Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2010 Issue

New E-Readers Hit European Shelves

The Oyo electronic reader.

The Oyo electronic reader.


By Michael Stillman

The electronic reader knows no borders. The rapid rollout of Kindles and Nooks in America is being repeated with a group of locally produced electronic readers in Europe. On the Continent, like America, many are offered by local bookselling and electronics chains.

Thalia, the leading bookseller in Germany, recently began filling orders for its Oyo e-reader. The Oyo features a 6-inch screen, a 2GB memory good for around 1,000 books, and a wi-fi connection for downloading. It is compatible with numerous formats, meaning it does not use a proprietary operating system that can only accept books sold by Thalia. The Oyo employs a touchscreen for navigation. The price is €139 (around $200 in American dollars).

The Oyo is not limited to Germany. In France, DirectGroup Bertelsmann will be making it available through their online bookseller Chapitre.com. There the price will be slightly higher - €149. It will also be available through the locations of the buying club France Loisirs. The Oyo will be sold in the Netherlands by Selexyz, a local chain with bookstores in 15 cities. In Poland, bookseller Empic began selling the Oyo in late October, followed a few weeks later in selected stores.

In France, an alternative to the Oyo recently became available, the FnacBook. This strangely unattractive name can be traced to its retailer, FNAC. It stands for (in French) Federation of National Purchasing Managers, but just goes by the FNAC name today. The FnacBook is a bit more expensive, €199, but it features 3G service rather than just WiFi alone. A similar product is available in Italy, the Telecom Italia eBook. This reader is being sold, naturally, by Telecom Italia, Italy's largest telecommunications company.

All of these new e-readers look a lot alike, and with good reason. None of these companies is producing its own. Each of these makes is actually a branded version of the Binder, produced by Sagem. Sagem is a large French electronics maker. You don't actually buy a "Binder." It's what Sagem describes as a "white-labeled" device. They deliver it to others for re-branding. The prototype for the Binder was only first announced early this year and just began shipping in late October. As best we can tell, it is currently available in the two versions, one including 3G connectivity; one not.

Electronic readers appeared first in America with Amazon's proprietary Kindle. It was not only their own device, it accepted only books from their store. Barnes & Noble responded with the Nook, their own device, but one that could accept books from many sellers. Borders followed with the Kobo, a device both available from multiple retailers and accepting electronic books sold by multiple retailers. It looks as if Europe is skipping the proprietary e-readers, except that perhaps some otherwise identical readers will have a different brand name pasted to the front. And, the various iterations of the Binder are not the only electronic readers now available in Europe. Amazon is still far and away the leader, but their monopoly is rapidly disappearing. It will be interesting to see whether they can maintain their market dominance in a world where they no longer dominate by virtue of owning a monopoly.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.

Article Search

Archived Articles