All The News? New York Times versus Wall Street Journal iPad Apps – Review

With the advent of portable devices such as the Kindle eBook reader and Apple iPad, how we get our newspaper has started to change dramatically.

In designing their first generation iPad interfaces, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal started with a tabula rasa. The Wall Street Journal chose to adopt iPad conventions in terms of the use of gestures.  As a result, the experience the reader gets doesn’t …

Kindle for BlackBerry Review

Earlier today, Amazon.com released Kindle for BlackBerry, a program for reading eBooks on BlackBerry devices.  The software is available free from Amazon’s Web site (it is not available, however, from the BlackBerry App World store) and allows users to read books (Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not yet accessible by this app) purchased on the Web, via a Kindle eBook reader, or via the BlackBerry device itself.  I downloaded …

Amazon Kindle DX: Is Bigger Really Better?

Bucking the trend for smaller footprint devices, Amazon announced a significantly larger Kindle eBook reader.  The electronic paper display is 2.5 times the size of the current Kindle model and, at 535 g, the weight is double the current model.  It will store 3,500 books compared to 1,500.
The new device, dubbed Kindle DX (for deluxe), costs $489, or $130 more than the current and smaller model. Amazon.com is positioning it …

Review: Amazon Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch

On Wednesday, Amazon.com released Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch, a program for reading electronic books on those devices.  The software is available free from Apple’s App Store and allows users to read books purchased on the Web or via a Kindle eBook reader.  I downloaded it to an iPod touch shortly after it became available.
Based on what Amazon has mentioned publicly, the company doesn’t believe that the free application …

Rekindling the Flame – Amazon Introduces Kindle 2

When the original Amazon Kindle was introduced, I tried very hard to like it.  While there were many things that it did well (see my original review), the reader experience was ultimately unsatisfying.  At the time of its introduction, however, the Kindle was certainly the latest and probably greatest eBook reader, a concept that goes back to Sony’s introduction of the Bookman in 1991 and the Sony Data Discman in …

Trying to Like the Amazon Kindle

If you are looking for an electronic book reader, the Amazon Kindle is head and shoulders above the competition. But the question really is, do you want an electronic book reader.
I really wanted to like the Kindle, with its E Ink high resolution display that gives an almost print-like appearance, free wireless connectivity (limited to the U.S. because it uses Sprint’s EVDO network, and post modern interpretation of, well, a …