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Color eReaders are becoming a technological trend these days, and Skytex, a maker of netbooks, tablet PCs, and portable media players, is not one to be left behind. Already available in the market is the company’s Skytex Primer Color eReader and Media Player, a 7-inch mobile device that consolidates multiple mobile entertainment, such as watching videos, browsing the web, and reading eBooks. Does it live up to what it advertises?

Features – Hardware and Software

On the hardware front, the Skytex Primer 7” Color eReader and Media Player bears some resemblances with the Ematic”710B eReader. Both feature a cheap plastic casing, a numeric keypad below the screen, and two sets of oddly placed buttons on the right side.

Screen display looks antiquated; after all, it uses pixel resolution of 800 x 480 only. In comparison, the 7-inch Nook Color comes with a 1024 x 768 screen resolution. The Skytex Primer also uses the older ARM9 400MHz processor, which provides decent download and operational speed.

The device packs 2GB internal memory, which can hold up to ten thousand books and thousands of songs. If you insert a 16GB MicroSD card into the expansion slot, you can carry tons more of book, music, and video files on the go.

Advertised battery life is 10 hours but, at most, you get 7 hours of reading, 5 hours when you play music while reading. Surfing the web or watching videos can drain the juice even faster.

The Skytex Primer Color Reader and Media Player reads EPUB, TXT, PRC, PDF, and HTML files.  It can display 18 different languages.

The Bottom Line

Basically, what the Skytex Primer 7” Color eReader and Media Player has done is improve on the capabilities of a smartphone. Overall, though, the device is clearly lacking in quality and design. However, if you are looking for an affordable starter device or gift, the Skytex Primer’s $99 price is hard to beat.

Pros

The Skytex Primer 7” Color Reader and Media Player is ultra affordable. For a device worth $99, it offers a lot. The Skytex Primer is an open format device so you can get books from any eBookstore. Students who want to be able to record lectures will find the built-in recording software and microphone a plus.

Cons

If what you’re looking for is quality built and unique design, you won’t find it in the Skytex Primer. It seems Skytex sourced the hardware from the same source in China as the Ematic Reader and a host of other cheap color eReaders going by different names. Setting these devices side by side will give you nearly the same set of specs and features. The biggest issue with the Skytex Primer though has something to do with its battery. It doesn’t seem to charge completely even when you leave it charging for hours. The battery life is also terrible – you just get about 7 hours of reading per charge. Directories or folders can be confusing. For instance, device lists the music files in the ebook folder, too. Zoom feature definitely needs improvement. Although you can zoom in on a page, you need to return to default page view in order to turn the page.

What’s in the box:

• Skytex Primer 7” Color eReader and Media Player
• USB Cable
• Power Adapter
• Quick Start Guide
• Earphones
• Protective Sleeve Cover

Main Features

• Multimedia color eReader
• Runs on ARM9 400MHz processor
• 7-inch screen with 800 x 480 pixels resolution
• 2GB internal storage plus support for 16GB SD cards

Key Features

• Supports 5 book formats: EPUB, PDF, TXT, HTML, PRC
• Supports JPG and PNG image files
• Supports MP3 music files and WMA, APE, FLAC, AAC, RMVB, VOB, DAT, MP4, FLV, 3GP video files

The Nook Color is now available for shipping. Will it shake up the eReader world as some analysts predict? Just as interesting, will it end the dominance of the Kindle as the king of eReaders?

Back in April, DigiTimes Research reported that the Nook’s March sales were higher than the Kindle’s. Since both Barnes & Noble and Amazon refuse to publish specifics of their actual sales, verifying the information was impossible. Still various tech bloggers and analysts expressed their doubts about the veracity of the report, with some calling DigiTimes the Daily Mail of the technology world.

But let’s grant the DigiTimes report was correct that the Nook managed to outsell the Kindle. Yet this happened in March only. Barnes & Noble wasn’t able to sustain its strong sales then.

Can the drastic changes in the Nook’s design help it outsell the Kindle for good?

