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Tag: tablets

Reading Manga On The Nook Color

March 10, 2012 /
Viz manga on Nook Color Tablet

Viz manga on the Nook Color looks pretty good!

Honestly, I was not a big fan of the 7 inch tablet. That screen size is just too small for most of what I do with my 10 inch iPad. So when I learned that Viz manga was available for the Nook Tablet and the Nook Color, my first question was, how readable is that going to be?

Viz has yet to support panel mode viewing for its manga on the iPad, but the large screen of the device makes that unnecessary. And while I have enjoyed manga on my eInk based Nook, I found that often the bottom edge of the page is cut off and smaller text can be a challenge to read. So how would this play out on a 7 inch screen?

The short answer is, wonderfully! I bought Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden, Volume 1 by Yuu Watase, to read on my wife’s Nook Color. The Nook Color has the same size display screen as the Nook Tablet, so my observations should be valid it too.

The art work looked great and the text was quite readable. The smaller screen is only evident for double page spreads. You can turn the Nook to landscape orientation to see the full image, but it scales down a lot leaving  a fairly large black border. And you can tap to zoom anything you want to get a closer look at which came in handy for some of the author’s notes.

So if you love Viz manga, and don’t have the budget for an iPad, the Nook Color ($169) or Nook Tablet ($199) are great alternatives. And both Nooks can add up to 32GB of additional storage via microSD card which is important if you’re reading a lot of multi-megabyte graphic novels like manga. This expandability gives the Nook tablets a decisive edge over the Kindle Fire for this use case. That, and the fact that Viz manga is not available in the Kindle store right now.

Is the Sun Setting On the Nook?

January 10, 2012 /

NooksetAgainst the backdrop of Amazon Kindle Fire sales that may have exceeded 5 million units last quarter, Barnes & Noble made statements last week that implied they were seeking to spinoff the Nook division. All said, Barnes & Noble may not have the resources needed to grow the Nook business into a profitable competitor to the Kindle.

Ironically, many credit the Nook and eBook sales with helping Barnes & Noble avoid the fate that befell long time competitor Borders last year. It’s hard to see exactly how they would benefit from spinning off the Nook. It’s believed that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble sell their eReaders at a loss, intending to make up for that by profits on the content sold through that hardware. It makes sense that Barnes & Noble would want to escape the loss making part of the equation, but what partner would want to pick that up?

Much of the popularity of the Kindle Fire has been ascribed to its $199 price point. This low entry price is credited with a small decline in iPad sales in December. And it seems likely that despite some quality and usability issues, the Fire will take the number 2 tablet position behind the iPad. Again, one of the reasons Amazon can do this is that their profit comes from content sales on the Fire. A hardware only tablet maker has to make a profit on the hardware itself, which may not be possible at a $199 price point, or even the $249 of the Nook Tablet. If that is true, then Barnes & Noble will have a hard time finding a partner with the deep pockets needed to take that kind of risk.

Then what is the point of the announcement? Is this some tasty bait being dangled before the likes of Google perhaps? While Google already has an eReader tablet, it has not been a great success, nor has their eBooks store relative to Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The Nook Tablet is powered by Google’s Android operating system, and is arguably one of the best Android tablets on the market. A Google Barnes & Noble partnership could be profitable for both and give publishers a viable counter balance against Amazon. Still, it’s hard to see this happening. And in the absence of additional resources, the sun may be setting on the Nook far too soon.

A New Challenger Has Appeared: Google’s eBook Reader Now On Sale

July 18, 2011 /

Google is now selling its iRiver Story HD eBook reader exclusively at Target in the U.S.. We speculated here back in January that a Google branded eBook reader may be in the works and now that that shoe has dropped, what does this mean to the larger tablet vs eReader battle that is shaping up in the marketplace?

Well first of all, it may mean that Barnes & Noble, makers of the Nook eBook reader are none too happy to have Google as yet another competitor in its pitched battle with the Amazon’s Kindle. Indeed, I wonder if this is why Barnes & Noble is no longer an advertiser on Google’s Affiliate Network. They’ve moved to Linkshare, which I should note means I have to update the Nook ads on this web site!

Google iRiver Story HD eReaderThe reader itself has so far garnered only mixed reviews. The design is clearly inspired by the Kindle, and in a market that is moving to touchscreen eReaders as witnessed by the recent Nook and Kobo offerings, seems a little dated. But as I previously argued, I don’t think Google is trying to capture the eReader market and their survival, unlike Barnes & Noble, doesn’t depend on that. Like the Nexus smartphones, the iRiver Story HD is probably a hardware reference platform intended to encourage other players to enter the market.

If Google follows form, they’ll probably freely or cheaply license the underlying iRiver Story tech to 3rd parties who want to jump into the eReader market. It seems pretty clear by now that Google wants to be a part of any device that can access the net and consume digital product. Amazon is already giving readers a big price break on Kindles if they are willing to have ads display on the device’s screen saver. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this on the Google eReader at some point in the future. If 3rd parties in Google’s eReader ecosystem follow suit, then Google wins big time, much as they are with the proliferation of Android based tablets and smartphones.

In the end, I doubt Amazon or Barnes & Noble have much to fear from Google itself. However the legions of eReader competitors Google may give rise to are another matter entirely.

Amazon May Kindle Tablet War

May 4, 2011 /

One of this week’s big stories is that Amazon may be getting into the tablet war with its own Android OS powered offering. A large order placed with Taiwan-based notebook maker Quanta may signal Amazon’s plans to enter the tablet market.

If true, I think this says a few things about the tablet market. First at the high end where Apple has successfully fended off any and all competitors for the iPad’s crown, perhaps Amazon sees a threat to its Kindle platform. Kindle books can be read on the iPad, and so far Amazon has been able to avoid giving Apple a cut of the sales because purchases in the Kindle app call Safari to load Amazon’s mobile site. But there’s no telling how long this will remain the case. And as Apple’s own iBookstore develops and matures, Amazon’s share can only decline.

At the lower end, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color, according to B&N at least, has been very successful. While the Nook Color isn’t going to put the Kindle out to pasture anytime soon, it has proven that there is a market for an eBook optimized, backlit, touchscreen, LCD tablet half the price of an iPad.

So it’s not really any surprise that Amazon is trying to close a hole in its eReader offerings now. Besides great reading, the Kindle has always been about tying the reader to Amazon’s bookstore. No 3rd party device will ever do this as well as a Kindle does.

Reports expect the device to be release in the second half of 2011. I would guess it will be ready in time for the Christmas holiday sales season along with a lot of special publisher partner deals to show off the tablet’s new features. It’ll probably be very similar to the Nook Color, also powered by Android OS, and priced the same or less with promotional offers, or putting up with ads.

It’s unlikely that the battle of $250 eReader tablets is going to dethrone the iPad. The main casualties of the coming war are likely going to be those other tablets that so far have failed to gain much traction. It may get a lot harder to sell Xooms and Playbooks once Amazon starts marketing their new color Kindle that reads books and plays Angry Birds for only $250.

Update: Barnes & Noble is preparing to announce a new eReader on May 24. Begun this tablet war has.

Courting Failure: Xoom Tablet May Be Overpriced

February 7, 2011 /

Ars Technica reports that the upcoming Motorola Xoom will launch at $799.99 and will require a data plan from Verizon to enable WiFi networking. That’s right, there’s no escaping a data plan, WiFi will be crippled unless users sign up with Verizon for at least one month.

I’d been watching the Android Honeycomb powered tablet since CES in the hopes that it would offer the iPad some real competition and be a viable option for reading eBooks. But launching at a higher price than the base model iPad makes this unlikely. It also raises a lot of questions about just how much it costs to manufacture the Xoom and the role Verizon plays in all of this.

Some estimate that it costs about $230 to manufacture an iPad. So even the $500 entry model nets a nice profit for Apple in the hardware alone. It seems reasonable to expect similar manufacturing costs for the Xoom. If not, then that would be the first part of Motorola’s problem. It is understandable for Motorola to pitch their new tablet as better than the iPad with a price to match that perception. But given the newness of the tablet market and the huge head start Apple has in both sales and mindshare, a high launch price and onerous data plan seems guaranteed to turn off potential buyers. More casual users will simply opt for the iPad their friends already have. While more sophisticated, tech savvy users will likely be incensed by both the high price and Verizon’s heavy handed tactic of disabling even WiFi unless a data plan is purchased.

One can only hope that the leaked Best Buy ad is inaccurate or perhaps a trial balloon, and the Xoom will launch with a more sane price point and data plan structure.

Update:

Ars reports that the WiFi only Xoom will be released for $600 and will not require a data contract to enable the networking. So it seems that Motorola is playing to win after all, which is good news for us all!

Update II:

The Xoom gets a pretty good hands on review. But honestly, I still think it’s a bit overpriced. Right now $500 gets you a contract free iPad and a ton of apps available in the Apple App Store versus $800 for the Xoom. While the hardware for the Xoom specs a little higher than the entry level iPad, the apps available tip the balance. And on top of everything else, Adobe Flash Player is not ready for Android 3.0 yet. So I think iPad wins this round.

iPad (Manga) Envy

January 27, 2011 /

Yesterday I was reading the latest issue of Shonen Jump and noticed the back cover ad for the Viz Manga iPad app. Through the app, readers can buy digital copies of a number of popular Viz manga. This is certainly great news if you already own an iPad and have a love for manga, but what about the rest of us who read our eBooks on Nooks, Kindles, or Kobos?

