Apple led the market in mobile PC shipments during the March quarter, at least when including the iPad, according to preliminary NPD data. The company shipped 17.2 million iPads and MacBooks, representing a 118 percent jump year-over-year, and 22.5 percent marketshare during Q1. About 80 percent of those units were iPads though, whereas the other top sellers succeeded on the basis of notebook shipments.
Following a sudden disappearance, the Google Books iOS app has returned to the App Store with an update, v1.1.1.2883. Google's release notes claim only that "minor enhancements and bug fixes" have been made. In reality, the focus appears to have been stripping a button for Google's eBookstore.
Apple, Amazon, Nokia, Research in Motion and several other companies are all violating patents related to GPRS networking, a new lawsuit alleges. The plaintiff is GPNE, a company based in Honolulu, Hawaii. GPRS is the basic data platform associated with modern GSM phone networks. 3G, in the form of HSPA, represents an additional layer.
Barnes & Noble unusually chose to confirm plans for a future Nook with an SEC filing on Wednesday. The posting says only that an unveiling for a "new eReader device" was planned for May 24. It remained silent on details but admitted that it had been forced to make the filing after it hinted at plans in an analyst meeting.
Barnes & Noble has now released a software development kit for the Nook Color e-reader. The Nook Color runs on Android 2.1 and is compatible with the Android SDK, but the book giant has released Nook SDK 1.0 to help developers create apps for the device. Included in the first SDK are an Android Virtual Device Emulator, Android Debug Bridge (ADB) configuration settings and sample code.
Google's long promised Editions e-bookstore is near launching, both official and unofficial sources said today. Project management lead Scott Dougall confirmed that the bookstore was on track to launch in the US by the end of the year and internationally in early 2011. While this would give Google four weeks to go, publishers told the WSJ that they were already uploading books and thus that Editions could be ready sooner in that timeframe.
The gap between iPad and Kindle ownership is closing fast not just in ownership but in the way owners actually use their devices, ChangeWave found today. Of its current pool of respondents, 32 percent claimed in November to have an iPad as their e-reader. The portion was still lower than Amazon's 47 percent but is much closer than in August, when 62 percent claimed to use a Kindle and just 16 percent pointed to their iPads.
Barnes & Noble plans to claim a large part of the e-book market in the near future, it said when discussing its latest results. The company has 20 percent today but plans to go "well beyond" that based on a booming business. Its "comparable sales" jumped 59 percent for its August quarter versus a year ago based on sales both of Nook readers and of e-books.
Barnes & Noble has just released its promised 1.5 update for grayscale Nook e-readers. The update is the most significant to date, and brings with it a 50 percent faster page refresh rate. It also offers syncing bookmarks between the Nook itself and any apps for Android, iOS and computers.
Barnes & Noble today said it had started shipping the Nook Color to early pre-orders. Its e-reader and tablet crossover should reach some as early as today and through the rest of the week for those who either ordered online or reserved the device at a store. A "very limited" number of retail units are also available both at Barnes & Noble's own stores as well as Best Buy, Books-A-Million and Walmart.
In just the space of half a year, competition in the e-reader market has grown intense: where anything below $200 was once basic, readers now expect Internet access on anything over $100. Kobo has had to ride this wave whether it liked it or not: its new mainstream model has actually dropped to $140 while getting Wi-Fi. But is that enough? We'll discover the answer in our Kobo Wireless eReader review.
Best Buy's Black Friday sale in two weeks will be marked by key sales on Macs, e-readers and smartphones, a copy of the flyer shows. The big-box chain hopes to head off likely Apple sales by offering a $125 gift card for buying either a 13-inch MacBook Pro or a 21.5-inch iMac. The deal isn't the steepest for the computers Best Buy should have on November 26, as BFAds notes it will also take $150 off of any Samsung notebook and take $200 off of a Pentium dual-core equipped Sony VAIO EB to bring it down to $400.