First, let’s take a look at the kind of competition the Kindle 3 faces from the Nook. The Nook Color sports a backlit IPS LCD display that offers full color reading and touch navigation. It offers a lot of appealing things –

1. Full color support and a wide 7-inch screen. It’s very good for reading full color magazines and children’s books.
2. Reading app for kids. It offers interactive features, too.
3. It can play videos, stream Internet songs, display photos, and do other things besides reading.
4. Offers better support for web browsing, games, and more than the Kindle 3.
5. It can display ePub files and borrow library books.
6. It lets you lend and borrow publisher-approved books from friends.
7. It has an 8GB internal memory, which is twice larger than the Kindle’s, plus an SD card slot.
8. Built-in QuickOffice app lets you view, create, and edit Office documents.
9. Cheap price. For $250, that’s half the price of the iPad, you get a very good Android tablet.

Barnes & Noble has built a very good yet cheap Android tablet that will appeal to certain demographics including –

1. People who read casually.
2. People who read a lot of magazines.
3. People who want to replace their netbook or laptop with a lighter, more portable, and cheaper device.
4. People who want a tablet but have no budget for an iPad.

The Bestselling Amazon Kindle

Back in August, Amazon issued a press release announcing that they got more orders for the Kindle 3 in the first 4 weeks of its availability than any previous Kindle model within the same time frame. This makes the Kindle 3 the fastest-selling Kindle ever. Pre-orders were high that Amazon had to constantly list the Kindle 3 as “out of stock”.

The Kindle 3 is not really a revolutionary device. In fact, it is merely an upgrade over its predecessor. It still uses black and white screen display, has no video support, and no touch capability. What the Kindle 3 offers is a level of readability that surpasses any other eReader’s. Add in a month-long battery life, free 3G+WiFi, and cheaper price point and you have a guaranteed bestseller.

While the Kindle 3 and the Nook Color are aimed at different markets, our two cents is that, although the Nook Color is going to attract customers who want an all-in-one device/ebook reader hybrid, it is not going to outsell the Kindle 3. We’re not discounting the possibility that the Nook can. However, with the Kindle is available in over 100 countries and the Nook is available in the US only, that possibility looks remote.

That depends on who you’re giving the gift to.

To give someone an eReader is to give the gift of reading. But not everyone wants that kind of gift. Some would rather have a gift of music; you’d rather give these people an iPod. Some would rather have the gift of games; you’d rather give these people the latest Sony Xbox.

The point is, eReaders are the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who enjoys reading  — be it your Dad, your girlfriend, your neighbor, your college professor.

Give it to someone whose idea of leisure is surfing the web, and you’ll likely get a questioning stare or disappointed look. For those who can’t live a day without reading, on the other hand, eReaders are the perfect Christmas gift for the following reasons:

1. By giving someone an eReader, you enable them to have quicker and more convenient access to books. No need anymore to take weekly trips to the bookstore. With a few clicks of a button, your gift recipient can get a new book. Books can be downloaded either through a wireless connection or via computer. 
2. Majority of eBooks are cheaper than physical books. Your gift-recipient will be grateful to you for their large savings on books.
3. Many eBookstores offer free eBooks, too, and not just public domain books but also bestsellers. They can easily obtain free classics like Alice in Wonderland and read themo on paper-like screens. 
4. eReaders can save your gift recipients of the load of carrying traditional books when commuting or traveling. eReaders weigh only a few ounces; they remain so even when they carry hundreds, even thousands of books. They’re the perfect traveling companion for any book lover. 
5. eReaders are also the perfect Christmas gift for people who have little storage for books in their home.
6. They are intuitive and easy to operate; even technologically challenged elders will have no trouble learning how to use them.

eReaders for Different Types of People, Age Groups

This holiday season, you have many eReaders to choose from. If you want to give a pocketable gift, there 5-inch eReaders such as the Jetbook Mini and the Sony PRS 350. 
If you are planning to give the gift to a businessman friend or people who read a lot PDFs or newspapers, large-screened eReaders like the Kindle DX are the ideal ones to give. If you want to give paperback-sized eReaders, there are many 6-inch eReaders on the market (the standard size). Some of the best ones include the Kindle 3, the Nook, and the Sony Readers. 

eReaders are not only for those who love reading, but also for those who you want to develop an early love for reading: kids.

eReaders for kids are designed a bit differently than eReaders for adults. eReaders for kids come with touch-interactive screens, animations, audio narration of stories, and colorful interface. They also include educational applications like spelling. Fisher Price IXL, Cruz Storypad eReader, and Aiptech Storybook inColor are some of the hot ones in the market today. 
 
Most eReaders are now in the $99 – $199 range. What this means is that you don’t need to spend lot to give a quality and lasting

You don’t need to have a Kindle or a Nook to be able to read your favorite book on the go. If you have a mobile phone, you should simply get an ebook reader app to your device. Cheaper, right? But before foregoing any plan to purchase an eReader, take a look at the pros and cons of reading a book on your mobile phone.  

Pros

1. They are ideal to use when all you have is small chunk of reading time – standing in line at the grocery, waiting at the bus stop for your ride, or sitting in the dentist’s office waiting for your turn. Sure, many ebook readers are light, but your iPhone is more pocketable. And chances are, you have it most often with you.

2. Most eBook reader programs are free.

Cons

1. You don’t get to enjoy the beautiful eInk reading experience that the Kindle and other dedicated offers.   

2. Very small screen size is best for short chunks of reading, not for spending an afternoon on the couch. Reading on the small screen for a long is very uncomfortable; it can even give you eyestrain.

3.  Most eBooks are optimized for large screen that reading from line to line on a small-screened mobile phone is quite dificult. A screen can just be a block of words; paragraph formatting is often lost.

4. It’s not ideal for reading PDFs or comics. You can’t zoom in and out of texts, even if they are barely readable.

But then again, you’d never know when you’ll be next caught in a long line of grocery shoppers. Here are 5 reader apps for mobile phones. 
 
1. Kindle App for iPhone/iPod

Just like on the Kindle eReader, the app lets you adjust font size, bookmark pages, and download book samples. Since the app is optimized for the iPhone’s touch screen, you can use your fingers to turn pages. Disadvantages include inability to purchase periodicals. Also, you can’t access the Amazon Kindle Store directly from the app; to get to the store, you have to launch it from the iPhone’s browser. 

2. Nook iPhone App

The Nook App for iPhone gives you the ability to customize color themes, reading mode (night mode or day mode), and screen brightness. Font type and size, margin, and spacing can be modified, plus there’s bookmarking and note-taking functionality. As with the Kindle iPhone App, however, it doesn’t let you purchase books directly from the app.  

3. eReader App for iPhone

eReader is an app developed by Fictionwise. It offers a lot of formatting options and access to thousands of free books from ManyBooks.net. The app, however, is slow to download books; you have to wait, too, until the download is complete before you can start reading the first chapter. 

4. Mobipocket eReader App for Mobile Phones

The Mobipocket Reader supports a wide variety of mobile platforms including Blackberry, Palm OS, and Symbian phones. The Mobipocket app supports PRC files only, but it comes with built-in file conversion software that automatically and quickly converts PDF, HTML, LIT, DOC, and TXT files to PRC format. Features include auto-scroll (optional). Font size and color, margins, and background color can be adjusted.  

5. Stanza eReader for iPhone/iPod

The app offers a lot of customization options including day and night reading modes and adjustable text/font/background color. You can zoom in and out of a page; the app automatically reflows the text for the screen, too. Stanza conveniently connects you to online catalogs of bookstores like Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard.   

Closing Thought

Mobile phones can be used to read books, but they are best only for short bursts of reading. For an afternoon of couch reading, a dedicated eReader best for the job.

Well, not quite the reading device we’re used to see but still, a quite interesting combination. Viewsonic revealed it’s latest device named MB-P702 packed with 7-inch 800 x 480 resolution touchscreen LCD display that functions as both an e-reader and a movie player — but not, as far as we can tell, an internet-based experience. Looking to the former function, the MB-P702 reads PDF, TXT, EPUB and others with handwritten notation capabilities. 

