E-reader Roundup At The 2010 CES

Two of the most impressive electronic ink devices are the 10.5-inch Que proReader by Plastic Logic and 11.5 inch Skiff Reader; both touch screen devices are 3G enabled. The Que proReader is marketing their device as a replacement to bundles of business papers and support for truVue PDF files, e mail, MS Office docs, and Outlook calendar support. The Skiff Reader is targeting consumers with published content (books and publications) and multi-media.

The 2010 CES was littered with hybrids and new screen technology looking to be more competitive with Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook. With any luck the competition should heat up later this year and drive down the price of first generation e-readers.

Here's a summary of a few e-readers shown at the 2010 Las Vegas CES.

• Bookeen Orizon touchscreen e-reader is equipped with a 6-inch touchscreen display, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, ePub support, and an accelerometer for portrait or landscape reading; will retail for about $250. No release date yet.

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• Iriver Story e-reader measures 0.36-inch thick and incorporates a 6-inch e-ink display, an integrated MP3 player, 2GB of internal memory, an SD expansion slot, USB 2.0 connectivity and is WiFi enabled.

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• Jinke SiPix panel e-reader uses SiPix panels for the A6 and A9 readers. Both the 6 and 9 inch devices have 16 levels of grayscale, WiFi a/b/g, and optional 3G. Supports formats FB2, EPUB, PDF, most image formats, and MP3. The 6-inch (600 x 800) device has 2GB of storage, an SD slot, and an accelerometer. The 9-inch (1024 x 768) device has up to 4GB storage. The A6 retails for $275 and the A9 for $330; both should be available in March.

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• Interead COOL-ER e-readers - 3G enabled (AT&T) and WiFi capable. Bandwidth deals with AT&T will support NewspaperDirect service with access to over 1,300 newspapers and magazines. Scheduled to be released mid-2010, no retail price is available yet.

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• Samsung E6 and E10 e-book readers - Comes in 6 and 10 inch touchscreen model and will use Google has the content provider. Both models have a QWERTY keyboard and wireless but no 3G. Both the E6 and E10 feature on-screen handwriting capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, and 802.11b/g WiFi. The 6-inch model will retail for$399, while the 10 inch will sell for $699. Both will be available in early 2010.

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• Blio e-reader software will support PC and Mac. The Blio software lets you read digital content in a whole new way. Bilo software will also preserve the traditional book or magazine format by keeping its layout, fonts, and images while also letting you experience digital interactivity.

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To sum up we can see that in 2010 the e-reader market is going to extend beyond basic e-books and include newspapers and magazines augmented with audio and full-color animations, video, and imagery. This will force manufactures like Amazon (Kindle) and Sony (Reader) to go beyond the monochrome E-Ink devices they have today and produce e-readers that will be competitive with the new technology of today and beyond.

More information: For additional information on the 2010 CES e-reader review, visit: http://www.engadge … of-ces-2010/

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