The New York Times today planned to run a bestseller list just for e-books. The list will be separate from the paper list but will appear in the Book Review both online and in print versions of the newspaper. An independent tracker, RoyaltyShare, will monitor sales from a collection of digital bookstores and will help validate the data to ensure that it's accurate, an issue which the Times said was currently a problem in the e-book field.
At the Flat Panel Display International show in Japan on Wednesday, LG showed off its first commercial electronic color paper display. Thanks to PCWorld, it's known that two models were shown, including a full-color 9.7-inch screen along with a combination 9.7-inch screen that gets a monochrome display along with a smaller, color navigation strip along the bottom much like the Barnes & Noble Nook, but built-in. The full color screen can display 4,096 colors and has a resolution of 800x600.
China's Hanvon today had the distinction of becoming the first company to support a color E Ink screen. The company said it would launch a 9.7-inch touchscreen device. The design has few details but should behave slightly more like a tablet, with a website in view in the initial NYT render and both 3G and Wi-Fi support. It reaches the Chinese market in March for an equivalent price of $440.
iHome has launched the iB969 Charging Station, a multi-device docking station and charger. The iB969G can sync one device with iTunes and charges up to four devices simultaneously. It includes dual iPhone/iPod docks and an integrated iPad stand. The iB969 also has a rubberized surface for placing other devices while they charge. The charger works with many popular electronic devices, including BlackBerry smartphones and the Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook.
Barnes & Noble in a follow-up to the launch of the Nook Color has said it will have its own, separate app approval process. Similar to Apple's own approach, it will take submissions and get approvals within "weeks" of their arrival. It should have a typical revenue split, which Gizmodo interpreted as falling along the 70/30 division Apple and others use.
Barnes & Noble at its event this afternoon confirmed the Nook Color. The Android device is now more of a true tablet and uses a seven-inch IPS-based LCD as its sole, heavily redesigned interface. The addition of color now makes it possible to auto-subscribe to magazines and newspapers that preserve the same layout as print, along with adding support for spoken and interactive Nook Kids books.
Borders said it would start up multiple deals, beginning October 31, in what's already considered a bid to recover sagging sales. The company dropped the price of its core readers, the Kobo eReader and the Aluratek Libre, down to $100; the Libre deal lasts until November 15. It should also be giving away five free books with each Kobo Wireless eReader at its usual $140 price, and Sony Readers will get a free cover and light combo.
Barnes & Noble tonight gave away its plans for its event on Tuesday with a product page (since pulled) for an accessory. Its own store made mention of a screen protector film for the Nook Color and showed an image of the device itself. CNET's view would be closer to a full tablet with a full touchscreen (likely LCD) in place of the split e-paper and mini-LCD on the existing Nooks.
Amazon today sent word that it would add a Nook-style lending system to Kindle readers and apps. The licensing would give the same option to lend each book once for up to 14 days to someone else's account. Copy protection would prevent the original reader from seeing the text until the new reader is finished or the time runs out.
Barnes & Noble's special Nook-related event next week may result in a color e-reader, a source mentioned this afternoon. To be called just the Nook Color, it would have a seven-inch touchscreen as its main interface, presumably in place of the split e-paper and LCDs it uses today. The contact for CNET isn't certain of the technology, though it's more likely to be LCD with mirasol displays not due to formally launch until early 2011.
Barnes & Noble today preceded its major event next week with a plan to expand Nook sales to Walmart. Both the Nook 3G and the Nook Wi-Fi will make their ways into 2,500 stores on October 24 and later for the same $150 and $200 prices they have today. The e-readers will get a small but special section for live demos.
Barnes & Noble tonight sent out an invitation to Electronista and other members of the press for a "very special event" to be held next week. The company didn't provide many details but said the event would take place at its Union Square bookstore in New York City. The location is relatively small and doesn't suggest a major event by itself.
Barnes & Noble today promised a major Nook update that would give the e-reader an update just before it goes into the holidays. The 1.5 patch should "dramatically increase" the page turn speed and other performance of the Android-based readers. Sync has also been modernized and should fully remember book positions across the Android, computer and iPad/iPhone apps as long as they have Internet connections.
