Handheld Devices Gallery - Multi-Function Players

E-Book Readers, Handheld Games, Satellite Radio

    by Douglas Dixon

• E-Book Readers
  • Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Sony Reader, others
• Portable Game Systems
  • Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation Portable
• Satellite Radio Players
  • SIRIUS / XM

See the Portable Media Players Gallery for more on iPods and other portable players
See the Apple iPod / iPhone Gallery for more on the iPod and iPhone product lines, market, and chronology
See the Mobile Communications Gallery for more on Mobile media, Phones and PDAs

E-Book Readers

Electronic books and magazines, E-Ink displays

• Books, magazines, newspapers, blogs ...
• Audio books, music, photos, ...
• Personal documents ..
• Dictionary, references ...
• Wireless access / sync to online store for paid and public domain content

Amazon Kindle

Kindle Features

• Download via 3G wireless: download books, anytime, anywhere
      No monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
      Books delivered in less than 60 seconds
• Books, U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, blogs
      Download audio titles from Audible.com, via PC
      www.amazon.com/kindlestore
• E-mail personal documents: Kindle has unique and customizable e-mail address
      E-mail Word, PDF documents, and pictures wirelessly for a 10¢ per document
      Or e-mail (and convert) via PC for free
• Built-in Dictionary with Instant Lookup, built-in access to Wikipedia
• Read Kindle books on Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, and PC (11/09)
      Kindle for Mac, BlackBerry coming soon
      Whispersync technology automatically syncs bookmarks and last page read across devices
      www.amazon.com/KindleforPC
• USB 2.0 (micro-B) for power adapter or computer, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, rear-mounted stereo speakers
• New York Times Best Sellers and New Release books $9.99, unless marked otherwise
      Free samples: download and read first chapters
• www.amazon.com/kindle

Market Stats

• 1/10 - Kindle is the most wished for, most gifted, and #1 bestselling item across the millions of products sold on Amazon.com
• 10/09 - U.S. Kindle Store has more than 360,000 books
              including 101 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers - typically $9.99 or less,
              more than 7,000 blogs, over 60,000 audiobooks from Audible.com,
              more than 90 top U.S. and International newspapers and magazines,
              including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
              The Times (U.K.), Le Monde, The Economist, Newsweek, Time, Fortune
• 10/09 - Kindle is #1 bestselling item across all product categories on Amazon.com (both unit sales and dollars)
• Q1 09 - Over 230,000 books available, 50,000 audio titles from Audible.com, more than 1100 top blogs

Product History

• 1/10 - Introduce Kindle DX with Global Wireless - $489
• 11/09 - 6-inch Kindle adds built-in native PDF reader, 85% more battery life (free firmware upgrade)
• 11/09 - Kindle for PC available free: Read books, access library
• 10/09 - Kindle price lowered to $259 (was $279)
• 10/09 - Introduce Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless, $279
• 10/09 - Kindle availalble outside U.S., more than 100 countries
• 5/09 - Announce Kindle DX with large 9.7 inch display, $489
• 3/09 - Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch available free from Apple App Store
• 2/09 - Ship Kindle 2

Amazon Kindle DX - 9.7" display (5/09)

Amazon Kindle Wireless Reading Device - 6" - Global (10/09)

Amazon Kindle 2 / U.S. - 6" display (2/09) -> Replaced by International Version

Amazon Kindle (11/07)

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Barnes & Noble - Nook eBook Reader

• www.nook.com

B&N Nook eBook Reader (12/09)

6" E ink Vizplex display, 16-level gray scale Plus - 3.5 inch color touchscreen LCD at bottom - for control and navigation 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 in., 11.2 oz. (317 g) Store 1,500 eBooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines - 2 GB internal Plus - Micro SD card slot - 16 GB expand up to 17,500 titles 12/09 - $259 AT&T 3G Wireless Network Plus - Wi-Fi (Free at every Barnes & Noble) Read EPUB and eReader formats, PDF files Display pictures (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP), MP3 music player Android-based Over 1 million titles in Barnes and Noble eBookstore More than 500,000 free eBooks Plus - Digital lending Battery up to 10 days with wireless off Plus - Replaceable battery Ship 2/10 - $259

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Sony Reader Digital Book

• www.sony.com/reader
• www.SonyStyle.com

Sony Reader Pocket Edition - 5" (8/09)

• 5", 800 x 600, 8 level gray scale
• 6 1/4 x 4 1/4 x 13/32 in., 7.76 oz.
• 1/10 $179; 8/09 $199 - PRS-300SC
• PR 8/09 - Announced - http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/...

