With details and photos leaked of Barnes and Nobles' upcoming ebook reader and rumors of Apple's greatly anticipated tablet still aflame, I'm getting really excited about the possibility of an affordable but feature-packed ebook reader. I'm not holding my breath that Apple's tablet, which many say will be formiddable in the e-reader market, will be the inexpensive model that I'm hoping for, but I do think it will increase competition and result in lower priced models from competitors.
Now that the dominant e-book reader on the market, Amazon's Kindle is now as low as $249, I'm starting to think more seriously about purchasing an ebook reader. The Kindle has many of the features that I am looking for: wireless connectivity, wide selection (although DRM'ed), and ability to read magazines and blogs. The downside to the Kindle is that it is still a bit pricey for me - I'd like to pay $199 at the most - and that it is limited to only books purchased through Amazon.com.
The Sony ebook reader is definitely closer to my price range, and has a more open selection since it allows you to read ebooks published in the widely used, open e-pub format, but there's no wireless connectivity.
This new reader coming from Barnes and Noble, is rumored to be comparable to the Kindle in quality with a wireless connection, and (here's the kicker) running Google's open-source Android operating system, hopefully with the ability to run Android apps as well. If the price of this reader is kept to $200 or below, that will seal the deal for me. Since it's set to debut sometime in the next month, maybe, just maybe, my dream e-book reader will be under my Christmas tree this year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment