Hasta La Gadget!

You’ve just got to admire an outfit like Netronix. Hardly anyone this side of Asia has heard of ’em, and with outfits like Amazon, Sony, Hearst and ASUS doing their darnedest to corner to rapidly expanding e-reader market, you know it has an uphill climb just to get some respect. That said, we’re somewhat intrigued by what’s on deck for Q1 2010; just a few months after its EB-600 and EB-500 readers were spotted at Computex, the company itself has confessed to having an expansive EB900 in the works. As with the Kindle DX, this bugger is destined to boast a 9.7-inch e-ink display, and you’ll also find a 600MHz processor, WinCE 6.0-based operating system, touch support, a handwriting mode, built-in WiFi / Bluetooth / 3G WWAN and a USB socket for connecting to one’s PC. The minuscule snapshot you see there to the right is all we’ve got to go by as far as images are concerned, but you can rest assured we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.

[Thanks, Tom]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Netronix sneaking 9.7-inch display, hopes and dreams into forthcoming EB900 e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yet more confirmation has emerged that Asus plans its own e-book reader, according to The Times of London, who reported the story on Sunday.

It’s not especially clear what the Times was able to elicit from Asus versus an earlier report from DigiTimes, which quoted Asus president Jerry Shen (or paraphrased a comment he made, at least) committing to an e-book reader. An Asus representative in the U.K. appears to have confirmed this, with the additional details that there may be a value-priced as well as a premium version.

I assume that the following details are sourced from Asus, then: “Unlike current ebook readers, which take the form of a single flat screen, the
Asus device has a hinged spine, like a printed book,” the Times of London reports. “This, in theory,
enables its owner to read an ebook much like a normal book, using the
touchscreen to “turn” the pages from one screen to the next. It also gives
the user the option of seeing the text on one screen while browsing a web
page on the other. One of the screens could also act as a virtual keypad for
the device to be used like a laptop.”

The paper also points out two other salient points: one, the reader uses at least one color display, and two, Asus is known for its inexpensive EeePC line. That, in a nutshell, is why I’m a tad suspicious.

We can’t fault iRiver for striving to beat Kindle at its game, but to be Kindle is a different story altogether. A Korea-based MobileRead forum member posted a trio of pics that apparently show off the company’s up e-book reader, aptly titled the Story. Here’s the scoop as “dasony” tells it: the talented Mr. Ripley here sports a 6-inch screen, physical QWERTY keys, up to 32GB expandable memory, 9,000 page turns (per charge, we presume), a comic viewer, and support for PDF, EPUB, and a number of word / document files. Its local affiliation includes book store chain Kyobo and pre-orders will launch September 16th for around 350,000 to 400,000 KRW, or $282 to $322 in US currencies. Apparently iRiver’s looking to expand it to other countries and is in talk with US and Russian retailers, although with that price, it’s gonna have to pull out some surprise features and dark magick to compete with what Sony and Amazon are dealing. More pics of the book and its not-quite-svelte case in the gallery below.

[Via Engadget German]

Filed under: Handhelds

Alleged iRiver Story e-reader pics exemplify imitation as the sincerest form of flattery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A mass-produced piece of plastic and electronics more environmentally-friendly than a simple book? Possibly, at least according to a new study released by the Cleantech Group. While the group found that the Kindle‘s upfront environmental impact was indeed fairly significant, they also found that the numbers can change dramatically over the course of the device’s lifecycle — depending largely on the users’ reading habits, of course. More specifically, they say that the Kindle can produce a potential savings of 1,074 kg of CO2 if it replaces three books a month for four years, or a whopping 26,098 kg of CO2 if the Kindle DX is used to its fullest capacity. They also found that the Kindle would still break even if it replaced just 22.5 books over its lifespan, although they’re quick to point out that its impact can turn to a negative if folks continue to buy books and print periodicals in addition to e-books and don’t recycle them.

Filed under: Handhelds

Study finds Kindle more eco-friendly than actual books, maybe originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s Daily Edition may be taking a front row seat in everyone’s hearts and minds right now, but let’s not forget just three weeks prior the company revamped its other two, decidedly network connectivity-free e-book reader models. MobileTechReview got its hands on the PRS-600 “Touch Edition,” which scores points for an easy-to-use dictionary and enhanced note-taking abilities that are purported to sync to the desktop, at least eventually. Turns out the screen isn’t as sharp as the PRS-505 and there’s a bit of glare, but there’s certainly more contrast with the new device. Last we heard both readers were due for check out by the end of this month, although as of this writing only Pocket Edition seems to be available on Sony Style — and if you’re already enjoying a Sony reader, you’ll be happy to know that 3.0 desktop software is now making the rounds for PC and Mac. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Tom]


Read – PRS-600 review
Read – SonyStyle store
Read – eBook Library Software 3.0

Continue reading Video: Sony Reader Touch Edition gets touched, desktop software upped to 3.0

Filed under: Handhelds

Video: Sony Reader Touch Edition gets touched, desktop software upped to 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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