We’ve got to admit, having played with the mirasol ebook prototype earlier today, Sony’s pre-sale of their Reader Daily Edition is looking marginally less appealing. Priced at $399.99, the Sony Reader Daily Edition has a 7-inch monochrome e-ink display, integrated 3G connectivity, and weighs 12.75oz; wireless access to Sony’s ebook store is included in the sticker price.
Ebook readers are arguably coming of age, but don’t assume e-ink – and the push to produce color e-ink panels – have won the game quite yet. SlashGear met up with Qualcomm’s mirasol team today to discuss their latest display news, and while you might remember the technology from their early 1.1-inch single-color panels, they’re now showing off a 5.7-inch display capable of full color and video playback, with minimal impact on battery life. They’ve set themselves the target of having color ebook readers with mirasol panels on the market by the latter part of 2010, and are working with OEMs now to achieve that.
Further details of ASUS’ upcoming ebook reader have emerged, after executives from the company apparently confirmed that WiFi, 3G and WiMAX versions will be announced before the year is out. The ebook readers will apparently begin reaching carrier partners in the US and Europe come March 2010, with the executives claiming that prices will be “competitive” with what’s on offer from Amazon and Sony.
The unnamed Asian company which acquired ailing foldable e-paper startup Polymer Vision has been outed as Wistron. Polymer Vision declared bankruptcy back in July, and were acquired in early September; the deal is now known to have been worth €12m ($17.75m). Integration of the two companies actually began taking place last month, but right now it’s still unclear whether the Polymer Vision brand will be maintained.
Put nook and QUE together and you’ve got the ideal setup for a filthy pun, but you’ve also got Barnes and Noble’s upcoming ebook device lineup. Plastic Logic and the publisher have announced that the QUE will go on sale both in B&N retail stores and online, when it hits the market in 2010, right next to the Barnes and Noble nook announced earlier this month.
MSI are threatening to join the ebook reader market themselves, with company chairman Joseph Hsu revealing that they’re currently working on an NVIDIA Tegra based device. The news comes after ASUS reiterated their ongoing ebook reader development, with the most recent news suggesting that the company has not one but two such devices in the works, offering two different screen sizes.
Spring Design’s Alex dual-display ebook reader was a surprise announcement earlier this week, seemingly diving into the public eye to make some headlines before Barnes and Noble’s nook grabbed all the attention. The company have followed up their render with a jerky video of the device in action, demonstrating its smaller Android display and how you can shoot content from the web-browser up to the larger e-ink panel for easier reading.
Video demo after the cut
Barnes and Noble’s nook may not be the first wireless ebook reader we’ve seen, but with its dual displays, color touchscreen, compact form-factor and Android OS it’s perhaps the most distinctive. The nook isn’t expected to launch until the end of November, but SlashGear were at the B&N launch event in NYC today. Check out our coverage – and some first impressions – after the cut.
Updated with video after the cut
Barnes and Noble have officially announced their ebook reader, the Barnes and Noble nook, complete with dual displays and free 3G and WiFi b/g wireless. The nook has a 6-inch E Ink Vizplex E Ink display up top and a 3.5-inch color touchscreen underneath, with the whole thing based on Android and measuring 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5-inches while tipping the scales at 11.2oz. B&N have partnered with AT&T for the nook’s 3G access, and owners will be able to use the retailer’s in-store WiFi connections for free as well.
We’re ramping up to what looks like the launch of the Barnes and Noble Nook – in fact our own Vincent Nguyen is in New York today for the company’s press event – and as you’d expect the ebook geeks aren’t content to take the news when B&N feed it to them. After the WSJ broke the news that the upcoming dual-display device will be, bafflingly, called Nook, our friend (and general malcontent) Mike Cane dug up the company’s trademark application.
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