Posted on 11/03/2009 2:49:20 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
2010 is supposed to be the year of many things. I’ve heard it called the year of Android and more recently, the year of the ebook reader.
I used to read a lot when I was a kid at the behest of my parents. My mom always tried to enforce a balance between video games and books. That unfortunately stopped as AnandTech took off. Most of my recreational reading turned into trying to understand datasheets or reading other reviews, the rest of the time was spent writing.
My first and only ebook reader was Amazon’s Kindle 2, and while it didn’t reinvigorate my passion for reading, it did a lot better than expected.**************************************snip*********************************
A couple of weeks ago Marvell announced its ARMADA line of ARM-based SoCs, among them was the ARMADA 166E. Based on Marvell’s PJ1 ARM CPU core, the 166E is designed for applications with low performance requirements like digital photo frames and ebook readers. The 166E is also the world’s first application processor with an integrated EPD controller. Not only does the integrated EPD controller reduce board size (you integrate one more controller), but it also reduces cost: you don’t need another package with an integrated NAND flash and you don’t need another DRAM.
(Excerpt) Read more at anandtech.com ...
Marvell's ARMADA: Custom Designed ARM SoCs Break 1GHz
*******************************EXCERPT********************************
Marvell is introducing a fleet of new SoCs (system on a chip) and the brand is called ARMADA. Get it?
Marvell is introducing four series of ARMADA and their target markets are below:
| SoC | Market |
| ARMADA 100 Series | eBook Readers, digital photo frames, portable NAV devices, etc... |
| ARMADA 500 Series | MIDs, netbooks |
| ARMADA 600 Series | Smartphones, MIDs |
| ARMADA 1000 Series | Blu-ray players, TVs, set-top boxes |
These are SoCs so they’ve got CPU, GPU, I/O and networking all included on a single chip. The entire ARMADA line is built on TSMC’s 55nm process. The 100 is super low performance, useful in eBook readers, digital photo frames, IP cameras, etc... The 1000 is a multi-core version of the 100 with additional blocks designed for Blu-ray players, digital TVs and HD set-top boxes.
fyi
The Technology wave continues....
Making circuits small has some amazing paybacks in new kinds of devices.
Even so, I still don’t think we’ll see e-ink based e-readers drop below MSRP $199 before 2011. Even with the decreasing cost of processors and e-ink displays, manufacturers keep adding other things like touch screens and wifi.
With that written, I love nothing more than to have a real book in my hands as I read. Just like I love having a real newspaper in my hands and a cup of coffee in the morning.
Maybe I am just too old but I really enjoy that “comfortable” feel of the book/paper in my hands as I read.
mark
I saw Sony’s e-reader at Walmart recently.... anyone know if it is any good?
It’s something I would never buy for myself, but would love to have (an e-reader).
I was tempted by the Kindle 2, until I researched the options. There is a free portable solution, if you have the proper toys.
One of the best kept secrets, on this subject, is that if you have an Ipod Touch, or Iphone, there is a free application, called Stanza, that gives you access to purchase ebooks. It’s available at the Apple Store (free).
Even more desirable it gives you the ability to download a whole slew of Gutenberg texts. Did I mention that these are free? Personally, I find the ability to access the Gutenberg Project texts to be more desirable than the contemporary (paid) texts.
Lots of titles to choose from. It could be as high as 25,000. Just looking at my current reads on the Touch I see, “Anthem”, “Moby Dick”, “Just So Stories”, “Relativity”, “The Autobiography of Ben Franklin”, “The Basis of Early Christian Theism”, “The Federalist Papers, “The Illiad”, “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson”, “The US Bill of Rights”.
Well, that’s just the stuff I’ve read over the last week, all free. This free app is going to save me a fortune in library fines!
Plus, it's a lot faster/easier to pop in a book marker and close the book at the end of a chapter than it is to exit and shutdown a Kindle, I'll wager.
Now that is informative....thanks.
My husband bought me a Kindle when they first came out. It cost about $400. I loved it. We travel a lot and I have it filled with all sorts of books that I have downloaded from Amazon and books that I got off other websites that have free books. I have expanded the types of books I read. When I travel, I put my Kindle into my purse and have hundreds of of thick books at the ready. I even have a dictionary and a Bible. Also, I can get on the web, (limited) and check out freerepublic and wikipidia, google etc. It is not as good as a computer, but it is great on a trip. I now have the Kindle 2 and he has my old one. We share books.
I like it so much that I find that when I read a book in bed, the book is always closing on me. I’m a gal and love to read the Kindle hands free while I blow my hair dry or do some other task hands free. I also like being able to make the font larger at night when my eyes get tired. I could go on and on. I can’t imagine being without my Kindle.
Speaking of the dictionary, when I come across a word I don’t know, I just “highlight” it and there is the definition right there. Reminds me of when we got our TIVO. I didn’t miss it until I got it. It changed the way we watched television.
One more thing, I can do a word find and search through the book I am reading, the dictionary, wikipedia and google to get information. How great is that?!
When I finish a chapter on my Kindle, I put it down and it hibernates. I rarely turn it off. The battery lasts for weeks. When I open it, I can go to any of the books I have been reading and it opens to the last place I was reading in that book. I don’t need bookmarks, but I can bookmark any page I want and then find those pages later.
I download Gutenberg to my Kindle and also use freebooks.com
I felt like you about books. When we moved down here it took the biggest Mayflower van to move my library,,we had a two story library at our former house.
So I got a sony ereader then a kindlel and I love it better than any toy I ever had. I carry it in my purse loaded with books, the London Times, mags and read non stop. I hate to read paper books now and am giving my library away slowly.
I still collect certain books but the kindle 2 is the best tech I have every had in my life.
Get it and you won’t have a single regret, it takes five minutes to get used to it and best of all you can change the size of the font as your eyes tire. I love it more than anything and read non stop. Going away, no longer do I have half a suitcase full of books.
I loved the elegance of the sony but the sony site is crap. The kindle 2 is far better but there is a new sony coming soon.
I like the wireless downloading wherever I am. ANd you can get free pirated books on a couple of sites I go to. One has a great library and if you pay them like 80 bucks all the books are formatted for kindle.
Hubby can format any book for either kindle or sony. I leave the sony in Maryland and it is full of classics, all free from sony. But I don’t buy many books.
And newspapers are good for kindle, not for sony.
You said everything I feel about my kindle!! I love it, love it.
I droppped it in the bathtub and it survived!
Based on Marvell’s PJ1 ARM CPU core, the 166E is designed for applications with low performance requirements like digital photo frames and ebook readers. The 166E is also the world’s first application processor with an integrated EPD controller.Oh, Marvell... heh... I thought it was "Marvel" as in the comic books, and thought, ZOWIE, great idea! Thanks Ernest.
I wondered about that. So the Kindle is able to access Gutenberg from an open wireless network? If it could do that, it would make it very desirable. That makes any of these boxes so very useful. It sounds like the Kindle is the best of the batch (not trying to step on any toes here).
I am so tempted about the Kindle after using the Ipod Touch. Though the touch is handier (at least smaller), I think I see a Kindle in my future. I've heard the new Kindle is pretty nice, but I'm hazy as to how much better and why.
Thank you for your commentary. Since I will be doing a little bit of traveling over the next six months, the Kindle might be able to find room in my carry on. Is it sturdy?
I had one of those book reader apps on a palm pilot and it was junk - why? b/c the user interface was not easy for reading long text documents like books. Kindle has a great UI for reading - easy on the eyes. Price point is not there for me yet, but I love the idea.
So many new things coming out. One of these days I may take some time to see just how many types of devices for different forms of communication have come to be. I can see the use of this particular device for those say on a long vacation, not wanting to haul heavy books half way around the world. Neat.
