News that the company would be bringing out a new Nook was first reported back in November last year. They would most likely have preferred to have launched the device earlier, especially after seeing the recent success Amazon has had, but it seems spring will be the soonest we will be seeing the device. That is around the same time of year that Apple Launched their iPad 2 last year, so in keeping with that scheduling, this spring could prove to be exciting as far as tablet fans are concerned.

While details of the new Nook are rare, it was The New York Times that was able to bring us the news that Barnes & Noble will be launching this spring, as they reported the company is currently putting the finishing touches on the next generation device. According to Cnet however the company is reluctant to reveal any more about the device so we are left speculating what it will actually be like. They also suggest in their article that the think the new Nook will be more like a regular tablet in both price and size as opposed to an eReader like the Kindle.

They also consider that it could be the opposite by being more like a low budget eReader aimed at the low-end market, although that area of the market is pretty well catered for. What do you think the new Nook will be more like, an iPad or a Kindle?

The company has announced customers in the US can now choose from thousands of titles that the company have made available for free. According to the press release the free titles are not just some old ancient titles that no one has heard of, but some New York Times bestsellers.

Users won’t have to worry about any due dates for the digital books, but users are limited to one book at a time once a month. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos said in a statement “owning a Kindle just got even better” and added “Prime Members now have exclusive access to a huge library of books to read on any Kindle device at no additional cost and with no due dates”

The new Kindle Lending library promises to offer users a vast choice of categories in both fiction and non-fiction. As with any Kindle book notes, highlights and bookmarks are all saved so they will be available if you re-lend or purchase the book. If you want to borrow a new book they can easily return another book straight from their Kindle device.

Amazon announced that titles come from a variety of publishers, and for most of them it has been agreed for titles to be included for a fixed fee. It is also hoped the service will grow and you can find out more here.

We would like to point out that this is not the official name for the new Kindle device, but it is what TechCrunch believes it will be called. It’s hoped that the Kindle Fire is not hyped, and that it offers a number of advantages for not only Amazon but Android as well. We often struggle to understand why the Android platform has done so well in the smartphone market, but seems to struggle when used in tablets?

Mashable has been looking into how popular the new Amazon tablet could be, and suggest that if the Kindle Fire could emulate some of what the iPad has, then this could be the first Android tablet to offer a fair fight. Whenever I have a conversation with an Android fan they say that the iPad is rubbish and it will not be long before there is a device that will take the fight to Apple.

However, we recently learned of a study that shows that it will not be until 2015 before the iPad loses enough if its tablet marketshare to call Android tablets a success – that means that the Fire might not be the fantastic device that Amazon hopes it will be.

Personally I believe that the Kindle Fire will be a tablet that will just prove that Amazon can do it, and we will use the release to gauge consumer interest. If they find that consumers buy into the new product, it will be another year before they launch a true iPad contender.

Earlier this year online retailer Amazon launched its Amazon Prime service that put it up against the likes of Netflix. Now there are rumors that Amazon may extend this service to give users the access to a library of books. According to TNW Insider this will be available for a fixed monthly fee, and will be the eBook equivalent to Netflix.

It is reported that Amazon will offer publishers a big fee for taking part in the service, and in the current climate could prove highly tempting. There are already services similar to this already available such as bookswim and booksfree.com. These have been around for some time but differ as they are mainly for offline hardbacks and paperbacks.

Also there is 24symbols that has the same type of service that Amazon could be offering; the difference is at present it only offers titles that are public domain over premium bestsellers. The Kindle platform and Amazon’s strong relationships with publishers provides a unique opportunity that only Apple could match.

The service would likely prove to be hugely successful for the retail giant, and the Apple the iBook service hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. Especially considering the company’s other digital content successes.

Any such service will probably begin life in the US and hopefully start rolling out around the world. Many consumers may like the idea of paying a monthly subscription to get access to any books they want to read. Compared to buying titles if the book they choose to read turns out to be no good they can just move onto the next one.

Would you prefer to rent eBooks compared to purchasing them?

From the moment that you turn the device on you will then be able to access 3 million free books that Google has stored online. Not only that, but there are also several hundred thousand paid titles as well. The worrying thing for Amazon is that the design and price of this latest eReader is very similar to their Kindle. This new eReader is considered an evolution of the iriver Story, which as we know was launched back in 2009 – we hope that it has evolved as much as the Nook and Kindle has.

