Just a few days after Spring Design mentioned that it was discontinuing the current generation of Alex dual-screened e-book reader, TechCrunch reports that Spring Design has settled its lawsuit with Barnes & Noble over the Nook’s design similarities to the Alex. And it sounds like B&N pretty much got its way. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Spring Design will grant B&N a “non-exclusive, paid-up royalty free license” for the entire portfolio of the company’s patents and patent applications. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The suit was dismissed with prejudice,...

Nathan at The eBook Reader Blog reports learning that manufacturer Spring Design is phasing out its dual-screened Alex e-book reader. Nathan had noticed that the e-book reader was listed as out of stock on the Spring Design website, and that its Twitter and Facebook accounts had not been updated since November. When he emailed the company, he received this response: Thank you for your interest in Alex. Spring Design is phasing out the current Alex Reader within the next 6 months. We have not announced the product change and introduce any new product yet. ...

We first covered the lawsuit by Spring Design, maker of the dual-screened Alex e-reader, against Barnes & Noble back in November, 2009. Spring Design claimed that it had designed the Alex in 2006 and worked with Barnes & Noble since early 2009, and that B&N took advantage of this cooperation to copy features of the Alex’s design (notably, the addition of a color LCD panel to a greyscale e-ink panel) in the Nook. Now Reuters reports that Barnes & Noble has failed to convince a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge cited a “significant factual dispute” over whether...

From the press release: Rounding out availability for its beautifully-designed new line of Reader™ digital books, Sony today announced that the wireless Reader Daily Edition™ is now available in select retail outlets and online at SonyStyle.com. The new Reader Daily Edition, equipped with Wi-Fi® in addition to AT&T’s 3G network, will provide book lovers the ability to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines on the go. Like the new Reader Pocket Edition™ and Reader Touch Edition™, the Reader Daily Edition is also outfitted with first-to-market optical touch screen technology, which enhances ease of use and...

The Reading Edge Podcast, by Len Edgerly, does a video of the Ale ereader. In the video the Nook is running the new 1.3 operating software: ...

From a Spring Design press release: Grammata,a Spanish company specializing in the design, content and sale of eReaders and Spring Design announced that Grammata will open an online ebookstore and sell the Alex eReader in Spain online and in retail stores starting July 2010 starting with 1000 titles. Grammata is currently consolidating digital books from various Spanish publishers and expects to offer 15,000 to 45,000 Spanish language eBooks for sale and selected copyright-free classics at no cost through its online store at www.grammata.es. ... Grammata will offer the Alex worldwide and hopes to address all Spanish speaking customers interested in getting Spanish...

InformationWeek has a look at the current frontrunners in the e-book device market, listing statistics and giving a rundown of the pros and cons of each device. Covered devices include the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Plastic Logic Que, Skiff Reader, Sony Reader, Spring Design Alex, and Apple iPad. The article goes into a fair amount of detail about each device’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s a great resource for people just considering getting into e-book devices....

K. Tempest Bradford at Tor.com has posted a brief rundown of 8 different e-book readers, ranging from his favorite (the Spring Design Alex) down to his least favorite (the iRex DR800SG). There’s not a lot to argue with, as it’s mostly his opinions, but it’s interesting to see what other people think. Meanwhile, Engadget has an in-depth look at the Spring Design Alex. On the whole, they found it enjoyable to use (with just a few minor caveats), but note that commercial e-books and an app store will not be available until the summer, and the $399 price...