    Find the Sony Reader Pocket Edition on Amazon.com

Sony Reader Touch Edition - 6", touch (8/09)

• 6" touch screen, 800 x 600, 8 level gray scale
• 6.9 x 4.8 x .4 in., 10.1 oz.
• $299 - PRS-600SC

    Find the Sony Reader Touch Edition on Amazon.com

Sony Reader Daily Edition - 7.1", wireless (~ 1/10)

7.1" touch screen E Ink Vizplex display, 600 x 1024, 16 level gray scale Portrait or landscape (2 pages), Touch screen navigation Fully readable in direct sunlight, high contrast ratio Free 3G wireless access HSPA, UMTS, Edge, and GPRS data services (850 and 1900 MHz) Up to 1.6 GB onboard memory user available ), ~ 1000 e-books Dual memory card expansion slots: Memory Stick Duo and SD Card up to 32 GB Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery 12,000 (ePub) Continuous page turns Up to 7 days with wireless, 2 1/2 weeks with wireless off 8-1/8 x 5 x 19/32 in., 12.75 oz. (0.6 in. thin) $399 - PRS-900BC

• Wireless access to Sony Reader Store and Google Books
• Reader Library software for PC and Mac, Transfer titles via USB
• Built-in New Oxford American Dictionary; Six adjustable font sizes
• Freehand notes and highlight sections of text with included stylus
• Notes and search with virtual keyboard
• DRM Text: ePub (Adobe DRM protected), PDF (Adobe DRM protected)
• Image: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
• Unsecured Audio: MP3 (Non encrypted), AAC (Non encrypted)
• Unsecured Text: ePub, PDF, TXT, RTF, Micrsoft Word, (Conversion on PC)

Sony Reader Digital Book (10/08)

PRS-700, 3rd generation Access 500,000 free public domain books from Google     http://ebookstore.sony.com/google-ebooks 6 inch touch-screen display     8-Level Gray Scale, 170 Pixels Per Inch Transfer eBooks, documents (Word, PDF)     Music (MP3, AAC)     Photos: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP Memory Stick Duo / SD card expansion storage 0.4 in. thin (5 1/9 x 6 7/9 x 13/32 in.), 10 oz. Battery - turn up to 7,500 pages (two weeks of reading) Announced 10/08 - $399; 4/09 - $349 PR 10/08 - http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/ computer_peripheral/e_book/release/37586.html     Find the Sony Reader on Amazon.com

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Samsung E6 and E101 E-book Readers - 6" & 10", Stylus (early 2010)

• Built-in electromagnetic resonance (EMR) stylus pen
  • Handwrite and annotate directly on display
  • Prevents mistypes by hands and objects that graze screen surface
  • Variety of pen and eraser thicknesses for drawing and writing
• Charge four hours, use for two weeks
• Wireless and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g - download and share certain content
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 2 GB flash memory, storing more than 1,200 books or 24,000 memos
• Google content
• PR 1/10 - www.samsungusanews.com/index.jsp?menu=post&post=4203
• E6 6" $399, E101 10" $699, early 2010

Audiovox - RCA Lexi eReader - 6" (~ 5/2010)

• 6" E Ink display, 800 x 600, 16-level gray scale, 2GB storage,
• Content exclusively though Barnes & Noble
• Sync with PC / Mac - Barnes & Nobles Desktop Reader software
• Adobe Reader Mobile for PDF and ePub formats
• Rechargeable battery, 7,000 page turns
• PR 1/10 - http://audiovox2.info/docs/voxx_corp/other/VOXXeReaderFINAL.pdf
• Expected May 2010, $229

Spring Design Alex - Dual Screen Android eReader - Video (~ 2/2010)

