While we are still waiting on official pricing and availability, here are several videos that show the new PocketBook ereaders in action.

PocketBook 903

The PocketBook 903 is a 9.7-inch ereader with a digitizer touchscreen (meaning a stylus is required) that comes equipped with 3G, WiFi, and Bluetooth. It has 2GB of internal memory, a Micro SD card slot, headphone jack, text to speech, user-replaceable battery, and built in speakers. The battery is rated at 7000 page-turns.

PocketBook 902

The PocketBook 902 is also a 9.7-inch ereader like the 903, but it does not have a touchscreen or 3G. It has WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as all the other features listed above for the 903.

PocketBook 603

The PocketBook 603 is PocketBook’s 6-inch ereader. It has a digitizer touchscreen (meaning a stylus is required) and comes equipped with 3G, WiFi, and Bluetooth. It has 2GB of internal memory, a Micro SD card slot, headphone jack, text to speech, user-replaceable battery, and built in speakers. Battery life is rated at 14000 page turns.

About PocketBook’s eBook Store: Bookland.net

PocketBook has their own ebook store, Bookland.net, that is designed to be a global ebook store with books in all languages. All the new devices will connect to Bookland.net for downloading ebooks wirelessly.

PocketBook’s IFA Press Conference

This video is quite long and explains a lot about PocketBook’s plans and ambitions moving forward in the field of e-reading.

Videos Via: ARMdevices.net and e-book-news.de

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2. PocketBook Lowers Prices of eReaders
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Now that the new Sony Readers were officially announced a couple of days ago, more details about the technology used for the touchscreens are coming out, along with the user manuals and videos for both the PRS-350 and PRS-650.

If you missed the details about the new Sony Readers, the big news is that they use the new high contrast Pearl screens from E Ink.

But the bigger news is that they feature touchscreens that don’t have an added layer over the top of the screen like Sony’s previous touchscreen ereaders. The added layer reduced contrast and caused quite a bit of reflection and glare, so now that they’ve removed that, the new Sony Readers’ display should look just as good as the new Kindle 3.

Neonode’s zForce Touchscreen Technology

The answer to the question about Sony’s new touchscreen comes by way of Neonode’s zForce eBook technology. From the press release:

Neonode’s patented touch screen technology, zForceTM, supports high resolution pen writing in combination with market leading finger navigation including gestures, multi-touch, sweeps and much more. zForceTM uses no overlay (like resistive and capacitive touch screens) on top of the e-ink display thus creating a 100% clear window free from reflexes and parallax effects and produces a true paper like experience.

The press release basically repeats that same exact paragraph 3 times without going into any specifics on how the technology works. More information can be found on the Neonode website, but there still isn’t much explaining how it works. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

User Manuals: Sony PRS-350 and Sony PRS-650

Sony has put up the user manuals for two of the new readers. Here they are for the PRS-350 and the PRS-650.

Some new features mentioned in the manuals:

• User changeable screensavers for when the device is sleeping.
• Fixed Zoom setting can be locked so that it doesn’t reset when changing pages.
• Page mode: margin cut, 2 and 3 column split mode.
• Adjustable brightness and contrast settings.
• Change dictionaries while looking up a word.
• Word log saves previously looked-up words.
• Create and manage collections from the device itself.
• Clock added to menu.

Sony Reader for iPhone and Android

The last bit of news is that Sony is finally working on applications for iPhone and Android for their Reader store software so that users can read and sync ebooks on multiple portable devices. Given the fact that Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and even Borders have reading apps, it’s about time that Sony started working on them too.

New Sony Readers Country List

With the release of these new readers, Sony plans to expand their market for the PRS-350 and PRS-650. The PRS-950 remains US-only at this time because of the 3G wireless (Sony’s ebook store is Canada and US-only so marketing their wireless ereader in other counries doesn’t make much sense—you’d think they’d at least sell it to Canada though).

As for the PRS-350 and PRS-650, these are the countries that it will officially be available to: US, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Austria, Japan, France, Italy, China, and possibly others.

Sony’s New eReader Video

Sony LearnTV – The New Sony Reader PRS-350 and PRS-650

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2. New Sony Reader PRS-350 and Sony PRS-650 Coming Very Soon
3. 3 New Sony Readers Announced

Free eBooks at Amazon and Sony

Sophie’s Secret by Nancy Rue

4.5 stars, 2 reviews

Sophie and her friends launch an ‘archaeological expedition’ and make a disturbing discovery. Sophie keeps digging to uncover a shocking family secret. In light of this new revelation, will she ever be able to trust her parents again?

