AppleInsider Staff
Turning heads has been the Skiff e-reader, which features a massive 1,600 by 1,200 pixel resolution, which can fit the entire front page of The New York Times, including advertisements, on its display.
Engadget had some hands-on time with the hardware, and came away impressed with the device and its 11.5-inch touchscreen.
"The UI looked reasonable for skimming through large publications such as the Sunday edition of the New York Times and offers a search mechanism that works device wide or within the content you're viewing," the report said. "Finger swipes applied to the resistive touchscreen worked as expected: swiping a finger left or right results in page turns while swipes up or down will increase or reduce font size, respectively."
The Skiff is more than just a reader, though. Backed by Hearst, the publishing platform will bring an app to the iPhone, as well as a number of other devices, to allow reading on the go. A price for the hardware has yet to be announced.
With a more unique approach is the Notion Ink Adam, an Android-based "smartpad" sporting Nvidia's new Tegra chipset and the Pixel Qi display which allows the backlight to be switched on or off. The device was seen only as a prototype at CES.
A traditional tablet is said to get about 40 hours of battery life, but with the Pixel Qi display, the Notion Ink Adam should apparently get nearly 400 hours of battery life with the backlight off. No prices were mentioned, though the company previously said it hoped to release the device for about $300 in June.
Earlier this week, the Notion Ink CEO admitted that his company hoped to beat Apple to the punch in debuting and releasing its tablet. Apple is rumored to unveil its own multimedia touchscreen device at an event Jan. 27.
In addition, Plastic Logic's long-awaited Que e-reader was shown at CES this week. Due to ship in mid-April, the device has a number of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times, that have committed to provide content.
Priced well above the $260 kindle, and even its $490 big brother, the Kindle DX, the Que is set to cost $650 for 4GB of storage, while an 8GB model will cost $800. The Plastic Logic device has a large, shatterproof 8.5-by-11-inch black-and-white screen and is billed as a "pro reader," geared towards businesses and professionals.
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63 Comments
The Que costs 800 for 8GB?! What insane businessman would pay that much for that little storage.. plus it's just an e-reader. I say it'll flop in no time...
The Que costs 800 for 8GB?! What insane businessman would pay that much for that little storage.. plus it's just an e-reader. I say it'll flop in no time...
Yea, it will flop at that price.Apple's device will be so much better, I suspect it's a computer too, of a sorts.
It will most likely do all the needs of most computer users except the Pro's.
Also it will have the App Store, the web and all sorts of other goodies for about the same amount of money. Much easier interface.
Apple's iTablet should replace the MacBook line and people will look strangely at normal laptops, like it's 1950's technology I assume.
And with Apple's device, the finger swipes and pointer will track without the user even touching the screen, I suspect.
Also one should get content from multiple sources and transfer it too. Unlike these e-readers who lose your stuff or delete it or something else.
Apple's device will certainly be awesome and most likely have much more storage, including MobileMe.
The Que costs 800 for 8GB?! What insane businessman would pay that much for that little storage.. plus it's just an e-reader. I say it'll flop in no time...
People are wanting 64GB to 160GB in an Apple tablet with full 1080p video for under $500 so the Que seems to be failing right out of the gate.
I can see how the 8.5?x11? display might work at first thought since that is what notebook paper is, but that is only B/W, seems to have no video and not only doesn?t count for the margins on an 8.5?x11? piece of paper it has very large frame around it. For exclusively newspaper reading it looks to be nice, but I don?t think we?ll be hearing about the Que by the summer.
Apple's device is so much better, it's a computer too, of a sorts.
You might want to qualify your posts with ?I speculate??.
Yea, it will flop at that price.Apple's device is so much better, it's a computer too, of a sorts.
It will do all the needs of most computer users except the Pro's.
Also it will have the AppStore, the web and all sorts of other goodies for about the same amount of money. Much easier interface.
Apple's iTablet will replace the MacBook line and people will look strangely at normal laptops, like it's 1950's technology.
And with Apple's device, the finger swipes and pointer will track without the user even touching the screen.
Also one can get content from multiple sources and transfer it too. Unlike these e-readers who lose your stuff or delete it or something else.
Apple's device will be awesome and certainly have much more storage, including MobileMe.
You seem fairly certain about a product that doesn't exist yet.