Gemstar Announce Release and Availability

The battle for ebook supremacy is hotting up after Gemstar's latest announcement on coming ebooks and the release date of the RCA ebook devices.

Gemstar today announced the release of six titles from best-selling authors, Patricia Cornwell, Robert Ludlum, James Patterson, Ken Follett, Ed McBain and Brad Meltzer prior to their hardcover release. The semi-exclusive deal means that the titles will be available exclusively in Gemstar eBook format for ninety days before being distributed in other electronic reading formats such as PDF and LIT.

The REB1100 and REB1200 will be available at retail after the Thanksgiving holiday (that's around the end of November for those of you not based in America) -- considered the busiest shopping day of the year. Retailers will include Best Buy, Circuit City and OfficeMax, as well as the RCA Web site and other sites yet to be announced . "Reading is an important enough habit to deserve a dedicated device," said Gemstar Henry C. Yuen, Chairman and CEO of Gemstar, but it remains to be seen whether readers will agree.

Rocket eBook and SoftBook Sites Change

It's been a while in the coming, but SoftBook and Rocket eBook have now been tied closer to the Gemstar brand. Gemstar has released its ebook site, with the SoftBook site redirecting to it and the Rocket eBook site going nowhere (this will no doubt be fixed). There's not a lot to see, but here's where you see it - www.gemstarebook.com.

REB1100 includes

  • 5.5" (diagnoal) LCD touch-screen
  • Monochrome screen
  • 8MB memory built-in
  • Supports an upgrade slot for a 64MB SmartMedia memory
  • 17 ounces
  • Internal modem
  • USB port or infrared link

REB1200 includes

  • Color screen
  • 8.5" (diagnoal) LCD touch-screen.
  • 8MB memory built-in
  • Supports Flash memory cards (which extends to well over 100MB)
  • 33 Ounces
  • Internal modem
  • Ethernet port

More Info