Download from Amazon »

Download from Sony »

Sophie’s World: Book 1 by Nancy Rue

4.5 stars, 3 reviews

In the first fiction book of the Faithgirlz!(tm) series, best-selling author Nancy Rue introduces Sophie LaCroix, a creative soul who’s destined to become a great film director someday.

When her overactive imagination immerses her in the American Revolution after a school field trip, Sophie quickly learns a real-life lesson. “Excellent for Homeschool Use”

Download from Amazon »

Download from Sony »

Hostile Intent by Michael Walsh

3 stars, 57 reviews

It starts with the unthinkable–the most horrific act of violence ever committed on American soil.

Only one man can stop them.

Hostile Intent

Code named Devlin, he exists in the blackest shadows of the United States government–operating off the grid as the NSA’s top agent. He’s their most lethal weapon…and their most secret. But someone is trying to draw him out into the open by putting America’s citizens in the crosshairs–and they will continue the slaughter until they get what they want.

Download from Amazon »

Download from Sony »

Bake Sale Murder by Leslie Meier

4.5 stars, 11 reviews

Ever since local developer Fred Stanton and his wife, Mimi, built five modular homes next door to Lucy Stone’s farmhouse, life just hasn’t been the same. With Mimi complaining about everything from the state of Lucy’s lawn to another neighbor’s lovable dog, quaint Tinker’s Cove, Maine, is now entangled in cul-de-sac politics and backstabbing. And when Mimi doesn’t show up for her shift at The Hat and Mitten Fund bake sale, the scent of burnt sugar leads Lucy to a shocking discovery: Mimi, face down on her kitchen floor–with a knife in her back.

While the police start their investigation, Lucy gets busy writing up the murder for the local Pennysaver–and following a few leads of her own. Lucy knows the women in her neighborhood didn’t like Mimi, but they certainly didn’t want her dead…right?

Download from Amazon »

Download from Sony »

Motorcycles, Sushi & One Strange Book by Nancy Rue

4.5 stars, 11 reviews

In the first book of Nancy Rue’s new Real Life series for teens, fifteen-year-old Jessie Hatcher has ADHD and often uses her bubbly charm to cover up her problems.

But when her biological father appears from nowhere and tells her she’ll be spending time with him in Florida, Jessie finds she’ll need more than charm this time. In fact, a mysterious book might be the answer to her problems.

Download from Amazon »

Download from Sony »

More Free eBooks From Sony

Barty the Kid by Jason Thibeault

no rating

Barty Scrivner is a 13-year old Wizard in 1895 Boston. But he’s not an ordinary wizard. No, he has a special talent. He’s the fastest draw in the East and he’s proven it time and again. But Barty wants more. He wants to be the most talked about wizard ever.

One September Morning by Rosalind Noonan

no rating

The moment Abby Fitzgerald sees two soldiers approach her front door, she knows her husband is dead. John Stanton, who gave up his career as a star NFL running back to serve after 9/11, has been killed in Iraq. Suddenly Abby’s kitchen is overflowing with casseroles brought by the army wives’ club to which she has never really belonged.

And her in-laws arrange a lavish funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in spite of Abby’s misgivings. John had grown to hate the war even though he loved his country, and Abby can’t reconcile the complex man she knew with the version being portrayed by self-serving politicians, military, and the media . . .

More Free Sony eBooks: Kaplan Books (Education/Study Guides/Reference)

More Free eBooks From Amazon

Cybill Disobedience by Cybill Shepherd and Aimee Lee Ball

3.5 stars, 71 reviews

‘How I survived beauty pageants, Elvis, sex, Bruce Willis, lies, marriage, motherhood, Hollywood, and the irrepressible urge to say what you think.’

From wholesome beauty queen to saucy cover girl, from heartbreaking movie star (THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, TAXI DRIVER) to one of television’s most loved comediennes (MOONLIGHTING, CYBILL), Cybill Shepherd is renowned as sassy, shocking and sexy. In CYBILL DISOBEDIENCE, she opens her heart with the wit and honesty of a star who’s seen and knows it all.

The Dangerous Dimension by L. Ron Hubbard

4 stars, 4 reviews

Dr. Henry Mudge undergoes a striking personality change when he discovers a mathematical formula “Equation C” that defines a mysterious negative dimension. He is instantly transported to any location in the solar system by merely thinking of it–even when he doesn’t want to.

