Hand models have it pretty good, don’t they? Show up, hold something for a few hours, collect checks, repeat. It’s such a sweet gig, there’s gotta be something wrong with them, right? Wait… they’re all attractive, too

“We use the epub format: It is the most popular open book format in the world.” That’s how Steve Jobs announced the iPad. And wow, that sounds like all the ebooks you own will just work on anything. Um, no. More

There’s no denying that the Mini 5 is real , but up until now, we’ve had to provide all of our own promotional material . At long last, it seems as if the suits in Round Rock are finally getting around to crafting the first advertisements for the upcoming slate, and while we knew about the 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, capacitive touch front buttons, front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting) and the 30-pin docking connector, we weren’t aware of Dell’s plans to reveal a slew of vivacious color options. If this here flyer proves legitimate, we could eventually see the Mini 5 available in an array of premium finishes and hues (thanks, Design Studio !), and we’re hoping for a few different spec builds as well. So, are you opting for the pink, or are you crossing your fingers in hopes that Dell allows you to print that embarrassing shot of you and Mr. T on the rear of one?

According to ChangeWave, the Kindle is going to have a hard time surviving the incoming iPad wave. In a 3171-people survey on Amazon.com users looking to buy an ebook reader, 40% said they were planning to buy the iPad. Comparatively, 28% wanted to get the Amazon Kindle, despite having a longer life, more titles in the store, and allegedly offering a better book reading experience than the iPad thanks to its electronic ink technology. The 28% to 40% comparison is higher than we thought, actually, with Kindle still doing fairly well in comparison to Apple’s do-everything device. The reason the iPad scored higher? Most probably, ereader shoppers are more excited about the color screen, Apple’s design, and the multiple functions that the iPad can offer, compared to the single-function nature of Amazon’s black-and-white, no multitouch, no fancy-schmancy design electronic reader.

The silicon inside 90 percent of ereaders out there is made by Freescale, and their new chip, the i.MX508 —based on a ARM Cortex A8 ( sorta like the iPad !)—will make them cheaper, and page turns 4x faster. The chip’s a custom SoC that integrates the functions from multiple chips into one—specifically, the E-Ink hardware display controller—along with that Cortex A8, which gives the readers enough juice to turn pages in half a second, versus the two seconds that’s typical now. As the first chip expressly designed for ereaders, it also strips out unnecessary features, so the net result for the ereader is that it’s $30 cheaper a unit. Freescale wagers that with the cost savings, it could drive ereaders to under $150 by the end of the year.

Ebooks negate the most obvious costs of hardcover books: No dead trees, ink, warehouse or shelf storage, so of course they’re cheaper. In fact, isn’t $12.99 for an ebook just a little bit pricey? Wellll, the NYT breaks it down . Here’s a chart using the data Motoko Rich has dug up, reflecting the average cost and revenue model for a hardcover book and its ebook counterpart. Right now, publishers do make a little bit more on ebooks, but there are a few things to consider before you bring out the pitchforks demanding $5 ebooks: 1) Ebooks are currently less than 5 percent of book sales. 2) Paper booksellers can’t compete at these prices, especially indie booksellers

Amazon started calling publishers before Steve Jobs had even left the stage at the iPad event, according to the NYT . They wanted to know what Apple promised them—and more importantly, what they promised Apple. The deal Amazon’s been trying to ink with publishers for the couple months would guarantee that books on the Kindle would be the same price as on any other reader, if not, in fact, cheaper—the incentive, a bigger chunk of revenue, though Apple’s largely screwed that pooch for Amazon with their own offering, which lets publishers set their own prices, which what publishers are really after: Control. (Though Apple might have more control than expected.) One of the tidbits with larger implications is that some publishers are running on a month-to-month contract basis with Amazon, instead of a full-blown multi-year agreement, meaning they actually have plenty of room to maneuver in negotiations, especially with Apple at their back. What some publishers might do, they told Bits, is sign the Amazon contract now, and just push a limited free app on the iPad, then switching to a full-blown paid model whenever Amazon’s Kindle Touch arrives

Realizing that tech nerds like space, the environment (well, in small doses—and only on a 1080p monitor) and everything else that Mother Nature supplies us with, National Geographic has teamed up with Gelaskins for some natty nature covers. Not just available for the various iPods and iPhones, they’ve also got some Kindle 2, Kindle DX and Nook covers plus skins for 13-inch MacBooks and 13.3 - 14.1-inch laptops. My favorite is the slightly naff Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A space ones, but the wild green sea turtle is also pretty special too. Especially if you’re a 14 year old girl—though don’t let my gender stereotyping put any 46-year old bikers off getting a sea lion case for their Nook. [ Gelaskins via Unplggd ]

It was threatened , and thus now available. Hit up the BlackBerry App World to download the free Kindle app now—but only if you live in the US. And are happy paying up to a tenner to read a book on a 2.44″ screen. [ THINQ ]

More details coming out about Apple’s deals with book publishers , and it looks like Apple might have more leverage over prices than expected . The NYT says that “Apple inserted provisions requiring publishers to discount e-book prices on best sellers.” Three people “with knowledge of the discussions” told the Times that Apple’s provisions allow it to discount books that hit the bestseller list—maybe down to $9.99, after all—with $12.99-$14.99 as simply a ceiling, that way Apple can compete with bookstores and Amazon’s Kindle that push bestsellers at a cut rate. And if publishers sell a hardcover at a discount, Apple wants to be able to cut the price on their ebook counterpart as well, even if it doesn’t go all bestseller. Given that the reason publishers were giddy over dealing with Apple was the opportunity to set their own prices, if this report’s true, it sounds like they’re interested enough in creating a viable threat to Kindle that they’ll sell themselves a little shorter than they’d wanted to, just to give Apple a strong foothold in the market. Yep, this is going to be a dirty, dirty fight .