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Above is an infographic design to compare the Apple iPad vs. the JooJoo vs. the Amazon.com Kindle DX vs. the HP Slate.  Since the HP Slate specs have not been released yet, I had to base the information on speculation and rumors.  This infographic and blog post will be updated upon the actual date of the HP Slate.

The Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle DX is now available with international wireless access. This makes it possible for Kindle owners to download books when they are traveling outside of the United States. However consumers will be subjected to an international download charge. But it may be worth it if you are overseas for an extended period of time.

Amazon.com has filed for a couple of patents that imply that there will be books supported by advertising available for download.  The e-books that have advertising built in would be free or discounted.

The advertising patent that was filed earlier this month was entitled “Incorporating Advertising In On-Demand Generated Content.”  The other advertising patent was called “On-Demand Generating E-Book Content With Advertising.”

Amazon.com subsidiary Amazon Technologies filed for a patent called “Method and system for access to electronic version of a physical work based on user ownership of the physical work” back in December 2006.  The patent was approved last month.  This allows buyers of a physical book to receive an e-book bundle.

One of the reasons why consumers may be resistant to purchasing a Kindle is the price-per-book cost on top of the already high price of the Kindle.  Having books available for free may encourage more people to buy the Kindle.

[via CNET]

Earlier this week Amazon.com announced that the source code for Kindle devices has been open sourced.  The code is based on Linux kernel 2.6.22 with 2.1 software along with E Ink drivers and other hardware drivers.  The licenses for the code is unknown too, but it believed to be the GNU General Public License.  The code for the original Kindle, the Kindle DX, and the Kindle 2 is available here.

[via Engadget]

Tim Arango, an editor at the New York Times wrote an article yesterday criticizing the Text-to-Speech feature built in to the Kindle.  Arango stated that the Kindle pronounces Barack (rhyming with black) and Obama (rhyming with Alabama).  Gawker likens the New York Times homepage to having the same type of content as the Digg homepage based on this article and suggests that the newspaper company is being on the defensive.

If the Times really is being on the defensive side here, they have some work to do.  Criticizing a feature that may assist illiterate or dyslexic people understand what is written isn’t exactly the most politically correct target to go after.  The text-to-speech feature is provided by Nuance Communications.  The correct pronunciation has been added to the President’s name now.  The correct pronunciation will be added through a wireless update to the devices.

“These things happen a lot,” stated Nuance executive Steve Chambers. “It’s not even considered a bug. If it encounters a word it has never seen, it approaches it almost like a kid, phonetically.”  Now that Arango helped fix a glitch regarding the President’s name, I’m wondering if the Kindle can pronounce Arango correctly.

Amazon.com has just launched the third version of their Kindle e-book reading device.  The screen is 9.7″ which is about two and a half times the size of the Kindle’s display.  The DX has an auto-rotating screen, support for PDFs, and enough storage to hold 3,500 books (3.3GB memory).  It is available for pre-order for a cost of $489.

Books can be downloaded in less than 60 seconds using a 3G wireless system.  There are no monthly fees.  The battery life is 25% longer and pages turn 20% faster.  Like the Kindle 2, there is a Read-To-Me (text-to-speech) feature built-in.

[via Crunchgear]