European e-Reader News Qtr1, 2010: five articles on this page
Bookeen returns with the superior Orizon
From TFTS, Feb 9, 2010 French company Bookeen has replaced the Cybook Opus with the updated Orizon, which has similar casing but has many more features. They’ve increased the screen size, it’s now a 6-inch screen over the 5-inch screen.
The screen on the new device is now a touchscreen, although, Bookeen apparently lost some dpi on the change going from 200 dpi on the Opus to 167 dpi on the Orizon. Bookeen didn’t say who made their electronic paper display, but it does use “In-Cell" technology, which apparently means capacitive as they note the touchscreen can be used without a stylus.
The Orizon will support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB connectivity but Bookeen has not said how much internal storage the Orizon will have (the previous model, Cybook Opus, had 1GB). The Orizon will run version 3.0 of Bookeen’s eReader OS, called “Book Reader”. They promise that it will be quicker than previous versions of the software. The device is only compatible with the ePub file format.
The screen on the new device is now a touchscreen, although, Bookeen apparently lost some dpi on the change going from 200 dpi on the Opus to 167 dpi on the Orizon. Bookeen didn’t say who made their electronic paper display, but it does use “In-Cell" technology, which apparently means capacitive as they note the touchscreen can be used without a stylus.
The Orizon will support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB connectivity but Bookeen has not said how much internal storage the Orizon will have (the previous model, Cybook Opus, had 1GB). The Orizon will run version 3.0 of Bookeen’s eReader OS, called “Book Reader”. They promise that it will be quicker than previous versions of the software. The device is only compatible with the ePub file format.
British Company Reveals the Que for US Market
Metro UK, January 11th 2009 Plastic Logic, founded by researcher's from Cambridge University Cavendish Laboratory, announced its QUE e-reader - targeted at business professionals, with the intention that it will be used to read office documents as well as books, newspapers and magazines.
With a touch-sensitive display and the ability to annotate what you're reading, it drew appreciative first-look reviews from attendees at CES. British consumers, may have to wait however, its launch is so far intended to be US-only, where they have formed a partnership with the Barnes & Noble book chain.
The QUE sees the UK company joining the rush to challenge Amazon and Sony, the clear leaders in the e-reader market. A strong contender to the Que is the Skiff, from publishing company Hearst - a flexible, bendable e-reader which is intended primarily for large format publications such as newspapers and magazines.
Amazon themselves tried to keep ahead of the game by announcing the international launch of its larger-sized 9.7" Kindle DX just before CES opened. The DX has a UK and worldwide launch date of January 19, when it will be available to buy in around 100 countries.
With a touch-sensitive display and the ability to annotate what you're reading, it drew appreciative first-look reviews from attendees at CES. British consumers, may have to wait however, its launch is so far intended to be US-only, where they have formed a partnership with the Barnes & Noble book chain.
The QUE sees the UK company joining the rush to challenge Amazon and Sony, the clear leaders in the e-reader market. A strong contender to the Que is the Skiff, from publishing company Hearst - a flexible, bendable e-reader which is intended primarily for large format publications such as newspapers and magazines.
Amazon themselves tried to keep ahead of the game by announcing the international launch of its larger-sized 9.7" Kindle DX just before CES opened. The DX has a UK and worldwide launch date of January 19, when it will be available to buy in around 100 countries.
Cool-er Readers are now Wi-Fi ready
From Webpronews., January 29, 2010 Just eight months after British company Interead launched their own e-Reader, called the Cool-er, the company unveiled two new versions of their e-reader that will hit the market later this year, possibly by April 1st, 2010.
Showcased at CES 2010, the Cool-er Compact includes a 6" screen and 2 GB of onboard memory. The second is the Cool-er Connect, which has a 7" screen and Wi-Fi. Cool-er is currently offered in eight different languages and eight different color options.
What sets Cool-er apart from Amazon's Kindle? According to Phil Wood, the Marketing Director at Interead, Cool-er is more cost-effective since Kindle users must purchase books from Amazon. Interead offers their own e-book store and on their site refers to itself as “the largest e-book store in the world with 2 million titles available – all at least 20% less than the recommended retail price.”
Showcased at CES 2010, the Cool-er Compact includes a 6" screen and 2 GB of onboard memory. The second is the Cool-er Connect, which has a 7" screen and Wi-Fi. Cool-er is currently offered in eight different languages and eight different color options.
