Luidia, the maker of an interactive whiteboard technology called eBeam, is entering into another screen: Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.
They are starting-up by launching a system that automatically zaps a copy of notes and scribbles left on whiteboards into people’s Kindle or Kindle DX. It works by turning the notes (captured digitally by the eBeam system) into an image file, and then emailing that file to a Kindle.
Kindles have long had a unique email address to which people can email Adobe PDFs, RTFs, Word documents, pictures and other files. Amazon charges the Kindle owner 15 cents per megabyte. (The Kindle user has to first add the sender’s email address to an approved list.)
The notes capability could help improve the ways students use the Kindle in classrooms, says Luidia. Nearly 90% of Luidia’s customers are K-12 schools, some of which have been experimenting with using Kindles and e-reading technology to lighten the load of students. In theory, a teacher could present a whole lesson and then zap the notes to students or parents.
“We saw the potential not just to read a novel and textbooks, but also have other kinds of content created live in the classroom by students and teachers themselves,” says Jody Forehand, Luidia’s vice president of product planning.
For now, the feature only works with the Kindle, but Luidia says it plans to add the capability to other e-readers.
“Down the road, we would like to have a much better updating mechanism,” says Rafi Holtzman, Luidia’s chief executive. He says the company was exploring options, but he wouldn’t say whether it was working on a dedicated app for the Kindle that lets people access their notes.
Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Luidia’s technology or on the future of Kindle apps. But apps that extend or go beyond reading are one of the most anticipated additions to e-book readers in the coming year. Kindle competitor Irex has said it would release a software development kit so that programmers can make their own apps for its e-reading device.
The Kindle does, however, have limitations that multipurpose devices like Apple’s iPhone don’t, including a black-and-white screen that updates relatively slowly, and a wireless Internet connection that is “free” to users, except for times (like emailing over a file) where Amazon charges a fee.
But Amazon already sells a Sudoku game that lets you play the mind-benders on your Kindle, and includes the ability to get hints and check answers! -WSJ
