Tuesday, June 15, 2010

New EZ Reader PLUS being ordered from factory

The new EZ Reader PLUS, which will make ALL the difference, is being ordered from the factory. The shipment will be in our warehouse in about 4 weeks.

The new PLUS is a very, very strong 6 inch contender. WHY? This has 16 level grey scale, the Epson controller with 400MHz processor for blazing page turns, USB 2.0, SD card memory expansion to 16GB (enough for 8,000 novels and your MP3 music), 64MB SD RAM (double the norm for faster opening of eBooks), a USER-Replaceable Rechargeable Battery, comes with the quality crush-resistant case and ear buds included, has 20 formats and displays 26 languages, ported with Adobe Digital Editions, and has the now-famous Astak Dedicated Forum where you can get answers to your questions and help from Astak ONLINE! Price will likely be about $219.
AND... of course... buying eBooks or getting free eBooks is simple at the new Astak eBook Store: www.EZread.com where we have 400,000 pay titles and more than 1 MILLION Google Free Library eBooks.

Now, we still have a few hundred EZ Reader Basics left in stock. We have them on sale now with a free 2GB SD card, preloaded 500 classics, and a FREE download of the bestseller: "The Girl With the Dragon Taatoo". You can find that at: www.theEZreader.com (domestic)or www.astak.com (international). That price is $199 with all the free goodies until July 4. That is still a remarkably able 6 inch that has a fabulous screen and has proven to have almost zero returns.

In any case, those must sell out first!!

We HAVE to move out all the EZ Reader Basics before we put the PLUS on sale.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Some interesting statistics from IDPF/BEA

Astak went under the name EZRead, Inc. This is our new name as we break off the eBook Readers and eBook Store (www.EZread.com) into a separate and much stronger company of its own. EZRead, Inc. is ramping up with a major push and this is the type of kick-off we needed.

The following statistics were announced at the conference and are a result of polling 40,000 eBook Reader owners. These statistics have a 95% confidence level:

eBook sales really started to take off in Q1 of 2009. eBooks have finally come into their own.

39% that own an eBook Reader said that they purchase just as many Printed Books (pBooks) as they did before they boought their device. eBooks are not hurting pBook sales like most thought they would do.

There is an average savings of $6.25 in purchasing eBooks over pBooks. This may drop some now that the Agency Model is in place by the publishers.

In Japan, 75% of middle school girls do all their reading of novels on their smart phone. This may be as a result that some Japanese books are horizomatal read or read right to left and EPUB is not yet set up for this.

51% of all eBook Buyers are now Male. This is a small change from 60% of sales were female in 2008.

The higher income segment (over $75,000 annual) is growing on eBook Readers.

48% are from the suburbs.

Why people buy eBooks instead of pBooks (in order):

1. Affordability
2. Ease of downloading
3. Readability
4. It helps the environment

37% of all eBook Reader buyers purchased in the last 2-6 months.

44% buyeBooks online.

Favorite vehicles for eBook Reading are:

Computer (37%)
Kindle (32%
iPhone (10%)
Sony (9%)
Nook (3%)
iPad (3%)
Astak (1.5%)

28% said they have a major issue with DRM
39% said they have a small issue with DRM
30% said they have no issue with DRM

Reasons why people buy eBook Readers in order:

1. Portability
2. Instant Access instead of driving
3. They can carry entire libraries with them.
4. There is a great availablity of FREE eBooks on the market.

Favorite Categories of eBooks:

1. General Fiction
2. Detective
3. How-To Guides
4. Science Fiction
5. Business/Finance
6. Romance

I hope you enjoyed finding out about these statistics. Astak (EZRead, Inc.) will be growing a lot this year so we are fine with 1.5% in 2009. We look to grow steadily in 2010!