Move over Kindle - PlasticLogic eInk Reader

ArcSyn

TG Daily wrote:

Consumer Electronics
By Humphrey Cheung
Monday, September 08, 2008 12:02
15
votesBuzz up!
San Diego (CA) – Get ready to finally chuck all those newspapers and books that you’ve been carrying because Plastic Logic has introduced a full-page sized ebook reader that doesn’t suck. The touch screen reader has an 8.5-inch by 11-inch display and uses flexible (as opposed to rigid glass) plastic. Unlike other electronic ink devices (cough Kindle cough), this reader has enough screen real estate for a pop-up touch-sensitive keyboard.

Company reps told the audience at the Demo Fall 08 conference in San Diego that the upcoming reader will have the same size, weight and thinness as a pad of paper. The plastic screen is very robust and, according to Plastic Logic, can withstand getting hit with a shoe.

Regular office documents – YES no conversion! – can be transferred to the reader through a wireless interface. TG Daily is onsite at Demo Fall San Diego and we’ll be bringing you more information, pictures and video of this device.

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No word on what wireless capability it will have, but the ability to natively use office docs and a larger display interests me greatly. I appreciate the Kindle's wireless capability, but the cost of entry is pushed too high for me to be interested. I don't read books, but if I had something small I could keep books on, I may just start again. No word on price either, so it may be just as expensive as the Kindle.

tofu

Yes, but will it be affordable?

Ronen

tofu wrote: »

Yes, but will it be affordable?

Larger screen space and a touch screen? Survey says...

archonwarp

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/04/why-hardware-ebook-r.html

It's so true. There's no reason why these things should cost over 200 dollars for a top-notch piece of hardware. I'm in the market for an ebook reader, as I usually read three or four books at once and obviously can't cart that many around. Here's hoping for a sub 400 dollar pricepoint! (haha)

taliosfalcon

Apparently so far they've only demoed rigid plastic models..and at that size if its rigid you have 0 portability..which kinda kills the point of an ebook reader imo

Ghostly Clockwork

True, that's one reason I love my Kindle. It's very portable. Something that big? No way it'd be portable...if it's nice and flexable on the other hand, then wow :-D but, unless I'm wrong...even if the screen is flexible, the rest of the device is not, so unless they're going to make it look like a scroll (In itself pretty cool) there may be problems with making it portable.

Aoi

I've been really interested in an ebook reader as well, and have even been watching the Kindle for any kind of follow up. I love the idea of the wireless purchasing/subscriptions side of thing, but the unit itself just strikes me as kinda dodgy and poorly designed (interface, button placement, etc). This sounds really interesting as well, but I really want to hear a price on this thing before making any judgment.

Bionic Monkey

taliosfalcon wrote: »

Apparently so far they've only demoed rigid plastic models..and at that size if its rigid you have 0 portability..which kinda kills the point of an ebook reader imo

Yeah, I was thinking it looks nice, but that's way too huge for a portable reader.

Ghostly Clockwork

I heard rumors that it's around 400-500, but take that with a huge pile of salt.

geeeeoffff

i kinda prefer the look of the sony reader . shown here with an optional 'cover'

Ego

I can't wait to see what this tech is doing and where in ten years.

Aoi

The Sony reader is really really nice looking. It's just a shame that it doesn't have the backing of a behemoth of a book distributor like Amazon behind it. Eh, I think I can do without anyway until one hits around the 200 area.

archonwarp

My friend has that Sony and he really loves it. The only thing it doesn't do well is PDFs, but I guess they just updated that so that it's a bit more friendly. Apparently, most readers don't do well with PDFs (They don't know what to do when there's a bunch of white space, and they don't auto-adjust to it and give you maximum text viewing), but if you convert the file to HTML using a nifty free program, it becomes just fine. I myself have read two books on my TV with pretty good success. I have a 37 inch 1080p, and I just crank the size up on the doc till I have 1/2 inch letters. I'm probably going to wait until Christmas season and get a reader when they go on crazy discount.

The Reverend Dr Galactus

Books on TV. Interesting.

Rigor Mortis

This could be fantastic for musicians if it displays PDFs. We need the full 8.5x11 page size, and the only such displays currently designed for our market cost $1500.

electricitylikesme

The funny thing is I basically want to pervert the use of these. What I want is something which links to my laptop (and stays linked) but is chemically resistant so it'll survive general use around a lab as a lab book.

Cymoro

Those pictures psyched my brain out. I thought the first one was a shot of the case, and that the actual product was inside.

Then the next picture has a different thing on the front. Oh, I was flipping back and forth going "Oh shit, that looks AWESOME."

archonwarp

electricitylikesme wrote: »

The funny thing is I basically want to pervert the use of these. What I want is something which links to my laptop (and stays linked) but is chemically resistant so it'll survive general use around a lab as a lab book.

You had better baggie that shit up. H2SO4 knows neither friend nor foe. I have a friend with three pairs of jeans ruined over two semesters.