Sony Makes E-Readers Touchy, Takes 'Em Where Amazon Fears to Tread

Sony just revamped its entire line of e-readers, slimming them down, snazzing them up and adding better touchscreen powers. They're expensive, but are now the e-readers the Kindle should be. So, is Sony brave or dumb?

All of the players in the e-reader game are suddenly attempting different tactics to win some sales. Sony, sailing supremely along at the top end of nearly every market it operates in, has acted to keep its e-reader offerings fresh and competitive but has chosen to neatly ignore the frenzy to simplify and cheapen e-book readers that many others are taking part in and has instead bumped up the specs on its digital book readers. And kept the price high.

The newly refreshed Reader line-up has improved touchscreens, faster electronics for speedier page-turns and whatnot, and slimmed down the aluminum chassis so they're all lighter to hold. The Daily Edition now has Wi-Fi (the others still only have wired connectivity) and a very basic browser, but none of the devices has 3G connectivity. (Update: Sony notes that the Daily Edition does come with a 3G option)

But, ignoring the fact that Sony's ecosystem to supply content isn't as sophisticated as Amazon's, these gizmos are quality, nicely designed devices. The only thing holding them back is the high price, which is a defining Sony characteristic: The Reader Pocket will cost $179, the larger Touch costs $229, and the mighty Daily will come in at $299. This is way more than Amazon's Kindle Graphite will cost you.

And in fact, the new Readers are what the Kindle should be like. Touchscreen tech is fast taking over the portable gadget world, since the so-called "natural interfaces" that are enabled by touchscreens are by far the easiest way to interact with the hardware. The fact the Kindle doesn't have it is an oddity--and the reason is even odder: Jeff Bezos himself noted that the touchscreen overlay that is typically used adds "too much glare" (a problem that did beset the previous touchscreen Sony Readers). Instead of trying to improve the tech, innovate, and deliver a better product to the consumer (as Sony's done) the new Kindle is pretty unimaginative (our own Dan Nosowitz begs to differ, I know). And more than anything else, this might be the thing that dooms hardware e-readers to a niche-device future.

Original piece by Kit Eaton and can be found here: http://bit.ly/aJfoGt . You cn also follow Kit on Twitter @ twitter.com/kiteaton

Let the Comic Book Rise again, All Hail the iPad, Marvel, and DC

I am one of those men who read the Marvel Comics as a kid and had secretly fantasised that the super heroes would make it to the big screen.  Thank God they did, and in spectacular style. The massive improvements in computer technology and special effects have ensured that any super hero can be brought to life.  However, does this mean that the comic book is dead? 

 
Many of the comic book establishments like Marvel found their sales fall with unimpressive figures over a few years. Hollywood might have contributed to this but this is debatable. I am sure that computer games did contribute to an extent in this decline. Suddenly kids were able to interact with their favourite characters. Although I am no fan of computer games (I just could not get into it), I am not against them either. I am fascinated though when I watch my nephews play games on their PlayStation. They seem to be in a world of their own, making the characters do all sorts of manoeuvres.  
 
The last time I read a comic book I was fifteen years old. Some thirty or so years later, I find myself reading them on an iPad. There are still outlets that sell comics but I would not be caught dead going into one. Why you may ask? I felt it was childish. Is it so wrong for a man of almost fifty to go into a comic shop? In some cultures (like mine), it is considered childish, while in others it is not.  In mine, however, a man my age could come up with the excuse that he is buying them for his kids. While plausible, it is still unacceptable especially if your children are old enough to do that for themselves. 
 
You might ask – and quite rightly, so – what it is the shame in buying comics for your kids. Absolutely nothing is the answer to that. I just found myself conforming to the norm (shame on me!). 
 
As time went by, I forgot completely about comics until a piece of hardware showed up. That hardware known as the iPad changed everything. I got one about two weeks ago from the UK and I unashamedly say it has not left my side since then except when having a shower. 
 
I am not going to go into any details; most of you already know how this delightful tablet works. As I studied the use of my iPad, I read an article on the Internet about the ten best iPad apps to have. One of the top ten apps mentioned was the Marvel Comics app. I immediately proceeded to the iTunes Store to download the app more out of curiosity. On installing, I downloaded a few of the free comics. I cannot tell you what a delight it was to read about the super heroes again. 
 
One such download was Civil War (2006) #1. I enjoyed it so much that I went on to download all six other episodes. The six episodes cost $1.99 each but I did not care. I wanted more; I began to think of what else I could read. I recalled battles of the past such as The Defenders versus The Avengers. I remembered characters like the Lizard and the Green Goblin. I remembered how we waited with baited breath on what the new episodes would hold. I found myself feeling the same way. I began to wonder whether men my age across the World felt the same way. I did not have long to wait. My older brother called me to say he had read a few of the comics and wanted more.

