A bit more on the iRex DR800Sg e-reader

UPDATE to the main iRex e-reader story

At the left are the Kindle DX and the iRex DR800Sg side by side.

  For the $89 difference between the two:

1.  PDFs will be considerably smaller on the iRex and, as I mentioned yesterday, they are already often too small on the Kindle DX.
2.  The 3G wireless for the Kindle allows web browsing with no limits on sites and with brief emails doable.  This allows direct downloads to the Kindle device from a few other bookstores.
But the iRex wireless will go only to the Barnes and Noble store and to NewspaperDirect and no emails would be possible.

  Where the iRex will shine is in the look of the periodicals it can bring you from the NewspaperDirect site (as well as the choices available), as those are laid out as they are with the actual newspapers rather than using the generic text used for the Kindle subscriptions with just a few photos for the latter.  The SD card will be needed for the added storage space that'll take.
  Questions:
  How much will the iRex's periodical-subscription costs be?  No word on that yet.
  What will be the speed be like, with the e-Ink screen?

SOME QUOTES FROM WEDNESDAY answered a few questions:

STYLUS NOTE-TAKING NOT READY YET
and WHY NOT a HAND-TOUCHSCREEN?
PC World/internetnews.com
  Kevin Hamilton, CEO for IREX in North America, explained that

' "Instead of a finger-driven touchscreen, the DR800SG uses a magnetic resonance stylus, in part to maintain the brightness of the display," said Brons.
  He said the additional transparent touch layer needed to enable finger navigation would have decreased screen brightness by 15 to 20 percent.
  Hamilton noted that Sony's Reader uses just such a touch layer, with the expected detrimental effect on brightness.  Clicking is performed with the stylus or by pushing down on the flip bar [on the left side), which is pushed from side to side for page-turns.

 He added that while the device is ready for electronic ink based note taking, the application that enables the function wasn't quite ready but would be added later as a free update.

 The edge of the unit is blank except for a power switch and a mini-USB socket. Installed in the battery compartment on the back is a 2GB SD Card, which can hold up to 1,500 e-books and can be replaced with a larger-capacity card. '

AIRTIME CHARGES LATER MAYBE
'  He noted, however, that there may be airtime charges for future vertical business applications if they consume a significant amount of wireless bandwidth. '

THE KINDLE'S UNNECESSARY BELLS & WHISTLES?
NetbookBoards.com has this:

' IRex CEO Hans Brons has taken some shots at the Kindle already, hinting that Amazon’s device is too limited and at the same time too fancy.
“We’ve tried to create [an] as neutral as possible device – without any whistles and bells and what have you.” '

Well, that's one way of saying iRex doesn't have some bells & whistles that the Kindles offer, such as web-browsing and email capability + easier notetaking capabilities while iRex currently has ready only the virtual keyboard.  But maybe NetbookBoards was a bit harsh on the statement there.


FULL CONTENT FROM NEWSPAPERS, ADS TOO, HELPS PUBLISHER REVENUES
InternetNews quotes a statement at NewspaperDirect pointing out that full content of periodicals will be downloaded with no missing pieces, and with all the ads:

'...PressReader allows users to download over 1,000 full-content newspapers in their original format, with all the articles, pictures, cartoons and advertisements found in the printed editions.  This ensures that all 1,000 publications on the iRex are recognized as audited paid circulation by international audit bureaus, a critical factor for publishers looking to increase revenues and reach. '

VIDEOS - The first one mentions that the iRex DR800Sg software doesn't work with Macs currently.
  As I mentioned yesterday, the newspaper layout is a BIG plus.  Watch CNet's videoclip on the new 8.1" model and then the youtube video by "pressdisplay" showing what the iRex newspaper editions are like although this one is showing the larger 10" iRex DR1000S.

  They're beautiful but if you look at these from the perspective of someone about to READ the content shown, the print is really tiny so at times there may be a lot of zooming involved.  Note that in the first video though, which is on today's 8.1" model, the newspaper layout is for the full page and when you stylus-click an article you want to read, you get a very straight text-version of the story that looks easy to read.

  Again, the size is iffy.  Large for a novel and small for pdfs and newspapers.  If they ever bring down the cost of the 10" model ($989 for the iRex DR1000s) that'll be the one that works for serious academic and business use once the interface problems reported are gone.

iRex 8.1" release - at Best Buy, for B&N, w/ Verizon

Brad Stone of the NY Times writes that, later today, iRex Technologies (UK), whose 10" DR1000s e-reader is approximately the size of the 9.7" Kindle DX and selling for about $989, will announce they are releasing an 8.1" iRex DR800Sg touch-screen e-reader in the U.S. for $399.