Overcoming Perfectionism: The Key to a Balanced Recovery by Ann W. Smith

5 stars, 4 reviews

Do you have to be perfect to lead a healthy life? Ann Smith discusses how perfectionism may have benefits but is ultimately an obstacle to quality living as it prevents intimacy and lowers self-esteem. This book offers practical hints to letting go of your superhuman syndrome and being imperfect.

The Pearl at the Gate by Anya Richards and Anya Delvay

4 stars, 3 reviews

For her transgression, she will pay-with screams of forbidden pleasure. After a lifetime of hard work, Captain Roake Barbenoir finally has all he has ever wanted. Wealth, social position, and the epitome of an ideal wife, the beautiful and well-born Jenesta. Of all his treasures, she is his favorite-a pearl, perfect and pure-and Roake vows never to tarnish her with the dark sexual knowledge he gleaned from a life at sea.

Yet every breath his sweet wife takes arouses an urge to watch her come apart under the onslaught of his passion. But she must never know of the lust-filled, almost demonic cravings fighting for release in his soul. To make her privy to them would be to lose her warm regard . . .

More Free Kindle eBooks: Kaplan Books (Education/Study Guides/Reference)

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Details of Sony’s new line of ebook readers are starting to roll in. Sony unveiled 3 new ereaders on September 1st, all upgrades of the current Sony Touch, Pocket, and Daily Editions.

The big news about these new Sony Readers is that they all have touchscreens and all use the new Pearl displays from E Ink that have much better contrast.

The touchscreens don’t have an added layer over the top of the display, so these new models won’t have the shiny, glare-prone screen that the previous models had. They work with both fingers and a stylus.

The disappointing news is that the new Sony Touch and Pocket Editions don’t have any wireless connectivity, only the Daily Edition will have WiFi and 3G, along with a basic web browser.

The price point for these new readers really hasn’t changed from the previous models. The new Sony Pocket sells for $179, the Touch for $229, and the Daily Edition for $299. They are now listed on the Sony Style website.

The new Sony Touch and Pocket are available starting today, and the new Daily Edition will be released in November.

Sony PRS-350 (Pocket Edition)

• Display: 5-inch E Ink Pearl touchscreen with 800 x 600 resolution and 16 levels of gray scale.
• Battery Life: 10,000 pages.
• Dimensions: 5 3/4 x 4 1/8 x 11/32.
• Weight: 5.47 oz.
• Memory: 2GB internal.
• Formats: Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
• Comes in Silver and Pink.
• 2 English dictionaries, 10 translation dictionaries.
• 6 font sizes.
• Note-taking capabilities.
• Sells for $179 from Sony.

Sony PRS-650 (Touch Edition)

• Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl touchscreen with 800 x 600 resolution and 16 levels of gray scale.
• Battery Life: 14 days.
• Dimensions: 6 5/8 x 4 3/4 x 13/32.
• Weight: 7.58 oz.
• Memory: 2GB, plus SD card slot and Pro Duo card slot.
• Formats: Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC.
• Built-in audio player, headphone jack.
• Comes in Black and Red.
• 2 English dictionaries, 10 translation dictionaries.
• 6 font sizes.
• Note-taking capabilities.
• Sells for $229 from Sony.

Sony PRS-950 (Daily Edition)

• Display: 7-inch E Ink Pearl touchscreen with 16 levels of gray scale.
• Battery Life: ?.
• Dimensions: ?.
• Weight: ?.
• Memory: ?GB, plus SD card slot and Pro Duo card slot.
• Built-in WiFi and free 3G.
• New web browser (WiFI only).
• Formats: Adobe ePub and PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC.
• Built-in audio player, headphone jack.
• Comes in Silver.
• Note-taking capabilities.
• Releases in November for $299.

Source: Sony

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There’s several huge pictures and a video too. In fact, here’s the Kindle 3 PDF video in case you have trouble loading the review page because of all the large images . . .

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In a much anticipated move, Borders has lowered the price of the Kobo Reader down to $129, cutting $20 off the price so that it is now $10 cheaper than the Kindle 3 WiFi.

Borders also cut the price of the Aluratek Libre by $20, making it just $99. These new prices will go into effect tomorrow, September 1st.

