or spending cuts were to take place at The Post, there wouldn’t be a newspaper left.
Jeff Bezos to Washington Post: Don’t Be Boring is a post from: E-Reader News |
Interactive eBooks coming to the Apple iPhone
| Interactive eBooks created with iBooks Author have always been relegated to iPad version. The large screen makes optimizing textbooks, kids books and a slew of other content really shine. iBooks support for the Mac will be coming as part of Apple’s launch of the full iBooks experience in OS X Mavericks, and iPhone support may also be in the works. In the past, viewing an iBooks Author-created ebook online or via iTunes displayed the following message under the heading of 'requirements': "This book can only be viewed using iBooks 3.0 or later on an iPad. iOS 5.1 or later is required." Today the text has been updated in the iTunes Store and you now see "To view this book, you must have an iOS device with iBooks 3.0 or later and iOS 5.1 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later." There is a strong likelihood that when Apple has their unveiling next week, where they will announce a new iPhone lineup, enhanced eBooks will play a role. This small change in text for iPhone on the iTunes store is an indication that they company plans to allow for EPUB 3 books to run on the iPhone. Interactive eBooks coming to the Apple iPhone is a post from: E-Reader News |
Good e-Reader Radio Show – Amazon Match, Kindle Paperwhite 2013, Kobo, and eBook Subscription Services
| Welcome to another awe inspiring edition of the Good e-Reader Radio Show! Today Michael Kozlowski and Digital Book World’s own Jeremy Greenfield talk e-Readers and publishing. The big news of the week is a series of Spotify for eBook services capturing mainstream news media and we give you the scoop on what Oyster and eReatah are up to. The biggest news occuring this week is Amazon announcing their new Kindle Paperwhite e-Reader. We give you the low-down on what new hardware features are underneath the hood and also about the software side of things. GoodReads is at the forefront of this new device and should aid customers in eBook discovery. Amazon Match is another new service that gives the digital edition away for free or at a severely discounted price when you buy the physical copy. Jeremy and Michael were both in New York last week for the big Kobo event, where the Kobo Aura and 3 new tablets were unveiled. If you were not able to attend, you can live vicariously through our rundown on the entire event and our impressions of it. Finally up for discussion is the new Sony PRS-T3 and how the company is failing in product innovation on all fronts and also wearable tech! Its a great show as always with songs and banter, check it out! Good e-Reader Radio Show – Amazon Match, Kindle Paperwhite 2013, Kobo, and eBook Subscription Services is a post from: E-Reader News |
Software Update for Kindle Paperwhite – Version 5.3.8
| Amazon has been moving a lot of gears this past week. In addition to announcing the 2nd gen Kindle Paperwhite, they have also just started rolling out a software update for the original Paperwhite. As first when I saw an update was available I thought maybe Amazon was already adding some of the new features […] |
Smashwords Announces New Publishing Milestone and New Subscription-Based Distribution Agreement
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“I've been following the ebook subscription space for some time,” explained Smashwords’ CEO and founder Mark Coker in a post on the agreement. “As an ebook distributor, our job is to search out the most compelling opportunities to help our authors connect with reader eyeballs. Oyster is one such opportunity. “The closest analog to Oyster in the music business is Spotify, and in the video rental business it's our Los Gatos neighbor NetFlix. The closest, most familiar analog to Oyster on the ebook market today is Amazon's Kindle Owners Lending Library, where subscribers to Amazon's Prime service who own a Kindle can download and read one ebook for free per month. The author or publisher, who must enroll their book in Amazon's KDP Select program to benefit from KOLL, earns about $2.00 for each download.” Oyster, who offers its users unlimited access to a catalog of content which includes over 100,000 titles for just $9.95 a month, may be treading in waters which have already swallowed other companies’ attempts at a subscription model. But agreements with distributors like Smashwords will only grow their catalog, which will in turn entice more readers. “Five years and 250,000 books in, I still feel like we’re just getting started at Smashwords,” continued Coker. “Wait until we reach 500,000 books, or one million. Our amazing authors have barely scratched the surface of what’s possible. Watch, you’ll see.”
