Skiff

CES not always the greatest guide for commercial success

LAS VEGAS--We've seen it more than a few times.

A company at the Consumer Electronics show wows the tech crowd in Las Vegas with its new product. It's sure to be a hit, the tech press concludes. Then everyone heads home, gets some sleep, and months later we ask ourselves, "Whatever happened to (fill in the blank)?"

Despite the massive size and reach of CES, the show can actually be quite insular. With so many companies looking to display their latest and greatest products, the media is left scrambling to cover as much as they possibly … Read more

News Corp. buys Hearst's Skiff platform, leaves the reader

In January, Hearst and Sprint showed off something called a Skiff e-reader, which was designed with newspapers and magazines in mind and was supposed to go on sale this year.

Hope you weren't planning on buying one.

News Corp. announced Monday that it has purchased Skiff from Hearst--but only the publisher's e-reader software platform. The device itself remains the property of Hearst, but it doesn't want it, either: I'm told the publisher is trying to find a buyer.

It's theoretically possible that Sprint will continue forward with a reading device that didn't seem very … Read more

Roundup: new 2010 e-book readers

While Amazon's Kindle, Sony's Readers, and the Barnes & Noble Nook remain the most popular e-readers in the U.S. market, literally dozens of companies are putting out new e-readers this year--and they're all on display at CES.

They range in price from less than $200 to more than $750 and one even includes dual screens. Which ones truly have a chance of breaking through with consumers is debatable, especially if Apple should go ahead and announce a slate device later this month. But here they all are.

As always, feel free to comment, and let us … Read more

E-readers' next chapter might not have happy ending

LAS VEGAS--There were e-readers aplenty at the Consumer Electronics Show, but there's substantial doubt if there are enough interested buyers to go around.

Amazon talks up the Kindle as its best-selling product, but even the market leader won't say how many digital readers it has sold. Sony has long had its own readers and Barnes & Noble has jumped into the fray with the Nook. But it hasn't stopped there.

Plenty of other would-be rivals showed up at CES, each hoping to make a name for themselves. But, that could be tough, analysts say.

"Just being … Read more

Superslim Skiff Reader features LG's 'metal foil' e-paper tech

With plenty of e-readers expected to be trotted out at this year's CES, Hearst Corp.-backed Skiff and Sprint are hoping to attract attention with a reader that's thinner and larger than anything currently out there. In Las Vegas, the companies will be previewing the Skiff Reader, which features an 11.5-inch touch-screen display (1200x1600 pixels) that's just over a quarter of an inch thick and is designed for reading newspaper and magazine content along with e-books and personal documents.

Company reps say the Skiff Reader is the first consumer product to feature LG's "metal … Read more