Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader

We’re not surprised anymore when another company jumps on the ever-fattening e-reader bandwagon, because really, pretty much everyone is making one now… including, apparently, companies we thought had basically ceased to exist. That’s right folks, Neonode is seemingly back from the dead (though truth be told it looks like the company was never actually fully cold), pumping its touchscreen tech — called zForce and made specifically for e-readers — into Taiwanese company Koobe’s just announced Jin Young reader. We don’t have fully specs on this bad boy by any means, but we know that it’s going to be a 6-inch e-paper styled affair with 2GB of memory (and up to 16GB by way of microSD). The reader claims to be the thinnest device boasting a touchscreen ever made, and should make its way to retail in April (in Taiwan) for somewhere between NT10,000 and NT13,000 (that’s between $312 and $405), depending on the content agreement. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader

Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TI’s OMAP4 prototype drives three independent displays without breaking a sweat

It’s been a long, long while since we’ve seen any life from the OMAP4 labs at Texas Instruments, but with the sudden resurgence of the tablet, now seems just about right for the company to start showcasing the platform’s prowess once more. TI is expected to have a mind-bending showcase at Mobile World Congress later this month, but Slashgear was able to get a sneak peek at what’s to come at the outfit’s Dallas office. The device you’re peering at above definitely piqued our interest, as it’s some sort of twin-screened handheld that can actually support a third independent display courtesy of an integrated pico projector module. We’re told that OMAP4 will bring along dual 1GHz ARM A9 cores, patently ridiculous battery life figures (145 hours of MP3 playback with a 1,000mAh battery) and support for 1080p output via HDMI. Naturally, TI has no intention of ever bringing this piece of hardware to market, but it’d certainly love if some other firm stepped in and did so. Here’s hoping we’re overrun by potential suitors in Barcelona — given that the show kicks off on Valentine’s Day, we’d say the timing would be just about perfect.

TI’s OMAP4 prototype drives three independent displays without breaking a sweat originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Display’s 19-inch E Ink display plays loose with the truth

Well doesn’t that look impressive? A big ‘ol 19-inch electronic ink display that appears to emulate your father’s newspaper. No doubt, this massive Metal-Foil e-paper prototype from LG Display is impressive at this size (just 0.3-mm thin and 250×400mm — about the same size as a 297×420-mm sheet of A3) and weight (130 grams). Hell, we were already impressed with the flexible 11.5-inch panel from LG Display found in the Skiff Reader. However, like the rigid Skiff Reader, a flexible panel doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing a flexible e-reader. In fact, chances are we won’t after the manufacturer gets through adding a touchscreen overlay, application processor, and radio chipset. Let’s hope for a surprise though, whenever these panels do make it out for mass production… assuming anyone still cares about monochrome E Ink displays by then.

LG Display’s 19-inch E Ink display plays loose with the truth originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Teclast enters the e-book fold with the K3 Talking Portable Library

Teclast enters the e-book fold with the K3 Talking Portable Library originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nook shipping update assures pre-orders arriving on time

This should come as a relief to all you anxiously awaiting your Barnes and Noble Nook pre-orders. We’ve received a statement from Barnes and Noble affirming that all pre-orders which had an original pre-holiday ship date will be fulfilled, and that the rest of the orders will be filled starting in Friday. Here’s the full, reassuring statement:

“We’re happy to report that all customers who pre-ordered nooks and were given a pre-holiday estimated shipping date will be sent their nooks in time to receive them by Christmas. As you know, there’s been an overwhelmingly positive response and unprecedented demand since Barnes & Noble announced its new eBook reader on October 20th. Customer demand continues to be strong and new orders will be fulfilled beginning February 1, 2010. “

Happy, happy holidays!

Nook shipping update assures pre-orders arriving on time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aigo jumps on the e-reader bandwagon with EB6301

Aigo jumps on the e-reader bandwagon with EB6301 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble Nook to get an update this week? Sure sounds like it

A tipster who has proven to be reliable in the past says that Barnes and Noble’s Nook will get a software update this week — most likely around Tuesday. The update itself looks to be fairly sizeable, in that it looks like it will improve some of the major issues we’ve had with the e-reader — like page refresh rate and a lot of other little speed issues. Our tipster also says they’ve played with an updated unit and that it’s much, much better, so we’re interested to see for ourselves when the update goes down. Until then, check out the list of bugs and fixes (which is only a partial list) we’re hearing the update will include after the break.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook to get an update this week? Sure sounds like it

Filed under: Handhelds

Barnes & Noble Nook to get an update this week? Sure sounds like it originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Foxit busts out ebook store for eSlick owners

It’s been a season of e-readers, that’s for sure… and while Foxit is a smaller player in the scene as compared to the Nook or the Kindle, it’s got some news of its own to boast about today. That’s right, Foxit’s launching an online bookstore all its own. The aptly named eSlick Store has been launched in partnership with Fictionwise LLC (a company which is rather interestingly owned by Barnes & Noble), and currently contains about 60,000 books. If you haven’t forgotten — Foxit’s also recently released a firmware update which enables its support of EPUB. Full press is after the break.

Continue reading Foxit busts out ebook store for eSlick owners

Foxit busts out ebook store for eSlick owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iriver Story up for sale in the UK, can be imported to the US for contrarian amount

Other than a delightful-looking keyboard, it’s a little tough to tell what sets the iriver Story apart from its E Ink brethren (other than its complete lack of wireless), but the little issue of a $400 US pricetag for import versions doesn’t give us much reason to find out. Meanwhile, in the UK the somewhat more reasonable £230 tag has been affixed to the now-shipping e-reader, and while that’s still a tad bit more than just shipping a Kindle to the UK, if you’re still interested you can feel free to check out a few videos after the break that do a mild job of explaining the device to a rollicking soundtrack of Taylor Swift.

