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Kindle now with International wireless

The 6″ Amazon Kindle e-reader is now available (today) for use overseas with free wireless where available. Note that this is not the larger Kindle DX, but the same 6″ US reader with International support in over 100 countries. The Kindle store features over 350,000 titles plus magazines, blogs and worldwide newspapers.

The international version costs only $20 more than the US version, so this is the better device for US folks that travel a lot. Click the link to see the countries supported.

Here’s a quick recap of the main features: 6″ diagonal E-Ink screen, stores approx 1500 books (2GB), weighs 10.2oz, USB 2.0, battery lasts up to 4 days with wireless on.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $279.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

New Sony e-Book reader coming in Dec

Sony steps up the the e-Book reader wars as they announce a new addition to their line-up. The Reader Daily Edition (yes, cumbersome name) has an integrated 3G wireless conn (with free AT&T service to the Sony bookstore), a 7″ touch screen that operates in both landscape and portrait modes and has 16 shades of gray.

What’s also notable about this announcement is that you can now virtually borrow books from your library (assuming they offer electronic lending).

Hopefully available in time for Christmas, it will retail for $399. Watch out Amazon & Kindle. Sony is nipping at your heels. We’re still hoping for more embracing of common standards though.

Barnes & Noble launches e-bookstore

In their ongoing quest to stay competitive with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble acquired e-book retailer Fictionwise a few months ago and is now offering e-book downloads and a free reader that works on PCs, Macs, iPhones and Blackberrys.

Barnes & Noble also struck a deal to offer the 500,000 public domain books that Google scanned and has available on Google Books. Just one problem – I can’t seem to find any ‘free’ e-books on BN.com’s e-book section. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough. But then again, I shouldn’t need to. This should be used as a loss leader. Oh well, I’ll just peruse Google Books if I want to read a free classic.

And what about a e-reader? BN is working with manufacturer Plastic Logic that is releasing a device in 2010 for which BN will launch a e-bookstore to provide content for that device. Of course, e-books from BN.com don’t work on Sony’s device or Amazon’s Kindle.

*sigh* Competition is great and all, but why oh why don’t companies just save themselves and consumers the money and trouble and start out with standards?

GfG’s Article Recap for Week Ending June 12, 2009

First up in the ‘what the … ?!’ category from the ever-inventive Japaneses were the  Fuwarinka Candy, which changes your body odor by eating a piece of candy or chewing a piece of gum.  Apple had their WWDC conference and rolled out new MacBooks and a new iPhone.

Internet traffic could reach 2/3 of a Zettabyte by 2013 and speaking of the Net, you better grab your Facebook username before it gets snapped up by someone else.

More gadgets: The Lacie d2 Network File Server can store tons of photos and videos on your home network. Amazon released its latest Kindle, the DX, while Microsoft is close to beta testings its new free anti-virus software.

Wrapping things up, we compared some wireless 802.11 USB adapters so you could retro-fit that old laptop or desktop cheapily and easily.

Amazon.com’s Kindle DX

Amazon’s latest Kindle model, the Kindle DX, ships today for a flat price of $489. The biggest differences between the DX and the Kindle 2 are the larger 9.7″ diagonal screen, a native PDF reader, and the larger 3.3GB storage (roughly 3500 books).

Another new feature is auto-rotate which is pretty nice for formats like newspapers or pages with landscape diagrams, although it is a bit slow to transition from one to the other. The 9.7-inch screen is a 1200×824 pixel resolution at 150dpi. The DX weighs just over 1lb (19 oz total).

While the price tag may seem high, remember that you get free lifetime wireless access on the 3G Sprint network, so no searching for a WiFi hotspot.

Buy now!
Price: $489.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

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