Thursday, August 25, 2011

An Introduction to Popular E-book Readers

Last year, there were more sales for e-books than printed books. On March 5 this year, Barnes & Noble, the world's largest chain of bookstores, acquired online e-book vendor, Fictionwise. President of BN, William J Linch said: "The market hasn't been that developed to date. We think it's a big growth area going forward."

Many people like to purchase and read e-books and e-magazines through lightweight handheld readers today. Several companies have come up with innovative, standalone e-book readers, such as Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Hanlin eReader (aka Endless Ideas BeBook), etc; these thin elegant gadgets can take people back to the era of reading. Let's have a look at some of these readers in this article.

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E-books and E-magazines: How Do They Work?

E-books can be of two types: those which can be read on a computer and those which require special devices to read. There are several formats for e-books including Adobe PDF, Microsoft LIT, Palm PDB, etc. In order to buy an e-book, you go to the online vendor of the e-book, pay and register your reader for DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection, and download the e-book to the registered reader. Since only the registered e-book reader can read this e-book, the author and the publisher are protected from piracy. Digital copying is not possible with DRM protection.

Popular E-book Readers

There are many reading devices available in the market, and most of them work with electronic paper technology by E Ink Corporation.

In 2008, an Apple iPhone app for reading e-books in iPhone had a surge of sales (even more than the sales total of Amazon Kindle). This made iPhone one of the popular devices to read e-books. But in this article, we will be looking only at specialized e-book readers.

1. Amazon Kindle

Perhaps the most popular of e-book readers, Amazon Kindle had a sales total of 380,000 units in 2008 in the US alone. Kindle is now in the next generation with the advent of Amazon Kindle 2 and Kindle DX this year (DX is already out of stock). K-DX offers native PDF support, has an iPhone-like accelerometer that changes the orientation of the screen when you rotate the Reader and is more suitable for reading electronic versions of newspapers, magazines, and formatted books. With the ability to keep thousands of e-books in storage and easy access to the online Amazon e-book store, Kindle is perhaps the first choice of anyone looking for a standalone e-book reader.

The display is like normal paper and easy to read. Kindle has wireless capabilities to access the online book store and magazine store of Amazon. Kindle 2 has a 600 x 800 (6 inch) display. It can receive books through the high-speed Sprint 3G network, nationally available. Supported formats include the Amazon proprietary format, AZW (DRM-restricted), PRC, TXT, and PDF (some of these formats may need to be converted to AZW).

2. Sony Reader

Sony Digital Book Reader is the popular e-book reader from Sony, and there have been already three editions of this-PRS-500, PRS-505, and PRS-700.

The reader has a 600 x 800 pixel electronic paper display (EPD), similar to Kindle, and the display is 8-level grayscale. PRS-700 edition, unlike others, sports a touch screen. The supported e-book formats include BBeB book (from Marlin), TXT, RTF, ePub, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word (DOC). It supports JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP for images; and MP3 and AAC for audio.

3. iRex iLiad

iRex iLiad, similar to Kindle and Sony Reader, makes use of the electronic paper display and comes at 768 x 1024 (8 inches) resolution. It has 16-level grayscale screen.

Through Wi-Fi, LAN, USB connectivity, or a network using a MyiRex account, you can transfer e-books to the reader. The supported e-book formats include Adobe PDF, MOBI, PRC, HTML, and TXT.

4. Hanlin eReader

Hanlin eReader, known in various brand names across the world, such as Endless Ideas BeBook, is a popular e-book reader. It has a 600 x 800 resolution, 4-level grayscale display. It connects through a USB port.

Unlike other readers mentioned above, this reader supports almost all popular file formats for e-books-Adobe PDF, CHM, DJVU, DOC, ePub, FB2, HTM, LIT, MOBI, PPT, PRC, RTF, TXT, WOLF. It also supports archiving formats like ZIP and RAR; image formats like BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF; and audio format, MP3.

Conclusion

Most of these e-book readers come with revolutionary E-Ink technology developed by E Ink Corporation. This is a digital paper display, which gives the experience of reading actual paper. With the storage space for thousands of e-books and ability to keep battery power for thousands of page turns or several hours, these e-book readers can be regarded as portable libraries. Since they can connect to some network to purchase and download popular fiction and non-fiction from online e-book vendors, they can provide great reading experience when you are on a long-distance journey.

An Introduction to Popular E-book Readers

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Nook Color - Is It The Best Color Ebook Reader?

