As the e-Reader market heats up, in a bid to lower costs and spark further development, E-ink, the supplier of electronic paper displays for companies like Amazon and Sony, has teamed up with Texas company, Freescale Semiconductor who provide processors for electronic reading devices.
 
The firms will jointly develop System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions that integrate Freescale's i.MX processor technology with E Ink's Vizplex® display controller. The partnership is designed to lower costs and expand the ecosystem of supporting electronics for the electronic reader market. The collaboration is also expected to spark innovation for emerging product categories such as eNewspapers, tablet PCs, laptop secondary displays, eNotebooks, and eDictionaries.
 
According to a 2009 DisplaySearch report, unit shipments of eReaders are expected to grow from 1 million units in 2008 to over 75 million units in 2018 with a value of approximately $3.8 billion. Market drivers include new electronic readers in the market, international expansion of availability of the devices, anticipated price declines, and the electronic distribution of newspapers and textbooks.
 
"We are very excited to see this cooperation. The market demand for electronic paper displays has outpaced even the most optimistic market projections with many new companies around the world entering the eBook reader market. This cooperation between E Ink and Freescale is an exciting next step to enabling this trend to continue," said Johnson Lee, VP of Prime View International.
 
E Ink signed an agreement to merge with Prime View International, which is expected to be completed by December 2009.

According to research of the Taipei-based Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) conducted as part of the ITIS project, worldwide e-reader shipment volume is expected to reach 3.05 million units in 2009 and is forecast to reach 19.76 million units in 2013. The shipment volume CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for the period 2008-2013 is expected to amount to 78.2%. Worldwide shipment value of e-readers is expected to reach US$749 million in 2009 and is forecast to reach US$4.16 billion by 2013. The shipment value CAGR is expected to amount to 71.9% for the period 2008-2013.

With key e-reader vendors such as Amazon and Sony aggressively developing the market and the growing environmental awareness among consumers in recent years, demand for non-paper electronic reading devices has surfaced. According to MIC Senior Industry Analyst David Chen, "the usage scope of e-readers has already expanded from leisure reading to work document reading and study-related reading. Among e-reader users, there is demand for touch writing input, memory card slots, relatively large-sized displays, and personal virtual library functions."

MIC forecasts that the focus of e-reader display technology competition will evolve from paper-like visual reading experience to book-like reading experience, including visual, touch and even hearing aspects. Key elements in this competition will be image processing, color display, touch control to turn pages, and writing input.

In the coming years, value in the e-reader industry supply chain is expected to move from software-, content- and service-related areas to hardware-related e-reader production and assembly processes. This will involve e-reader contract production, monochrome e-reader display, color e-reader display, driver IC, controller IC, USB controller IC, and wireless communication IC companies.

IREX Technologies unveiled a breakthrough in the e-reading market. A pioneering business model with the consumer at its heart will see the new IREX DR800SG finally offer consumers and publishers their e-reading freedom. Consumers may wirelessly purchase newspapers, magazines and books from a wide range of sources, and read them not just on the IREX, but on a range of devices. The sleek 8.1 inch reader with 3G technology will be available in Best Buy stores across the US from October 2009 and comes with the Barnes and Noble ebookstore of over 750,000 titles, but offers the opportunity for virtually any publisher or retailer to be included. The DR800SG model which in the US features heavyweight partners Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm is set to be replicated with partners in the UK and Europe. The planned launch during 2010 follows the recent establishment of an IREX UK office and the recruitment of former Plastic Logic executive David Edgar as UK Director to bring the model across the Atlantic to the UK.

Although currently one of the lesser known e-reader manufacturers, IREX have been at the forefront of the industry since they grew out of electronics giant Philips and already retail the world’s only ‘writeable’ device for A4 documents, the IREX DR1000. Their strong business to business partnerships see them working with individual companies across the world to tailor the device to their specific requirements in sectors including publishing, healthcare, engineering and the Law. The company is also involved in projects in the education market across Europe.

With several new products rumoured to be launching in the UK and Europe within the year the market is becoming increasingly competitive. However IREX firmly believes that the design, quality and technology of the DR800SG measures up and the opportunity to have content which is not locked to a specific device will soon transform IREX into an instantly recognisable brand name.

