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2000ebooks reports on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas
2010 promises to be an interesting year for the eReader market. There are three major problems to be resolved and it will be interesting to see who are the winners and who the losers by the end of the year. The problems are:
The CES didn't give many clues about the last two, but the battle over the first problem was well and truly joined with the big unknown remaining the long awaited Apple Tablet, still to make an appearance. One important player did comment on the role of the publisher. Kenneth A. Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media, talking about their new Skiff product (see below) said: "Navigating new digital technologies is extremely challenging for publishers, which is why Skiff exists - it will give publishers a strong partner that can help them succeed in e-reading. Skiff will offer publishers a way to participate across the full value chain, from shaping publication design to selling advertising to maintaining subscriber relationships, so that they can better control their destiny as e-reading expands." Time will tell. So here is our report on the new products and possible directions in the eReader market The Hearst Corporation Skiff As you might expect from a company which owns scores of newspapers and lots of magazines, the Skiff is aimed at bringing the eReader experience to the newpaper and magazine format world. It is a large (11.5 inches tall) device but reading a newspaper on its screen is similar to reading a traditional newspaper. But just touch a story or headline to display the full article. The same can apply to advertising. Making notes and emailing articles to colleagues is also catered for. Skiff specializes in the delivery and presentation of newspaper and magazine content, as opposed to other platforms that focus primarily on eBooks and plain text. Newspaper and magazine content delivered by Skiff will feature visually appealing layouts, high-resolution graphics, rich typography and dynamic updates. These capabilities will allow more newspaper and magazine publishers to successfully migrate their premium content to the fast-growing e-reading channel, while preserving the key design qualities that help publications differentiate themselves and attract subscribers and advertisers. For more details see their press release. The Spring Design Alex The Alex™ is the first eBook based on Google Android featuring full browser capabilities and a patented dual screen. It livens up text with multimedia links, adding a new dimension to the reading experience and potentially creating a whole new industry for secondary publications that supplement and enhance original text. The dual-screen display design brings together the efficiency of reading on a monochrome electronic paper display screen and dynamic web style multimedia information on its secondary color LCD screen (actually an integrated Android mobile device) which opens up the world of Internet content to support the text on the main screen. With its dual-screen, multi-access capability, it provides the entire Web as a handy reference library, prompting users to delve into its vast information base to complement, clarify or enhance what they are reading. Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design said "This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on eBooks, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia eBook publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations . This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience." Alex™features a 6" E-Ink EPD display and 3.5" color LCD display, earphones and speakers. A removable SD card will free up library space on the device while letting users archive content for future reference. The enhanced Android OS is optimized to support integration between the color and monochrome displays while preserving battery life. Users can capture and cache web content from their online experience on the LCD screen, and toggle to view it on the EPD screen without taxing the battery life. Browser features such as bookmarking, history, and security settings are built in and the device, with full Android browsing capability, is mobile-enabled with smart phone capabilities. More details on the Spring Design web site. The Plastic Logic QUE QUE is designed to simplify the multi-faceted lifestyle of the modern businessperson, and to quite literally lighten their workload. In addition to connecting its users with their business and professional newspapers, books and periodicals, QUE supports the document formats business users need (including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents) and features powerful tools for interacting with and managing the content. "The QUE brand stands for a premium reading experience," said Richard Archuleta, CEO of Plastic Logic. "The QUE proReader enhances business performance and gives you a competitive edge. More than an eReader, QUE means business." Extra thin, lightweight and wireless-enabled, QUE is the size of an 8.5 x 11 inch pad of paper, less than a 1/3 inch thick, and weighs less than many periodicals. The innovative QUE proReader features the largest touchscreen in the industry, an intuitive touch screen user interface, and provides access to a file cabinet's worth of documents, plus your favorite - and most necessary - publications. QUE stands out in a crowd because it's a business reader, but it's also unique for its shatterproof plastic display. This exclusive technology from Plastic Logic, along with E Ink Vizplex® technology produces an outstanding reading experience. Its battery can last days, instead of hours. QUE users will be able to connect to content and download wirelessly via Wi-Fi and AT&T's 3G network, the nation's fastest 3G mobile broadband network. The store will offer the most significant collection of business reading available on any eReader. The QUE store is powered by Barnes & Noble, the worlds' largest eBookstore. More information on the QUE website Items Coming Soon There are a couple of items in the Coming Soon category (apart from Apple's Tablet) that you should keep an eye on. We are providing the following links so that you can check them out now. We will bring more details shortly. |
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