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BeBook Neo ereader: WiFi and Wacom touchscreen

Chris Davies — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:43:44 +0000

It’s obviously the day for wireless ebook readers, with BeBook announcing that they’re taking preorders for their new BeBook Neo ereader. Packing a 6-inch E Ink panel with a Wacom touchscreen, the Neo may not have integrated 3G like some rivals we’ve seen, but it does get WiFi for accessing a range of third-party ebook stores.

In fact punch in your location and BeBook’s UI will automatically show you what ebook retailers are offering their wares. There’s also Wikipedia and Google access, together with a sketchpad app (albeit monochrome), and the Neo will display ePub, PDF (DRM/non-DRM), TXT and various picture formats.

The battery is tipped to last up to 7,000 page turns and BeBook reckon their Freescale processor makes the Neo 2.5x as fast as rival ereaders. There’s 512MB of onboard storage, an SD slot (happy with cards up to 16GB) and USB connectivity, along with a 3.5mm headphone socket. Preorders are being taken now for £279.99 ($453), with general availability expected in February 2010.

Press Release:

BeBook’s Neo is world’s first touchpad WiFi eReader with access to eBook stores worldwide

Endless Ideas, specialists in eReader technology, today launches its exciting new eBook reader the BeBook Neo. Following the success of the BeBook One and Mini, the Neo includes WiFi technology to allow users to find eBook retailers wherever they are in the world, download an eBook and even surf Google and Wikipedia whilst on the move. The Neo is available for pre order and will be available to buy in the second half of February.
The Neo provides users with a unique and extremely easy way of locating and purchasing eBooks. The eBook portal shows a world map and users click on their country of choice for a clear overview of third party eBook retailers. As the Neo supports all the most popular file formats, including ePub, pdf and even JPEG, the user can make sure they get the best deals on their eBooks.

There are several new attractive features available with the Neo, for instance, it has a powerful battery, supporting up to 7,000 page turns. The Freescale processor makes it currently the fastest eReader on the market, offering up to 2.5 times quicker browsing and operating speeds. The Neo also features the latest WACOM touch panel technology, which allows users to sketch, mark up and annotate text.

The open architecture of the BeBook Neo makes it possible to expand its capabilities. Keep an eye on www.mybebook.com for firmware updates.

Popular file formats

Just like the previous models, most popular file formats can be read, including ‘ePub’ and ‘PDF’ (both with and without Adobe DRM), txt and even popular picture file formats, like JPG, are included.

Additional information

The BeBook Neo is available for pre order and will be available second half of February.
More information can be found at the new website: www.mybebook.com

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BeBook Mini & BeBook 2 with 3G get video demo

Chris Davies — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:55:46 +0000

The BeBook Mini 5-inch ebook reader has been caught on video in an interview with the company’s CEO, together with the BeBook 2. As well as the smaller E Ink device, the 3G connectivity in the upcoming BeBook 2 was discussed; the company is apparently in negotiations with European carriers, and is expecting to offer the device in France and Germany with inclusive 3G connectivity (as with the Amazon Kindle in the US).

Video after the cut

Also revealed was that the current BeBook models already have hardware support for WiFi SD cards, and that the company will release software to take advantage of that in the summer. The BeBook 2 will have 3G and WiFi built in, with a user-accessible SIM card slot for the 3G modem.

Unfortunately the video is in Dutch (unfortunate, that is, unless you only speak Dutch, in which case hurrah, it’s in Dutch!) but it’s still useful to get a hands-on impression of the Mini. The BeBook Mini is expected to be priced at around €199 ($271) while the BeBook 2 is expected to come in at between €350 and €400 ($476-544).

[via MobileRead]

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BeBook Mini E-Book Reader gets pictured

Brenda Stokes — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:02:48 +0000

If you’re waiting for a new ebook reader to sweep you off of your feet, you might be interested in learning about the BeBook Mini, which just got detailed in a picture released by the company today for the first time.

The BeBook Mini e-book reader features a 5-inch screen. We don’t really know much more about it than that. However, the photo does show the device in both black and white versions on either side of the BeBook 1.0 for a size comparison.

There are a few other details floating around, however like the fact that the BeBook Mini will sport a faster processor, an SD memory card slot and a USB port. Pricing should be around $200 once released, however, the date is not yet known.

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BeBook 2 announced: wireless, touchscreen & easier controls

Chris Davies — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:05:41 +0000

An image of the upcoming BeBook 2 ebook reader has emerged, in advance of what’s expected to be a full launch at CeBIT today. The reader is a significant hardware jump over the original BeBook device, with WiFi and/or integrated 3G connectivity, touchscreen navigation and support for the ePub format.

There’s also been a major change in case design. Gone is the hard-edged, regimented style of the first reader, replaced with new Kindle-like side large page-turn buttons (on both the left and right edges) and fewer front-panel keys. The headphone and mini-USB ports are now uncovered, which should make them easier to access.

SlashGear just reviewed the Pixelar E-Reader, which is a rebadged version of the original BeBook reader. From the look of these hardware changes, it seems the company has addressed most of our complaints; now it remains to be seen how pricing is affected.

[via Mobile Read]

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