Hasta La Gadget!

While Amazon and Sony are still hemming and hawing about taking their ebook-reading adventure into the color E Ink realm, China’s Hanvon is plunging straight in. The New York Times is reporting that the company intends to grace this year’s FPD International trade show with the news that a 10-inch touchscreen e-reader, equipped with the first color-displaying panels from E Ink Holdings, will be arriving in the Chinese market in March. That’s a little later than the originally promised “by the end of 2010,” but it’s not like anyone else is beating Hanvon to the market. Pricing in China is expected at around $440, and though there are no plans to bring it Stateside just yet, we imagine Hanvon would do so quite willingly if it can reach the volume necessary to offer up a more palatable price. And we’d be very happy if it does, the Nook Color‘s been looking a little lonely in the color ebook reader room.

Hanvon to be first with color E Ink reader, sizes it at 10 inches, makes it a touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 02:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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They may not be the highest-function watches you’ve ever seen, but Phosphor’s line of timepieces can make a claim that virtually no other watches in the world can: they’ve got E Ink displays. Sure, Seiko’s been teasing us all with gorgeous pieces of E Ink wrist candy for half a decade, but the critical thing about Phosphor’s offerings is that they’re easy on the wallet (relatively speaking) and you won’t need to embark on a grueling multi-year journey through specialty jewelry shops in Asia to try to find one.

The company just recently introduced its latest line of models featuring world time capability, and we’ve had a chance to check them out — all four of them, to be precise. Read on for our quick review!

Continue reading Phosphor World Time E Ink watch review

Phosphor World Time E Ink watch review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s no question about it: Sony had its work cut out when it came time to improve the next generation of its e-readers. Amazon’s Kindle isn’t only the best selling electronic reading device out there, but its new $139 WiFi version is the fastest-selling yet. And then there’s the Barnes & Noble’s Nook, which is an equally capable competitor, especially with recent firmware updates. Oh, and don’t forget about the $140 Kobo. Yep, Sony had some serious work to do and its cheapest option – the $179.99 Pocket Edition — does differentiate in some striking ways. The aluminum reader has been upgraded with a new 5-inch E Ink Pearl display and now has an extremely responsive touchscreen for navigating through books / menus. The updates certainly have put Sony back into the final four, but there’s a few lacking features that just keep it from going all the way. You’ll want to hit the break to find out just what we’re talking about in our full review of this little guy.

Continue reading Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) review

Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yeah, Pixel Qi’s 3Qi display is a wee bit more niche than your average superphone, but we just know a handful of you DIYers out there took the plunge on this one. Mary Lou Jepsen’s pride and joy went on sale back in July, offering crafty modders the chance to swap their lackluster netbook panel for an E Ink slayer. We were personally thrilled with the results, but we still saw a few things that could’ve been ironed out given the time, money and technical insight. If you’ve also taken the leap, we’re oh-so-curious to know how you would redesign the dual-mode 3Qi. Make it sharper? A higher resolution? A different size? Something else entirely? No walls allowed here — get creative down in comments below.

How would you change Pixel Qi’s 3Qi display? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We caught the LumiRead set up and ready for some serious page-turning action as Acer set up its booth at IFA today (yes, it’s true, the show still hasn’t technically started), which marks the first time we’ve actually been able to hold the upcoming e-reader — previously, the closest we’d gotten was the impersonal touch of a glass enclosure back at Computex. The verdict? After having touched one of those newfangled Kindles, we’ve got to say that pretty much every other e-reader out there feels like a ridiculously overweight beast, and the LumiRead gets swept up into that classification. The barcode scanner is still there (you can see it in our gallery below) and it’s still as awesome of a concept as ever, but Acer has replaced the smooth plastic back with a ridged, patterned one on this newer prototype — and considering that the launch is scheduled for October, we imagine this is nearly final or final spec. The thumbstick feels decent, but we don’t really think it’s the best way to navigate… which is a lesson Amazon already learned with the last version of the Kindle, by the bye. So here’s your recipe for success, Acer: soft-touch back, cut the thickness by a third, eliminate the wasted space above the keyboard, and keep the barcode reader. Boom.

Acer LumiRead makes pit stop at IFA prior to launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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