Pandigital bounced back after its heavily criticized original tablet by launching a revamped Novel. It still uses Android underneath but has switched from its criticized resistive touch LCD to a Sipix-made, 600x800 e-paper touchscreen. The design gives up color but should be more responsive, significantly extend the battery life and make it much easier to view outdoors.
AT&T didn't let Verizon's iPad deal go unanswered today and said it would carry the iPad in its own stores on October 28. The original iPad supporter will stock only the existing 3G iPads rather than the Wi-Fi plus MiFi combos at the rival carrier. Its plans remain the same and give 250MB of monthly, prepaid bandwidth for $15 or 2GB for $25; iPad buyers don't need to sign up in-store.
Walmart this evening confirmed that the iPad would reach its stores this week. The tablet arrives in its stores on Friday, October 15, and will include all models at the same prices that Apple charges. "Hundreds" of stores will have it at first, Walmart said, but the expansion should reach 2,300 US shops by mid-November.
Olympic Developments has filed a lawsuit through the US District Court for the Central District of California, LA Division, charging several companies with violating two of its patents. The first patent, Transactional Processing System, describes a way of offering products and services through credit card transactions. The concept also involves real-time authorization. The second patent, Device for Controlling Remote Interactive Receiver, specifically describes a remote that can save financial information.
The NPD Group today found that the iPad was having a mild but significant impact on computer sales. While the effect wasn't as large as expected, about 13 percent of iPad buyers had picked one instead of a computer. The relatively low cannibalization was attributed to many buyers still being early adopters that bought the Apple tablet simply because they wanted it. That figure could change once the iPad was more established, the researchers said.
A new Kindle or Nook, but 12 percent said they were likely to buy one within a year. They were also more likely to have bought books of any kind and were more likely to read books as a whole compared to those who clung to paper.
Amazon landed a major retail deal today that will let it sell the third-generation Kindle at Best Buy stores sometime in the fall. Both the Wi-Fi only and 3G versions will arrive at the same $139 and $189 prices as on Amazon's own pages. The costlier and larger DX isn't part of the plans.
Sony as expected today revamped its entire Reader lineup to hold on to its position in e-books. The five-inch Pocket Edition, six-inch Touch Edition and seven-inch Daily Edition all now use touchscreens and fix a common problem of glare with e-paper touchscreens: the new models have a single touch and display layer that should be easier to read without glare. They also use E Ink Pearl panels that update faster, produce a higher contrast and help extend the battery life.
Staples today said it would be the second US retailer to sell the third-generation Kindle. The office store will carry both the six-inch Wi-Fi and 3G versions of the Kindle as well as the Kindle DX. It plans to both stock the hardware and give users a chance to try the e-readers in the store.
Borders this morning fought back against the third-generation Kindle by dropping prices on both the Aluratek Libre and the Kobo eReader. Although not yet reflected on the site, the Kobo device is dropping down to $130 while Aluratek's device is falling to $100, making it one of the first current e-readers to crack the price mark.
Barnes & Noble today highlighted its problems in the digital space by reporting mixed results. Although it wouldn't give numbers, it claimed Nook sales were "nothing short of spectacular" and said sales had only grown since it launched the Nook Wi-Fi and cut the price of the Nook 3G. It reiterated its belief that it has more market share in digital than it does in paper; estimates put it at 20 percent.
Barnes & Noble ramped up its e-reading efforts today by launching Nook for iPhone (free, App Store). The rework of its mobile app is more customizable and lets users customize the background, font and link colors using a full color palette. Alignment, brightness and font style can be tuned as well.
Sony may have slipped out plans for Android hardware and software through a job listing discovered on LinkedIn. The post for a Senior Staff Software Engineer focused on Android would have the programmer helping the Digital Reading group create "application software for digital reading and other consumer electronic devices." Specifics aren't mentioned, but the wording would allow both for a touchscreen Reader with Android as well as a stand-alone Android app.