I have a new yearning in my soul; I want Marvel Comics to make holiday specials of three or even four hundred page long episodes. I know; Marvel could republish Spider Man versus the Lizard epic battles. Why not create a rift between the Fantastic Four and the Defenders? I am sure Marvel has all sorts of weird and wonderful characters we can enjoy. Eh, maybe I have gone too far in this request. Please tell me. 
 
So what are your conclusions I hear you ask. For one, the iPad has given me a gift I would not have had – reasons for an adult to read a comic again. The iPad has also put paid to the shame of going to a comic store – Marvel App Store. I also realise that I need to read works of fiction once again. I have not read fiction since I was eighteen. I can do nothing but thank the iPad for that. I also found that I have taken life a little too seriously. It is time to loosen up. 
 
As I mentioned earlier, I wonder how many more people feel the way I feel. I am convinced that the iPad could revive comic book reading even to those who never really did so as children. I hope someone from Marvel Comics might read this blog and consider what I have written. I am sure there are more people who would gladly pay for some good old-fashioned super hero entertainment. By the way, the same goes for DC Comics; I downloaded the app and have read a few stories, my experience, one word, awesome.

Comments from all the old men out there who are still in the comic book closet would be most appreciated. 

In Price War, New Kindle Sells for $139

SEATTLE — Amazon.com will introduce two new versions of the Kindle e-reader on Thursday, one for $139, the lowest price yet for the device. 

Amazon is hoping to convince even casual readers that they need a digital reading device. By firing another shot in an e-reader price war leading up to the year-end holiday shopping season, the e-commerce giant turned consumer electronics manufacturer is also signaling it intends to do battle with Apple and its iPad as well as the other makers of e-readers like Sony and Barnes & Noble.  

Unlike previous Kindles, the $139 “Kindle Wi-Fi” will connect to the Internet using only Wi-Fi instead of a cellphone network as other Kindles do. Amazon is also introducing a model to replace the Kindle 2, which it will sell for the same price as that model, $189. Both new Kindles are smaller and lighter, with higher contrast screens and crisper text. 

“The hardware business for us has been so successful that we’re going to continue,” Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, said in an interview at the company’s headquarters. “I predict there will be a 10th-generation and a 20th-generation Kindle. We’re well-situated to be experts in purpose-built reading devices.” 

When Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007, Mr. Bezos described it as a must-have for frequent travelers and people who read “two, three, four books at the same time.” Now, Amazon hopes that at $10 less than the least expensive reading devices from Barnes & Noble and Sony, the new Kindle has broken the psychological price barrier for even occasional readers or a family wanting multiple Kindles. 

“At $139, if you’re going to read by the pool, some people might spend more than that on a swimsuit and sunglasses,” Mr. Bezos said. 

Some analysts are predicting that e-readers could become this year’s hot holiday gift. James L. McQuivey, a principal analyst specializing in consumer electronics at Forrester Research, said a price war could for the first time reduce at least the price of one e-reader to under $100, often the tipping point for impulse gadget purchases. 

Amazon has slashed the price of the Kindle at a speed that is unusual, even for electronic gadgets. By last year, the price of the device was to $259, down from its starting price of $399 in late 2007. In June, hours after Barnes & Noble dropped the price of its Nook e-reader to $199, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to $189. The Kindle DX, which has a larger, 9.7-inch screen, is $379.

With Amazon’s latest announcement, it is again waging a price war. Barnes & Noble offers a Wi-Fi version of the Nook for $149 and Sony offers the Reader Pocket Edition, which does not have Wi-Fi, for $150. 

Of course, price is just one factor people consider before making a purchase. The quality of the product, adequate inventory and appealing marketing are just as important, said Eric T. Anderson, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

But as the e-reader marketplace has grown crowded “there are lots of substitutes out there so the only way they can create demand is by lowering the price,” he said. 

Still, the iPad’s $499-and-up price tag has not stifled demand for that device. Though the iPad does much more than display books, customers often choose between the two, and are willing to pay much more for the iPad because it is an Apple product, said Dale D. Achabal, executive director of the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University. “The price point Apple can go to is quite a bit higher than the price point other firms have to go to that don’t have the same ease of use, design and functionality,” he said. 

Apple says it has sold 3.3 million iPads since introducing it in April. Amazon does not release Kindle sales figures, but says that sales tripled in the month after its last price cut. 

Two of the most compelling aspects of the iPad — a color display and touch screen — are elements that some customers have been yearning for on the Kindle. Keep waiting, Mr. Bezos said. 

“There will never be a Kindle with a touch screen that inhibits reading. It has to be done in a different way. It can’t be a me-too touch screen,” he said. Earlier this year, Amazon bought Touchco, a start-up specializing in touch-screen technology, but current touch-screen technology adds reflections and glare and makes it hard to shift one’s hands while reading for long periods of time, he said. Color is also “not ready for prime time,” Mr. Bezos said. 

