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Press Media Wire (Press Release) - Sep 25,2009 -
(PressMediaWire) - New York, New York - Best Buy and Verizon have joined the eBook craze with a new reading device that may rival Amazon's best-selling Kindle. Called the iRex DR800SG, it is already one of Europe's most popular
e-readers. Priced at $399, the touch-screen device will be able to buy
digital books and newspapers wirelessly through the 3G networks of
Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Suppliers include Barnes & Noble's
e-bookstore and NewspaperDirect, offering more than a thousand papers. "Over five million e-readers are expected to be sold this year as
eBooks continue to grow exponentially in popularity," says Joel
Hochman of Arbor Books. "Add this to the millions of cell phones that
can also act as e-readers and digital books are expected to take an
even larger chunk of print sales." Thousands of Best Buy employees have been trained to demonstrate
e-readers like the Sony Reader and iRex, and all the chain's 1,048
stores will have dedicated areas to showcase the different devices. The black-and-gray iRex (with an eight-inch screen) is similar to
rivals like the Kindle DX, which has a ten-inch screen and costs $489,
and Sony's new $399 Reader Daily Edition with its seven-inch screen. "E-Books and eBook downloads are the future," says Larry Leichman of Arbor Books. "Just as with music, our publishing industry is
undergoing an exciting revolution. Content will be king. Anyone with a
book--whether ghostwritten or written with a ghostwriter--will have
an equal shot at fame and fortune." Barnes & Noble said it planned to market eBooks "in really big and
interesting ways" to the seventy-seven million customers who walk into
its stores every year. The immediate goal for the eBook market is to bring the costs of
e-readers to $99 or less, which could happen if wireless providers
like Verizon subsidize the devices and sell them in their stores, as
they do with netbooks. This could happen soon if e-readers continue to sell well because wireless providers get paid for the bandwidth
required to distribute content--a potential major revenue stream. For now, the next anticipated steps are Apple's entry into the market
with a more general-purpose tablet computer and Google's possible move with its own device to complement its book catalog and book programs.
Contact Information:
Arbor Books
Olga Vladi
Phone: 212-956-0950 Ext:
Website
Email Us
Press Release Keywords:
e-readers,e-books,Verizon,AT&T,Sprint,Barnes & Noble,Amazon Kindle,digital books and newspapers |