Amazon still has a comfortable lead over Apple and other rivals in the US e-book market, an analysis by RR Bowker found. The group disputes both claims by Amazon and said Amazon's Kindle Store controlled 61 percent of e-book downloads, or 10 to 20 percent less than Amazon itself thought. Barnes & Noble's store has 20 percent where Sony has five percent.
Barnes & Noble today surprised the industry by revealing that it was contemplating "strategic alternatives" that could involve selling itself. In a statement, the company believed its shares were priced well below expectations and had recruited an independent committee to research its choices to boost the company's fortunes. One option was a takeover by founder and majority stakeholder Leonard Riggio as part of an investor group.
Amazon today in a talk provided some rare added insight into the Kindle by disputing Apple's market share claims. The store's VP of Digital Ian Freed believes assertions the iBookstore has 22 percent share are false as Amazon has too large a share, at 70 to 80 percent, for Apple to take the rest. With a field that also includes Barnes & Noble's Nook, the iBookstore's actual share is likely smaller, Freed said.
Barnes & Noble stepped up its e-reader efforts by taking a visibly Apple-like approach to selling the Nook. The company's bookstores will now have Nook Boutiques, or 1,000 square foot sections of the store dedicated solely to its devices. The areas will have tables with demo units arranged like its competitor's and will have a similar wall of accessories, such as cases.
Amazon in a rare evening launch revealed its third-generation Kindle reader. The new hardware is 21 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter than the model it replaces but is better in nearly every way. It uses a new E Ink Pearl display with 50 percent better contrast and 20 percent faster page turns but can now last for up to a month with wireless off on battery, twice as much as before, and for up to 10 days with wireless on.
Amazon today sparked a mystery by running out of stock of the six-inch Kindle. In the first shortage since 2009, the reader is not only listed as unavailable but doesn't have an estimated in-stock date. Shoppers are told only that they will be e-mailed when Amazon learns more.
(Edited for accuracy in AT&T's revenue system) AT&T as part of some additional data touching on its latest results revealed that the iPad is dominating the e-reader market through sheer sales. About 896,000 non-phone 3G devices were activated on AT&T this spring; while the 400,000 to 500,000 iPads were considered prepaid devices and not part of the figure, the ratio left both the Kindle and Nook 3G, along with more specialized devices, to fight for a smaller share. AT&T hasn't broken down the activations by manufacturer or type.
Barnes and Noble pushed hard in the mobile arena on Thursday, starting with the launch of Nook for Android. Apart from a name change to drive home the importance of the Nook badge, the app provides all of the widely available features of the existing iOS app, including LendMe book borrowing and syncing of purchases and page counts across devices. Highlights, notes and library searching should come with a summer update.
Barnes & Noble today posted its first dedicated computer app for the Nook. NOOKstudy is geared to students and lets them both manage e-books and notes in the same place. They can see multiple books at once, including formal lecture notes and slides, as well as create notes. Books also now have a deeper layer of integration as they can carry searchable highlights and annotations.
A recent study from the Nielsen Norman Group found that those who read books on an e-reader tend to get through content more slowly than those who read actual books. It also found that, on a scale of 1 to 7, Apple's iPad provides the best reading experience out of all e-readers with a 5.8 rating. It was closely followed by Amazon's Kindle, which tallied a 5.7 rating. Many still gave the nod to paper, which remained the fastest to read of all.
Barnes & Noble this morning posted an upgraded version of its eReader app for the iPad (free, App Store) that brings it more in step with iBooks, other apps, and the features on some dedicated, LCD-based e-readers. Like the special control in Apple's iBooks app, the Barnes & Noble client can now tune the screen brightness itself instead of relying on the tablet's overall preferences. Its two-page layout has improved, and book syncing has also been accelerated.
Samsung's yet-to-ship e-readers may have been postponed indefinitely due to intense competition, according to company statements. A spokesperson explained that Samsung is reconsidering its strategy in the light of "current market dynamics." It stopped short of quitting the market entirely and planned news soon, but also didn't give an update on if or when readers like the E6 would arrive, if at all.
