It seems Kindle finally has a contender that can hold up its own against Amazon’s top gadget. Kindle may be the king, but the shatterproof Skiff reader is a great step forward for the ebook reader industry. With all the complaints about Kindle screen getting broken easily, Skiff is a breath of fresh air. Let’s hope they release the device sooner rather than later.

2010 has started with a bang for the e-book industry. Not only e-book fans were treated with devices from more established brands (e.g. Sony Reader Daily Edition), many new e-book readers are making their way to the market. Plastic Logic, Skiff, and Alex are all new e-book readers that intend to bring e-book junkies a better reading experience than Kindle. Not all these gadgets are going to be contenders however.

I have written about Plastic Logic reader in the past, and while the device has a lot of potential, the device is too pricey to go mainstream. In fact, it’s tough to see how businesses can justify the price of the device. Que Reader is based on an exciting proprietary technology, and it’s logical for the device to be expensive at first. The device is well worth a look if the price is more manageable.

With the ebook market growing fast, it has become obvious that ebook readers are here to stay. While the future generation ebook readers could look much different than what’s available on the market today, ebooks are the future. We have been bringing you the latest kindle news on K.indled.com for two years now. But Kindle is not the only game in town anymore, so we are expanding our coverage to cover other ebook readers as well. So please join us for the ride. It’s going to be exciting.

The wait is finally over for those of us who have been waiting for Plastic Logic to introduce its reader after a sizzling performance at DEMO a while ago. As expected, Que is designed with business users in mind. First thing that jumped at me was the price. The device is not cheap by any means. The device is going to cost you as low as $649, and that’s for the 4GB version. The 8GB version that comes with both WiFi & 3G (unlike the cheaper version) will cost you a whopping $799! That’s not exactly a price you can justify as a consumer.

Que e-Reader certainly makes it easier for content publishers to display their complex content layouts on it. The 8-1/2″ x 11″ shatterproof display is not only big but more solid that what we have seen on Kindle and other devices. Plastic Logic has been working on addressing the content issue for the device, and it has formed a few partnerships to make it easy for Que reader owners to purchase e-books wirelessly on their device. 

CES 2010 was always going to be the event to participate for companies who were hoping to enter the e-reader market. While many have been excited by the prospect of Plastic Logic reader finally being released to the market, there are other companies that are introducing their own e-readers to the market at this event. Samsung is one of those companies. The company has announced E6 and E101 (10.1 screen) in an attempt to capture a bit more market-share in the e-book industry.

Both devices allow users to take notes with a stylus on their devices, and they come with WiFi capability as well. While there are no earth-shattering features in any of these devices, Samsung seems to be hopeful:

Samsung is addressing a common frustration that users experience with many of today’s digital readers with a stylus that allows them to annotate their favorite works or take notes. Coupled with wireless functionality that enables sharing of content, this is truly a multi-faceted device.

These units both come equipped with WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 as well as fairly long battery life. But here is the catch. E6 will cost you $399, and if that’s not enough, you can always pay $699 for Samsung E101. All I have to say is ouch!

Your turn: what CES e-book reader are you most excited about?

Kindle DX has finally gone international too. We did know a while ago that Amazon had plans to take Kindle DX global as well. I also went on to claim that Amazon will pick the right time to make the move to take some eyes off of what others are doing in this space. CES 2010 is only a day away and Plastic Logic e-reader and many other innovative gadgets are expected to be announced at the event. So Amazon gets to put Kindle back in people’s minds just before the event. It’s a nice move by Amazon to remind others who’s boss. Of course, we hope Amazon has more exciting news for us (in regards to Kindle 3) in the near future.

It would have been really surprising to see any other device top the electronics category on Amazon in the company’s best of 2009 list. Amazon Kindle may not be as “cool” or impressive as some other electronic gadgets on the market, but it has been topping the bestsellers list on Amazon for months. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find the few weeks that the Kindle didn’t top the charts. Not surprisingly, a netbook topped the charts in Computers category.