Tag Archives: Amazon Kindle

29 January 1
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iPad – actually it is an e-book reader …

Under - Industrial Design, My Musings, Technology

… disguised as a netbook or may be a formidable hybrid of both! But, with iPad Apple has defined a new category of products that many going to follow in coming days. With the revelation of iBookstore, it is foreseeable where the whole game plan is leading to.

iPad is an amplified version of iPhone but without a phone that is going to run all iPhone apps. It is an excellent alternate to netbooks and thin enough to be used as e-reader. As an e-reader, iPad is way advanced than what we are currently familiar with in the form of Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader. As mentioned earlier in a different context, this device has the potential of becoming an ultimate e-reader and PMP.

Smartphones are excellent but still small enough to be used as practical devices for everyday use. With iPad, Apple has successfully combined several products in one. Many would struggle to fit this product into the current hierarchy of consumer electronics but I see it clearly replacing conventional laptops, tablets and netbooks.

What future holds from Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader – I don’t know but I’m sure for one thing that iPad, when wrapped in leather, is a clear invitation to Microsoft Courier to enter into the ring with caution.

Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Computing, Consumer electronics, e-reader, iPad, IPhone, Laptop, Linux based devices, Microsoft Corporation, Netbook, Sony Corporation, Sony Reader, Technology, Technology/Internet

28 December 2
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Bonnier and BERG – redefining reading experience for our time

Under - Industrial Design, Media, My Musings, Technology

It is interesting to see how quickly technology and our needs are converging into new products and concepts – refining or redefining our habits and experiences. I’ve been quite happily reading digital magazines such as Bak, FF3300, Destructed and Proteus on my computer monitor for quite some time now. Issue took online publishing to another level by providing a platform to deliver exceptional reading experiences. All of this is enough to indicate where things are heading in near future.

Amazon’s Kindle, Sony Reader, and Fujitsu’s FLEPia have already added new dimension to this. Earlier this year Amzon brought Kindle to mobile platform, extending its reach but at the same time pushing competition into a new direction … I’m not talking about business here rather prospects of combining advance interaction, normally seen on advance mobile phone devices such as iPhone, HTC HD2, Palm Pre, Else Intuition etc with conventional reading experience. In other words, refining and redefining reading experience on handheld digital devices.

Bonnier and BERG collaborated to illustrate such a concept in Mag+, aiming to capture the essence of magazine reading, they compiled a video demo of a digital magazine on a touch tablet. The video demos how magazines like Bonnier’s Popular Science can be adopted for a handheld multi-touch screen device with gesture based browsing and non-obtrusive interface that you only see when you actually want to.

With publishers collaborating and preparing for digital future and technology advancements, any such product is not a dream anymore. I can hope to see it alive within a year or two.