Full color 3.5” touchscreen LCD screen for web browsing, 320 x 480, 16-bit color 6” E-ink EPD screen (electronic paper display) for printed pages and text, 600 x 800, 8 gray scale Or view on two screens simultaneously Browse entire Web, search with virtual keyboard Google Android platform - download apps WiFi b/g and 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM Download Adobe ePUB format digital books, Google Books Adobe ePUB/PDF/DRM standard, .txt or HTML Images, videos, music, documents MP4 or Flash videos, MP3 media player - speakers, earphones 2 GB internal flash, Removable SD card Read offline up to two weeks 8.9 x 4.7 x 0.4 in., 11 oz. www.springdesign.com PR 1/10 - Announce - www.springdesign.com/us/... Available 2/2010 - $359

Plastic Logic QUE - 10.5", proReader for business professionals (~ 4/2010)

Shatterproof plastic display, E Ink Vizplex technology 10.5 in. touchscreen, 944 x 1264, 150 ppi, 8 gray levels Download wirelessly, Wi-Fi b/g and AT&T 3G network Send documents from BlackBerry smartphone via Bluetooth QUE store powered by Barnes & Noble Native: PDF, ePub, TXT documents; GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP images Host conversion: Office documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), HTML, PDF 8.5 x 11 x 0.3 in.,17 oz. (pad of paper) http://www.plasticlogic.com http://www.QUEreader.com PR 10/09 - Announce - http://www.plasticlogic.com/news/pr_quepremier_oct192009.php QUE WiFi - 4 GB, Up to 35,000 documents, $649 [due April 2010] QUE 3G (& WiFi) - 8 GB, Up to 75,000 documents, $799

Skiff Reader - 11.5", Metal foil e-paper (later 2010)

• Skiff (formerly FirstPaper)
• Partners: Hearst Corporation, LG Display. Marvell silicon, Sprint Nextel wireless
• Skiff Service: Specializes in newspaper and magazine content, also books and blogs
• LG metal-foil e-paper display - Rugged thin, flexible sheet of stainless-steel foil
  • Silicon thin-film-transistors (TFT) on flexible stainless-steel substrate

11.5 in. display (292.1 mm), 1200 x 1600, 174 ppi Full touchscreen: Finger and stylus operation Magnesium housing: Shatter-proof, crack-proof 3G wireless, WiFi - Skiff service and Skiff Store Built-in speaker, 3.5 mm standard audio jack USB 2.0, mini-USB port for sideloading content 4 GB Internal (with 3+ GB available for content) Expandable SDHC 2.0 standard compliant SD-card slot Marvell CPU processor Rechargeable high-capacity Lithium Ion battery One week life (thousands of page turns with periodic wireless use) Recharge 2 to 3 hrs 9 x 11 x 0.268 in. (228.6 x 279.4 x 6.8 mm), 17 9/16 oz (498 g.) www.skiff.com Available for purchase later this year from Sprint

Pixel Qi - Dual-mode display - E-Reader grayscale and color video (2010)

Pixel Qi ("chee")

• Fabless ASIC company that specializes in screens; The screen is just a big ASIC chip
• New class of screens - Both E-Reader grayscale reflective and color video backlit LCD
• Rival best epaper displays, with fast video rate update (refresh), fully saturated color
• Read text (e-mail, code, Web site) without wasting battery power on backlight
• First product is 10.1" screen, for mini-laptops, multitouch tablets, ebook readers
  • LCD mode 1024 by 600, reflective mode triples resolution to 200 dpi
• Uses 1/2 to 1/4 the power of regular LCD screen
• Low pricing, use standard LCD manufacturing materials and processes.
• See IEEE Spectrum Winner 1/10 - http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/winner-pixel-qis-everywhere-display
• pixelqi.com

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Portable Game Systems

Add Movies + Personal Media

1/10 - Nintendo sales through 2009 (life-to-date worldwide unit shipments)

• Nintendo DS line - 125 million hardware (DSi 16.4 M), 688 million software
  • Passed GameBoy (total 118.69 M units) as Nintendo largest selling videogame hardware
• Nintendo Wii - 67 million hardware, 510 million software
  • Best selling Nintendo home videogame console of all time
  • Passed Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) - total 61.91 million units)
• Forecast Apr 09-Mar 10
  • Wii - 20 million hardware, 192 million software
  • Nintendo DS line - 30 million hardware, 150 million software
• http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=22048