  They've partnered with Verizon to allow free direct wireless connection to the Barnes & Noble E-Book store and to newspapers at Newspapers Direct, which offers more than 1,100 periodicals and presents them onscreen "largely as they appear in print form."  That is a BIG selling feature if pricing is reasonable.

See UPDATED INFO on 9/24/09 also.

  Stone writes that the iRex will "link directly" to both stores which implies that, like the Sony Daily Edition (PRS-2121) which will link only to the Sony store, the iRex will not be allowing direct free access to the entire web as the Kindles do.

  That's a distinction to remember.  The big news last week was In-stat's finding that per their most recent consumer survey,

' "...current e-book owners desire e-mail capability in the next e-book they purchase," says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Longer battery life and Internet connectivity are the top two desired features among respondents who don’t currently own an e-book but plan to buy one in the next year.” '

At $400 without the mentioned web-browsing or e-mail capability, this would make a difference to many, as then a device does becomes more of the oft-described one-function gizmo (which the Kindle is not).  I think the chosen size is somewhat iffy since it's too large to pocket and too small to present PDFs that well.

  There are many PDFs that I have to look at on the (larger) Kindle DX in landscape format, to read easily in larger font, or convert to MOBI formats so I can see larger overall text

  And, at the moment, while most people do not realize that the Kindle has a basic web browser using Sprint's cellular 3G spare bandwidth, with direct (but slow) access to all web sites, the other e-readers being released or announced weekly just don't offer that apparently desired capability.

  So, Amazon sits on that lead in top-two desired features but doesn't advertise them because too much use of those would cost them money as they pay the Sprint charges for now.

  What the iRex will offer is a size that's
1.  larger than the cute and eminently pocketable new Sony's, PRS-300 and PRS-600, and
2.  larger than the Kindle 2 with its real-estate hogging keyboard (useful for quick searches and short notes) but
3.  almost 2 inches smaller than the Kindle DX (already a bit small for PDFs in original sizes)

and with a touchscreen (popular) and stylus likely and greater file-format flexibility (their current large models support PDF and EPub formats as well as HTML).

  On their current 10" model they charge an extra $100 for the ability to write notes to be added to your book files.  No word on that for the new, smaller U.S. model until later today, for the $399 price.

  In addition, by next month, you'll be able to buy the iRex at a few hundred Best Buy stores, where they'll vie for display space with the newer Sony readers.

Stone adds that "Best Buy is training thousands of its employees in how to talk about and demonstrate devices like the Sony Reader and iRex, and adding a new area to its 1,048 stores to showcase the devices."

  iRex and Barnes & Noble didn't reach an agreement on a house-branded iRex, and B&N may be working on its own reading device, as hinted at by a filing that made the news last week.

  An important consideration will be whether or not its customer support has improved over what is described in a long review posted on the Net from someone with a year's experience with a iRex.  Amazon is providing unusually responsive customer service with its Kindles.

Stone further points out an important wireless detail - "It contains a 3G Gobi radio from Qualcomm, the wireless component manufacturer, which will allow iRex owners to buy books wirelessly when they travel abroad.  By contrast, the wireless modem in the Kindle works only on Sprint’s network in the United States..."

Also, as detailed earlier, they're not quite equivalent in the "unlimited" wireless feature in that the Kindle currently (and for the last 2 years) gives 24/7 free wireless direct access to the entire net, albeit with a clunky web browser, and ability to (slowly) use gmail and other web mail while the iRex will go to two stores.  This is of high value to some of us, less so for others.

  As most who pay for web access on their phones know, that Kindle feature is worth between $30-$50/mo.  The many mobile-optimized site versions available today are best for quicker browsing.

Verizon says it has no plans to subsidize the cost of the iRex reader with 2-yr type subscription fees (as is done for smart phones and for netbooks now).

Analyst Allen Weiner cautions that consumers may wait to see what Apple does with a general-purpose tablet device rumored for the Spring, which will be in color and do video, but most recent whisperings are that it might cost $800.

In my case, I am awaiting what I hope will become my secondary e-reader, in color, for LIGHTER use with materials requiring color, as it would be LCD technology, which brings words and images to our eyes via light, bringing more eyestrain for most.  That would be the Asus EReader with dual-screens in color (LCD) that they hope to sell for about $163.

At that price cellular wireless would not be included for free, but if it has WiFi capability (as opposed to cellular everywhere-wireless) and we could use it in home or office settings), then I would get it as a supplementary reader for books with color illustrations.
 Here's a fanciful mock-up of one.  Note how impossible it would be to read the small print on that kind of layout on it though it looks very nice.  But I'm looking forward to that one.

