The company's forthcoming reader sports a dual-screen, two-page layout and (yes) color
Posted 09.08.2009 at 2:13 pm
8 Comments
Asus Eee Reader
For a lot of people, e-book readers are a long game of "I'll buy it when..." For some, the rest of that sentence is "it has a color screen," and for others it's "it's cheaper." Asus's upcoming Eee Reader (due by the end of this year) delivers on both counts. Oh, and it will have two screens, too.
More a mobile internet device than an e-book reader, the Asus has a second screen that allows it to have a book open on one page and a browser on the other, or pull up a virtual keyboard on the lower screen to give the feel of a netbook when in landscape mode. It will also have a speaker, Webcam, and microphone for Skype.
The prototype, which Asus showed off at CeBIT earlier this year, has a hinged spine between its two color touchscreens, making paging through text feel more book-like than on the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader.
Also very unlike its most direct competitors is the Eee Reader's price tag. The Times Online reported over the weekend that Asus is shooting for $160 (100 Euro)
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Full color, two COLOR touchscreens, webcam, and more for only $160. Can you say game-changer?
Seems ASUS is up to expanding quite a bit. They've been coming up with some innovative ideas.
Curious as to what the tech is. E ink (sp?) is the mainstay for Sony and Amazon, and it does not lend itself to color.
However, it also does not require power in static mode.
If ASUS is using a traditional display, the tradeoffs could be interesting.
More than likely, it's color LCD with back-lighting. I bet many people will still buy it because it looks like a book, it's in color and it's cheap.
Those same type of people have probably bought Vizio TVs. There's nothing really wrong with buying them, but there are better products out there.
If it really is e-ink (but I highly doubt it), then Amazon and Sony will be coming out with some price drops real soon.
I'll only buy an e-ink reader 'cause I can't stand the eyestrain on my monitor as I'm typing this. If there's a dual screen, hi-res color e-ink reader coming soon, I'll really be interested in that.
I´ll buy one when it smells like a real book.
Meh. Color is nice, but E-ink is just too nice to read to be willing to change things up for me. I'll wait out for color e-ink and one screen.
Uh, no. This isn't anything like the Kindle, and although people will probably buy it because it's pretty and in color, it defeats the purpose of having a E-Reader. Kindle uses "e-Ink", which makes reading a book feel like an actual book and is easy on the eyes.
Amazon will need to do a better job of marketing e-Ink, since I feel most people don't realize that's the main benefit of using a Kindle. I hear comparisons of Kindle to IPhones and other portables all the time.
My latest findings tell me it may be more like a dual laptop with a special dedicated e-book mode. Unfortunately, it seems that it won't be available in the US until March 2010. We'll see. In any case, it seems it'll have twin panels of about 9'', which will make it a little smaller than Kindle DX.
Also found out that Fujitsu is actually working on color e-Ink screens. Even though I guess every company involved with e-readers nowadays is doing the same, it appears Fujitsu's developments are quite advanced.
Looks like next year will be pretty exciting.
John Rye
www.squidoo.com/BUY-CHEAP-AMAZON-KINDLE-2