You are here: DIME Home > Technology > An Introduction to Popular E-book Readers

An Introduction to Popular E-book Readers

Many people like to purchase and read e-books and e-magazines through lightweight handheld readers today. Several companies have come up with innovative, standalone e-book readers; these thin elegant gadgets can take people back to the era of reading. Let’s have a look at some of these readers in this article.

Author: Marco Gustafsson
Date: Nov 28, 2009 - 5:43:52 AM

Printer friendly page

Last year, there were more sales for e-books than printed books. On March 5 this year, Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest chain of bookstores, acquired online e-book vendor, Fictionwise. President of BN, William J Linch said: “The market hasn’t been that developed to date. We think it’s a big growth area going forward.”

Many people like to purchase and read e-books and e-magazines through lightweight handheld readers today. Several companies have come up with innovative, standalone e-book readers, such as Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Hanlin eReader (aka Endless Ideas BeBook), etc; these thin elegant gadgets can take people back to the era of reading. Let’s have a look at some of these readers in this article.

E-books and E-magazines: How Do They Work?

E-books can be of two types: those which can be read on a computer and those which require special devices to read. There are several formats for e-books including Adobe PDF, Microsoft LIT, Palm PDB, etc. In order to buy an e-book, you go to the online vendor of the e-book, pay and register your reader for DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection, and download the e-book to the registered reader. Since only the registered e-book reader can read this e-book, the author and the publisher are protected from piracy. Digital copying is not possible with DRM protection.

Popular E-book Readers

There are many reading devices available in the market, and most of them work with electronic paper technology by E Ink Corporation.

In 2008, an Apple iPhone app for reading e-books in iPhone had a surge of sales (even more than the sales total of Amazon Kindle). This made iPhone one of the popular devices to read e-books. But in this article, we will be looking only at specialized e-book readers.

1. Amazon Kindle

Perhaps the most popular of e-book readers, Amazon Kindle had a sales total of 380,000 units in 2008 in the US alone. Kindle is now in the next generation with the advent of Amazon Kindle 2 and Kindle DX this year (DX is already out of stock). According to the article "Which eBook Reader is the Most Suitable for Me? ", K-DX offers native PDF support, has an iPhone-like accelerometer that changes the orientation of the screen when you rotate the Reader and is more suitable for reading electronic versions of newspapers, magazines, and formatted books (Digital Book Readers). With the ability to keep thousands of e-books in storage and easy access to the online Amazon e-book store, Kindle is perhaps the first choice of anyone looking for a standalone e-book reader.

The display is like normal paper and easy to read. Kindle has wireless capabilities to access the online book store and magazine store of Amazon. Kindle 2 has a 600 x 800 (6 inch) display. It can receive books through the high-speed Sprint 3G network, nationally available. Supported formats include the Amazon proprietary format, AZW (DRM-restricted), PRC, TXT, and PDF (some of these formats may need to be converted to AZW).

2. Sony Reader

Sony Digital Book Reader is the popular e-book reader from Sony, and there have been already three editions of this—PRS-500, PRS-505, and PRS-700.

The reader has a 600 x 800 pixel electronic paper display (EPD), similar to Kindle, and the display is 8-level grayscale. PRS-700 edition, unlike others, sports a touch screen. The supported e-book formats include BBeB book (from Marlin), TXT, RTF, ePub, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word (DOC). It supports JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP for images; and MP3 and AAC for audio.

3. iRex iLiad

iRex iLiad, similar to Kindle and Sony Reader, makes use of the electronic paper display and comes at 768 x 1024 (8 inches) resolution. It has 16-level grayscale screen.

Through Wi-Fi, LAN, USB connectivity, or a network using a MyiRex account, you can transfer e-books to the reader. The supported e-book formats include Adobe PDF, MOBI, PRC, HTML, and TXT.

4. Hanlin eReader

Hanlin eReader, known in various brand names across the world, such as Endless Ideas BeBook, is a popular e-book reader. It has a 600 x 800 resolution, 4-level grayscale display. It connects through a USB port.

Unlike other readers mentioned above, this reader supports almost all popular file formats for e-books—Adobe PDF, CHM, DJVU, DOC, ePub, FB2, HTM, LIT, MOBI, PPT, PRC, RTF, TXT, WOLF. It also supports archiving formats like ZIP and RAR; image formats like BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF; and audio format, MP3.

Conclusion

Most of these e-book readers come with revolutionary E-Ink technology developed by E Ink Corporation. This is a digital paper display, which gives the experience of reading actual paper. With the storage space for thousands of e-books and ability to keep battery power for thousands of page turns or several hours, these e-book readers can be regarded as portable libraries. Since they can connect to some network to purchase and download popular fiction and non-fiction from online e-book vendors, they can provide great reading experience when you are on a long-distance journey.

Marco Gustafsson is author of articles on eBook Readers, e-inc technology and electronic books. Visit Digital Book Readers to find more information and discover new dimension of reading.

View all articles by Marco Gustafsson

Link to this article:

Related Articles...