If you want to get one these devices from a retail store, make sure to call ahead first. It seems that some Borders stores are anti-ereader and refuse to make any effort toward selling ebook readers, at least where I live. I gave up trying to find a Kobo Reader to review. Funny story, the last time I went to Borders I honestly overhead one of the employees say something along the lines of, “Damn ereaders are going to put us out of business”. I guess that explained why they didn’t have any on display.

In addition to the Kobo and Libre, Borders sells Sony Readers too. And they just started offering the Velocity Micro Cruz Tablet and Cruz Reader for pre-order, as reported on last week.

In other Borders’ news, they just announced that they will start a new Rewards loyalty program starting September 1st. Here’s the key information from the press release:

Consumers can now choose from two forms of Rewards — a free, enhanced Rewards program, or the new “Borders Rewards Plus” program, which for $20 per year delivers savings on nearly all Borders merchandise, and free shipping on virtually all online orders. Borders is the only major bookseller to provide consumers with a choice of loyalty programs.

To celebrate, members can earn “Borders Bucks” twice as fast beginning tomorrow though Sept. 6. Typically, members earn $5 in Borders Bucks for every $150 they spend annually, but during this period, Borders will double the spend to bring the member closer to the $150 threshold faster. For example, if a member spends $50, Borders will double that amount bringing the total spend to $100. If a member spends $75, Borders will double that amount bringing the total spend to $150, resulting in the member receiving $5 in Bucks.

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3. Pre-Orders For Kobo eReader At Borders.com

Today Staples announced that they will begin selling Amazon’s line of Kindle ebook readers and Kindle accessories at all of their 1550+ retail locations in the US later this fall.

Staples already sells the Aluratek Libre and they used to sell the Sony Readers, but currently only list Sony Reader accessories now that Sony is getting set to unveil their new line of devices tomorrow.

Staples is the second major retail chain store to sell the Amazon Kindle. Target just started carrying them a few months back, although all the displays that I’ve seen looked pretty shabby, and they only had the 6-inch Kindle and very few accessories.

Briefly, J&R listed the new Kindles on their website, but that only lasted for about 1 week before they disappeared. There was never any official announcement, so who knows if they still have them in retail stores or not.

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3. Kindle 3 Starts Shipping Today – 2 Days Early

If you visit the main Kindle 3 review page you’ll now find the new video. You can still watch the old video with the text to speech narrator on The eBook Reader YouTube channel.

So here’s the new Kindle 3 video review . . .

New Kindle 3 Video Review

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For whatever reason, Amazon doesn’t mention most of these Kindle 3 shortcuts and keyboard hot keys in the Kindle user guide.

The coolest hidden feature is the screenshot. The files get saved to the Kindle in .PNG format. Just plug the Kindle 3 in to your computer with the USB cable and open up the documents folder to find them.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to figure out any shortcuts for the Kindle’s new web browser. It would be cool to be able to open the bookmarks menu and be able to use hot keys for zooming in and out, but so far nothing seems to work.

Please post any other Kindle 3 shortcuts, hot keys, and hidden features that you may happen to find.

Kindle 3 Shortcuts: General

Kindle 3 Hot Keys While Reading

Music Controls

Kindle 3 Image Viewer

Like the earlier Kindles, the Kindle 3 has a hidden image viewer. It really doesn’t serve much purpose and doesn’t work all that great, but here are the steps needed to set up the Image Viewer if you want to try it.

Image Viewer Functions

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The video review is a bit . . . different. So check it out.

Stay tuned for more Kindle reviews; I’ll be posting a PDF review with another video in the next couple of days.

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Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

4 stars, 65 reviews

The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

3.5 stars, 4763 reviews

Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. He was the subject of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, and set the stage for all other vampire tales that followed.

Count Dracula is a centuries-old vampire, sorcerer and Transylvanian nobleman, who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Contrary to the vampires of Eastern European folklore which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula exudes a veneer of aristocratic charm which masks his unfathomable evil.

Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

4 stars, 87 reviews

his anthology offers an exceptionally generous selection of Poe s short stories. It includes his famed masterpieces, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Purloined Letter,” featuring Poe s great detective, Dupin; his insightful studies of madness “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”; “The Gold-Bug,” his delightful exercise in “code-breaking”; and important but lesser-known tales, such as “Bon-Bon,” “The Assignation,” and “King Pest.” Also included are some of Poe s most beloved poems, haunting lyrics of love and loss, such as “Annabel Lee,” nightmare phantasmagories such as “The Raven,” and his grand experiment in translating sound into words, “The Bells.”

