Nook Touch screen plus Pixel QI 's coming one

Larger photo at CNet (CBS Interactive).

I visited Barnes and Noble last night to see the Nook Simple Touch.
  In November I visited the store to see the NookColor, and when I saw that unit, I bought it immediately because its display made a big, positive impression on me and I wanted an ereader for color magazines (National Geo especially, which is spectacular on it) and very-portable color web-browisng.

  I had a different reaction to the Nook Touch last night, and I was really surprised after reading so much about it.  The font/text for books was lighter than I expected -- I tried several books, some of them public domain so that I could see the default-text look using several font faces at almost every size.

  I asked the salesman if there was any way to get the font to be less gray looking, as it was less crisp and dark than is the current Kindle.  No, he said.  With the salesman encouraging me to try a few books, I opened several of them.  At first I thought it was because I had chosen books which were originally done with color fonts and therefore the text seemed gray instead of black.  But the screen contrast with text was the same for the normal public domain books.  He said that is the way it looks and it looked fine, but I preferred the Nook 1 text I have seen.  It looked good, but it just wasn't what I'm used to, with crispness but that screen contrast is what I've liked about the Kindle.

  So, in my view, there is probably an effect from the touch-screen technology.  It probably doesn't bother others the way it does me, and if one isn't used to the Kindle 3 version of the Pearl display, people will be very happy with this one.  It has a clean look, and the unit is nicely small, if a bit squarish, and will more easily fit into a big pocket.

  The image of the Nook Touch here is from CNet. I reduced the size of the photo because the reduction process sharpens it from the actual shot at CNet, which you can see by clicking on the image.

  The touch screen is VERY responsive. I liked its response more than I like the touch screen of my NookColor eReader/Tablet, which is oversensitive and will activate a link if my finger is just hovering over it and is therefore not ideal for writing email.  But I love the NC display, which has fantastic resolution and gorgeous, natural, while vivid, colors.  I don't use it for novels, as serial-character reading (vs quick-browsing in random style when web browsing) on an LCD screen, even when dimmed to 5% of max, is not that relaxing to my eyes. However, with material that involves the relief of associated color images and with the degree of screen contrast on the NookColor, it's excellent.

I enjoyed being able to sit at B&N and read, in-store, portions of photography books I was thinking of buying.

(Especially for the photography-inclined)
  Looking at several, and seeing more than I can with Samples usually, I found the Revell book especially well produced as a digital book, because I could compare it with the considerably larger paper-bound book in the store, page by page.  The NookColor does not zoom pictures in a book (though it does with magazines and with web-pages, beautifully) nor does it show them in Landscape, except with children's books for some reason.

  The publishers of the digital copy choose to make two versions of the photographs -- one that showed the size of it the way it would appear in the book (but then the text would be too small to read) and one that involved closeups of each segment of the photo so you could read the advice that goes with each section of the photograph and you can page left and right to see it all.  They also made the fonts a comfortable size.

  The translated-to-gray colors of course won't look very good on an e-Ink Kindle.  Although I've read text of a few photography books on the Kindle, I don't recommend it for viewing the photos. However, the free Kindle for PC and Kindle for Mac apps will show them in color on your laptop or desktop.  At any rate, a sample is always available.

  I wound up buying it after 15 minutes of browsing it in-store, but a few minutes with other books convinced me not to buy them.  At any rate, a really nice feature of Barnes and Noble - a free hour with a Nook book in-store and you can resume next time you visit.

So there I was, with the paper-bound books, the NookColor-viewing of same books, and with my Kindle showing Amazon Kindlebook reviews of each book :-).  True story: a guy who was browsing wanted to know what each device was and thought the NookColor looked great.  Then he picked up the Kindle and he said (really), "It looks like this...," pointing to his books.  He said he'd choose that one because the 'print' looked like a book (obviously he wasn't seeing my color paperbacks that were open) and I told him I liked both ereaders, for different reasons.

  But to get back to my original reason for writing, I was really surprised that the Nook Touch was just not contrasty enough for my eyes.  The touch can't be beat. It was nigh perfect. However, the black refresh that comes only every 5 or 6 pages is then a tiny shock and seems to last longer because you don't have a chance to get used to it with the other pages just shifting text-content by fading in.   The black seemed to last longer as a result but I think that was just an illusion because the other pages didn't have the flash.  Outside of that, they did a very nice job on the non-flashing page turns, which are smooth although not noticeably faster than on the Kindle.

  The mildly surprising, when intermittent, black flash was noted by CNet's Carnoy also, but he feels the touch screen is enough, alone, to put the Nook Touch ahead of the Kindle in his view, as other features aren't that important to him (and others will feel the same way as he does).  I saw no noticeable ghosting as some have reported.  I liked the way the page contents faded into the next.

  I recommend that those trying to decide between the two units go to Best Buy and see both units together and make a decision that way, especially if you don't need the features that are missing in the Nook Touch but which had been included in the older e-Ink Nook-1.


