e-books

Amazon's Kindle is only $140 these days; a great price for a really nice e-reader. But if you're really strapped for cash, now there's an alternative. You can save $25 in exchange for getting a Kindle that has advertising on the standby screen and home page. Does this seem like a good deal?

It's hard to make an argument that we need yet another source for e-books, but that hasn't stopped Google. You can read Google eBooks in a browser, app, or download a file that you can read on any e-reader that can handle Adobe DRM EPUB format.

On Wednesday Borders launched their Kobo-fueled e-book store, as well as apps for a variety of multi-purpose devices. I spent some time with the iPad and Android versions of their reader application. Here's what I found.

In one corner we have Amazon's Kindle format. Amazon has been showing that the Kindle hardware is just a means to an end. It wants Kindle to be a universal e-book format. In the opposing corner sits the iPad, the one tablet device that supports almost all e-book formats (including Apple's, of course).

At the New York Public Library yesterday, Sony revealed a new high end model of its Sony Reader series, and announced a partnership with OverDrive.com to facilitate borrowing e-books from libraries.

Barnes & Noble announced a major push into the ebook space yesterday, including a partnership with Plastic Logic which makes B&N the "exclusive eBookstore provider" for the Plastic Logic e-reader.

Scribd wants to sell you DRM-free content for your e-reader (or any device that can display a PDF). Is this a case of "Move over Kindle!" or just another niche e-publisher?