For video, we’re looking at MKV, AVI, WMV, MPG, MP4, and RMVB, with 1080p support and HDMI out. No pricing or other technical details we’re disclosed. But anyway if you’re getting tires reading the latest novel, you can always switch to a mind blowing, action packed HD movie…

That’s what recent data seem to suggest.

A lot of people may be nostalgic about traditional print books, and the book publishing industry may not be too pleased with the way eBooks are taking away some print book sales. But for bibliophile who don’t mind what kind of format a book takes, the results of recent surveys are a thing to toast for. The survey data show that once you own an eReader, you’re more likely to buy and read books than when you didn’t have one. Leap into digital reading, and your reading habits make a leap, too.  

Surveys, Surveys: Numbers Tell a Story

Various groups have conducted surveys to measure the impact of eReaders on the reading habits of their owners.

1.  Marketing and Research Resources Inc surveyed 1200 people who owned a Kindle, Sony, and iPad. The survey was commissioned by Sony Inc. Here are the results:  

• 40% of the survey respondents said their book consumption increased since they owned an eReader; they read more books than they used to.  
• 58% said there’s no marked difference in their reading habits; the amount of books they read is the same as before.  
• Only 2% said the amount of books they read has decreased.
• 55% professed they will read more books on the device in the future.
• The average number of books eReader owners read in a month is 2.6. Traditional book readers, on the other hand, average 1.9 books only.

2. L.E.K. Consulting surveyed 2000 households early this year. 10% (or 200) of the surveyed households own an ebook reader:

            *48% of these said they read more books since owning an eReader.

            *45% said the amount of books they read is the same as before.

            *Only 7% their book consumption decreased. 

            *59% said they read more newspapers since they got an eReader.

            *44% said they read more newspapers than before.

3. According to Amazon, the number of books their customers purchased increased by more than 3 times. Amazon also said that for every 100 hardcover books they sold in the second quarter of 2010, they were able to sell 143 ebooks.

All of the above data coincide with the data reported by the Association of American Publishers that eBook sales from January to June this year were up by 203.8% The 2009 ebook sales also showed a strong increase — 176% — over the previous year.

Comparing Book Consumption of eBook and Traditional Book Readers

The Wall Street Journal compiled and compared results from different surveys about the reading/book-buying habits of traditional and digital readers. Their compilation shows shows that while 51% of eReader owners increased their ebook purchase in 2009, only 9% increased their hardcover book purchases in the past year.

Why eReaders Stimulate People to Read More Books

eReader owners report that their device allows them to read at times and places where a print book is usually out of question, such as when you’re on a kayak or bathtub (with the eReader in a ziplock or waterproof case). You can even read while running on a treadmill; just maximize the fonts.  

eReaders also offer an advantage when you travel a lot or go on vacation and you want to bring a lot of books with you. 

And then there’s the factor of price: most eBooks are significantly priced much, much lower than traditional print books. One hardcover can get you two or more eBooks of the same title.

On the other hand, many eReader owners have reported that ebooks did not really replace their print books but added to them.

An interesting interview done by CNET’s David Carnoy gives us a glimpse of how Amazon’s eReader business is doing. When asked what their market share is since B&N claims to have 20% of the market and Apple also claims 20% of the market, here’s Ian Freed’s (Amazon’s VP) reply:

“We’re pretty sure we’re 70 to 80 percent of the market. So, something, somewhere isn’t quite working right. I encourage you to do some more research. Obviously, from the beginning of Amazon we’ve been very metrics-focused and we don’t typically throw out numbers we don’t firmly believe in. Take that 70 to 80 percent number and add up all the others and something somewhere isn’t going to add up.”

Freed also explained that about 80% of their ebook sales come from Kindle owners. What’s surprising to know is that he other 20% come from people who read on their Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod, Blackberry or Window PC.

In the usual Amazon way, the company didn’t throw exact figures about the number of Kindle or Kindle ebooks it has sold so far. Amazon’s claim of 80% share is further made confusing by different reports from various tech bloggers.