There is no doubt that for some Barnes and Nobles latest ebook reader will become their preferred gadget for reading books. It is the first major dedicated color ebook reader and is half the weight and half the size of the Apple iPad, not to mention half the price. Sure there are a number of features that is lacks in comparison to Apple's model but for some people this will not be an issue.

There is no doubt the iPad is currently the king of tablets. Although there are some cheaper and lighter tablets on the market, none has been more warmly and enthusiastically accepted that the iPad. For reading ebooks it is impressive, given its high resolution color screen that makes reading magazines, comics and color books a satisfying experience.

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For most though, the size is an issue. No matter how convenient the iPad is it cannot be regarded as light. This is where the Nook Color comes in. It has both a color, high resolution, touch screen LCD screen as well as internet connectivity. Bundle that with the Nook Color's convenient size and weight and you can see why many are opting to purchase Barnes And Noble's cheaper option.

The iPad weighs in at 1.5 pounds, or 24 ounces, while the color nook weighs just 15.8 ounces. This is a model you are more likely to want to take on a trip with you, either on a daily commute or to the Bahamas. Reading in bed with an iPad is always a bit of a juggle but the Color Nook makes this easier. While it is still heavier than a regular black and white ebook reader (such as a Kindle or B&W Nook) it is significantly easier to handle than an iPad.

On the Color Nook you can download and read color newspapers, magazines and color books. You can connect to the internet using Wi-Fi and while there is no email program or dedicated app store as yet there are in the works and will be released early next year. Based on the popular mobile phone operating system, Android 2.1, the Color Nook allows you to login to Facebook and browse your favourite sites using a web browser.

With the Nook you can highlight bits of text in your books and send them to friends via email, Facebook or Twitter. The Nook also allows you to share books with friends, something the Amazon Kindle platform lacks. Purchasing magazines is easy and can be done one issue at a time or on a subscription basis.

Overall the Color Nook is a well priced color ebook reader that will draw many readers who don't want to commit to the size and price of an iPad yet want to read the latest magazines and books and stay connected with friends and family - all in color!

Nook Color - Is It The Best Color Ebook Reader?

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Apple iPad As an Ereader

From the time when it was little more than supposition the Apple iPad has been one of the most rumored and hyped about gadgets ever. After the official introduction of the iPad by Steve Jobs on January 27, 2010, one of the constant themes in the media coverage has been about how the iPad will make dedicated ereaders obsolete.

Now that the iPad has been out for a while and we have been able to use it we can make some more informed judgments as to what its strengths and weaknesses are. Here I will look at the iPad in terms of how well it performs as an ereader.

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First of all, the display of the iPad is gorgeous. The color LCD display is beautiful, the touchscreen is very responsive, and the iPad is quite fast. These features make the iPad not only very good for watching video, viewing photos, browsing the Internet, gaming and other such activities; they also make it very well suited to reading magazines, newspapers, comics and illustrated books.

Magazines and newspapers also benefit from the interactive approach that is possible on a device such as the iPad. Being able to tap a hyperlink to reach more in-depth reading about a story or to access additional illustrations is well suited to reading periodicals.

Reading PDF documents on the iPad with an app such as GoodReader also works very well. Panning and zooming with your fingers on the multitouch display is very quick and works well. Unfortunately, while the iPad is very good for viewing PDF documents, most of the apps are not capable of editing or making annotations. Generally speaking, I have found the iPad to be best suited for viewing content and less well suited to creating and editing content.

But what about reading ordinary books that are mostly if not entirely text? The aspect of reading books on the iPad that I like best is the access it gives you to eBooks from different sources. Besides iBooks, which is the reading app from Apple and which seems mainly oriented to those who prefer titles from the bestsellers lists, there are also the Kindle for iPad app, an app from Kobo Books and a Wattpad reading app. An app should also be forthcoming soon from Barnes and Noble. This gives you access to the Kindle Store as well as to eBooks with DRM supported by Adobe Digital Editions.

The Kindle for iPad app is good as it not only gives you access to the best eBook provider (currently with over 500,000 titles), but will also sync your last read page with your Kindle ereader or the Kindle apps for other devices. This is also the only eBook reading app at the moment that lets you take notes on your reading.