Whoa! I take mine on cruises a lot, but don’t think I want to drop it in water!
You can download the freebooks directly to the Kindle through ethernet, but I think that I download the Gutenberg through the computer.
Kindle is sturdy, however I have a cover that is especially made for Kindle and it protects it.
My husband is an early adopter. So we paid a lot for the Kindle 1 and less for the Kindle 2. The prices are coming down and hopefully more so with so many new brands coming on the market.
The kindle one cover that comes with it doesn’t hold it in well,,my husband has the kindle one. THe kindle 2 cover is better but you have to pay for it.
What cover do you have and which kindle? The cole haan cover is tempting me.
THe 2 is better than the 1 I think,,the kindle that is. HOlds more books, has text to speech if you like that and the wireless is faster.
The new kindle, don’t know the number, can download while abroad. My kindle 2 doesn’t do that but I don’t really need it.
It is sturdy, very sturdy. The sonry ereader is pretty sturdy but they update the program and it always glitches. The battery on the sony lasts a long time as does the kindle 2 battery.
Free classics have me busy,,practically all the good literature is free. Sony gives it to you free, 100 books. With amazon you pay about a buck per classic and it is formatted right. Gutenberg gives it free.
Library has online ebooks but not a great selection and they go to computer. Husvband has figured out how to “steal” them and put them on his kindle. I disapprove but it is his only fault, I think.
Thanks so much!!
“I had one of those book reader apps on a palm pilot and it was junk - why? b/c the user interface was not easy for reading long text documents like books”
I have “played” with a bunch of the apps as well. With most, I was unimpressed, but Stanza seemed to be quite an improvement over the others (bookmark being one of the advantages). I would not say that Stanza turns my Touch into a Kindle, but I am too cheap to purchase a Kindle today. Tomorrow? We’ll see. It depends on what I find out on this thread.
So, to you folks that use the Kindle with Gutenberg, is there any fee for downloading the free texts? I just wouldn’t want to buy it and find that there was some sort of fee for US domestic connections, like the $1.99 that you pay overseas to access the public wireless network.
I have an wireless network in my house (b/g/n). There’s plenty access there. Being something of a yokel, I live out in the boondocks so I may not have 3G access. Just curious if the “new” Kindle would work with my home wireless network, or if it is only equipped for the 3G public network.
I hope I’m not being a pest, but I was unable to find this info on the Amazon site.
I agree with you about the Kindle 1 cover. I didn’t like it, but when I got the Kindle 2, I bought the plain black one that goes with it. This cover has a “hook” that attaches to the Kindle 2 and the Kindle won’t fall out. I like the Cole Haan cover you mentioned, but I am content with the one I have. I would like for it to have a pocket on the front cover to store items. I could put ideas for books to read in the future, etc.
I like the Kindle 2 better too, but I did like having the memory cards that I could put music on. I haven’t downloaded any music to mine and now my husband has my card with my music on it. I only listened to it on the airplane and when I was reading and there was a lot of distracting noise anyway. I haven’t used the text to speech yet, except to play with it.
We travel a lot and I would like to be able to download abroad. We will have our computer with us so I guess I can just download that way, but the wireless is so convenient.
I don’t know anything about the Sony. My husband bought my Kindle for me when they first came out and I never really checked the others out. When the Kindle 2 came out he took mine and bought me the new one.
I get the classics from freebooks.com. You can get them wireless, but it is a little harder to search for the books. Probably easier to download direct from computer, but I have done it many times wireless. Freebooks set it up to do that. I have loved reading classics that I always wanted to read, but never did.
I am not familiar with library. I will have to investigate that. Some guys are just great at getting these gadgets to do extra things. The Kindle handbooks, etc usually tell you things you can do that these clever guys figure out. I just have to depend on them to spread the word.
Dang,,are you my sister? We say the sasme things!!