11/09 - Gaming System Hardware - November 2009 US Sales (NPD Group)

• Nintendo DS 1.7 M, Nintendo Wii 1.26 M, Microsoft Xbox 360 819.5 K
• Sony PlayStation 3 710.4 K, Sony PSP 293.9 K, Sony PlayStation 2 203.1 K
• Nintendo was more than half of all video game systems sold in the U.S. through Nov. in 2009 (Nintendo)

1/09 - Total units sold: 96 M Nintendo DS, 50 M  Sony PSP, 30 M Apple iPhone / iPod touch (4/09 - Engadget)

• Sony 1/09 - sold 50 million PSP series handhelds worldwide since December 2004
      2,000+ titles available worldwide on UMD, 200 million software sales
      www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/090213e.html
• Nintendo 12/08 - sold 96.22 million DS handhelds between December 2004 and December 2008
• Apple 3/09 - sold over 30m units of iPhones and iPod touch, 17M 3G
     www.engadget.com/2009/03/17/live-from-apples-iphone-os-3-0-preview-event

Nintendo DS

• 4/09 - Nintendo has sold 75 million DS units since launched in 2004 (CNBC)
• 4/09 - Nintendo sold 600,000 DSi units across North America and Europe 
      during first few days of availability (GameDaily)
      DSi has sold over 2 million units in Japan since on sale in Nov 2008

Sony PSP

• 3/10 - 60 million total units sold worldwide, North America 17 million sales since 2005 N. Am. release
• 6/08 - 41 million units sold
• 3/07 - 25 million hardware units sold, 100 million software title units worldwide

Nintendo DS

Dual-screen handheld game console, clamshell design Two 3 LCD screens, bottom touchscreen "More than a game system, more of a personal tool to enrich our daily lives" 04 US - Nintendo DS 6/06 US - Nintendo DS Lite - Slimmer and lighter, brighter screen 4/09 US - Nintendo DSi - Larger screens, thinner, cameras, SD card

Nintendo DSi (4/09)

Larger 3.2 in. screens Thinner, slightly longer (74.9 x 137 x 18.9 mm), matte finish Two VGA / 0.3 MP cameras, interior hinge points towards user, exterior shell Audio player: Music player (AAC , not MP3) - adjust speed and pitch, apply filters     Voice recorder - Modify 10sec. sound clips, apply to songs Camera software: Apply lens effects to photos     View photo albums and slideshows, edit photos, Trade wirelessly Web browser, DSi Shop - games and applications, Prices free to $8, max $20 ARM9E 133 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 256 MB internal Flash memory     Upgradable firmware SD/SDHC expansion card slot (not Game Boy Advance) Battery life lower,  9 - 14 hours 4/09 US - $169/$149, blue or black Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DSi www.nintendodsi.com    Find the Nintendo DSi on Amazon.com

Nintendo DS Lite (6/06) / DS (04)

Nintendo DS Lite (6/06) Slimmer and lighter, brighter screen (4 levels) Adjusted buttons and indicators, longer and thicker stylus 133 x 73.9 x 21.5 mm (5.2 x 2.9 x 0.85 in.), 218 grams 6/06 US - $129    Find the Nintendo DS Lite on Amazon.com Nintendo DS (04) Dual-screen handheld game console, clamshell design Two 3 in. TFT LCD screens, 256 x 192,      bottom touchscreen, fingers or included stylus Stereo speakers, built-in microphone Wi-Fi 802.11 to interact with near-by players     online with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service Two ARM processors, 67 MHz +33 MHz co-processor, 3D rendering 4 MB RAM, 256 KB Serial Flash Memory Proprietary game card ROM, up to 256 MB, some small save memory     Backwards compatible with Game Boy Advance cartridges Battery about 10 hours 5.85 x 3.33 x 1.13 in., 9.7 oz. Released North America 11/04 - $149, 8/05 $129 Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS www.nintendo.com/ds

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Sony PSPgo (PSP-N1000) (due 10/09)

Sony PSP-3000  (11/08)

