Review Horizon

Kindle Fire was one of the most eagerly awaited gadgets for this year and Amazon certainly created a lot of noise around it, raising the expectations through the roof. While using the term iPad killer is really inappropriate after so many wannabees, most of the analysts expected Amazon to release a tablet significantly cheaper than iPad but capable to offer the same kind of synergy between various media services, eBooks and applications, Amazon being one of the very few companies that can rival Apple in such offerings.

Amazon Kindle Fire was released just a few days ago and the question hot on everybody’s lips is how and if it can compare with iPad, with other Android tablets and with the Nook Tablet, its main competitor. Nobody really doubts of Amazon capability of selling millions of Kindle Fires, but to be Read More…

1. Introduction

NookColor is Barnes and Noble’s first color reading device and it comes at exactly one year after the release of the original and highly successful Nook eReader, just in time for the holidays. If you do not count the myriads of cheap Android tablets priced around $100-$150 with resistive touchscreen and no UI customization, Nook Color is the first color eReader on the market priced at a reasonable price ($250), less then half the price of iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab and in a form factor better suited for travel.

Positioned as a reader for content beyond regular eBooks, Barnes and Noble is actively advertising it as the device of choice for children books and magazines, where color is important. As eInk color eReaders are not yet on the shelves (real or virtual), LCD devices are the way to go and, beside hugely successful iPad running iOS, the OS of choice for eReaders and small tablets is Android.

2. Nook Color Hardware specifications

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Kindle 3 is the latest Amazon take in the eBook readers market and it does not disappoint:  It is smaller and lighter, comes in two colors and ads WiFi to the specifications list. I received mine on Friday from Amazon and had the whole weekend to play with it, so here is my experience. Before starting, I want to add that I also own Kindle 2 and Barnes and Noble’s Nook for quite a while, so my review will not only go through all the Kindle 3 functionality but it will also compare its features and usability against the other two devices. In the end, I will add a series of functionality tips and tricks destined to improve your experience.

1. Kindle 3 Unpacking

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The subject of this somewhat late review is Barnes and Noble’s answer to Amazon’s Kindle eReader, the Nook. After B&N slashes Nook’s prices to a level it became a compulsory purchase if you are a book lover, so I decided to take the plunge and buy one. I purchased the 3G version but the review will apply to both versions since the only internal difference is the presence of a 3G modem in the 3G version of the Nook and the back cover color (gray for Nook 3G, white for Nook WiFi). The reason the review is somewhat late is because I like to test my new gadgets for a couple of weeks before I review them in order to get a better feel about their usability and ergonomics. Also, the present review will apply to the rooted version of the Nook and I’ll explain in detail the differences between the rooted and the official version. The reviewed firmware version is 1.4.

1. Unpacking

The Nook version I purchased arrived Read More…

Following a deal found by my wife, I decided to buy the Pandigital Novel 7 color multimedia ereader due mostly to its price ($127 after rebate). I already have a Nook, but the Internet browsing experience on an eInk screen is less than optimal compared with the LCD screens. The Pandigital Novel 7 seemed like a good fit both for price and form factor. Let’s see how it fared in terms of performance. The present review also is the first review where I’ll ask my wife to play with a new gadget for a while and post her impressions, from a non-technical user perspective.
Pandigital is well know for building budget photo-frames, so it comes as a surprise that they entered in the digital eReaders field, especially with competitors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. However, their approach is different: for a comparable price build an eReader with a color LCD screen that should offer additional functionality beside just of an eBook reader, very similar with what Apple has done with their iPad but in a form factor more compatible with reading, and for a price also closer to that of a popular eBook reader.

1. Unpacking

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