What sets Cool-er apart from Amazon's Kindle? According to Phil Wood, the Marketing Director at Interead, Cool-er is more cost-effective since Kindle users must purchase books from Amazon. Interead offers their own e-book store and on their site refers to itself as “the largest e-book store in the world with 2 million titles available – all at least 20% less than the recommended retail price.”
Poland has an exclusive e-Reader: EClicto
From Passwordincorrect, - EClicto, a long awaited Polish e-book platform was officially launched on 10th of December. The company behind it is Kolporter Info SA, already running an online store with a large catalog of paper books and e-books. It’s a rebranded Netronix’s EB600 model (like the Cool-er) with Linux-based software. Copyrighted content is DRM-ed with a proprietary ePub format.
The e-reader starting pack includes 100 free books, including bestsellers. For those who haven’t bought the e-reader yet, there are a few free books available for download to test eClicto Manager – a free PC application to manage and read books on a computer.
Kolporter officials announced at a press conference a day before première, that the platform has already partnered with 40 Polish publishers. There are over 800 titles in the e-bookstore and their number will double in the coming weeks. E-reader’s launch price is 899PLN (approximately 312USD or 215EUR). It’s claimed to be the cheapest e-reading device available in Poland and it’s true. International Kindle with custom duty and shipping costs is an expenditure of at least 350USD
The e-reader starting pack includes 100 free books, including bestsellers. For those who haven’t bought the e-reader yet, there are a few free books available for download to test eClicto Manager – a free PC application to manage and read books on a computer.
Kolporter officials announced at a press conference a day before première, that the platform has already partnered with 40 Polish publishers. There are over 800 titles in the e-bookstore and their number will double in the coming weeks. E-reader’s launch price is 899PLN (approximately 312USD or 215EUR). It’s claimed to be the cheapest e-reading device available in Poland and it’s true. International Kindle with custom duty and shipping costs is an expenditure of at least 350USD
Germany's e-Reader: The TXTR
From Gearcrunch, The Txtr is a home grown e-Reader by a Berlin-based start up named Txtr. It features a 6-inch grayscale e-ink screen, a microSD slot (an 8GB card is included in the package, 1GB flash), an ARM11 CPU (532MHz), 64MB RAM, a micro-USB port and “ultra-long battery life” (company quote). The device is sized at 151×131×12 mm and weighs 281g.
You can download books and other documents via the USB port, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) or the txtr wireless service (EDGE/GPRS). The reader can display PDFs and books in the EPUB format. Currently, there are over 10,000 books offered in the official txtr store, with about 3,200 of them being English books.
It costs $18 per month to access your documents via the web and synchronize web sites with the reader. The Txtr is retailing for 299.00 Euros or $410.00 US at current exchange rates, which is more costly than the International Kindle.
You can download books and other documents via the USB port, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) or the txtr wireless service (EDGE/GPRS). The reader can display PDFs and books in the EPUB format. Currently, there are over 10,000 books offered in the official txtr store, with about 3,200 of them being English books.
It costs $18 per month to access your documents via the web and synchronize web sites with the reader. The Txtr is retailing for 299.00 Euros or $410.00 US at current exchange rates, which is more costly than the International Kindle.
Plastic Logic Que delayed again
From Wired.com, March 12, 2010 - Plastic Logic, which was set to ship its large screen Que e-reader in April, is now delaying it to “sometime this summer.”
The company sent notifications to pre-order customers late Thursday afternoon announcing the delay and saying it needed the time to “fine-tune features and enhance the overall product.” Plastic Logic launched the Que at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta didn’t reveal the exact reasons for the delay. But if it is to make sure that the company works out all the kinks in the product before it ships, he may have made the right decision. Last year, many e-reader enthusiasts criticized Barnes & Noble for rushing its Nook e-reader to market. Barnes & Noble has since the launch offered firmware updates to fix some of the Nook’s problems.
The company sent notifications to pre-order customers late Thursday afternoon announcing the delay and saying it needed the time to “fine-tune features and enhance the overall product.” Plastic Logic launched the Que at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta didn’t reveal the exact reasons for the delay. But if it is to make sure that the company works out all the kinks in the product before it ships, he may have made the right decision. Last year, many e-reader enthusiasts criticized Barnes & Noble for rushing its Nook e-reader to market. Barnes & Noble has since the launch offered firmware updates to fix some of the Nook’s problems.
