Hasta La Gadget!

You’d think a pending lawsuit and a grainy official video would be enough exposure for one little dual-screen e-book reader, but Marvell’s decided to bring out Spring Design’s Alex as a way of showing off their new Armada chip, which claims a faster three frames per second refresh rate along with the usual assorted reductions in cost and power consumption. Maximum PC got the opportunity to see the Alex first-hand at the meeting, and note that while it’s definitely thicker than the kindle (blame goes to the larger battery and second screen, naturally), it’s a smart little device. Hit up the read link for more pics.

Read – Alex hands-on
Read – Marvells Armada: custom designed ARM SoCs break 1GHz

Filed under: Handhelds

Spring Design Alex comes out to play and show off Marvell’s Armada chip originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And so it begins. If you had any doubts whatsoever that the ereader battle was in full effect, let this introduction take all of that worry away. Marvell and E Ink have tag-teamed in order to announce a “highly integrated” ereader processor that’ll be made available in “turnkey platforms” aimed at the booming ebook reader market. The ARMADA package includes a 166E application processor, WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G modem, and more broadly, the two have agreed to cross license epaper “timing controllers and system platforms,” which may or may not be the cutest, sweetest thing we’ve ever heard. The goods are expected to be ready for readers in 2010, which means that buying a Kindle or Nook today is guaranteed to cause you all sorts of pain when the next best thing ships within twelve months.

[Via Internet News]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Marvell teams with E Ink for turnkey ereader processor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s an e-book without the e-ink? So very much, according to Creative, who just dropped word of an upcoming “MediaBook” device (which will undoubtedly look nothing like this mockup above). It sounds a bit more like a PMP to us, with “video, pictures, text and services,” and a “media-rich experience” on the table, but Creative is also apparently working with publishers for content, with an obvious emphasis in Singapore sources, where Creative already does e-learning work. There’s no word of what it’ll look like, but it’ll be a large touchscreen of some sort, so it sounds like we’ve got another slate on our hand. Any differentiation might come from having Zii under the hood and Creative’s own particular approach to content for this device, but there’s not really enough to get excited about at this point.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Creative working on Zii-based MediaBook with color touchscreen, e-book slant originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Liquavista’s been kicking around in the shadows for years now, and while its stuff has largely been viewed as vaporware, the video waiting for you just past the break changes everything. The company has today revealed three new e-reader display technologies that it’s working on, and all three of ’em are in prototype form ready to wow. LiquavistaBright aims to speed up page refreshes on e-book readers and add support for video playback, and considering just how awful web browsing is on existing e-ink displays, we can hardly wait to surf on this stuff. It’s also toiling away on a LiquavistaColor screen, which is exactly what you think it is. Finally, there’s the elusive LiquavistaVivid, which is planned for “product implementation” throughout 2010 and 2011. Hit the read link if you’re down for looking into the future, and be sure to tell PixelQi its main competition has just come out in a big way.

Continue reading Liquavista’s e-reader displays do video, color and other magic tricks (video)

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Liquavista’s e-reader displays do video, color and other magic tricks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a rather odd unfolding of events, it seems as if Barnes & Noble is finally clearing up the mystery behind that Plastic Logic e-reader slated to hit its retail locations by Spring of 2010. After making said announcement, the book seller then went out and introduced an e-book reader of its very own in the Nook, and only now are we learning that the Plastic Logic-built QUE proReader will also be splashing down at the outfit sometime next year. In a brief release posted today, we’re told that the recently teased big-screen reader (8.5- x 11-inches) will be sold throughout B&N’s retail footprint and on its website; makes sense given that B&N is powering the proReader’s online e-book store, but the fact that it’ll be placed prominently near the outfit’s own (somewhat competing) device is certainly interesting. We’re expecting to see more come CES 2010, and seriously, with the rate at which these readers are hitting brick-and-mortar locations, Amazon might want to consider implementing some kind of physical trial in order to not go overlooked in its corner of the web.

Continue reading QUE proReader hitting Barnes & Noble retail stores in 2010

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

QUE proReader hitting Barnes & Noble retail stores in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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