MoneyWatch Tech

New E-Books and Maybe New Directions

By Erik Sherman

Updated on: October 20, 2009 / 5:20 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

All eyes have been pointing toward New York and the Barnes & Noble announcement of its new e-reader, the Nook, which is supposed to be $259 with an e-ink screen and a small color touch-screen beneath the main display. But there is one quieter e-book announcement that ultimately may be more interesting, because it shows a different approach to what could become a dangerously stale category.

According to Ina Fried at CNET, here are some of the Nook's features:

PDF support
uses AT&T's wireless network (oh, joy, more congestion for iPhone users and others)
2GB RAM on board with up to five fonts and ability to customize with photos
ability to lend books between users for up to two weeks

Interesting enough, but what really caught my attention was a press release that came in from Spring Design. The reason is that many of the e-readers have frankly been looking alike to me. The Barnes & Noble is a bit different with the screen below, but essentially it's the same thing in each case; only the features change slightly to protect the indolent.

What's different about Spring Design's Alex (Where do they get these names from?) starts with using Google's Android operating system. There is a lower color screen below the main display, but in this case it's capable of full browsing over Wi-Fi or cellular networks. That's smart, because it's finally beginning to step beyond the timid electronic reproduction of a paper book. And given what paper books do, I'd argue that duplication is the sincerest form of failure. If you want customers to buy, you have to give them a good reason. In this case, the web is a reference source as you read. Take a look at this video:

You can load a book if you want and read, turning off the LCD screen to save power (a very smart move). Or you can find something on the Internet and push that content onto the main screen -- in black & white, of course. As the video shows, you could go to the mobile version of the New York Times, find something, and then slap it onto that bigger screen. Users can also create annotations and notes and add them to a book's text.

Plus, because it's an Android-based device, you have to think that it will support apps to some degree. You can also see why a bigger touch-sensitive screen would be good. (Maybe this is what Apple is thinking of for a tablet.)

Is it perfect? Unlikely, and not even available at the moment as the company is apparently trying to line up partners. But it is greatly expanding the boundaries of what you might include in an e-reader, and that's a good thing. Until that broadly happens, e-books may continue to be a curiosity.

Image courtesy Barnes & Noble.