WEBSITES

WEBSITES

A visit to a bookstore today can be quite an experience, complete with seating spaces for people to read and some might even have a coffee shop on the premises. However, if you feel you just don't have the time to actually visit a book store to browse around or if you know the exact book you're looking for, there is a digital solution.

Most large retail chain bookstores today have their own website which allows readers to buy books online and shipped to their homes. Some websites have only an online presence and there's no real ?shop' outside of the online world.

Websites to visit: Flipkart.com, Crossword.in, Landmarkonthenet.com, Oxfordbookstore.com.

E-BOOK READERS

Most book lovers will swear by the feel of paper, but if that's not you, you can try out e-book readers. These readers look similar to a tablet computer, but is designed solely to display books. This means you can expect good battery life as well as good readability. Some of these e-book readers use a technology called ?e-paper', which mimics the appearance of ink on paper. This means that you can view it in direct sunlight. This system is not backlit and some of them can hold text and images indefinitely without using electricity, while allowing images to be changed later.

E-paper is also more readable than other displays because the image is stable and does not need to be ?refreshed' which is what other conventional screens like LCDs do. Of course, that also becomes a disadvantage. Low refresh rates mean that e-paper screens cannot display sophisticated interactive applications like those we see on current tablet computers and touchscreen phones. It also cannot be zoomed smoothly (there could be blurring or a very slow zoom). Major bookstores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble offer their own versions of e-book readers, the Kindle and the Nook respectively. In fact, you can buy e-book versions of the books they have on their website for your respective readers.

Other manufacturers like Samsung and Sony also have their versions of e-book readers. Indian retailers like Croma and Landmark also stock an e-book reader called Wink xlite, which incidentally, is made in India and even offers support for Indian language books. Another Indian e-book reader you can get is the Infibeam Pi.

TABLETS COMPUTERS

These gadgets seem to be effectively bridging the gap between your laptop / PC and your cellphone. While their uses are not restricted to reading books, their large screens make them ideal for that. You can download e-book reader apps on these, which will allow you to read books on your tablet computer.

Current tablet computers in the market include the Apple iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Dell Streak, the Motorola Zoom and the recently introduced, BlackBerry Playbook.

CELLPHONES

Touchscreen cellphones come with a lot of display space, making it possible to use them as an e-book reader. You can download Adobe's PDF reader or even Amazon's Kindle app on your smartphone and enjoy your favourite books on your cellphone, as long as you do not mind the smaller screen.

Five websites to visit for free books:

PDFgeni.com

Scribd.com

Gutenberg.org

DailyLit.com