Kindle Hardware Specification

New Ereaders And Similar Devices

It was evident at the January 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that manufacturers are trying hard to define the ‘larger than cell phone’ screens to be found on various devices, particularly on eReaders, or devices that can be used to read eBooks such as tablet computers and netbooks in addition to the dedicated ebook readers themselves.

There appears to be a movement towards smaller data processing devices and larger eBook reading screens, so that the two appear to be converging on a course that will ultimately see them merging into one form of device. Whether this happens or not will depend upon how combined devices compare with those dedicated to their purpose, and how many really want all-in-one machines as opposed to dedicated equipment. It is impossible to answer this question from the equipment on show at the CES, where some new eReaders were presented along with new tablets and netbooks.

Among the new eReaders that were launched or announced at the 2010 show were the Plastic Logic Que and the Alex from Spring Designs. At $349, the Alex runs Android 1.6 on a secondary 3.5 inch LCD touchscreen, the main screen being a readable 6 inches. Android 1.6 Cupcake lacks the GPS and cellular components of the full version, but is OK for this application.

The 6-inch E-Ink display is similar to the Kindle 2 and the Nook by Barnes and Noble, and is used for navigation and voice recording. If you like music while you read, the Alex’s two speakers allows you to do this using the Android music player.

The Que is going to cost a lot more than this, but is also a few steps up from the Alex. It has to be, with a lower-end price of $649 rising to $799 for 3G wireless from AT&T. For that you also get 8 GB storage and Bluetooth.

The Que also offers what it refers to as Que TruVue-slick formatting that appears to be a significant improvement on the text formatting of the Kindle: the layout of the USA Today was just as presented on the paper’s website. However, although it looks and acts more like a computer than a straight eBook reader, the Que is priced the same as a good entry-level laptop, and will have to do a lot to justify the pricing. According to the review “The QUE Plastic Logic e-reader: The New Kid on the Block“, it reads business formats such as PDF, Excel, PowerPoint and Word, you can even edit the MS Office documents on the screen and it appears that once Plastic Logic launches this product they will have few, if any, competitors in the commercial eReader business market (Digital Book Readers).

The Sprint Skiff is another new entry, and the first to be marketing by a wireless specialist rather than by a book or a computer hardware company. At 11.5″ x 9″ x 0.26″ this is the largest and thinnest of all the e-Readers currently on the market, and is also bendy, shatterproof and with an ePaper display, and comes with 3G and WiFi support. It looks fabulous but its price, that is yet to be announced, might put some people off.

One of the problems that dedicated eReaders are having to face now is that of competition from the tablet computer industry. With 7″ plus touchscreens, these can also be used as eBook readers as can the 10″ – 12″ screen netbooks, currently selling very well. It is unlikely, however, that these will have an immediate appeal to those that prefer the convenience of the smaller eReaders that can be carried in pockets and purses, but they might offer strong competition against the higher priced Sprints and Ques of the world.

In general eReader terms, it looks like we will have to wait another year for real color readability, and some of the newer entries into the eBook reader world do not have any retail outlets yet. The competition presented by smartbooks in particular might be tempered by their relatively low-powered operating systems, and a lack of ability to run decent software applications. If you want an eReader then a device designed specifically for that will be better for you, and if you want a small computer then a higher end netbook specifically designed to run decent software will be better.

Quite where devices such as smartbooks fit into the market is as yet unclear, and will likely remain so until the power problem has been overcome.

Perhaps 2010 will see a watershed in the development of portable devices, with a clear definition between devices intended as dedicated eReaders, as communications devices and as computing or data processing devices. Alternatively, perhaps by 2011 the waters will be just as muddied as they are now, with nobody sure of what the future will bring and where their money would be best spent.

About the Author

Marco Gustafsson is author of articles on eBook Readers, e-inc technology and electronic books. Discover new dimension of reading here on Digital Book Readers

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