Amazon's eBook reader gets hands-on time

Amazon's eBook reader device, the "Kindle" as it's known to some, is getting some review time over the UK. The preliminary verdict is promising when compared to the screen quality of the Sony Reader and Amazon has a key advantage over Sony: content. Amazon snapped up Mobipocket in April of 2005; when you combine the mobile content platform there along with the e-commerce experience that Amazon provides, you've got a potential winner. The Amazon e-ink device has rumored expectations of this spring around $400.

(via TeleRead)

Comments

[Ayrkain]

Eh, maybe. Picked a random popular scifi author (Philip K. Dick) and came up with the same number of titles on both sites (9), but all of them on the Mobipocket site are priced at 10 dollars, while they are 8 on the Sony site. Does that make Mobipocket is the Borders of the ebook world?

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Your example is a good one, but let's look at this a different way. The Sony CONNECT store advertises 12,000 titles, while Mobipocket offers around 40,000. I'd also pay a little premium for content that I can read on any number of devices, not just one. With the Sony CONNECT books, I think you can only read them on the Sony Reader and a PC. If you purchase a Mobipocket book, you can read that content on a Amazon's e-ink device, a PC, PDA, Linux devices like the PepperPad, Series 60 devices and smartphones.

Hey, who knows if it will be a success for Amazon or not? I'd bet on them over Sony simply due to Sony's reliance on their own closed standards, but I'm all for both of them to be sucessful! :)

[Willy]

Wow AND cool. But can I take notes on Amazon Reader or just read book?

[Ayrkain]

But how is Mobipocket not a closed standard? Teleread's much touted eReader standard is open, but Mobipocket isn't.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Willy, since the prototype has a keyboard, I suspect you'll be able to input notes, but we'll have to see.

Ayrkain, a valid point; I was thinking more along the lines of propriatary hardware approaches, but your point is well taken.

[Patrick]

@Willy and Kevin: yeah, the thumbboard caught my eye too :) It'd be nice if these e-books do have a backlight that you can turn off if you need to. I think if I was going to get an e-book reader, it'd be for text books - those dang things are HEAVY! Paperbacks on the otherhand, are light - plus, I can jettison them if need be, since I usually get books on the cheap at second hand book stores :)