5 things that you can keep track of using a GPS device. Jun 21, 2011 - 10:27:08 AM GPS Tracking is a brilliant use of technology.  As part of a satellite tracking system, a small device can be used for so many different things from tracking a person to tracking an airplane!  As long as the device is somewhere on the planet, with reasonable coverage of the above skys, you can track it!... [Read the full story]

WebDigg - The Revolution in Web Statistics Jun 21, 2011 - 8:20:59 AM If you want to know how much traffic is coming to your site, which pages are bringing the most traffic, Alexa stats, Whois information, twitter posts, Safety Report, competitors websites, where are your visitors coming from, and when is traffic coming in, you just have to analyze your website’s statistics.... [Read the full story]

The Advantages Of Digital Radio Unplugged Jun 12, 2011 - 9:37:44 PM Digital radio is radio with digital quality sound, uninterrupted relay, and much better reception. There are many advantages of digital radio when compared to other kind of transmission. Some features or advantages are mentioned below.... [Read the full story]

Technology products: do they make life easier or more complicated? May 26, 2011 - 4:29:35 AM In the last few years technology has invaded our lives, changing our habits, the way we work, study, have fun and communicate. Every day a new technological instrument is launched on the market, be that cameras, new pc or mobile models, more and more sophisticated televisions and so on. And if adults consider all this as something new, the new generations, the ones that were born and have been growing in this technological epoch, consider all these constant evolutions and the launch of new, advanced products as something very natural, and not only interesting.  ... [Read the full story]

---

Newest Articles in Popular Topics:

Business & Marketing	Computers & the Internet	Entertainment	Health & Fitness
Finding Ways To Save Money And Maximize Revenue In Business Cooper's Golf Park Tees Off Their New Website Fiinovation Adjudged CSR Team of the Year & Caring Company at World CSR Day Reasons Why Kale Realty is the Best Real Estate Firm in All of Chicago Montreal Tech Startup Kangaroo Rewards Launches Mobile Loyalty Program for Local Merchants	It is time we break out of the SEO Shelter 3 Strong Reasons You Should Start Your Own Blog Evolve Your Career With CompTIA A+ Certification Exam High speed VMware Backups - Powered by UltraBlaze(™) from Vembu Things to Consider When Selecting a Domain Name for Your Website	Fling Boom "Launches" This Holiday Season Beautiful Abstract Canvas Art is Up for Grabs Buying Art as a Gift: Tips From an Expert Complete Guide to the 2014 Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival Released by Jackson Mountain Homes Learn Blues Music Online-Alternative to Traditional Piano Lessons	Causes and Treatment of Acne What Type Of Constipation Home Remedies Are There? Manual Wheelchairs: Buying One Instant Facelift with Dental Implants Lasik Surgery Leading Correction Of Vision Issues
Home & Family	Shopping	Sports	Travel
Enhance Your Learning Experience Through Best Responsive Elearning Development Tools Best Apps for Learning German Esvees is Cranbourne's Elite Hair Dressing Company Ozone Generator Practical Tips When Choosing Gates and Gate Openers for Your Home or Business	Why Cases are Required for Mobile Phones? Are Dealership Services Worth It? 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Named Must-Shop SUV for Towing from AutoTrader.com Online Selling With An Appraisal Advantage Macsome AudioBook Converter released New Version V2.0.4	Aditi Ashok signs off with a double Softball Coaching: Avoid Becoming A Nattering Nabob of Negativity Softball Coaching Tips - The Funnel Approach Pick Up Specialized Advice on Jumping Exercises Which Are Highly Effective Vertical Jump Training Tactics to Increase Your Athletic Performance	Tips for Choosing the Right Paris Short Lets Hostels - the best choice for working womens and college students Perfect holiday? Book a cruise and sail in Croatia! Say Aloha to Your Best Vacation Ever with Kohala Coast Properties The Perfect Guide for a Fantastic Family Trip to Kansas City

 

Follow & Share Your Favorite Video Articles

Tell a Friend About This Site

Tweet about this site

Follow @dimeco

Recommended Associates

Putting Up a Small Commercial Printing Business

So You Might Be Unemployed And Desire To Become A San Francisco Real Estate Investor Now

Meditation and Mindfulness: Dealing With Emotion

CPA Websites: Five Essential Ideas for Composing Convincing Articles

Set Goals In Order to Come Up With Your Action Plan

Is the Air in Your Home Safe to Breathe?

Coarse Fishing Tackle Review: The JW Young 13ft Trotter Rod

Section 1031 Exchanges For San Diego Real Estate Investors

Phoenix Real Estate Investing For Highest Possible Earnings

Legendary are the Volk Racing TE37 Wheels

Developing the Next Generation Wall Station (ChaseDesk™) for Healthcare - A Case Study

What are step down transformers?

Introducing Sharehype, the Revolutionary Tool for Online Marketers

Rewards To Shopping For Austin Real Estate On The Web

Hydroponics for Beginners

Do you write?

Would you like submit your articles and have them approved on a priority status? Find out more about how you can become a Priority author for pennies a day! Click here.

News Feed

Dime-co.com Home

Business (9328)

Computers & The Internet (5740)

Entertainment (1348)

Family (958)

Finance (1963)

Health (4246)

Home and Living (6670)

Marketing (6113)

Shopping & Product Reviews (2624)

Sports (694)

Travel and Vacations (1689)

Video Articles (1)

Editors Pick (1)