Smashwords Announces New Publishing Milestone and New Subscription-Based Distribution Agreement is a post from: E-Reader News |
Digital self-publishing platform Smashwords made two impressive announcements today, and in some ways, they go hand-in-hand. The first announcement focuses on celebrating the 250,000th title being uploaded by an indie author, and the second, seemingly larger announcement is that Smashwords’ catalog is now available for subscription-based borrowing through Oyster.New Smart Watches Announced at IFA
| By now, most consumers should be aware that the humble wristwatch has become pretty smart. There have been smartphones and smart TVs so far, but manufacturers had waited this long for something as intimate as the watch to be given the smart treatment. Thankfully, it has happened, and the 2013 IFA has ample proof. Here are the smart watches launched so far: Samsung Galaxy Gear: Made of stainless steel, this smartwatch offers a comprehensive set of features which even exceeds what many had expected. The device is only compatible with the latest crop of Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Note 10.1. The company has announced that updates for Note 2, S4, and S3 are coming soon, which will make them compatible with the Galaxy Gear. The Samsung smartwatch is also among the biggest, with a 1.63 inch Super AMOLED 320 x 320 display which suits its intended purpose well enough. The device can be considered an extension of the Samsung smartphone in that it displays notifications that otherwise can be seen only on the smartphone. This includes a preview of incoming messages, calls, texts, emails, and alerts, with the option for the user to accept or deny them right from the Gear itself. There’s no need to pull out the smartphone for this, but the notifications from the Gear will automatically be transferred to the smartphone via Smart Relay. What's more, the Galaxy Gear even includes a built-in auto-focusing camera of 1.9 megapixels which will let users shoot pictures and 720p videos, although they are only 10 seconds long. Interestingly, the camera is included in the wristband which makes for an innovative design feature. The camera is also designed to work in conjugation with the Memographer, which means users will have the option to take quick notes or voice memos. Users can transcribe the voice memos into text when needed. Other tech specs include a 800 mhz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 4 GB of internal memory, all quite respectable considering the size and intended application of the device. Meanwhile, the Gear also boasts an accelerometer as well as a gyroscope, and can be used to control the music being played by the smartphone. Samsung has also lined up a few apps specifically for the Gear. Predictably enough, there are fitness apps to begin with, which includes the RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal. Of course, there will be around 70 apps ready to be installed when the Gear goes on sale on September 25th. All of the above comes at a price, which stands at $299 and is higher than many of the entry level tablets out there. However, price apart, what can be considered as the biggest complaint about the Gear is its dismal battery life. The 315mAh battery will tend to fizzle out by the end of the day under what the company claims as “regular use.” Sony Smartwatch 2: Curiously, it's named Smartwatch 2 even though this marks the company's third product in the smartwatch segment. Sony’s name is because it claims to be a second screen of your smartphone. It features a 1.6 inch display that is lit up by 220 x 176 pixels. The display is big enough to house six apps at a time but can be scrolled to bring more on the display. Also, the display has been made sunlight-friendly, thanks to the use of a transflective panel, though it's more monochrome in bright sunlight compared to a colored display indoors. Made of aluminum, the Smartwatch 2 has a solid build quality. Also, another inherent advantage of the Sony smartwatch is that it is waterproof (for up to 1 meter and 30 minutes). This can be helpful as users will be saved from fishing out their smartphones every time a new notification has arrived. All of those can be dealt with via the Smartwatch 2 itself. For apps, Sony has devised what it has named as watch apps that are designed explicitly for the Smartwatch 2. There will be apps specific to the Smartwatch 2 that can be considered as “extensions” of the apps already present on the user’s smartphone. What this means is that users will get to keep a tab on their inbox, Facebook status updates, or Twitter feeds, right from the smartwatch itself. As for its battery, Sony claims the Smartwatch 2 will be good enough to support 3-4 days of operations. Availability is pegged at around the end of September and is priced at 179 euros. Qualcomm Toq: No one expected Qualcomm to launch a smartwatch, and bearing a name as weird as Toq. The device, though, is quite impressive, even when lacking many of the frills seen on the Galaxy Gear. However, the Toq enjoys many advantages over the Gear in that it is not tied to a single smartphone brand but can be connected to any Android device running version 4.0.3 and above. However, company sources did mention the Toq won't remain tied to only the Android platform, as the smartwatch will soon be made compliant to the iOS as well. The Toq comes with the Qualcomm Mirasol color display that is known for being extremely frugal on the battery. This clearly is one of the biggest advantages of the Toq, with its makers claiming a battery life of three to four days at the least. It is easily readable even in bright sunlight and is always on, features that make it more akin to the regular watches that it intends to replace. The Toq can also be charged wirelessly using Qualcomm's WiPower LE technology. The Toq will be able to handle phone calls, messages, or reminders, along with other notifications. Qualcomm also stated the device will benefit from regular updates which will make it even smarter from time to time. The device is powered by a 200 Mhz Cortex M3 processor and is slated to reach markets in the 4th quarter, sporting a sticker price tag of $300. Also, a nice feature of the Toq is that it can be connected to wireless stereo headphones via the Bluetooth, but the device lacks a speaker or a microphone of its own. Worth mentioning here, Seiko too has launched an e-ink based smartwatch. Catch up with the review here. In the end, while three are just three smartwatches right now, both Apple and Google are slated to launch their own take on wearable computers in the coming months. In fact, with these being so closely tied to smartphones, every manufacturer with a smartphone in their products line up is expected to launch smartwatches sooner or later. What this means is that LG couldn’t be far from launching a smartwatch of its own to accompany the G2, and the same applies to Nokia, not to mention the cheap clones that are expected from Chinese manufacturers soon enough.
New Smart Watches Announced at IFA is a post from: E-Reader News |
