This confirms the eBook release as fans have been waiting for the series’ long overdue digital release. Rowling has revealed that Pottermore will be the exclusive online portal for Harry Potter eBook releases with Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone, the first Harry Potter book, is set to be released on October 1.

Rowling’s announcement came just in time before the launch of the final film installment of the franchise Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, which is set to hit theaters on July. Harry Potter fans are expecting the second eBook installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, to be released in 2012. The remaining five books are set to be launched after that.

The Pottermore website is reported to offer more than just access to Harry Potter eBooks, it will also be an online community for fans of the book, with Rowling writing more than 18,000 words about the wizarding world.

Are you looking forward to the final film and the new Pottermore website?

JK Rowling Harry Potter eBook release and Pottermore website is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Amazon say since April 2011 they have sold 2.42 kindle books for every 1 hardcover book sold, this includes books where no kindle edition is available and free kindle books where excluded from the statistics entirely.

Kindle Director, Gordon Willoughby explained, “Amazon.co.uk customers are choosing Kindle books more often than hardcovers at a rate of more than 2 to 1. This is truly astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books from Amazon.co.uk for over 13 years and Kindle books for only nine months.”

An impressive rate of growth has pleased many people and has angered others, ebook users are happy with the vast catalogue of books available for instant download through ebook readers such as the Kindle. Others believe the device to be ‘pure evil’ and believe Amazon are killing the paperback industry. The research did not mention paperbacks, only hardback data was included.

Which ever camp you sit in its hard to ignore the growth of ebook’s and digital media.

Do you prefer to read paper based or digital ebook’s on readers like the Kindle?

Amazon Kindle Books Outsell Hardback Sales 2.4 to 1 is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

J K Rowling and her advisers look like they are at last going to give the green light for the adventures of the boy wizard to make the big jump onto the electronic format.

The official word is that giving the go ahead for eBook publishing is now being “actively considered”. Why have they taken so long to go ahead and get this done? Could it be something to do with money?

Experts in the publishing world reckon that the licensing for the Harry Potter eBooks could net the author up to £100 million and that it could have a massive knock on effect in generating sales of eBook readers to people who are brought to the medium by the Hogwarts based stories.

The Scotsman newspaper got a great quote from Professor Claire Squires from Stirling University, who said that the deal would be similar to The Beatles making their music available through iTunes for the first time.

So who will buy Harry Potter eBooks? Those who want to replace dog eared old copies with whizzy electronic ones or parents who want to get their children reading by spicing it up with a bit of technology? Maybe the electronic versions will come with some sort of extra hook to encourage diehard fans who already have the paper copies and the DVDs to part with more cash for the new format.

Would you buy an electronic Harry Potter book?

Harry Potter to Magically Appear on EBook Readers? is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Amazon was clearly pleased with the popularity of their device. Brian McBride, Managing Director of Amazon UK commented, “This was the first Christmas that Kindle and Kindle 3G have been available from Amazon.co.uk and the demand has been exceptional.”

December 6^th was the busiest day for the online retailer with 2.3 million units sold, they say at the peak of the Christmas period 27 items were bought every second on the site – clearly the poor weather conditions didn’t put people off buying online this year.

Kindle Tops Christmas Sales on Amazon.co.uk

The popular animated movie Toy Story Three bagged second place beating off stiff competition from Call of Duty: Black Ops which took third position. Take That managed fourth position with the blockbuster movie Inception taking fifth place.

Number six was taken by Jamie Oliver with his 40 minute meals books, seventh by the latest Now 77 cd, eighth by Twilight: Eclipse, ninth by Downton Abbey and tenth Just Dance 2 for the Nintendo Wii.

Did you receive any of the top ten in your Christmas Stocking? Do the results surprise you or is it to be expected?

Kindle Outsells Toy Story 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The last few weeks have been all about sales numbers, all the big brands have been releasing all sorts of figures. Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 1.4 million copies on the first day, Sony had sold 4.1 million Move units by the end of November and Microsoft expects to sell 5 million Kinect units before the year is out. So today’s announcement by Amazon was more than a little underwhelming.

So is Amazon just being secretive? Are they remaining modest off the back of huge sales or are they embarrassed by their results. Today’s announcement really didn’t reveal much. The vague statement said “…in just the first 73 days of this holiday quarter, we’ve already sold millions of our all-new Kindles with the latest E Ink Pearl display.”

So the announcement didn’t really reveal numbers, the statement continued “In the last 73 days, readers have purchased more Kindles than we sold during all of 2009. We’re grateful for and energized by the overwhelming customer response.”

Again this is a little vague seeing as Amazon didn’t reveal sales figures of the original Kindle, we doubt sales are low so wonder why Amazon aren’t shouting about their stats – perhaps they don’t need to.