PIXEL QI is developing a new screen for the Notion Ink Adam
GoodEreader.com was able to get a demo by Pixel QI folks at a Computext.  The current Notion Ink Adam Tablet's Pixel QI screen has been a disappointment for those waiting for what is essentially a good piece of hardware.  You'll see an example of that in the comments. Goodereader writes:

' John Ryan the COO of Pixel Qi told us that the new screens were in development and they were relying on Notion Ink to adopt the new technology into future manufacturing.

  The screens themselves looked tremendous compared to the previous iterations and even with trade-show lighting there was no glare at all.  The display models they showed us at Computex was a new film layer they had on-top of the screen.

We have to hope that the Notion Ink is going to adopt this new technology into future Adams because their current crop of Pixel Qi screens has been received with a lukewarm response. '

I can't say that the images shown on the webpage are all good indications of what they describe, but it's an interesting story, especially if you've followed the long development of and the anticipation involved with the release of the Adam.

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iPad competitors and Dell Mini that reads Kindle - Update

It seems the market will be flooded with tablets or slates competing with the iPad.

UPDATE 3/13/10 - Seven alternatives to the Apple iPad - Mainly large photos and specs, pro and con, at linked CrunchGear site.

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HP Slate
For those reading this on a computer, the HP Slate now has a 5-1/2 minute youtube video demo'g its flash support and Adobe Air (missing from the iPad) and it's very impressive.   Start it at minute 1:18 as he just talks for too long when introducing it.

ADAM by Notion Ink
Goodereader reports on the Adam from Notion Ink, the first gizmo that will be released with the Pixel QI screen, that can alternate between an e-paper type display and an LCD one and doesn't depend only on its own power source for the screen's light.
  Unlike the iPad, Goodereader says, its backlight can be turned on or off, reducing battery drain by 50% and allowing 16 hours of Internet usage while the iPad's is expected to be about 10 hours (the latest release info from Apple says the number of hours is subject to many conditions).

With a 10" screen, it uses the Android system, has HDMI output, 3 USB ports, can multitask, has GPS, a digital compass, a 3 megapixel camera, and is memory-card expandable to 32 gig. It weighs a bit over 1-1/2 lbs. Here's an article that includes an e-mail interview with the CEO (from India) and a chart of Adam features vs the iPad.

Smartmoney.com quotes a consultant who says the Adam "is probably closer to what the second-generation iPad will be than what the iPad currently is."

John Dvorak asks, "iPad killer from, uh, India?" and still wonders if there's a market for a tablet computer. Seems so! though not at some of the pricing we've seen when you want 3G cellular wireless capability and while being asked to forego multitasking capability, usb ports, webcam, flash support for the Web etc.

And here's iSlate headlining, "Notion Ink's Adam Considered to be a big contender against the iPad."  It's a detailed article if you want to read more on this.

The most attractive part from all that? Starting price will be about $325
.
DELL MINI 5 or "Streak"
Dell is apparently creating a small one that will be able to read Kindle books !   The screen size is smaller than the Kindle though but considerably larger than most smartphones and would be an "always-On" web device, running Android 2, with a 3G phone, WiFi, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera and a forward-facing camera for video calls, 1.6G internal storage (before system files) and a micro SD card slot.

Engadget received a flyer with confirmed specs and colorful models. Their earlier article on Feb. 26 reported the Dell Mini wouldn't be out for at least another month and referenced Wired's quote from Neeraj Choubey, GM of Dell's tablet division, that there'll be " 'a family of tablets' which will 'scale up to a variety of sizes' and that it'll likely be Android all the way, while Choubey also shared his company's intention to bundle 'inexpensive data plans' with the new devices...'

Choubey confirmed to Laptop that Dell is working with AT&T  (yikes, are they the carrier for most of the e-readers and tablets?).  The leaked internal document they got states:

' The second page details a content partnership that Dell may be entering with Amazon.  The document states that the Mini 5 will integrate with Amazon's Kindle, MP3 and Video services, and will include a Kindle reader app. '

  It also refers to the Snapdragon-powered device as the 'Streak.'  No solid release date or final price yet.

Hmmm, Infomobile has a huge picture of a proposed Dell ad about the Amazon deal and, in an earlier story, a brief video of the little unit, plus a description of the not-gonna-fly price - unsubsidized (no data plan: $1098 and maybe $600-$700 with plan).  It does have a phone.  See update below: Wired's writer feels Dell would tend to undercut Apple's pricing.

UPDATE - 11:35 AM, same day. Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk adds that

' The documents also indicate that — like Kindle owners — users of this Dell mini-tablet will have wireless (3G) access to the Kindle store with “no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for a Wi-Fi spot.” If that’s the case, Dell’s tablets would have a significant advantage over the iPad, which can only access the 3G network if you pay for the more expensive version of the hardware and sign up for a $15 or $30 per month data plan in addition to whatever wireless data plan you have for your phone. '

IPAD VIDEO AD
And with all tablets, there's one unusual inherent problem for users: here's Apple's first iPad video ad.  Liliputing makes sport of the new, very effective iPad ad in that they draw attention to the odd positions of everyone using the iPad in that ad - their legs are in unusual positions because it needs to be propped up.  I guess there'll be holders for it.