Continue reading iriver Story up for sale in the UK, can be imported to the US for contrarian amount

iriver Story up for sale in the UK, can be imported to the US for contrarian amount originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung shows off color e-paper prototype, PVI might beat it to market in 2010

Now here’s some yummy news to wrap our minds around. Samsung, a company with a manufacturing portfolio so wide that you wouldn’t be surprised to see it selling toothbrushes and perfume, clearly also wants a slice of that growing ebook market and has now unveiled a 10.1-inch color display with that purpose in mind. It’s still very early days, with a measly 10:1 contrast ratio and the ability to display only 7% of the NTSC color gamut, but baby steps are better than no steps, right? While Sammy is shooting at delivering this within two years, PVI — the maker of displays for Kindles and Sony Readers — is expected to ramp up production of its own color screens in the second half of 2010. Add these two heavyweights to the color e-readers already expected from Plastic Logic (spring 2010) and Bridgestone, and what you get is one hell of a thriving marketplace — as long as Pixel Qi doesn’t render them all useless when it launches later this year.

Read – Samsung Exhibits 10.1-inch Color E-paper
Read – PVI to ramp up flexible and color EPD in 2010

Filed under: Handhelds

Samsung shows off color e-paper prototype, PVI might beat it to market in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plastic Logic teases QUE proReader with 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen

Details are scarce, since the official launch won’t happen until January 7 at CES next year, but Plastic Logic is looking to crash into the “pro” segment of the e-reader market (currently mostly occupied by the Kindle DX) with its upcoming QUE proReader. The unit uses E Ink Vizplex tech in a shatterproof display the size of a regular piece of paper at 8.5 x 11-inches, and has 3G wireless capabilities courtesy of AT&T and a business-centric ebook store at QUEreader.com which will be powered by Barnes & Noble. There’s also a touchscreen interface, but it’s unclear if that covers the entire display, or is something more akin to the leaked photos we’ve seen of the Barnes & Noble reader. The device is “less than 1/3-inch thick,” and can handle PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, including tools for “interacting with and managing the content,” which sounds beyond the scope of most e-readers on the market currently. We’ll have to wait and see how useful the interface really is, and how much damage (if any) that touchscreen sensor does to readability, but a bit of diversification in the ebook space sounds like a good thing on paper. Full PR is after the break.

Continue reading Plastic Logic teases QUE proReader with 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen

Filed under: Handhelds

Plastic Logic teases QUE proReader with 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iriver Story e-reader hits pre-order status in Korea, gets priced

Filed under: Handhelds

iriver Story e-reader hits pre-order status in Korea, gets priced originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bookeen now shipping $280 Cybook Opus e-reader

We admire Bookeen’s resilience here, we really do. After last hearing about this e-book reader in May, we sort of assumed it had just given up on the matter. After all, it’s WiFi-less and yet still as pricey as many of its rivals. That said, the Cybook Opus certainly looks different than most every other reader out there, so surely that counts for something. We’re not saying it counts for $280, but if you are, you’re approximately 1.389 clicks away from having one shipped to your domicile.

[Via GizmoScene]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Bookeen now shipping $280 Cybook Opus e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netronix sneaking 9.7-inch display, hopes and dreams into forthcoming EB900 e-reader

You’ve just got to admire an outfit like Netronix. Hardly anyone this side of Asia has heard of ‘em, and with outfits like Amazon, Sony, Hearst and ASUS doing their darnedest to corner to rapidly expanding e-reader market, you know it has an uphill climb just to get some respect. That said, we’re somewhat intrigued by what’s on deck for Q1 2010; just a few months after its EB-600 and EB-500 readers were spotted at Computex, the company itself has confessed to having an expansive EB900 in the works. As with the Kindle DX, this bugger is destined to boast a 9.7-inch e-ink display, and you’ll also find a 600MHz processor, WinCE 6.0-based operating system, touch support, a handwriting mode, built-in WiFi / Bluetooth / 3G WWAN and a USB socket for connecting to one’s PC. The minuscule snapshot you see there to the right is all we’ve got to go by as far as images are concerned, but you can rest assured we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.

[Thanks, Tom]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Netronix sneaking 9.7-inch display, hopes and dreams into forthcoming EB900 e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Phosphor E-Ink watch!

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a curved E-Ink wristwatch from Phosphor up for grabs. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Special thanks to Phosphor Watches for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. One (1) winner will receive one (1) E-Ink Digital Hour Clock Watch with Stainless Steel Band. Approximate retail value is $195.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Wednesday, July 15th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Wearables

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Phosphor E-Ink watch! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elonex launches £189 6-inch eBook reader through Borders UK

Elonex has been dabbling in small screen wares for quite some time now, so it’s not a huge surprise to finally see it join the likes of BeBook, Sony and Amazon by introducing its very own eBook reader. Design wise, the 6-inch reader looks an awful lot like that played-out OEM model that everyone seems to start with, but hey, you won’t find us kvetching about competition. The device is launching exclusively at Borders UK, and with that comes the new Borders eBook Download Store. With a 4GB expansion card, there’s room for some 8,000 ebooks, and the 9 millimeter-thin frame ensures that this one won’t bog you down too much. Interested consumers over in the UK can snap this one up right now for £189 ($311), and that price nets you 100 free ebooks, a charger, data cable and a great sense of pride.

[Thanks, Sam]

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Elonex launches £189 6-inch eBook reader through Borders UK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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