While the iPad does work very well for reading illustrated books and magazines, there are some drawbacks to using it for reading regular books that are all or mostly text. First of all, at one and a half pounds, the iPad weighs considerably more than most ereaders. This fact makes it less portable and less comfortable to use in some situations. Holding the iPad with only one hand does not work very well. If you commute by public transit, it will be harder to use an iPad on a crowded train or subway car.

Most ereaders with e-ink screens have a battery life measured in thousands of page turns and usually need to be recharged every ten days to two weeks. The iPad battery lasts ten to twelve hours.

The iPad is pretty much unreadable outdoors in the sunshine. In a shady location outdoors the screen is readable, though you will probably find yourself tilting the screen to find the most glare-free position. There have as well been early reports of the iPad overheating when used in sunshine. Dedicated ereaders with e-ink screens are perfectly readable outdoors in sunlight or shade - if you do a lot of your reading at the beach a Kindle would definitely be a better choice than the iPad!

Some of the dedicated ereaders such as the Kindle have a free 3G connection you can use to browse and purchase eBooks and then download your selections directly to your ereader within a few seconds. With the iPad Wi-Fi obviously you will need to be able to connect with a wireless network. With the 3G version of the iPad (which starts at over 0) you will need to pay a monthly fee for the connection.

Only iBooks (which only has 60,000 titles to start) will let you purchase eBooks from within the app. If you are using the Kindle for iPad or another ereader app you will be dropped into a browser to shop the app's eBook store rather than from within the app itself. When finished shopping you will have to restart the reading app. This can be less convenient and involves more steps than buying books on the Kindle. This is not a big issue for me, but some users do complain about it.

There are lots and lots of things to do on the iPad. This is a good thing... but it also means that there are always lots of things to distract you from your reading.

In my case the worst thing about using the iPad as an ereader is the backlit screen. I can stare into my computer monitor up to 12 or more hours a day - browsing the Internet, working with documents, playing games and the other things most of us use our computers for and usually I do not suffer from eyestrain. However, I have never enjoyed reading more than a few pages of an eBook at a time on an LCD monitor. Reading a book is different than browsing the Internet or working with documents because books are made up of long unbroken blocks of text.

I find that the iPad does cause eyestrain for me when reading books. Turning down the brightness level helps but it does not solve the problem, at least for me. Most of the reading apps on the iPad include a "Night Mode" feature that gives you a light colored text on dark background (as opposed to the conventional black text on white background) that does help reduce eyestrain in my case. Still, I have both dedicated ereaders and an iPad and I usually prefer to read books on the e-ink screens of the ereaders, which are no more tiring on your eyes than reading paper. I usually use the iPad for reading books that are unavailable on my particular ereaders. There are also occasions when the backlit screen can be advantageous when reading in a dark environment.

For casual readers who usually only read for no more than 20 to 30 minutes at a time the iPad will probably be fine, but if you typically read for longer periods at a sitting it may be uncomfortable for you. How much eyestrain reading long blocks of text on a backlit screen causes will vary from person to person, but for most people reading a book for an hour or two on an LCD screen is probably going to be an unpleasant experience.

While the iPad is a wonderful gadget and has many uses, when it comes to reading eBooks I think that it will probably work best for occasional or casual readers. If you read a lot you will probably find that it is not as good as a dedicated ereader for reading eBooks.

The Apple iPad As an Ereader

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10 Reasons Why the Nook is Better Than the Kindle - Battle of the eBook Readers

I have to admit, I shop a lot from Amazon.com. So much to say that I consider myself an Amazolic. I think it is because I believe that they have the best collection of DVDs, clothes, gadgets, electronics, books, and just about everything else that one would want to shop online for. However, I got a little flimsy about Amazon after the homepage turned into a one item promotion page for their eBook eReader, The Kindle. It is almost as if they are playing some kind mind-trick on their visitors. Make them see the Kindle enough times that a percentage of people who visit Amazon.com end up psychologically convincing themselves to give in and buy the eBook Reader.

That is when I saw an article on Kindle getting a new competitor in the eBook Reader market, the Barnes and Noble Nook. As if on auto-pilot, I found myself on BarnesandNoble.com and was pleasantly surprised to see that the homepage was not plastered with a huge posting on an eBook Reader. In fact, there was a small 2x2 inch ad reading, "Nook, The World's Most Advanced eBook Reader: Learn More" on the right of the page. And that was it! No mind games, no tricks, just a simple, genuine ad that definitely caught my eye.

