In a move that could have a lasting impact on the way we read books, Amazon on Monday announced the long rumoured Kindle eBook reader. And according to the etailing colossus, its new device could spell the end of paper reading material, as we know it.
Speaking in front of a large crowd in New York City, Amazon's Jeff Bezos believes his company can change the landscape of the book publishing industry forever. "[Books] are the last bastion of analogue. Books have stubbornly resisted digitalization," he said, "A book is so suited to its task that it's very hard to displace."
'Outbook the book'
With that in mind, Amazon is not necessarily trying to "outbook the book" with the Kindle. Instead, Bezos explained that Amazon's e-book reader will take the good elements of a book and combine that with the good elements of digitization to create a more perfect reading experience.
The Kindle is an off-white device that features two buttons on either side of the screen to allow users to flip through pages. It also sports a keyboard and selection controls that will allow the user to annotate and even take clippings from the book and send them to a PC once the two machines are connected.
Download books away from home
With the help of a fast EVDO connection, users can access Wikipedia through a built-in browser, and if they want to download books on the go, they can access Amazon's book store where they can purchase titles for $9.99 (£5).
Will it work? Probably not. Blogger John Scalzi sums it up best: "I can pay $400 for an e-book reader, and then pay $7.99 for an electronic copy of a book, or I can just pay $7.99 for the actual book."
The Kindle will retail for $399 (£195) and will launch with 90,000 titles available for download.
In other news...
Samsung has introduced a new DVD burner that will copy discs without the need for a hard drive. According to the company, the S204S can burn photos, videos or music directly from the devices connected to a computer, which should reduce the amount of time it takes to copy the disc. In fact, Samsung claims a one-hour video stream can be burned in 65 minutes.
The S204S is available now for $160 (£78).
BenQ goes fashionable
BenQ on Monday announced the Joybook R43 designer notebook. The computer features a 14-inch screen that, on the back, sports a city-like device that is enhanced at night with status lights to that increase the effect of a city skyline.
Besides a 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor, the unique notebook offers a QData Trove feature that automatically creates a disk image when a keyboard shortcut button is pressed. The computer will be released in China this month, followed by a worldwide launch a few months later.