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

4.5 stars, 89 reviews

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

With these words, Dante plunges readers into the unforgettable world of the Inferno—one of the most graphic visions of Hell ever created. In this first part of the epic The Divine Comedy, Dante is led by the poet Virgil down into the nine circles of Hell, where he travels through nightmare landscapes of fetid cesspools, viper pits, frozen lakes, and boiling rivers of blood and witnesses sinners being beaten, burned, eaten, defecated upon, and torn to pieces by demons. Along the way he meets the most fascinating characters known to the classical and medieval world—the silver-tongued Ulysses, lustful Francesca da Rimini, the heretical Farinata degli Uberti, and scores of other intriguing and notorious figures.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

4 stars, 119 reviews

Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.

Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

4.5 stars, 266 reviews

Taking the reader in and out of London drawing rooms, to the heights of aestheticism, and to the depths of decadence, The Picture of Dorian Gray is not only a melodrama about moral corruption but also a fascinating look at Wilde’s fin-de-siècle world. Inspiring several sequels, the novel has become an essential treatise on counterculture, and Wilde’s preface to the book—which he later added to mollify critics—is a veritable manifesto of the creed “Art for Art’s Sake.”

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson

4 stars, 85 reviews

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dramatically brings to life a science-fiction case study of the nature of good and evil and the duality that can exist within one person. Resonant with psychological perception and ethical insight, the book has literary roots in Dostoevsky’s “The Double” and Crime and Punishment. Today Stevenson’s novella is recognized as an incisive study of Victorian morality and sexual repression, as well as a great thriller.

Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction by Joseph Conrad

4 stars, 35 reviews

Heart of Darkness is widely regarded as a masterpiece for its vivid study of race and the greed and ruthlessness of imperialism. Joseph Conrad’s poignant novella traces a metaphoric journey into the darkest depths of human nature, following Marlow, a riverboat captain, on a voyage into the African Congo. Astounded by the brutal depravity he witnesses, Marlow becomes obsessed with meeting Kurtz, a famously idealistic and able man stationed farther along the river. What he finally discovers, however, is a horror beyond imagining.

Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

4 stars, 45 reviews

Bringing together some of Kafka’s finest work, this collection demonstrates the richness and variety of the author’s artistry. Both “The Judgment,” which Kafka considered to be his decisive breakthrough, and “The Stoker,” which became the first chapter of his novel Amerika, are included. These two, along with “The Metamorphosis,” form a suite of stories Kafka referred to as “The Sons,” and collectively they present a devastating portrait of the modern family. Also included are “In the Penal Colony,” a story of a torture machine and its operators and victims, and “A Hunger Artist,” a tale about the absurdity of an artist trying to communicate with a misunderstanding public.

Time Machine and The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

4 stars, 40 reviews

The Time Machine, H. G. Wells’s first novel, is a tale of Darwinian evolution taken to its extreme. Its hero, a young scientist, travels 800,000 years into the future and discovers a dying earth populated by two strange humanoid species: the brutal Morlocks and the gentle but nearly helpless Eloi.

The Invisible Man mixes chilling terror, suspense, and acute psychological understanding into a tale of an equally adventurous scientist who discovers the formula for invisibility—a secret that drives him mad.

Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings by Washington Irving

4 stars, 27 reviews

The first great American man of letters, Washington Irving became an international celebrity almost overnight upon publication of The Sketch Book in 1820, which included the short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.” These two tales remain his crowning achievement, but in addition to being a writer of short stories, Irving was also an acclaimed essayist, travel writer, biographer, and historian.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

4 stars, 50 reviews

The year is 1866 and the Pacific Ocean is being terrorized by a deadly sea monster. The U.S. government dispatches marine-life specialist Pierre Aronnax to investigate aboard the warship Abraham Lincoln. When the ship is sunk by the mysterious creature, he and two other survivors discover that the monster is in fact a marvelous submarine—the Nautilus—commanded by the brilliant but bitter Captain Nemo. Nemo refuses to let his guests return to land, but instead taking them on a series of fantastic adventures in which they encounter underwater forests, giant clams, monster storms, huge squid, treacherous polar ice and—most spectacular of all—the magnificent lost city of Atlantis!

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Bookeen just posted some news and pictures of the Cybook Orizon over on their blog. There are two colors, one white and one black. And both appear to come with the case shown in the picture.

