Target to Start Carrying Sony Reader

Sony has announced that Target is going to carry the Sony Reader starting September 14th. That’s today, boys and girls. The model in question is the Reader Digital Book PRS-505. If you buy the reader at Target, you’ll also get a coupon for a free e-book. The store will also carry a selection of accessories and accouterments; the Reader will retail for about $300. You can get a few more details at this PC Magazine article.

Here Comes the Kindle Competitor?

So the rumors about a new Kindle have been quashed by Amazon. But there is an 8×11″ e-book reader on the horizon. It’s just coming from a different company. TG Daily has a brief update about a new reader from Plastic Logic with plenty of good photos. You can catch it at http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-39220-97.html. Wired.com has a few more details at http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/plastic-logics.html and some more pictures.

Briefly: 8×11 view display, flexible plastic (Wired has a picture of the reader going all bendy), pop-up touch-sensitive keywords, Office documents read without fuss, no price announced as yet (bummer.)

No, Virginia, Santa Claus Won’t Have a New Kindle

After watching rumors about a new, textbook-friendly Kindle coming out soon, Amazon has finally stepped in and — squashed the rumor. According to a blog at the New York Times, there will be no new Kindle this year. No news about the potential for a new Kindle next year. Read the comments for perspective from current Kindle owners and students thinking about what it would be like having a single e-book instead of a giant pile of books.

Big Screen Kindle in the Works?

This is an interesting blog post about a big screen Kindle and what it might do for the textbook market. And when you think about it, prices on Kindles wouldn’t have to even drop that much for this to be a great idea. If you halved the price of textbooks when making them available electronically, the Kindle pays for itself in — what — a year?

Unfortunately there are a couple of big Kindle drawbacks. B&W only, for one. You also can’t mark it all over with a yellow highlighter and Post-It flags.