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The QOOQ: a recipe tablet for modern kitchens

Birge Basik — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:15:58 +0000

I can cook. Actually I’m an extraordinary cook; people keep saying that my fingers are magical. But I’m aware that lots of people even have trouble boiling an egg. The QOOQ is a kitchen computer, which will replace recipe cards and old cook books. It has 10.2’’ tablet with glass touch screen, on-screen keyboard, Ethernet connection, USB and SD ports and built-in Wi-Fi. However it’s not a netbook, it contains no web browser or such. It has access to online recipe sites and contains a number of built-in recipes, can gather weather information and access to internet radio stations. Plus it’s a very cute digital photo frame. A QOOQ will cost you €349 for the unit with 500 recipes installed and then €12.95 a month for recipe updates. Unfortunately, it’s only available in France, but I’m sure that it will be available internationally soon.

LG Solar Cell e-Book Reader

Birge Basik — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:30:18 +0000

LG is going to hit the market with its futuristic e-book reader. It has solar panels, which provides an extra 4-5 hours after the sun. The panels are 0.7mm thick and weighing around 20 grams. It has 6 inch TFT LCD display screen.

Mr. Ki Yong Kim, head of the Solar Cell Office at LG Display says…

eBbooks are attracting a lot of attention because they offer the advantage of storing thousands of books’ worth of contents in an easy-to-carry device. The idea of e-book combined with solar cell will offer users the added benefit of longer usage. We will continue to provide users with enhanced convenience and value to solidify our lead in next-generation, environmentally friendly products.

LG is working towards increasing its solar cell energy conversion efficiency rate to 12% by 2010 and up to 14% by 2012. LG Solar Cell e- book’s release date and price is not clear but we are sure that we will be hearing about it soon.

Microsoft Courier Tablet

GadgetManiac — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:55:33 +0000

Gizmodo has the scoop on the design of a new tablet PC from Microsoft, dubbed Courier. The Courier has two 7 inch displays, folds like a book along a hinge and supports multi-touch and stylus input…not unlike the Asus Eee Book we previewed a while back. More deets/pics/video at the Giz.

In view of the redesigned Zune HD and this nice Courier Tablet, one might be tempted to assume that software companies can do hardware after all.

Courier: First Details of Microsoft’s Secret Tablet – Gizmodo, Sept 22 2009

Asus Eee Book

GadgetManiac — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:26:39 +0000

The Times informs us of the forthcoming Asus Eee Book reader. It’s a dual panel color touch screen ebook with a hinged spine that also does double duty as a PC running Win7 with a virtual keyboard. With estimated selling price of $163 for the low-end model, it will be about 1/2 the price of the Kindle.

The lack of color is the number one complaint heard from eBook users, followed by slow response during page turns.

For the smarter kind of bookworm – The Times, September 6 2009

Amazon Kindle 2

GadgetManiac — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:24:00 +0000

BoyGenius presents what is probably the new Kindle e-book reader. The Kindle 2 is apparently longer and wider than the original, but thinner. It has better buttons, a joystick, recharge by miniUSB and downloads via EV-DO.

…seemingly unsullied by professional product designers.

Amazon Kindle 2 e-books its way to BGR – BGR, Oct 3 2008

Sony PRS-700 e-Book Reader

GadgetManiac — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:56:48 +0000

Sony announces their latest e-book reader, model PRS-700.

As compared to the preceding PRS-505, Sony’s made the PRS-700 a touch screen, thus eliminating the column of 10 buttons along the right side of the screen. Price goes up to about $400, making the PRS-700 $100 more expensive than the 505, but then you get touch-based page turns, text annotation via on-screen keyboard, search, highlighting and an LED light for dim conditions. Capacity doubles to about 350 digital books.

…still no wireless connectivity or web browsing à la Kindle.

Sony’s Third Generation Reader Digital Book Gives Readers a “feel” For Literature – Sony press release, Oct. 2 2008

iRex Digital Reader

GadgetManiac — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:37:31 +0000

iRex intro’s their Digital Reader family of eBook appliances. The top of the iRex 1000 series is the DR 1000 SW ebook reader, selling for $849.

10.2 inch 1024×1280 pixel eInk 16 GrayScale 160 dpi display
10.6×8.5×0.5 inches and 1.25 lbs -or- 27×21.7×1.2 cm and 570 grams
WIFI and Bluetooth (SW model only)

iRex Digital Reader series

Plastic Logic Reader

GadgetManiac — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:36:27 +0000

The new Plastic Logic Reader is an e-book reader intended for reading full-size business documents.

uses E-Ink
same size weight and thickness as a pad of paper
battery life of days
1/3 weight of macbook air
some competition for Kindle and the Sony Reader in 2Q2009

video of Richard Archuleta, CEO Plastic Logic demoing the device…

Amazon Kindle Reviewed by Stephen King … sort of

GadgetManiac — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:56:04 +0000

Stephen King the horror novel author, has just finished reading the book In Pale Battalions, by Robert Goddard, but did so with one of those new Kindle eBook reader thingys from Amazon. His money quote: “The Kindle isn’t as gratifying as a good book narrated by a great reader…but for what it is, it’s just fine.”. In other words, he thought it was ok.

That’s interesting because we felt that the Kindle would fade away, kind of like the Sony Reader, helped along by unhelpful comments about the Kindle, such as the 1 from Steve Jobs: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore…. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore“, …and pushed by some mixed reviews.

But the not-unkind review by King and the news that the Kindle has sold out leads us to believe that the device might not suck after all. Kindle details here. $399.

Stephen King: Books With Batteries — Why Not? – Entertainment Weekly, Jan 18 2008