The first good thing about the app is it’s free. Unfortunately though you’re not able to browse through Audible’s selection of audio books or purchase books directly. This still has to be done from the website. Audible claims to have over 75,000 titles available.

You do have to be connected to a WiFi router to download files larger than 20mb as there’s a cap on large downloads. Although this limit isn’t a surprise to most as most applications have a similar limitation imposed by Apple.

Audio book playback is where the new app really does come in great. The app provides a much better experience than listening to audio books through the iPod player and with the newly released iOS 4 multitasking, this gives you the ability to mutlitask and listen to an audio book whilst running another application at the same time (providing that both apps are iOS4 friendly of course).

The app has some great features like a bookmark system, ability to set a sleep timer so that the book pauses at a desired time and rewind and fast forward functions.

The Audible app also works with the other audio books you have previoulsy purchased and synced from iTunes.

Currently there are only a small selection of free public domain books available, but hopefully this will change over time. If apple embraces ebooks like it did music, the iBooks will hopefully succeed into the main eBook supplier. Lets hope they also provide availability for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and similar to Amazon’s Kindle app where you can sync the books so that you get the last read page when you move to another device.

This is mostly to demonstrate how ebooks or etextbooks could be used on a daily basis by students, but equally this translates well into the business world and that’s where it would first start off.

Think about it for a second, if you could have not only a 8″-10″ tablet that works great for ebooks and etextbooks, but also allows you to look at PDF’s, work on word or excel documents, perform annotations on books, take lecture notes, record voice, this could be pretty cool.

Let me set the background, I’m in the UK, I have been purchasing ebooks from eReader.com since the company started back in 2000 when they were called Palm Digital Media.  I have invested a huge some of money in eReader’s (now owned by Barnes and Noble) ebooks with their DRM (Digital Rights Management).  I like liked eReader, and have purchased 133 ebooks in my library.  At an average of $10 an ebook, that means I’ve spent around $1,330 to my collection, approx £1,000!  It has DRM which means you can’t share ebooks easily, as it uses your credit card number to unlock the book along with the name on your card, but I don’t mind that, providing I can install it onto multiple devices that I take with me, I don’t care.  I’m really not into sharing ebooks.

Nearly every book I now try to purchase from eReader.com comes back with  ”Warning: The eBook you just added to your cart has geographic rights restrictions“.

This message is unfortunately complete BS from eReader.com.  There are no geographic restrictions for most of these books, and I’ll tell you why.

Try to purchase  Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” outside of the US and you are greeted by the same message – GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED!

Okay, now let’s go to Audible.com, I can add Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” to my shopping cart and check out just fine.

Let’s go to the iTunes App Store, and I can purchase Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” just fine as an ebook, I can even download a free sampler of the ebook!

Now let’s go to Kindle on the iPhone, and I can purchase Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” here too, and like with iTunes, I can also download a sampler version of the ebook!

So unfortunately eReader.com are simply not telling the truth about the geographic restrictions on purchases. I’m not sure if this started happening since Fictionwise.com purchased eReader.com or since Barnes and Noble acquired eReader.com through Fictionwise.com.

I wanted to purchase around $80 of eBooks this Christmas from eReader.com but they won’t let me do so. So now I’m going to go and spend it with Amazon! At this point I’m not going to spend any more money with eReader.com, Fictionwise and Barnes and Noble and that includes the new purchase of the Nook that I was about to purchase. Really….What’s the point? I’m going to have the same geographic restrictions imposed on me by Barnes and Noble.

I welcome any feedback from eReader.com, Fictionwise and Barnes and Noble on the topic of Geographic Restrictions on Purchases and why they are hiding behind this charade and not telling the truth to their customers.

[UPDATE]
More links on this subject…
Geographic Restrictions at Fictionwise
eReader.com Limits E-book Sales To US Citizens
eReader enforcing geographical restrictions

It is the lightest on the market -only 5.3 ounces! Over 1,000 books can be stored in its 1 GB of internal storage memory.

The Cybook Opus boasts a 200dpi ePaper screen which provides a paper like high contrast appearance and ultra-low power consumption on the revolutionary eInk Technology. With its accelerometer – screen position can switch from portrait to landscape mode automatically.

With the Cybook Opus, you can access more than 200,000 digital contemporary books from hundreds of publisher sources like Random House, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Harlequin and much more. These digital books are in Adobe secured format (EPUB or PDF), the available catalogue continues to grow and gain hundreds of titles per month.

Price in the UK is £200 available from Bookeen.com.

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Kindle customers won’t have to send their devices in for upgrade or download or manually update the Kindle, Amazon will be deliver the firmware update via the Amazon WhisperNet service in the background.

The firmware 2.3 upgrade applies to both Kindle DX as well as the U.S. and global versions of the Kindle, the battery-life upgrade applies to just the “Global Wireless” version of the Kindle.  The upgrade extends the battery life of up to seven days even with wireless turned on, a significant improvement from its previous four day lifespan with wireless turned on.

The Global Wireless and U.S. Wireless version of the Kindle receives the PDF reader upgrade.

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Currently supported devices include:-

• HTC Dream
• HTC Droid Eris
• HTC Hero
• HTC Magic
• HTC Sapphire
• HTC Tattoo (formerly HTC Click)
• LG GW620 Eve
• Motorola Calgary
• Motorola CLIQ
• Motorola DEXT
• Motorola Droid
• Motorola Milestone
• Samsung I7500
• Samsung Galaxy
• Samsung Moment
• T-Mobile G1, G2
• T-Mobile myTouch 3G
• T-Mobile Pulse
• plus any other devices running the Android OS (Android 1.5 or later recommended).

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The enTourage folks aren’t skirting around the desire users have for using such a reader for web work, and as such have chosen Android. They are touting the ability of the eDGe to surf the web, work with email, play MP3s and even check Facebook. Connectivity is done over Wi-Fi or optional EVDO/HSPA 3G. That big, color touchscreen with resistive digitizer would be nice for web work, but is likely hard on battery life. The eDGe looks a lot like that mythical Courier device on which Microsoft is reportedly working.

The eDGe will ship in February 2010, but you can pre-order one now. If you can get past that $490 price tag, that is. More information available at Entourage Edge website.

Source: JK OnTheRun

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It’s not the first group to complain about Amazon’s vice-like grip on the Kindle, not to mention its supporting services and customer information, but the Norwegian Consumer Council is able to impose fines against any company trading illegally in Norway, and believes that Amazon might just fit the bill.

The Norwegian Consumer Council has been trawling through Amazon’s terms and conditions for the Kindle, and notes that the very language used is probably illegal, as Norwegian law requires such contracts to be clearly written.

Beyond that there are the usual complaints about Amazon locking content to the device, and concerns about privacy (specifically as reading habits are warehoused in the US, outside the jurisdiction of EU privacy laws). The Council also notes that the Kindle comes with a one-year warranty, compared to the five years mandated by Norwegian law.

But more generally the Council is concerned about device manufacturers imposing unreasonable restrictions on users, and would like to remind everyone that, in Norway at least, the rights of consumers will be protected.

Source: The Register

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The second screen is an entirely self-contained Google Android device. Alex includes a Wi-Fi radio, as well as internal 3G support on both EV-DO and GSM networks–assuming Spring Design can find carrier support for the thing. Could they actually be the manufacturer behind the B&N Nook?

Alex also includes earphones, stereo speakers, an SD card slot, browser bookmarks and history, and the ability to transfer content from the touch LCD to the e-ink display for easier reading. Spring Design said it’s currently in talks with said carriers, and is targeting a release before the end of this year.

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There’s not much else to go on in terms of specs, although Plastic Logic says the QUE offers “the largest touchscreen available.” I suspect that the screen is larger than Amazon’s 9.7-inch unit on the Kindle DX, although that’s not a touchscreen. I’m simply basing it on the fact that the QUE is slightly larger than the DX and may not have a hardware keyboard taking up space due to the touchscreen. No word on pricing yet, but all will become as clear as e-Ink between now and January 7th.

Source: JK OnTheRun

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B&N have included wiFi and partnered with AT&T using their wireless network that offers both 3G for downloading books on-the-go but also wiFi hotspots for their own bricks and mortar stores. So you can walk into the store, the Nook hooks up with the wiFi hotspot automatically and you get to read books, same as you do with the physical books in the store.

The Nook also has a lending functionality which brings it closer to a real book than any eReader before it. Not only does this overcome one of the stigmas against eBooks, but it helps drive adoption of B&N’s eBook system. To read a B&N eBook, you need a B&N eBook reader, be it a Nook or their application for PC, Mac, iPhone, BlackBerry, and soon Windows Mobile. The more people they get to read B&N eBooks, the more people will be inclined to buy B&N eBooks and be able to justify buying a Nook. Very smart move on their part. Now one thing else to mention is recently B&N bought up eReader.com. Could something also be happening there with eReader and Fictionwise.com to enter into the Nook?

The device combines the energy efficient e-ink and quick response color LCD touchscreen brings together the best of both worlds. Yep, a colour LCD screen! That’s a first for the eReader platform. The LCD offers on-screen keyboard input, a “Cover Flow” style look at one’s library, dynamic buttons, music control, and whatever else will come, to complement the e-ink display for the real reading. It cuts the battery life, but it still runs more than a week between charges, which is plenty. I think this split-screen approach offers tremendous potential, particularly when one considers the next advantage…

The big surprise is that the Nook runs on Android. That opens all sorts of software possibilities for the future, both official and unofficial apps are practically assured, and with input via USB and storage via SD card, some good Nook hacks should be expected too.

Now to content…. Obviously B&N has the pull to get bestsellers on the Nook, but what about newspapers, magazines, and comic books?

Another great features that Kindle users receive is also going to be on the Barnes & Noble Nook eBook reader allowing you to sync directly with the iPhone and iPod touch. Strangely the Nook will also support the Kindle style of reading bookmarks across multiple devices.

Okay for me, I’m sold and this makes me want one over the Kindle. Now here’s the big catch for me…. I’m in the UK! Barnes and Noble are a US based company and they don’t really operate in the UK or Europe, so is this going to be another US only centric product? Time will tell! If B&N want to really take over the eBook reader market they will have to act quick, Amazon have been in this game for some time now, if they can start selling more internationally then they will surely have a hit on their hands.

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Although the Kindle appeals to me to a degree, and I love reading eBooks, the Kindle is a little outdated now. The Kindle DX to me makes a lot more sense, and the design is much better which always helps but for me it’s a little on the large size.

However, using eReader on the iPhone I’d love to be able to access Amazon Kindle eBooks on the iPhone. Come on Amazon, hurry up and release it to the UK App Store!

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“The rumours I’ve heard are all saying next week,” one source told trade bible The Bookseller.

E-book publishers have reportedly signed non-disclosure agreements with Amazon, another source said. He or she also claimed to have heard news about next week’s launch “from multiple sources”.

Kindle is currently only available to buy in North America, but Amazon has always promised to launch the e-book viewer internationally. However, the retailer has never committed itself to a rollout timeframe.

But one question remains: which UK network operator will Amazon sign to provide access to Whispernet, Kindle’s e-book download service.

Whispernet runs over Sprint’s EvDO network in the US, but since Vodafone has already been running a basic e-book business – Books on Mobile! – since October 2008, the operator could be a natural choice for Whispernet in the UK.

O2, on the other hand, surely won’t want to miss out on signing its name to yet another headline-grabbing product, especially now its iPhone exclusivity period is nearing its end.

If this is true it will also mean that the Kindle iPhone App will be available soon within the UK App Store.

Source: Register