• According to DigiTimes, the B&N Nook outsold the Kindle in Q2 2010 by 20%. The website reported that Amazon had 17% share of the market from April to May, while the Nook had 37%.
• NextWeb reported back in May that the iPad had stolen 16% of the Kindle market.

• According to TBI research, Amazon has 90% of the eReader market share.

How close is it to truth that Amazon holds a 70% – 80% share of the eReader market? 

1. Analysts estimate that Amazon has already shipped more than 5 million by Q2 2010. 
2. According to Amazon, their Kindle sales have tripled after they dropped the price of the device to $189 back in July. Amazon also talked about a tripling in ebook sales in the first quarter of 2010 over the same period last year.  
3. Amazon has more books and more variety of books than any other ebookstore. When people don’t find the book they want in other stores, they usually go to Amazon. 

Amazon’s 70-80% Share: Impact on the eReader Market  

If Amazon does dominate 80% of the market, we may soon see the Kindle as the standard ebook format. This will further strengthen Amazon’s dominance.

1. It will help Amazon in their ongoing price negotiations with ebook publishers.
2. Using the Kindle ecosystem will become more valuable than any other platform.

The Kindle Market Share and Closed Proprietary Format
Although various consumers and pundits point that the Kindle’s DRM restriction is a big downside, the huge Kindle unit and ebook sales point out that proprietary versus non-proprietary format is not really a big concern for consumers. People continue to buy books from Amazon and read them on their Kindle.

Closing Thought
Amazon has continually shown unparalleled dedication to customer satisfaction, and they always deliver what they sell. And so, while Amazon’s 70% to 80% Kindle market estimate may not really be exact, there’s no arguing that Amazon does dominate the ebook/eReader market.

GFK, a UK based retail and technology company says that e-Readers have proved to be one of the fastest growing product categories across the IT panel, with sales growing at rates in excess of 150% over the past 10 months and further gains made in the second quarter of 2010. 
The number of brands selling in the market has more than quadrupled in comparison to the same time period last year. With further high profile launches on the horizon, this number will only increase. The recent launch by one of the highest grossing E-Reader brands in the United States on the UK market is set to give a further boost to an already thriving market. eReader Sales in the UK are estimated to reach 250,000 devices per annum within the next 2 years.

Average Number Of Outlets Stocking eReaders In The UK

Previously the sales were dominated by the mass merchandisers channel but over the past 10 months increasing interest from consumer electronic stores and specialists channels has made the market much more dynamic. This is illustrated by the sharp rise in the number of outlets stocking and selling E-Readers in the UK.

GfK Retail and Technology (GfK RT) is a sector of the GfK Group, one of the largest market research companies in the world, and is the world’s leading market researcher tracking sales data in technical consumer goods and entertainment media markets.

Scott Liu, chairman of Taiwan-based EPD (electrophoretic display) maker E Ink Holding said today that he expects eReader sales to almost triple in the second half of 2010. The price war between different eReaders ditributors like Amazon, B&N, Sony and others is mentioned as the main reason for the increased demand by consumers.

Shipments for the 9.7-inch Kindle DX tripled when Amazon reduced the prices for the model to US$379 from the previous US$489, Liu noted, adding that worldwide e-book reader shipments are expected to exceed the previous forecast of 10 million units in 2010 due to vendors’ price cuts.

Liu indicated that with the prices for e-book readers dropping significantly, players who only produce e-reading devices with no content support are coming under threats of being forced out of the market by the first-tier players such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble who will continue to dominate the market.

Liu added that demand for Amazon’s latest Kindle model has been strong and E Ink is speeding up its production to fulfill the client’s orders.

Amazon’s latest 6-inch Kindle without 3G connection only costs US$139, reaching the pricing sweet spot, and it is expected to generate significant growth for the vendor.

[Source: Digitimes]

iRiverfans is reporting that the iRiver Story e-Reader will be going touch with a new version coming out later this year. The device will carry an e-Ink touch display, 2GB of internal storage, with SDHC expansion up to 32GB. The iRiver Story touch edition is  going to be available for the Korean market only but we’ll try and get a device for hands on review when it released. In the meantime the best we can do for you is share some cool pictures with you

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