The IREX DR800SG with a leather cover will be available in October at all Best Buy locations in the US. The device has an MSRP of $399.99.

Is this relevant to the CAT-iq industry. E-reader technology could be an interesting expansion for future CAT-iq products. 

On August 5, Sony Corporation announced that it will add two e-books to its PRS e-reader lineup. The PRS-300 and PRS-600 will be priced at $199 and $299, respectively, and will be available at retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart. On August 26, Sony announced another new addition to its e-reader lineup: The Sony Reader Daily Edition. This will be priced at $399, offer 3G connectivity through AT&T, have a touchscreen, and open up a wider range of free and paid-for e-book content to its users, according to In-Stat.

The aggressive pricing for the low-end e-readers, and the introduction of a wireless e-reader, is clearly Sony’s attempt to encroach on the lead Amazon currently holds in the e-book market with its Kindle lineup. Amazon and cellular operator, Sprint, have partnered to allow all Kindle users to wirelessly access digital e-book content via the Sprint EVDO network. There is no fee to the user, and a PC is not required. Content is downloaded directly to the Kindle; and this seamless content-to-hardware delivery experience has been a major driver of Amazon’s success in the e-book market.

“Until Sony announced its wireless e-reader, the company remained at a distinct disadvantage to Amazon,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “But now Sony can not only compete with Amazon more directly, but can also address a wider range of consumers than Amazon since it offers more affordable e-reader models to consumers who may not want wireless connectivity.”

Overall, the e-reader market continues to heat up as Amazon updates its Kindle lineup and as Sony expands its offerings. Worldwide e-reader shipments are expected to reach 28.6 million units in 2013, up from 924,000 in 2008. Market drivers include new entrants to market, international expansion of e-book availability, anticipated price declines, and the electronic distribution of newspapers.

For an in-depth analysis on the worldwide e-book market, refer to In-Stat’s research titled “Wireless Delivery of Digital Content Propels E-Book Adoption” (#IN0904509ID). In addition, In-Stat is about to publish the results of a recent survey of North American owners and future buyers of e-books.

Samsung is entering the South Korean e-book market with the introduction of the SNE-50K. This 5-inch e-book reader adds to the traditional book reading functions with the ability to write notes with a stylus.

 

 

Interestingly, indications have the screen being a touchscreen, with no confirmation about whether it uses e-Ink technology for the display.

The SNE-50K is launching in South Korea initially, with other countries possibly next year. The size of the reader makes it smaller than other e-book readers, thus making it more portable. Samsung is partnering the SNE-50K with the biggest bookseller in South Korea, Kyobo Bookstore. It has become standard practice for booksellers to introduce electronic readers of late.

The Samsung reader features no wireless capability, unlike Amazon’s Kindle.

 

Source : Mostreviews.com 

What is Kindle
Kindle is a product from Amazon that is a book reader device. This allows you to read your books via a 6″ display screen on the device. Advantages include being able to download book through a wireless connection that connects directly to Amazons’ kindle store that boast over 90,000 titles.

 

Amazon is now introducing the second version, which will have more features. At one point in Jeff Bezos’ presentation (CEO Amazon) he mentioned WhisperSync, a system for syncing all of your Kindles. This means if you’re reading a book on one of your Kindles and pick up another Kindle registered to your same account, it lets you start reading where you left off on the first Kindle. It’s kind of a smart bookmark so you never have to lose your place if, like many folks who are interested in this thing at all, you own a K1 and K2. But Jeff said something very special. He said this works with other Kindle devices or other “mobile devices.”

 

One of the biggest complaints is that you have to own a Kindle to read Kindle ebooks. But what are these “mobile devices” of which he speaks? Laptops, with desktop reading software? iPhones? WinMo devices? Zunes? The mind boggles. UPDATE - We have confirmation it’s coming to “cellphones” but not which ones.

 

In a way, this is the next logical move. You grab the early adopters with sexy hardware and then grab the rest of the world with software solutions. It mimics, in a way, the growth of MP3 sales - iTunes and iPod made it sexy to own music again while Amazon’s un-DRMed MP3 store - and others, obviously - stripped away the barriers to entry for millions of others.

 

With the new devices like Samsung's homemanager and DSP's infotainment product, this might be an interesting add on for CAT-iq.