Computer maker Asus, known for its line of Eee PC netbooks, is working on an e-book reader that will have two touchscreens and when laid open will resemble a hardcover book.

Asus showed a prototype of the device at the CeBIT trade show in March. But now additional details have trickled out.

An Asus representative confirmed to Wired.com the company will probably show the device at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Asus’ e-reader will likely have color touchscreens, a speaker, a webcam and a microphone, along with the capability to make inexpensive Skype calls. Despite all those features, Britain’s Sunday Times reports, somewhat unbelievably, that it may be priced lower than its competitors from Sony and Kindle.

The e-reader market is one of the hottest consumer product categories this year. Just the last few months have seen a slew of new product announcements. After introducing Kindle 2, the updated version of its e-reader, Amazon launched a broadsheet reading device called the Kindle DX. Last month Sony introduced a $400 wireless e-reader with a 7-inch screen and cut the price on its older models to offer the cheapest e-book reader in the market. Meanwhile, two other companies — iRex and Plastic Logic — plan to offer new large-screen readers later this year or early next year.

But all e-readers, available and planned, are black and white. Asus’ product will likely be the first to offer a color screen. The move, coupled with unexpected features such as speakers and mic, is the only way the company can stand out in a crowded market.

With dual screens, the new Eee e-reader could give readers a user experience similar to paper books. The device could also offer readers the option of using the second screen to browse a web page.  The best part about the device, though, would be the price tag, says the Times report. The cheapest version of the Asus Eee reader could lost about £100, equivalent to $165.

While Asus has a well-deserved reputation for making extremely inexpensive computers, that price may be too low for even it to match, given the promised feature set.

For Asus, getting this mix of features and price right is essential if it has to make a dent in the e-reader market at this stage.

via: www.wired.com

Designed by Amazon, this is the official leather book cover for Kindle (2nd Generation). This unique book cover is not only stylish, but offers optimal protection and comfort. A patent-pending hinge secures your Kindle to the cover. Simply attach Kindle (2nd Generation) into the cover and rest assured it will stay firmly in place even when you’re on the go. The genuine black leather is sturdy, offering the best protection for your Kindle; and the soft charcoal interior protects the screen from scratches.

This lightweight cover is contoured to fit Kindle’s smooth, rounded edges. Reading with the cover on, you can easily access Kindle’s navigation features and power switch, while still enjoying a perfect fit in your hands. Fold back the cover and read comfortably with just one hand. The black leather is textured with a traditional pebbled grain, giving your Kindle (2nd Generation) a sophisticated look.

Amazon Kindle Leather Cover Technicals

• Official book cover designed by Amazon for Amazon Kindle (2nd Generation)
• Secure Kindle in place with patent-pending cover hinge
• Sturdy and stylish genuine black leather exterior protects Kindle
• Soft charcoal grey suede interior protects screen from scratches

Buy Amazon Kindle Leather Cover (fits 2nd Generation Kindle): Electronics

The Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Light is a battery operated clamp-on accessory that is custom designed to illuminate your Kindle Wireless Reading device. Two Super LED lights in one head gives you the lighting power of 6 normal LEDs. You have the option of using one or two of the Super LED lights with just a simple tap of the proprietary sensor switch.

The flexible neck allows you to position your lighting anywhere you want it. With the XtraFlex2, you can take your Kindle anywhere–in bed, on the bus or train, and have proper illumination at your fingertips.

Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Technicals

• Two "Super LEDs" are as bright as six regular LEDs and never need replacing
• LumaLenz optical-grade lens spreads light evenly with no hot spots
• MightyGrip strong wide mouth clip grips almost anything, or use free standing as a task light
• MightFlex fully adjustable arm will position and hold light in place
• Designed for attachment to your Kindle book cover

Buy Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On Light (Black, Kindle Version): Electronics

The Sennheiser PX 100 Headphones use dynamic supra-aural mini headphones and a slim, lightweight design to provide convenience and superior sound to the traveler or outdoor user. Sennheiser’s duoful diaphragms with spiral embossing provide high-resolution sound, while the twin damping technology creates crisp, fast bass response, helped by 80ppi polyurethane and special perforated elements.

The ear cups can be turned 90 degrees and closed up, then put into a rugged carrying case that can fit into a shirt pocket. The included headband padding helps provide the perfect, snug fit for your head.

Sennheiser PX 100 Features

• Collapsible open-air headphones
• Warm natural sound for all types of music
• High energy driver system for max performance
• Rugged collapsible headphone with case
• Super lightweight design

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This unisex stylish messenger bag is made from Italian leather and has a purposely designed inside pocket to hold the Kindle 2. Not only is it useful for carrying the Kindle 2, but it can be used to for carrying necessary day to day items. Suitable for men and women, this bag eliminates the need to carry around 2 bags.

OCTO Messenger Bag  Features

• Messenger bag made of Italian leather and canvas
• Pockets to protect valuables and devices
• Special interior pocket to store your Kindle reader while you are on the go
• Stylish black leather & canvas bag with adjustable shoulder strap
• Unisex bag – suitable for men or women

Buy OCTO Messenger Bag for Amazon Kindle 2: Electronics

From master storyteller Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of the international phenomenon The Shadow of the Wind, comes The Angel’s Game–a dazzling new page-turner about the perilous nature of obsession, in literature and in love.

“The whole of Barcelona stretched out at my feet and I wanted to believe that, when I opened those windows, its streets would whisper stories to me, secrets I could capture on paper and narrate to whomever cared to listen…”

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city’s underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner.

Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has ever existed–a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, and perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.

Once again, Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic universe first seen in The Shadow of the Wind and creates a breathtaking adventure of intrigue, romance, and tragedy. Through a dizzingly constructed labyrinth of secrets, the magic of books, passion, and friendship blend into a masterful story.

Get the ebook The Angel’s Game: Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Lucia Graves: The Kindle Store

Bestseller Evanovich recycles tired themes better executed in earlier adventures in her latest Stephanie Plum adventure (Fearless Fourteen, etc.). When Lula inadvertently witnesses the beheading of culinary TV star Stanley Chipotle in a Trenton, N.J., alley, Stephanie’s on-again off-again boyfriend, cop Joe Morelli, reluctantly takes the case.

Lula, with the help of Grandma Mazur, enters the same barbequing competition Chipotle was in town to promote, hoping to lure the murderers out of hiding. Meanwhile, Ranger has recruited Stephanie to help solve a series of break-ins at properties under the protection of Rangeman Security.

The inevitable sparks fly between Stephanie and Ranger, with Morelli grumbling on the sidelines. Evanovich dishes up her usual mixture of shoot-’em-up action (numerous cars explode) and quirky characters (notably a neighborhood flasher with a devoted following), but the lackluster plot will disappoint fans. (June 23)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Get this Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (Stephanie Plum Novels) eBook: Janet Evanovich: The Kindle Store

Because after Obama has won his war on prosperity and canceled the war on terror, it will be too late to regain our liberty or our security. At a time when we needed a pragmatic centrist to lead us out of recession, we got a doctrinaire socialist who wants to use the crisis to put the government in charge of the economy and enact European socialism here in the United States.

Cars, banks-what’s next? He will keep at it until Washington governs every major business in America and sets all our salaries. It’s a catastrophe. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann saw the meltdown coming. In their book Outrage, they called out the house of cards that was Fannie Mae. In Fleeced, they went after the credit card companies, the subprime mortgage lenders, and the hedge fund billionaires who conspired to wreck the economy-and Barack Obama, whose policies, they predicted last summer, would “trigger a stock market crash.”

Now, in Catastrophe, Morris and McGann take a hard look at America in free fall-and at how Obama is transforming a vulnerable America into a socialist state. They tell the truth about Obama and his radical policies: He will destroy our health care system so that no one gets adequate care. He designed his bank rescue plan to pave the way for nation-alization of the banks and socialization of the economy.

