Hasta La Gadget!

Plastic Logic’s electronic book reader is an ultra skinny, extra large device targeted at business users. And if you’re lucky enough to be at the All Things D conference, you’re getting one for free.

In a demo Wednesday at the ongoing at the Wall Street Journal’s conference in California, Plastic Logic showed a prototype device with an onscreen keyboard and an annotate feature, and said every attendee would be getting one. The company has been showing prototypes of its e-book reader for over 8 months since its debut at DemoFall last year, but has yet to announce a public ship date or pricing for its product.

The Plastic Logic e-reader, when it releases, will be a rival to Amazon’s broadsheet Kindle DX, which is expected to start shipping this summer.

Plastic Logic’s e-reader is 0.27 inches thick, significantly thinner than Amazon Kindle 2’s 0.33 inches, and has a 8.5 x 11 inch E Ink touchscreen display that makes it seem almost like a large notepad.

Because of its large screen size, the device is aimed at business users who will use it to view PDF files, Word documents, spreadsheets and even PowerPoint presentations. The device will include Wi-Fi and 3G capability and will initially be available in black and white, with more colors likely. It will also have its own online store for books and newspapers among other things. While users noticed a lag while turning pages, Plastic Logic has said it expects it to improve over time.

Laptop Mag has a hands-on with the Plastic Logic reader and says scribbling on the screen with a stylus was fairly responsive. Check out their gallery of photos.

Plastic Logic has yet to offer a release date for the device or how much it will cost.

Photo: Joanna Stern/Laptop Mag. Used by permission