What’s your take on the Amazon sales announcement?

Get the Kindle straight from Amazon for £109

Amazon Vaguely Boasts Millions’ of Kindle E-Readers Sold is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Sharp tell us that the readers will have a new format, known as the next-generation XMDF, which will enable “easy viewing of digital contents including video and audio, and allows automatic adjustment of the layout to match and meet publishers’ needs.” Sounds promising, does it not?

Of course, as with any new product the key is in the timing. Sharp will hope to have chosen their moment wisely, having held off long enough to take advantage of the latest technology but not long enough to have lost any chance of grabbing a share of the growing e-reader market.  Keep your virtual eyes peeled for a review on this site asap.

Following the news shares in Sharp went up 1.5 percent to a high of  958 yen and a tie up deal with US company Verizon is expected (hey, we’re nothing if not thorough).

New e-reader unveiled by Sharp is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

There’s nothing quite like snuggling down in the evening with a good book and a glass of something. Now that reading has joined the growing list of “things which are even better if you do them electronically” we can use the ELONEX 511EB eReader to read our favourite books, although unfortunately eDrinks haven’t yet been invented to go with it.

Design

The idea of the eReader is something comfortable and easy to carry around with you or to read propped up in bed. It certainly meets those criteria, being just the right size and shape to make the carrying and holding of it a pleasure rather than a chore.

Features

The fact that you can change the font size and the ultra high resolution on the screen should help you avoid hurting your eyes when you get caught up in reading something. Possibly the most clever innovation on the ELONEX 511RB eReader is the fact that it only uses energy to turn pages. This means that even slow readers can get 8000 pages out of one charge.

You can also listen to music, while the built in microphone lets you record memos. An important point is that this eReader supports Windows 7, Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit) and Windows XP (just 32 bit on this one).

A few people have advised of problems with embedded images but if you look at the Waterstone’s site you will see the possible solutions.

Summary

Book lovers who are also gadget lovers will be in heaven with this offering. If you pick up the Waterstone’s offer where they give you a free memory card with the eReader you can store a huge number of eBooks on it and have constant access to them. The free card also comes with 100 books loaded on it. This isn’t the first eReader on the market but the ELONEX 511EB eReader is the best value one around at the moment and doesn’t sacrifice quality or features to achieve this.

Buy it now from PC world

ELONEX 511EB eReader Review is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The services include; translation, font size adjustment, voice playback and full view or text only reading. This will surely not be the last eBook site launch and as sales of these books continue to pick up we will need to see whether the addition of the Toshiba service on it’s new computer gives it the edge needed to get the best market share or whether some other giant steps out of the shadows with their own site.

New eBook store to be promoted by Toshiba is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

European prices for the iPad are much higher than in other regions of the globe and the UK is being hit even harder with high prices for the must-have gadget of the day.

The cheapest place to get an iPad is in Apple’s native USA, which is not particularly surprising for anyone who keeps their eye on exchange rates and the cost of imported goods. The iPad is also a lot cheaper if bought in Australia or Asia.

Analyst firm CommSec has revealed that in the UK, consumers will be spending up to 25 per cent more for their iPad than someone shopping for the tablet computer in the USA. According to CommSec’s Craig James, the same is true if you are living in Italy, France or Germany, with many European consumers facing far heftier retail prices for the iPad.

Mr James suggested that Apple might have put the iPad on the market at a price point that will make it unattractive for its European customers from a financial point of view. He also said that the falling value of the Pound and the Euro might bring international prices in line with those in the US, although this could still take a long time.

In the US, the 16GB Wi-Fi only iPad is selling for $499 (£349), whilst in the UK it is on shelves for the equivalent of $620 (£429).

Brits pay over the odds for iPad is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Amazon already sells stand-alone Kindle devices which are intended to excel as eBook reading gadgets, but it has already created an app for the iPhone which enables Kindle content to be accessed by mobile users.

The Android version of the Kindle app will be more impressive than its iPhone counterpart, largely because it will allow users to purchase eBooks directly from their phones, rather than requiring them to buy them on their Kindle or PC and then transfer them over.

With over half a million books available in the Kindle library and with new publications being added continuously, Android users will be able to access an almost limitless number of titles from the past and present. The Kindle app allows you to transfer books you have already purchased using the service over to your smartphone, so there is no need to make repeat purchases.

The Kindle Store is an ideal hub for fans of literature, as it lets them peruse the latest releases, download classic books that are out of copyright free of charge and even check out reader reviews and submit their own musings on a book that they have enjoyed – or not!

The Android version of the Kindle app has been optimised for the platform, complete with intuitive touchscreen controls and accelerometer sensitivity to automatically switch between landscape and portrait orientation.

Kindle eReader coming to Android smartphones is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos