The Nook is soon going to have a bit of competitino on its home playing field when the Samsung E6 reader hits shelves this coming spring. Although it probably doesn’t have much to worry about. We spent sometime with the slider at CES and can’t see any reason why most consumers would opt for the $399 reader instead of the hot Nook.
Sure, it has a touchscreen meant for note taking and a bit more compact screen, but those features alone cannot justify the $130 price difference. The nook is more sleek and the color screen is certain an attention grabber even if it’s a bit laggy in use. There is a chance, however, that the $399 price we heard at CES will get a cut before it hits the retail market, though. But even if the E6 is priced at the Nook’s $259 price-point when it drops shortly, it probably still won’t see the same sales numbers.
So long, Adamo XPS. It was wonderful knowing you while we did. We can’t help feeling like you had too short of a life though. You were only available for sale since December and Dell probably spent an untold fortune developing your 9.9mm thin body. It’s kind of weird, actually.
The Adamo XPS launched with much fanfare last October. People were amazed that Dell could produce such an amazing piece of computing goods, complete with a robotic keyboard as John Biggs calls it. It took a couple of months to get the notebook to the retail market, but then in December Dell started to sell it. Best Buy picked it up a few weeks later. But that doesn’t matter anymore. The Adamo XPS is now just a footnote on Dell’s Wikipedia page. It’s no longer listed with the other Adamo models on Dell.com and according to a Dell Chat Rep, it has been discontinued.
Hopefully Dell isn’t done with the line and we’ll see version 2.0 shortly. Maybe at SXSW. That’s where Dell showed off the Adamo line for the first time one year ago next week.
We just got a troubling tip from a concerned Nook buyer. I say buyer because he still hasn’t received his Nook. He ordered the Barnes & Noble ebook reader on November 12 and the device was originally supposed to ship on November 30th. But you may recall that date was pushed back to December 11th
Frustrated by the delay, he successfully completed the cancellation process on BN.com only to get an email several hours later that stated his order cannot be canceled because it “has entered the shipping process” even though according to B&N’s own website, the Nook will not ship for another three days. Now that’s some bull.
The Nook is hot and rightfully so with the dual-screen setup and Android hackability, but this is not the way to treat early adopters. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and you want these people on your side. Hopefully there is a plan to compensate the folks whose orders have been constantly pushed back. Even a free e-book credit might be enough for some to forget the frustration.
B&N clearly has a problem here. The last few Nook stories that have popped up have all been about delayed shipments and limited availability. The retail market will not even get the device until early next year. But we haven’t heard anything about the Kindle not shipping on time despite the device being the most popular item sold on Amazon.com. Just saying.
Remember CableCARDs? You probably don’t because most of us have never seen one. They were supposed to be a way to inject the magic of premium cable into OEM devices like PCs and DVRs. Instead they were hard to acquire, hard to use, and generally a bad idea. I would estimate that CableCARDs single-handedly led to current slow demise of TiVo.
The FCC agrees and is calling them a total failure. Here’s what they said in a recent report:
“The Commission’s CableCARD rules have resulted in limited success in developing a retail market for navigation devices. Certification for plug-and-play devices is costly and complex.”
So that said, where do we go from here? Tru2way. The new system will offload “navigation” (basically channel changing) to the device in question and only dedicate the cable signal acquisition to the card itself. What really needs to happen? Smartcard integration with Cable boxes, the same kind you see in satellite systems and Euro cable systems. This lets you take you card, put it into a box, and watch TV.
The problem is this: the cable companies like a nice monopoly. They don’t want their content reaching the Internet (*ahem*). Their short-sighted antics hurt innovation. There’s no way around it.
You’re going to have to wait a bit longer to pick up the $260 Nook in some Barnes & Noble retail stores. The lot that was earmarked for the brick and mortar retail market has been redirected to fullfill Internet pre-orders. Those damn early adopters always get all the fun.
Some high-volume stores will receive limited quantities of the device around December 7th. The company had hoped to get them in stores by November 3oth, but that apparently didn’t happen due to the demand. B&N announced a few days ago that the reader was already sold out and new Internet orders would be fulfilled by January 4, 2010, but apparently that was only for the Internet.
If you must have a Nook ASAP, your best bet is to probably head down to your local Barnes & Noble and inquire if it’s on the short Nook retail list. If it is, pack a bag and a lawn chair and proceed to camp-out in front of the store the day before the shipment is expected. Bring along your favorite book too for a bit of irony.
URC has thrown down the gauntlet and let loose the sexy MX-5000 universal remote. Look at that thing. It’s stunning, but the looks are only half the equation as this is the first remote on the market with a haptic feedback touchscreen. The company apparently has been working on the technology for a few years. Essentially the MX-5000 is the same thing as the MX-6000 except in a candy bar form factor rather than the tablet style. This means that all the two-way communication over 802.11 b/g and RF is also included.
The MX-5000 works with URC’s Complete Control Program, which allows for most installers to also enable two-way IP and RS-232 setup without any complicated programing knowledge. Two-way communication allows the MX-5000 to remotely display media information and receiver volume levels, along with a lot more.
Now, this remote isn’t meant for the retail market, but rather something a purchased from and installed by an A/V pro. We’re getting a review sample shortly so hopefully the setup isn’t that hard.
Pricing hasn’t been announced just yet but URC told us that the MSRP will be under $1,500.
