Judging from the volume of recent activity in this space, one might conclude that the e-book market is about to explode or, perhaps, the pre-holiday season hysteria has reached a fever pitch. Either way, we are seeing growing interest in the technology of, and market for, e-books.

Sony recently announced the availability of its new e-book Reader Daily Edition, at $399. In addition to its 7-inch, 16-gray level touch-screen display, the unit adds 3G connectivity through AT&T. While Sony is now taking pre-orders on its SonyStyle website, they are promising only that the device will ship between December 18th and the first week of January. And units are not expected in brick-and-mortar stores until January, either. Looks like bad timing for this holiday shopping season.

Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble has entered the market with its nook e-reader. The $259 unit sports a 6-inch 16-level Vizplex E-Ink display, provides downloads via 3G, and adds WiFi connectivity - but does not currently provide full Internet browsing. However, B&N president William J. Lynch has said that an Internet browser - and an SDK - would be possible, given market demand. The first round of units will be shipping November 30, but an order placed today is not slated for delivery until after January 4th.

How hot is the e-book reader market? Last year, e-book readers sold around, or just over, one million units. In 2009, it looks like 2-3 million will be sold just in the U.S. alone, with perhaps 3-4 million sold worldwide. No wonder there are shortages as the demand is exceeding expectations.

Many other products are emerging, too. The Aluratek Libre e-reader, available at Amazon.com for $169.99, features a 5" e-paper display, but does not have wireless connectivity. BenQ has announced the nReader with a 6-inch touchscreen EPD (electrophoretic display) panel from SiPix (now owned by AUO). The company plans to launch it together with its own online e-book trading platform in Taiwan in January 2010, and then in Japan and China. Details are sparse, but the unit does not seem to offer wireless connectivity, either.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s Mirasol could be the first e-reader to support action games by using a gaming controller accessory. The company has shown a prototype reader using a 5.7-inch, 1024×768 color MEMS display. No word yet on real products, but expect to find 3G connectivity using a Qualcomm chipset. Products from other startups and entrepreneurs are similarly being announced. AUO is also working towards getting color e-paper to the market, saying that it plans to launch a small number of displays by the end of 2010.

On the display side, Taiwanese flat-panel manufacturer Prime View International (PVI), which acquired Philips Electronics’ e-paper display unit in 2005, says it will close its acquisition of E Ink in mid December. It has announced a collaboration with LCD display manufacturer Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO). This is likely to be about rapidly expanding manufacturing capacity as the market is hot. PVI provides the display technology used in the most popular readers, including Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader.

But the biggest product differentiator in the e-book space may in fact be their connectivity - and that makes for different business models. With WiFi and 3G connections, users can easily download content, making for an interesting impulse-buy market from a walled-garden service provider. Without these, the units are perhaps more "open," but lack the single-dealer push for content. Add 3rd-party apps, and we’re bound to see quite a number of new possibilities. -agc