Hubby kept his kindle one and swears by it and uses his magic stick to get books from the computer to kindle. But I love the 2 and last year got one for my daughters and sons in law and my grandson. Now we are all geeks together and all love ours.
I took the London Times and am so hooked on it,,read it every day and enjoy the heck out of it. Mags take up time,,I got the Econhomist and Atlantic but stopped them. All I have time for is the Times.
THe classics have been my friends,,Faulkner, Dickens, Henry James, one James Joyce, all seven volumes of Proust in the last year.
I love my kindle and would part with my computer before I lost it.
Never did music,,it just distracts me too.
And I too want a pocket in front to hold my nicorette!!
Plus we travel constantly and in first class they hardly ever make you turn it off.
Damn,,best money I ever spent.
http://ireaderreview.com/2008/01/18/getting-project-gutenberg-books-on-your-kindle/
According to the above article, every single book on Gutenberg can be downloaded free. They will take donations.
The Kindle Whispernet comes through Sprint, so if you are near a Sprint tower you will be OK. When we travel on the interstate, I can usually get on the internet and read freerepublic. Once in a while I will lose the connection, like a dropped cell phone call in the mountains.
I haven’t tried using my wireless to download books. I think I should try that. I really haven’t had a need to, but it would be interesting to try.
LOL... I would love a lost sister. My sister would love it too.
There were some things about the Kindle one that I would like on the Kindle 2, but I am like you. I carry mine with me everywhere. I dread sitting and waiting somewhere and not be able to open it and read. It is in my purse all the time.
WOW what a wonderful mom you are to buy those for your family. I would love to do that. AND they would love it too.
I have not subscribed to a newspaper or magazine yet. I think I would if I had that large Kindle. (I don’t want that one because of slipping it into my purse.)
I have been reading dumas, Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, The Woman in White, The Virginian etc.
We cruise a lot and I am beginning to see more people using them. It is like a little fraternity. I love showing them to people that have a vague knowledge of them. I am pretty avid.
Thanks for your detailed conversation. I’ve been drooling over a Kindle for a while now, but afraid to make the purchase in case I hated it. I just love the idea of having books at the ready. I’m usually in the middle of 6 or 7 books at once, 4 or 5 in paper, and 2 or 3 audiobooks. It would be great to always have the books handy in my purse.
Christmas is coming....maybe I can ask my husband really nicely (he thinks I have too many books and he doesn’t want to encourage my habit - maybe Kindle will make peace between us).
I had a Rocket eBook. It was genuinely useful, but before I invest in another e-book technology, it must support color and allow me to download my own content to the device without restrictions. If I can’t load my own content, then it will not get my hard earned $$$. I don’t mind if the color drains the battery quicker, I rarely do marathon reading sessions so I don’t need exorbitant battery life.
Any hints that color is coming anytime soon?
Thanks for the great commentary....nothing like hearing from someone that has tried some of the latest tech gadgets....there is so much out there and more coming.
I thought I was the only person who read three books at once. I read a “heavy book” like Faulkner which is too rich to take in a constant read or Proust which you can only do 20 pages at a time it is so intense and 7 volumes for the big read. And I have a Bible, working thru and started at Genesis and now in Psalms, haven’t even gotten to NT. And an exciting read like Lee Childs and a girlie book to sneakily read along with the Times. My mmod strikes and I decide. Hubby does the same thing.
I thought that was crazy so am glad to know you do it too!!
You read exactly like I do!
A heavy, a history, Lee Childs, Baldacci, Archer or Flynn, a girly book and Bible/theology.
I wish there were more hours in the day (that’s why I have audiobooks too, so I can “read” while I clean, garden, pick up the kids, grocery shop, etc.) Nothing like vacuuming while listening to economic history!
Definitely will have to get a Kindle!
The tech world marches on.
The MEMS juggernaut----Commentary: A Silicon Valley revolution is coming
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