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The early pre-orders are expected to be delivered by mid-December, which is a slight delay as Barnes and Noble admitted to be getting a high demand for their eReaders. If you still have not placed your order, no need to worry, you will get your new eBook Reader in early January.

Here are 10 reasons why the Nook triumphs over the Kindle:

Goes easy on the eyes. There is no glare or backlight that some complained about the Kindle, and with the adjustable text size, you can read on for hours without the discomfort of your eyes being tired out. Sample eBooks for free. You can download a free sample of any eBook from the store and not only discover new authors but also check out the most talked about books for free on your Barnes and Noble eBook Reader. The Kindle does not offer this convenience. Mark up your pages and Reading Now. Nook makes it simple and easy to bookmark, highlight passages, or even make notes, with a built in tool, which also allows you to look up the meaning of any word mid-sentence, using the built-in dictionary. Size, Display and Specifications. Compact Size - The Nook is about the same size and weight as an average sized paperback book. Expandable Storage - With 2GB built-in memory, the Nook can store about 1,500 eBooks. However with a microSD memory card slot, this number is pushed up to 17,500 eBooks. Paper-like Display - The most advanced E-ink Vizplex electronic paper display that reads like the printed page and you can read an eBook in bright sunlight as clearly as inside your home Color Touchscreen - 3.5 inch color touchscreen LCD that offers one-touch control and navigation. The Kindle has a gray-scale display. Fast and Free Wireless - Fast and Free wireless from Barnes & Noble via AT&T, the nation's fastest 3G network. Supported File Types - Very flexible options that include EPUB and eReader Formats, PDFs, MP3s and graphics that load to your Nook from your computer or micro SD card and JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP files are used to create personal screen savers. Personalized Screen Saver - Customize your nook quickly and easily by loading your own photos or using the many default pictures. Powerful Battery - You can read for up to ten days without recharging (with wireless off). Charging is done via USB to computer system or power adapter.Cost-efficient At just 0, the Barnes and Noble Nook Ebook Reader is the same price as Amazon's Kindle 2, but you get so much more for your money. You get Wi-Fi, an SD slot, native PDF support and that extra double screen makes it seem eons out of the Kindle's league. Easy to Lend and Share Your eBooks with Friends and Family. One of the main objections that users of the Kindle and other older eReaders have is that people prefer to to get the majority of their eBooks from their friends or family, rather than buying them from bookstores, which all these previous eReaders do not really have much flexibility with. The Nook realizes that people do like to share their eBooks and allows for a 2-week lending period - plenty of time to read a book. Also, you can lend a book from your Nook to tons of different devices: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile (soon). Double Screen. With the traditional single screen that is seen in all the eBook eReaders prior to the Barnes and Noble Nook eBook eReader, browsing for books was a workout on its own and often a frustration. But with its capacitive double touchscreen, the Nook offers a keyboard and Cover-Flow-esque browsing that takes away the awkwardness and lethargy of e-ink, and more importantly, it opens the door for multitasking. You will be able to read a book and control your music at the same time, and since the music browser will be on the LCD screen, it will not look like some e-inked crap. It will also support photo browsing and the ability to set your own wallpaper. Battery Life. The Barnes and Noble Nook eBook Reader comes with a 10-day battery life, which might not be just as long as the Kindle 2's 14 days, but with all the extra features it comes along with, you have to admit, 10 days is still more than enough time to read a book. Android Integration - Leads to Endless Possibilities. B&N seem to be open to apps being introduced to the Nook, which will take your user experience to a whole new level when compared to the Kindle and other existing eReaders. Picture this: Your iPod merged with an eBook reader - that is exactly what the Nook eReader will feel like. Largest eBook Collection. With over 1 million titles to choose from, the eBooks will be available through the Barnes and Noble eBookStore and will delivered through the 3G wireless network. Thousands of older titles are free, and many new releases are as low as .99.

I should also mention that the accessories for the Nook are looking hot as you have the option of personalising your Nook with rubberized plastic covers, leather cases with button straps, and artistic sleeve covers are just some of the looks you can use to brand your Nook as truly yours.

I am very interested in the Nook eReader as I do a lot of reading and to be honest, how cool would it be to be doing some bedtime reading with a light-weight Nook, not having to switch arms because you are getting tired of holding a traditional, heavy book.

