(image courtesy of petitinvention)
Welcome to the final State of the eBook for 2009! It has been a big year for eBooks, and I am going to do my best to cover a timeline of the high points, as well as a few things to look forward to in 2010.
Rather than do a traditional timeline of events, I thought I’d break it down by the year in highlights per company/platform, and then a few predictions and news items to look forward to in 2010!
Amazon Kindle:
-Kindle 2 is announced on February 23, 2009.
-Kindle DX is announced on May 6, 2009
-International Kindle is announced on October 7, 2009, and AT&T becomes the Kindle whispersync provider.
-Amazon announces Kindle is their most-gifted item ever.
-Kindle books overtake paper books on Christmas Day; even more impressive, this number is independent of any free books being offered on promotion by Amazon.
Barnes & Noble eBook Readers:
-B&N purchases Fictionwise/eReader for $15.7million dollars on March 5, 2009.
-Barnes and Noble apparently meet with Spring Design to discuss a potential eBook reader design. [need date]
-The nook is announced on October 20, 2009, and almost immediately sells out; it offers wireless through AT&T, as well as a WiFi option and special in-store promotions.
-October 21, 2009, Plastic Logic announces their Que Reader will be compatible with B&N eBooks and will be sold alongside nooks in physical stores.
-Spring Design sues B&N over the design of the nook on November 3, 2009. I achieve internet immortality thanks to this lawsuit.
-Barnes and Noble moves their eBook store to ePUB on December 14th, 2009.
Sony:
-Sony Reader Pocket and Touch editions announced on August 6th, 2009.
-Sony Reader Daily Edition released, offers wireless through AT&T on August 6th, officially is released on December 22, 2009.
-A deal is struck with the Wall Street Journal to provide exclusive content to the Reader Daily Edition.
-Sony offers a trade-in/firmware upgrade for the PRS-500, the original Sony Reader on November 17th, 2009.
-Sony eBookstore becomes the Sony Reader Store on December 11, 2009, moves to ePUB.
Smartphones/Tablets:
-Kindle for iPhone/iPod Touch hits the App Store on March 3, 2009.
-Stanza is purchased by Amazon on April 27, 2009.
-A Barnes and Noble branded eBook reader hits the iPhone/iPod Touch app store, Blackberry devices, and Mac/PCs on July 27th, 2009.
-Vook, the video/eBook format, is announced on October 1, 2009.
-Kindle for PC is released on November 10th, 2009.
-eReader for Android is released on November 17th, 2009.
-eReader for Symbian S60 is released on December 16th, 2009.
-Shortcovers/Kobo Books strikes a deal with Borders on December 17th, supports every major smartphone platform.
-Camangi Web Station is released, runs Android and can read eReader and ePUB format books.
Other eBook readers:
-Cool-er is announced on August 25th, 2009, aims to make eBook readers fun and colorful.
–Jetbook lite breaks from the e-ink ranks on October 28th, 2009, offers a greyscale LCD instead and at a lower price point than many other readers.
-eSlick and Jetbook are offered through eReader/Fictionwise deals, announced one week apart on December 12th and December 18th, 2009, respectively.
The Future:
-Plastic Logic Que debuting at CES on January 10th, 2010.
-Blio, a new interactive eBook format especially suited for tablets, will debut at CES.
–ALEX LIVES! Spring Design will present at CES!
-Kindle for Mac/Blackberry coming soon…hopefully in 2010!
-Potential color screens in Qualcomm’s mirasol displays.
-A parade of Android tablets and devices, starting with the Entourage Edge.
-One tablet to publish them all, one tablet to read them: iSlate!
Whew! After pulling together this list, it is exhausting to see everything the eBook world has accomplished this year. Mostly this concentrated around the platform growth, and while it does not cover every possible software and hardware option, it does cover a great deal of the big players. Hopefully, next year will bring even more exciting eBook news! What are you most excited about in 2010?