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Ebook: The Second Edition

The first of the second-generation electronic books has arrived.

By James A. Martin, PCWorld   

Said to be the first of the second-generation electronic books, the Rocket eBook Pro comes with 16MB of flash memory, updated software, and support for Macintosh as well as Windows machines. The new device retails for $269.

The price of the original Rocket eBook, with 4MB of flash memory, has dropped to $199. The first edition of the eBook worked only with PCs, but a company spokesperson said both eBook devices are now Mac-compatible.

The Rocket eBook Pro is a 22-ounce handheld digital device that displays text and monochrome graphics of downloaded electronic books. The electronic books are purchased and downloaded from the NuvoMedia and Barnes & Noble Web sites. To download to an eBook, you insert the device in a Palm Pilot-like cradle connected to your computer.

The eBook Pro can store some 19,000 pages of text and graphics, or about 50 standard-length novels, according to the company. The enhanced Rocket-Librarian software (which resides on your PC or Mac) now includes an embedded Web browser, enabling you to purchase, download, manage, and categorize your electronic book titles all within the same program. The updated device also includes Fonix's Allegro handwriting recognition software for highlighting, annotating, and searching for text.

NuvoMedia's RocketWriter feature lets you download original content (including your own documents) and Web pages to the Rocket eBook Pro. An optional 32MB memory upgrade ($149) lets you store up to 56,000 pages of text and graphics. Rocket eBook Pro owners also receive free one-year subscriptions to their choice of three electronic publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, The Industry Standard, and portions of The New York Times.

While the eBook device has matured, users might find the list of available titles still in the toddler stage. A quick check of the Rocket eBook library, for instance, found more obscure and public-domain titles (such as Dracula) than bona fide bestsellers. Among the handful of cooking titles, for instance, are Spam recipes from Hormel and a volume of 15th-century Portuguese recipes.