10 Reasons Why the Nook is Better Than the Kindle - Battle of the eBook Readers

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Pandigital eReader Review

The Pandigital eReader is an eBook reader produced a manufactured by the Pandigital Corporation. Pandigital, known for their scanners and digital photo frames, has decided to upgrade into the eReader fray with the Pandigital Novel, a 7-inch multipurpose eReader with Wi-Fi connection technology, an Android operating system an, and LCD touchscreen. E-book reader with colorful ST; built-in Wi-Fi internet connection; Noble eBook store & access to Barnes; San disk expansion slot for additional memory; e-mail capabilities and web browser; displays some video formats and images; support for multi media playback. If you know about Pandigital, you probably know it for its photo frames. The Pandigital E-reader Novel tried to become value-for-money, a full-color, it is Android-based e-reader which also doubles as a tablet.

The Pandigital Novel 9 Inch features a 9" TFT LCD resistive screentouch with a paltry resolution of 800×480 px. Based on Android, though heavily re-skinned, the Novel has proved slow to react to screentouch presses, and after Nate calibrated it things got even worse. It features a G-Sensor which will switch it between portrait and landscape mode in a 360 degree arc. It has over than 1GB of internal memory and can be further enhanced via San disk card for another over than 30 GB. The digital revolution has changed the way one reads newspapers, magazines and books. The Pandigital Novel 7" Color MM eReader will divert the way you curl up with a best book. Since the 9" Pandigital Novel runs Android 2.0 and is open to installing applications, it is not only an eReader. With a 7" full color Android OS and touch screen. The Novel comes in a white-plastic shell that feels strong enough for everyday tear and wear. It's absolutely an attractive device, although it's been a bit clunky in general during initial testing. The Pandigital is well-known for the manufacture of frames. Users rate more than 69% and Experts rate this product more than 40%. The Pandigital Novel 9 inch color e-reader is the follow up to the previous e-readers that Pandigital launched before this year! We take a look at the hardware goggles, how they express up beside the competition, and much more! Now read this! The Novel from PD is a full color more than 4GB WiFi technology eReader. With access to your pictures and the Internet, music, and videos, this tablet is a portal to all your multi media.

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Pandigital eReader Review

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Ebooks Are Not True Substitutes For Real Books

Believe it or not, ebooks didn't suddenly come into existence just a couple of years ago with the advent of ebook reading devices such as Amazon.com's Kindle, and Barnes and Noble's Nook, among others.

In fact, I have been creating, publishing and selling ebooks online for almost a decade now. Nevertheless, with all of the portable hand-held ebook reading devices (aka eReaders) that have been introduced into the market over the last couple of years, the whole idea of downloadable ebooks seems to have finally caught fire. Overall, I believe this is a good development, in the sense that it makes access to information published in book form easier for the average person than ever before.

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However, anyone contemplating a switch from hard copy printed books to downloadable ebooks should be advised beforehand that ebooks are NOT a perfect substitute for traditional printed books NOR are all ebooks equal. I know this from my personal experience as an author, a publisher, and a reader.

PDF Still the Gold Standard

In 2001 I created and published my first ebook in PDF format. For those who may not know, PDF stands for the Portable Document Format that was created by adobe.com in the early days of online publishing. As I write this, PDF formatted books, papers, and reports proliferate throughout the online space and are, by far, the most common format used for such documents. There are numerous advantages to PDF formatted books and documents, not the least of which is that they can be instantly downloaded and read using the free Adobe Reader program that has been installed on virtually every PC and Mac that exists.

From an author/publisher perspective, PDF is the ideal format for ebooks. That's because PDF documents use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) formatting, so whatever the document, it will always appear in EXACTLY the same format in which it was created. This holds true whether the PDF document is being read online or printed out in hard copy form. So, if your book contains any type of special layout and/or formatting, that will be totally preserved when published as a PDF document.

Don't Expect "Real Book" Formatting With ebooks

On the other hand, the new hand-held ebook reading devices, such as Amazon.com's Kindle, do not preserve the special formatting of a PDF ebook. In fact, as I learned recently through personal experience; in order to produce an ebook product that will be readable in such a device, the creator/publisher needs to seriously "dumb down" the formatting of a book. The reason for this is that the format of ebooks destined for these new reading devices must be kept very simple so that the text will be able to easily "flow around" in the typical small screen of an eReader. That's because these devices allow the reader to dynamically adjust various parameters such as font style, point size, and line spacing.