While most of the specs of the Cybook Orizon aren’t mentioned, there are some intriguing details. The Cybook Orizon has a touchscreen that is integrated into the screen itself, so there is no added layer. The screen supports 16 levels of greyscale and measures 6-inches diagonally with a resolution of 600 x 800 at 167 dpi.

The last bit of details are the dimensions. The Cybook Orizon measures 4.9” x 7.5” x 0.29” thick, and weighs 8.6 ounces. As for the rest of the device’s specs, we’ll have to wait and see.

It isn’t specifically mentioned on Bookeen’s blog post, but the Cybook Orizon is expected to use epaper displays from SiPix instead of the more common E Ink screens. SiPix is similar to E Ink, but the technology is slightly different. Other features not official include a micro SD card slot and built-in WiFi.

Here’s a look at the Cybook Orizon. This video is a few months old so the device is likely a prototype at this stage and my differ slightly from the actual model that is expected to release sometime in September.

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Another day and another color ereader is announced. This one is from a company called Skytex that makes netbooks, tablet computers, and portable media players.

The Skytex Primer is a 7″ color ebook reader and portable media player that is expected to sell for $99 when it is released in October. It has a widescreen resolution of 800 x 480, supports video and audio playback, and even has an FM tuner to listen to the radio using headphones or the built-in speaker.

The Skytex Primer comes with 2GB of internal memory and has a micro SD card slot for memory cards up to 16GB. It supports 18 different languages, runs on a ARM9 400 MHZ processor, has a built-in microphone and recording software, gets 7-8 hours on a battery charge, and supports the following formats: EPUB, PDF, TXT, HTML, PRC, JPG, PNG, MP3, WMA, APE, FLAC, AAC, RMVB, VOB, DAT, MP4, FLV, 3GP.

Looking at the device in the picture, it looks a lot like the Augen eBook Reader, except it doesn’t have a full keyboard and there are two sets of buttons on the right side of the screen for some reason—an odd placement for sure.

The Primer comes with a USB cable, power adapter, quick start guide, earphones, and a protective sleeve cover. For more information, check out the device here on the Skytex Primer website.

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Julip by Jim Harrison

5 stars, 6 reviews

In three novellas, Jim Harrison takes us on an American journey as he leads us through the wondrous landscape of the human heart. Julip follows a bright and resourceful young woman as she tries to spring her brother from a Florida jail–he shot three of her former lovers “below the belt.”

The Seven-Ounce Man continues the picaresque adventures of Brown Dog, a Michigan scoundrel who loves to eat, drink, and chase women, all while sailing along in the bottom 10 percent. The Beige Dolorosa is the haunting tale of an academic who, recovering from the repercussions of a sexual harassment scandal, turns to the natural world for solace. In each of these stories, the irresistible pull of nature becomes a magnificent backdrop for exploring the toughest questions about life and love.

Regenerated by Carolyn Kephart

4.5 stars, 3 reviews

Cela had always hoped she’d find Jorgen again someday…but was this really Jorgen? A tenderly bitter science fiction tale of love and giant lizards by the author of THE RYEL SAGA, critically acclaimed fantasy.

Hour of the Hunter by J. A. Jance

2 stars, 2 reviews

Released after serving six years in prison for the brutal murder of a young girl of Arizona’s Tohono O’otham tribe, brilliant psychopath Andrew Carlisle now has a new target: Diana Ladd, a reservation teacher whose testimony put him behind bars. Reissue.

Victoria Gardella: Vampire Slayer by Colleen Gleason

3 stars, 2 reviews

A short story introducing readers to the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, a series about a female vampire hunter in 19th century London.Join Victoria as she navigates her way through balls and Society even as she works to rid the world of dangerous, bloodthirsty vampires.

Contraband Marriage by Tichaona Chinyelu

no rating

Contraband Marriage travels along the hemline of loving after incarceration, digging deep into its affects on that love. It is a love story written in lyric and free form, set in reality with a different ever after.

Reckless: Special Sneak Preview by Cornelia Funke and Lionel Wigram

no rating

“Beyond the mirror, the darkest fairy tales come alive. . . .

For years, Jacob Reckless has enjoyed the Mirrorworld’s secrets and treasures.

Not anymore.

His younger brother has followed him.

Now dark magic will turn the boy to beast, break the heart of the girl he loves, and destroy everything Jacob holds most dear. . . .

Unless he can find a way to stop it.

If you’re looking for happily ever after, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

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