To make it easy to search you will have a QWERTY keyboard along with edging and keys – maybe they thought that it adds a little elegance to the design? You do not have a touchscreen to turn the pages, that is done by using the four-directional button, which is positioned above the keyboard. This could cause a huge problem, as most consumers believe that anything but touchscreen is considered a step back in technology.

Where the Google eReader will come into its own is how you will not have to download books to the device to read them; instead you will be able to access them directly by using a Wi-Fi connection. This is perfect when you are at home, but you also have the chance to download to your local storage if you are going on vacation, or like something to read on the commute to work.

One has to ask themselves why Google would want to endorse the iriver Story HD, especially when these eBooks can be accessed via Android, IOS, Nook and Sony eReader devices? Maybe Google is just trying too hard to compete in all markets, when they should just concentrate their efforts in a few.

Google already has the lions share of the smartphone market with their Android OS, as well as the search engine market. There next step is social media, with their Google+ service; so do they really need to try to dominate another?

According to the LA Times the new Google eReader will cost $139.99, which is not a bad price considering.

Kate Solomon of TechRadar is reporting in an article that the publisher has seen sales of £1.5 million in eBook sales between January 2010 and March 2011. On a year on year basis it has seen revenues increased by eighteen times for the format.

The first three months of 2011 accounted for £1.1 million of the sales which not only suggests the boom times are only just beginning, but also a lot of people probably got an eReader or tablet for Christmas. Nigel Newton chief executive of the publisher said, “Demand for digital delivery, including e-books, is increasing significantly.”

He added the publishing world is currently having “its own revolution.” But unfortunately the eBook sales didn’t stop Bloomsbury’s profits taking a big dive compared to 2009. Many publishers will be hoping the boom in tablets and eReaders will help them turn the corner, and bring the money rolling in.

Do you have an eReader?

Nicholas Kolakowski from eWeek.com is reporting that since the 1st of April Kindle eBooks have sold 105 editions for every 100 print books, which includes both paperback and hardback editions. CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos said the company had great expectations of this happening but “never imagined it would happen this quickly”.

He also said the Amazon Kindle was the biggest selling e-Reader in the world, but the company has never revealed sales figures for the device. The sale figures for the Kindle eBooks did not include free editions, and the Kindle eBooks are now selling at three times the rate of the same period last year.

The news comes shortly after it was announced that the ad-supported Kindle was now the best selling version of the device. The Kindle is beginning to face stiffer competition from other devices, as well as the applications now available for the iPad and Google Android.

Many consumers obviously want the convenience an eReader gives with having lots of books stored on an easy to carry device. It won’t be good news for the many book stores out there in the years to come though.

Do you have an eReader?

George Wong from Ubergizmo is reporting that the ad-supported device is currently the best selling version of the Kindle. This is according to Amazon’s best selling list, and despite only being available for a short time.

Consumers must like having the extra $25 to their name and may not seem much, but to some it obviously does. It will also buy you a few books to get your collection of eBooks up and running. The ad system by Amazon has been pretty well thought out, as it doesn’t interrupt owners reading experience. The ads only make an appearance on the home screen and never in the actual book itself.

There has been talk of a Kindle successor, so prices for the Kindle device may drop even further eventually. Have you purchased the ad-supported Kindle? Or would you ever consider it?

Reuters are reporting that the company who have just been named top of the Fortune 500 list, will start stocking the device this week. The device can already be found in other retailers stores such as Best But and Target, but it will now be found in Walmarts 3,100 retail stores.

The Kindle has been the highest selling eReader device since it was first released in 2007, but more recently has come under increased competition from the Nook, and of course the iPad. The Wi-Fi and 3G Kindle’s will priced similar to what Amazon charge via its website, which starts at $114.

Whether Walmart might offer some promotions on the pricing remains to be seen, as Amazon wouldn’t want the device sold cheaper than what it charges itself. The retailer may offer some extra goodies to go with the device though.

Do you own an Amazon Kindle?

The fresh information has surfaced in a article over at Digitimes, as it states that Quanta Computer, a Taiwanese manufacturer has received OEM instructions from Amazon for this mystery device tablet.

Best of all, their report adds that production will start soon, with an expected shipping date before the end of this year. At the moment, we haven’t heard any specification details, or indeed any leaked pictures of what the device may look like. The above image is a mock-up of course, but it’s safe to say that the tablet will come with Kindle e-book reading facilities first of all, but what operating system will it run on?

Will Amazon design their own interface, or will they customize a version of Google Android 2.3 Honeycomb? As we mentioned above, it’s an exciting prospect either way for Kindle owners. We’ll let you know when we hear more details on the device. Let us know if you’re interested to buy one or not.