The new Kindles, which will ship Aug. 27, have the same six-inch reading area as earlier Kindles but weigh about 15 percent less and are 21 percent smaller. The Kindles have twice the storage, up to 3,500 books. 

Original post by CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2efqb3b

Ebooks: Now what?

Well we all knew it was coming. The arrival of the iPad and the pressure that Apple suddenly began to apply to the Ebook Reader market was bound to have an effect, just as Apple and the iPhone forced the telecom industry to respond just be being there. I was also pretty sure that the first thing that the iPad would affect would be price. After all, it is the easiest thing for most tech vendors to change as it simply means cutting the margin finer, and it was sure to have a major effect on consumer and the tech press.

Of course, what we didn’t expect was how quickly the price war would ramp up and pull the major players in. Borders introduces bare bones (no wireless) Kobo reader for $149, which B&N matches a few weeks later with a Wifi only Nook for $149 and challenges Amazon with a price drop on the full Nook to $199. Sony Readers apparently ALSO drop their prices to match (though no one noticed it at the time, which says something). Amazon responds by dropping the Kindle 2 to $189 the same damn day, which means Amazon was just waiting for B&N to announce the new pricing to pull that trigger.

So, what have we learned in the first salvos of the Ebook Reader price war, and where will things go from here?

Many analysts (the same ones who have been saying that the incredible iPad will eliminate netbooks, notebook computers, passenger trains and the letter M from the civilized world) are saying this “race to the bottom” spells the beginning of the end of ebook readers (and good riddance, they usually add). I disagree. Certainly the market is changing due to competition and we are seeing the major players responding to that..what else would they expect? Ebook readers are not going the way of the dinosaur, just the way of every other niche technology. As they become more mainstream and their functionality is incorporated into more devices, the price they can charge drops. There ARE lessons to be learned from this, but “Ebook Readers are Dead” is not one of them.

Rather, one thing we can learn from this, well, really it is more something we are being reminded of, is just how high the profit margins are on these devices. B&N took a fifth off the price of the full Nook, and Amazon knocked a full THIRD off the price of the Kindle just like that. Also, everyone always says the screen is the most expensive part of an ebook reader, but B&N removed the 3G antenna from the Nook and dropped the price by nearly HALF. Clearly these devices cost far less to produce then previously assumed.

Which of course also means we can expect the prices to drop even further. If we assume that both Amazon and B&N are working from the classic “Give away the razor and sell the blades” business model, then the prices are going to drop A LOT more. After all, both companies (and soon Borders) are making most of their money off selling the blades, that is, the books and not the readers. They all provide their software free for other devices specifically to encourage you to shop in THEIR online book store for books, where the real money in this business is.

If Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders are really looking at the bottom line realistically and understand that the serious profits are from book sales, then over the next few months we will likely see the Nook and Kindle drop to the point where they are just breaking even on them. Loss leaders. Borders is at a disadvantage on this one as it does not have it’s own Ebook Reader but is licensing readers from other companies, and it’s main device, the Kobo Reader, has it’s own library to feed.

To be honest, I would not be shocked if down the line, both the Kindle and the Nook end up being free, or with free versions that don’t allow sideloading your own books or PC syncing. Do you think Amazon would accept giving away a few bucks worth of tech if you could only use it with books from their own online store? Is Jeff Bezos annoying? (the answer to that is DAMN RIGHT).

I feel that the whole “It is easier to read on E-ink Displays” argument, which doesn’t hold up too well already, is going to carry less and less and weight over the next few months as more tablets appear. In the end, I think both Amazon and B&N will give up on trying to say their devices are better for reading than a tablet and focus completely on leveraging their enormous libraries. I think they already view the Kindle and Nook as simply a platform to sell books, the whole “reading experience” thing is just marketing blather for them. Therefore, expect them to price the platform as low as they need to, even free, to move more ebooks.

However, that move is a little bit down the road I think. What will be the next step in the price war? Well, pity poor Borders. They made a big noise about the fact the readers they were selling (from Kobo and Aluratek) were a bit limited (no wireless), but the cheapest out there…now they are not looking so cheap as the Kindle and the Nook price down, and they aren’t even on sale yet! Borders is also scrambling to push their software on Apple products, just like Amazon and B&N, only with less success.

Therefore, before the July roll out date for Borders’ new AreaE ebook strategy, expect the prices of the Kobo and Libre readers to drop further. I would imagine when they are actually released the Kobo will be the one selling for 119 bucks…and the Libre? 89.95 baby, plus tax. Let’s see how Amazon and B&N like THOSE apples

Piece posted by Zealot and can be found here: http://www.mobilitysite.com/2010/06/ebooks-now-what/