Hasta La Gadget!

Ectaco knows what you want, and that’s an e-book reader that hits the $149 price mark, no matter what has to get cut in the process. The jetBook Lite, recently shown off at the Frankfurt Book Fair, is just such a handheld. Gone is any notion of electronic ink, opting instead for a 5-inch reflective TFT manufactured by Toshiba and usually implemented in pocket dictionaries. The other big sacrifice is an internal battery, instead going for a slot for four AA batteries that literally jut out of the back of the unit. Internal memory’s just 100MB, but there is a SD slot for expansion, and there’s language options for English, German, Spanish, Russian, and Polish. While the spokesperson singled out Barnes & Noble as where to buy the e-books from, we’re not sure if that’s an exclusivity agreement as much as it is just a suggestion. Lesen.net got some hands-on time with the device, who noted it’s got some heft to it for its size, but is still quite pocketable. Still, for around $150 you can probably get yourself an older Kindle or Sony Reader instead, but don’t let that stop you. See it for yourself in the video after the break.

Continue reading Ectaco jetBook Lite does everything it can to claim ‘cheapest US e-reader’ title, no matter the sacrifice

Filed under: Handhelds

Ectaco jetBook Lite does everything it can to claim ‘cheapest US e-reader’ title, no matter the sacrifice originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is this the forthcoming Barnes and Noble e-book reader? Gizmodo thinks so. The site claims to have gotten its bloggy paws on leaked pictures of the Plastic Logic designed device, which is set to finally be made official a week from yesterday.

If the images are to be believed, it’s a slick little device–definitely much more of a looker that its chief competitor, the Amazon Kindle. The player also sports a dual screen. The top portion is a traditional black and white e-ink display, akin to the one on the Kindle. The bottom is a color widget-filled dealie.

According to recent reports, the device is on-track for a spring 2010 release.

At this point, there’s little doubt that Barnes & Noble will soon be joining the e-reader game. We’ve heard whispers through the grapevine, seen FCC documentation and now, renders of what the thing might actually look like. With October 20th rapidly approaching, Gizmodo has secured images that it claims are of the forthcoming device — and the design certainly jibes with recent happenings. If you’ll recall, a B&N-badged representative recently noted that an e-book reader with its logo on it was on track for a Spring 2010 release, and by golly, it would sport a color display. Plastic Logic later stepped forward to deny the claim, but if these images are legit, both parties might actually be correct; the dual-panel device would boast a traditional e-ink display up top with a multitouch panel beneath, the latter of which would undoubtedly lead to all sorts of shenanigans. So, is it Tuesday yet, or what?

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Barnes & Noble twin-screen e-reader revealed early? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man, are people into reading, or what? Hot on the heels of the BeBook Mini launch in the US and news that Barnes & Noble could be introducing an e-reader of its own as early as next week, Endless Ideas is now rumored to have its BeBook 2 on deck for an October 14th release. And considering that it has a booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, we’d say there’s at least a decent chance that the rumors are true. If you’ll recall, we snagged the first look at the company’s first-ever 3G / WiFi-equipped e-book reader back at CeBIT in March (pictured above), and considering that there can really never be enough competition in the space, we’ll take the promised touchscreen and free RSS support any way we can get it. We’ll be cautiously watching the action tomorrow for a full reveal, and we’d recommend you do as well — besides, it’s not like that International Kindle is shipping before next week anyway.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

3G / WiFi-equipped BeBook 2 launching tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had a sneaking suspicion that it was too good to be true, and now Plastic Logic has stepped forward to officially kill our pipe dreams. Just days ago, the web was set ablaze when a Barnes & Noble representative mistakenly (or deliberately, for all we know) stated that a Plastic Logic-sourced color e-reader was on track for a Spring 2010 release. Today, the aforesaid outfit has stated that the video report was “inaccurate and the individual (who was apparently filmed while attending a trade show was not an authorized Barnes & Noble spokesperson) was misinformed.” Continuing on, we’re told that while “color is on Plastic Logic’s roadmap, it is not on the map for the Spring of 2010.” Welp, that settles that… unfortunately.

[Thanks, Charlie]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Plastic Logic deflates dreams, denies Spring 2010 release for color e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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