As a result, the concept of a fixed "page", as we know it in a conventional book, no longer exists with these devices. This means that standard page-dependent elements such as page numbers, and page headers and footers, cannot exist in ebooks formatted for these devices. Also, graphics and tables that are often created and sized to fit in a specific place, on a specific page, in a specific format -- as in the original book -- do not convert well when formatted for these ebook reading devices.

Formatting Challenge For Authors and Publishers

If you are a creator or publisher, don't expect that you will be able to duplicate the exact "look and feel" of a printed paper book with an ebook that you format for one of these new ebook reading devices. (i..e. Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.). Be prepared to minimize your formatting and to limit it strictly to headings, sub-headings, and chapter breaks. As for tables and graphics, you will have to test each one of them to see how well they convert to the new format; and you may well have to redesign and/or eliminate some graphics for the ebook-reader version.

Convenience and Portability For Readers

As a reader who uses one of these reading-device ebooks, don't expect to have the same experience as when you read a standard book that is printed on paper. In spite of the above-mentioned formatting limitations, you will, in most cases, have access to the same information that is contained in the standard printed book -- but the "reading experience" will be decidedly different. You may find that it is more akin to surfing the Net on your netbook, mobile phone, or PC, than like reading a real book. Some folks will be comfortable with this, others won't.

I purchased one of these eReader devices so that I could see exactly what my newly published Kindle ebook would look like on one, and I was less than impressed. You won't ever find me curling up in bed with one of these things, as I have done for years (and continue to do) with real books.

Nevertheless, I can see certain situations in which one might find reading with one of these devices useful -- convenience and portability when travelling, for example. These eReaders also have certain handy built-in functions such as a direct dictionary access, or if your device is Wi-Fi enabled you will be able to access the Web directly. So you might find one handy if you are in a hurry and you just want quick access to the information that is contained in the ebook, with little concern for the actual book reading experience.

Ebooks Are Not True Substitutes For Real Books

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Nook Vs Kindle - How Does the New Kindle 3 Compare?

The Nook vs Kindle battle has been raging strong for just about a year now. When the Nook was released last year, Amazon had released it's 2nd generation Kindle. Now that Amazon has released it's 3rd generation, how does the Nook vs Kindle comparison look?

5 Important Kindle 3 Changes- First let's take a look at 5 important ways the new Kindle is different from the old.

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Battery Life- The battery can now last for up to 30 days with one charge. The old Kindle was around 2 weeks. Memory- Standard memory allows storage of up to 3,500 books now, vs 1,500 books of the old Kindle 2. Smaller/Lighter/Thinner- The Kindle 3 keeps the same 6" display screen and trims the fat other ways. It's 17% lighter than Kindle 2. Improved Contrast- The display screen shows darker lettering and lighter background. Faster and Quieter Page Turns- There's a 20% improvement in the speed the pages are turned. An important improvement as well is the QUIETER page turns. That has been a downfall of the Kindle 2, or more like a downfall for your spouse trying to sleep next to you reading.

3 Big Differences of the Nook- Although the following features are not the only differences between the Nook and Kindle, these are arguably the most important.

Color/Touch Screen Navigation- The Nook has a 3" color touch navigation screen to surf through your library of books with swiping a finger. The screen also converts to a touch keyboard to help with navigation. Using a web-browser in the window is in beta testing at the moment as well. Book Lending- The Nook allows lending of titles to friends and family with the Nook app, or Nook itself, for up to 2 weeks. The lender cannot use the material during that time. This is unique to the Nook as the Kindle doesn't allow this feature. In Store Reading- There's a new perk for owning the Nook and bringing it to your local Barnes and Noble Stores, namely one hour of free reading of any book available in the B&N library.

5 Big Differences of the Kindle 3- Here are some important differences of the Kindle 3 as compared to the Nook. There are more differences, hence the higher number.

Push Button Technology- The Kindle has always used simple push-button technology, and the newest version is no exception. More Memory- Although the Nook has expandable memory, the Kindle 3 comes with over double the memory capacity standard. Battery Life- The battery life of the Kindle on one charge (wireless off) is 30 days. The Nook's (wireless off) is 10 days. International Wireless Capability- The Kindle works wirelessly at 3G speed in over 100 countries at the moment. The Nook works within the continental US. Lower Price- Both the Wi Fi only and Wi Fi + 3G are less than the respective models of the Nook.

There is a brief, but thorough, comparison of the Nook Vs Kindle 3.

Nook Vs Kindle - How Does the New Kindle 3 Compare?

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