He firmly believes in government control of our major industries-he’s already commandeered the banks and the automobile industry. He plans to reshape the political landscape to keep the left in power for decades by cooking the census, enfranchising illegal immigrants, muzzling talk radio, and coercing workers into unions. He is attacking those who fight terrorism while letting the terrorists go free.

He gives aid to Hamas while Shariah Law threatens to take over America. He has repealed the Declaration of Independence and put us under a worldwide, European-dominated financial regulatory system. But Obama is not working alone. Morris and McGann spell out how Congress is complicit: How Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Charlie Rangel use special interests and special friends for their own enrichment and glorification.

How Ted Kennedy Jr. is exploiting his father’s health care power. “This is no time for apathy or alienation or hopelessness,” Morris and McGann remind us. “It’s a time for action.” And that action must begin now-before it’s too late.

Get this Catastrophe: Dick Morris, Eileen McGann: The Kindle Store

Newly graduated from college and an aspiring writer, Beth Hayes craves independence and has a world to conquer. But her notions of travel, graduate study, and writing the great American novel will have to be postponed. With her mother, Susan, leaving to fulfill her own dreams in Paris and her Aunt Maggie, Uncle Grant, and stepfather, Simon, moving to California, Beth is elected by her elders to house-sit the Island Gamble.

Surrounded by the shimmering blue waters of the Atlantic, the white clapboards, silver tin roof, and confessional porch have seen and heard the stories of generations of Hamiltons. But will the ghosts of the Island Gamble be watching over Beth? Buoyed by sentimental memories of growing up on this tiny sandbar that seems to be untouched by time, Beth vows to give herself over to the Lowcountry force and discover the wisdom it holds.

She will rest, rejuvenate, and then reenter the outside world. Just as she vows she will never give into the delusional world of white picket fences, minivans, and eternal love, she meets Max Mitchell. And all her convictions and plans begin to unravel with lightning speed. There is so much about life and her family’s past that she does not know. Her ignorance and naivet? nearly cost her both her inheritance and her family’s respect. But Beth finds unexpected friends to help her through the disaster she faces: her wise and charming Aunt Sophie; Cecily Singleton, the granddaughter of Livvie Singleton; and Woody Morrison, the solid young investment banker.

This wonderful ensemble of characters could be your own family, but watch what unfolds as they succumb to the island’s spell. If everything happens for a reason, then Beth’s return to Sullivans Island teaches her that betrayal and tragedy are most easily handled when you surround yourself with loyal family and friends in a magical place that loves you so much that it wants to claim you as its own.

About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. She and her husband, Peter, divide their time between the New York area and South Carolina.

Download this ebook Return to Sullivans Island eBook: Dorothea Benton Frank: The Kindle Store

And Then the Roof Caved In lays bare the truth of the credit crisis, whose defining emotion at every turn has been greed, and whose defining failure is the complicity of the U.S. government in letting that greed rule the day. Written by CNBC’s David Faber, this book painstakingly details the truth of what really happened with compelling characters who offer their first-hand accounts of what they did and why they did it.

Page by page, Faber explains the events of the previous seven years that planted the seeds for the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He begins in 2001, when the Federal Reserve embarked on an unprecedented effort to help the economy recover from the attacks of 9/11 by sending interest rates to all time lows. Faber also gives you an up-close look at where the crisis was incubated and unleashed upon the world-Wall Street-and introduces you to insiders from investment banks and mortgage lenders to ratings agencies, that unwittingly conspired to insure lending standards were abandoned in the head long rush for profits.

• Based on two years of research, this book provides deep background into the current credit crisis
• Offers the insights of experienced professionals-from Alan Greenspan to prominent bankers and regulators-who were on the front lines
• Created by David Faber, the face of morning business news on CNBC, and host of the network’s award winning documentaries

From regulators who tried to stop this problem before it swung out of control to hedge fund managers who correctly foresaw the coming housing crash and profited from it, And Then the Roof Caved In shows you how the crisis we currently face came to be.

Get this ebook via: amazon.com