PSP Specifications (PSP-3000 -> PSPgo)

• PSP CPU (1-333 MHz), 64 MB memory, Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot
• Stereo speakers, built-in microphone for games with voice input, Skype phone calls
• Analog Video Out / headset connector - Now supports interlaced (was only progressive)
• Wi-Fi wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b)
      Infrastructure mode + Ad hoc mode (connects up to 16 consoles)
• Web browser (Flash content), Internet radio, RSS feeds (streaming audio and video), Skype phone calls
      Remote play (access PS3),  Sony LocationFree (watch live TV)
      PlayStation Network - PlayStation Store to buy and download games and content
• High Speed USB 2.0 (mini-B)
• Controls: Directional buttons (up/down/right/left), Analog stick;  Action buttons (triangle, circle, cross, square)
      Start, Select, PS button; Power/Hold switch, WLAN switch; Display, Sound, Volume (+/-) buttons
• Video: Memory Stick Video Format: MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC LC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile (AAC LC)
      MP4 Format: MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC LC), 
          H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile - CABAC only - (AAC LC) / Baseline profile (AAC LC)
      AVI: Motion JPEG (Linear PCM or µ-Lau)
• Music: Memory Stick Audio Format: ATRAC3 / plus, MP3, MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer3), MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), 
      WAVE (Linear PCM), WMA (Windows Media Audio 9 Standard Only)
• Photo: JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG
• Power: Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery pack, AC adaptor, USB power supply
• AC adaptor, DC IN 5V, DC OUT, Battery pack (1200mAh)

PSP Product History

• 10/09 - PSPgo (PSP-N1000) - smaller - flash memory, no UMD
• New Media Go - PC access / download from PlayStation Store
       Manage PSP content on PC, games, videos, photos, music
       www.us.playstation.com/psn/mediago
• PR 6/09 - PSPgo - www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/518
• 6/09 - PSP Development Tool hardware reduced to $1,500
• March 2009, PSP world wide sell-in units 51.6+ million
• PR 6/09 - www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/517
• 10/08 - PSP-3000 - Enhanced display, microphone
  • PR 8/08 - www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/484
  • PR 8/08 - www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/485
• 1/08 - PSP-2000 with Skype - PR - www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/447
• 9/07 - PSP-2000 - slimmer and lighter, video out
• 12/06 - PSP-1000 launch
• 2005 - PSP system launch

Sony PSP-2000  (9/07)

• 33% lighter, 19% slimmer (280 to 189 g, 23.0 to 18.6 mm)
      169.4 x 71.4 x 18.6 mm, 189g / 6.7 oz
• Video-out port (progressive)
• Temporarily store game data from UMD, reducing load time during game play
• Charge through USB cable during data transfer
• Memory Stick PRO Duo slot ?
• Colors: Piano Black, Ceramic White, Ice Silver

    Find the Sony PSP-2000 on Amazon.com

Sony PSP-1000 (12/06)

• 333 MHz CPU, 32 MB
• 16:9 Wide screen TFT LCD,  4.3 in., 480 x 272, 16 M colors
• Memory Stick: MP4 video, MP3 and ATRAC3plus audio, JPEG photos
• IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi), ad-hoc networking to up to 16 PSPs, Internet
• USB 2.0, Memory Stick Duo, Infrared Port
• 6.7 x 2.9 x .9 inches, 280 g / .62 lbs
• Removable battery, 4 to 6 hours
• $199, $249
• PSP Media Manager software, $19, www.sonymediasoftware.com

    Find the Sony PSP-1000 on Amazon.com

PSP - Universal Media Disc (UMD)

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Satellite Radio - SIRIUS and XM

SIRIUS Satellite Radio

www.sirius.com

XM Satellite Radio

www.xmradio.com

• Monthly subscriptions from 70 plus channels starting at $12.95
• SIRIUS: Also Internet radio access, or $6.99 additional 
• Plans for live traffic and marine weather service.
• Removable radios and base stations for home or office use 
• Position an antenna with a clear view of the sky 
• Adding terrestrial repeaters in major cities 
      Extend digital signal into buildings, and for mobile use.

Sirius Stiletto 100 (winter 06)

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