  In the meantime, the Kindles and Sony's can't be equaled for fantastic ease of readabiity with those e-Ink screens and features (except by the Astak Pocket Pro EZReader, which is orderable from the San Jose company and has a 5" screen, a faster processer than its 6" screen model, is able to read Adobe-rights-protected PDF files, normal PDFs, ePub, and has text-to-speech function, probably through headphones, but NO search/dictionary/highlighting/note-taking).  It also takes a 16G SD card and a has a "promotional" price of $199.
  If not able to afford a Kindle or a refurbished Kindle for $219, I'd take a good look at that one, although I have no idea what the functioning is like, which is important.

 In the meantime I am waiting to see what ASUS comes up with --per multiple reports they will offer two models, one inexpensive (see above) and a version with more features.

---

See UPDATED INFO on 9/24/09 also.

Kindle Myths from news websites, No. 1

For weeks, I have seen gadget- or ereader-info sites parroting one another with inaccuracies such as actually writing that the Kindle does not allow the Kindle-user to go anywhere but to the Amazon store.
  It's not just one or two that write this, but site after site that repeats this erroneous info or writes that the Sony-store-only wireless for the coming Sony PRS-2121 will do what the Kindle wireless feature does.

  The sites I most enjoy because they are more thorough than that are Wired, Engadget, and Boy Genius.

  When a site has deleted a Comment of mine that lets them know something stated isn't actually so (quite often) and when they are holding current notes which means current readers won't see that their info is wrong, I will post some of these here.  Eventually Google.com and people looking for information on what the Kindle wireless does involve will be able to find the information then.

ZIKKER.COM ARTICLE
UPDATE: Allie Vance, noted below, re-posted an article by Shawn Oliver  (See Comments to this blog entry) but the comment I submitted to their comment box was "pending moderation."  I've since reposted the note to Shawn Oliver at HotHardware.com and reworded the below.

Last night, someone on Twitter pointed us to zikkir.com's article, a re-posting by Allie Vance, commenting on In-Stat's much-distributed article that reported that

"...current e-book owners desire email capability in the next e-book they purchase.  Longer battery life and Internet connectivity are the top two desired features among respondents who don’t currently own an e-book but plan to buy one in the next year.”

Yes, I can see that.  But then the article actually says the following

' ...but by and large, today’s batch of readers only feature a few (or one) of those, and not all three.
  Take the market-leading Kindle for example.  It has integrated WWAN through Sprint, but that only enables users to download new books on the go.  Users can’t check their e-mail or surf the Web, which is evidently a real bummer to most.

WHAT THE KINDLE ACTUALLY CAN DO, WEB-WISE
  Could anything be less true? -- that the Kindle can't surf the web or allow you to check your email?  Countless Kindle forum threads include discussions on what sites Kindle users can access and how that can be very helpful when you're not at home.  I have a freely-downloadable file of mobile-optimized websites to surf more quickly.

  I also have tips on using the web browser's various modes to help the loading speed or readability of the sites.  Never mind that Amazon itself puts a pre-set bunch of web-bookmarks on for Kindle users to try.
  But cellular wireless access will be slow, and the Kindle web access is definitely for the patient.  It pays off for some of us info-grabbers on the go though.

WIRELESS 24/7 W/NO MONTHLY CHARGES, CURRENTLY
That this comes with no monthly charges for now is just another plus, and Jeff Bezos has said it is a reason he set the price of the Kindle higher instead of locking people into a 2-year monthly fee on top of the unit, as is done with cell phones.
  The high cost of wireless is why the other readers don't and won't, for some time, be including web-browsing access in their e-readers as part of the cost -- not iRex at $800++, not Plastic Logic at $600-$800 as expected, and not Sony readers, including the Daily Edition due in December.

MY STILL-HELD RESPONSE ON THE ZIKKER SITE  
which shows "No Comments" currently.   [Update: 9:57 PM - it was deleted.]

" Andrys says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 16, 2009 at 4:36 am

Well, the Kindles, starting with Kindle 1 all have web browsers, though it’s impossibly slow on the Kindle 1. It is very doable on the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX and I do email on it and browse all kinds of sites to look up things when out on the streets. See some web images from my DX at
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/kindleplus

I also have tips and guides for using the web browser in more speedy fashion (it’s 24/7 free cellular access) and I use it for lookups in stores, in concerts, hearings).  Email is slow going with GMail but it’s doable and I also check yahoo mail.

On the Kindle two, I show some time with Facebook and with the Amazon forums,
at http://www.pbase.com/andrys/kindle2

Forgive the links, but since you mentioned these are wanted items but the Kindle doesn’t allow it, I needed to let you know it very much does. I also have a file for accessing mobile-optimized sites but you’ll see what I could get with the normal webpage of Engadget at the first link above.

– Andrys
kindleworld.blogspot.com