It seems likely, that if manga on the iPad is popular enough, it will find its way to other platforms. Popular iPad/iPhone apps generally spawn Android app versions, so perhaps there is some hope there. But who is actually reading manga on an iPad? Graphic novels and manga skew towards a decidely younger demographic than the 30 to 50 – somethings that make up the bulk of initial iPad users.

As time goes on, it is reasonable to expect more young people to own iPads. There are already a number of colleges requiring students to own iPads or providing them to students for free. But the iPad is still a fairly expensive tablet that will not serve as a viable laptop replacement for much of the college and high school aged demographic. And since the iPad was released, it now faces more competition from Android based tablets as well as improved eBook readers like the Nook Color. So it seems likely that Viz will eventually support its manga on other platforms.

eReaders and Tablets: Peaceful Coexistence?

January 18, 2011 /

Borders has extended its $99 Kobo eBook reader sale through Thursday. I wonder what this means. Does it mean that they received such a favorable bump in sales that the embattled bookseller wants to build on it? Or does it mean just the opposite, and they need to quickly clear inventory and raise cash to pay publishers?

I’d like to think that it is the former rather than the latter. Successful Kobo sales mean more eBook sales for Borders which hopefully offset any losses they take discounting the hardware. Not only that, I’d like to think that maybe they are establishing $99 as a permanent opening price point for a high quality eBook reader. This lower price would also further position eReaders versus tablets like the iPad.

Since the appearance of the iPad, I’ve wondered whether dedicated eReaders stood a chance of surviving in a market of more capable tablets. The falling prices of the Kindle, and Nook since that time will certainly help their survival. And the introduction and reported success of the Nook Color at $249 demonstrates that a middle ground between eBook readers and tablets may exist as well. Still, I think most consumers are thinking of getting one or the other. But if the impulse buy price point of $99 is established for eReaders, then I think buying both becomes an option for many.

So I hope that the $99 Kobo is not just a fleeting blip on my sensors.

More Manga For The Nook Please!

January 12, 2011 /

When I bought my Nook eBook reader, I already knew that I wasn’t going to find much in the way of comics and manga to read on it. I bought it because I wanted to be able to carry a lot of novels and technical manuals without the enormous weight and bulk of physical books. Still it was my hope that as eBooks gained in popularity, I would eventually see more titles for my ereader of choice.

I think that time has finally come! Manga, Japanese graphic novels, have been available in digital form for a long time in the form of illegal translated scans, or “scanlations.” And it is not too difficult to format and load these on eBook readers like the Kindle or Nook. But those looking to get their manga fix legally have had few options. Though I should note that there is a lot of yaoi (homosexual romance stories) manga available for the Kindle in Amazon’s Kindle store. But this has somewhat limited appeal.

Recently, a number of publishers have started to offer popular manga titles online, readable in a web browser. These are either introductory chapters to new manga available for free, or entire volumes purchasable usually for less than the print version. While this doesn’t do anything for those wanting to read manga on the Nook, it makes sense given that the targeted market has been reading manga in their browsers on pirate web sites for years. A number of these pirate sites have been shut down over the last year, and now publishers are hoping that readers will embrace the legal alternatives they are providing.

Some Online Manga Sites

I think rising popularity of Apple’s iPad opened a door that is leading to greater manga availability for eBook readers as well. A growing list of manga titles, comics, and related magazines have appeared as iPad apps. The iPad has clearly popularized the tablet form factor. It’s $500 entry price forced down the prices of dedicated eBook readers like the Nook and Kindle which in turn increased their sales. Now a host of new tablets such as the Motorola Xoom and the Blackberry Playbook will soon hit the market.

Tablets are a natural fit for eBooks and color ones are especially good for comics, magazines, and manga. While manga are mostly black and white, the cover art and optional inserts are generally in color. So I don’t think it is a random coincidence that Digital Manga Inc. released Vampire Hunter D for the Nook around the time that the Nook Color became available. There are both black and white and color editions available. At only $250, the Android powered Nook Color has already seen good sales and may become the entry level tablet of choice for many.

I hope that we are seeing the beginning of more mainstream, popular manga titles for the Nook and other eBook readers. There’s no real technical cost to supporting a title on both tablets and readers. And with dedicated readers racing towards the $99 price point, it would be silly not to sell there. I think the next year is going to tell the tale. Manga looks pretty good on my Nook, so I hope I’ll see a lot more of it soon!

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