ASUS have revealed a few more details about their upcoming ebook reader, the tentatively-named Eee Reader. Potentially landing in late 2009 “at the earliest”, the Eee Reader will – say industry sources, in usual DigiTimes style – come in two versions with either a 6- or 9-inch monochrome touchscreen.
The few live images of iriver’s new ebook reader, the sensibly-named Story, whet our appetite; now German site Heise have had the chance to go hands-on with the Kindle-esque device. Unfortunately they’ve also found that, right now, a WiFi-equipped model is merely “planned”, while a 3G version only “conceivable” if iriver can find a suitable mobile module.
The flip-side of having a well-publicised and successful ebook business is that you end up the prime target of criticism when anybody disagrees with how it’s being run, and Amazon has certainly been subject to some controversy recently. After the company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, apologized for the 1984 ebook debacle, Amazon have now offered any affected customer either their original copy – complete with annotations – redelivered, or $30 in the form of an e-gift certificate or check. Meanwhile the Authors Guild has been redoubling its critique of the company, claiming “Amazon’s hypocrisy is breathtaking”.
Images of iriver’s new ebook reader, the Story, have emerged, together with partial specifications for the 6-inch E Ink device. As well as having a full QWERTY keyboard and a memory card slot content with up to 32GBs, the Story is compatible with PDF, epub, txt, ppt, doc, xls and other ebook formats without requiring their conversion.
We’re still waiting to see a real, working model of Sony’s new Reader Daily Edition, announced earlier this week, but until then we’ll make do with a video review of another of the company’s recent ebook devices. MobileTechReview have been running through the functionality of the touchscreen PRS-600, and as we’ve already heard hint of it’s a blend of decent new functionality but middling text quality compared to its predecessor.
Video review after the cut
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything of ASUS’ ebook reader intentions, but according to DigiTimes the company’s CEO, Jerry Shen, has confirmed that they plan to have a device on the market by the end of 2009 at the earliest. Slotting into the company’s Eee brand of low-priced consumer electronic devices, Shen failed to give suggestions of specifications or pricing for the upcoming reader.
Google have updated their ebook project with the ability to download titles in EPUB format, the same file type as Sony recently switched to with its new range of ebook Reader devices. It means that in excess of a million titles are now available in the more Reader-friendly format, having been scanned in, processed and edited by Google themselves in many cases.
Sony have announced their third new ebook reader, the Sony Reader Daily Edition, and as has long been expected it includes wireless 3G connectivity. The new $399 device comes with a new version of their eBook Library software, 3.0, now Mac and PC compatible and which can also be used to organize notes made on touchscreen Sony ebook devices. Sony have also revealed Library Finder, an electronic “ebook borrowing” system.
Sony’s PRS-600 ebook reader has seemingly made its way to Canadian retailers, with two confirmed sightings of the 6-inch touchscreen slate. Feedback seems mixed, with some of Sony’s boasts about the new E Ink device – faster page turns, more flexible font sizes – turning out to be either unnoticeable or pretty much useless in these demo units.
Demo video after the cut
Perhaps what the world of ebook readers needs for true market adoption is not slick new features and bargain pricing but handsome leather detailing. That seems to be Matsunichi’s approach, anyway, with their ER600 ebook reader having a tactile leather grip section at the bottom and stylish brushed metal around the 5- or 6-inch E Ink display.
SlashGear Japan
