eReader status checks

Now that the iPad is out and the reviews are flooding the www; it’s a good time to remember some of the other strong players in the market.

Available;

iRex – http://www.irextechnologies.com/

Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015T963C

Nook – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp?cm_mmc=Redirect-_-nook.com-_-Storefront-_-nook

Sony – http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644523779&XID=O:sony%20ereader:dg_read_gglsrch

Available but really hard to find;

Fujitsu Flepia – The only full color e-ink style device.  Not in the North American Market Yet.  This link is to a REVIEW - http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/hands-on-with-fujitsu-flepia-color-e-book-reader/

Things to look forward to;

Pixel Qi – This company makes screens but are often rumored to be coming out with their own product – http://www.pixelqi.com/

Plastic Logic Que – The original ship estimate was April 2010, that’s now moved out to ‘Summer’ – http://www.plasticlogic.com/ 

Skiff - http://www.skiff.com/skiff-reader.html

enTourage eDGe – This is not a dedicated eReader.  The dual screen (1 standard screen & 1 e-ink screen) make this a working unit - http://www.entourageedge.com/

Units with LCD type screens are not listed.

Fujitsu Flepia – old review from 2009

I’m always looking for things on the Fujitsu Flepia and while this was published in March 2009, it does give a better list of the feature set than the other reviews I’ve been able to find. 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10198920-1.html

Do be cautious about purchasing – it’s not supported in North America (no service for repair, or questions), the interface is in Japanese so it’s best if you can read the language, the color rendering is slow (three passes to create a page image is like waiting for the old style dial-up internet connection), and I don’t know if the unit has a wall charger (if so, you may need a plug adapter).

Still only in Japan, Fujitsu FLEPia

Sorry, this is still only available in Japan.

No news on expanding the distribution.

The unit, if purchased in Japan, would run around $1,000 USD.  AND, the user interface is Japanese, the manual is Japanese and any User Support would be local to Japan (in Japanese). So, you’d better be comfortable with the Language.

Why only Japanese? So Fujitsu can de-bug in a closed environment, so they can refine the technology, gain economies of scale, develop eBook file formats that support color. But that’s just me, Fujitsu has not explained their closed distribution to date. 

I’ve read several opinions that argue color is unnecessary, and they are right. Books are printed in text, black on white, no color. The covers are color, riots of color; but the text, the bulk of the book, is monochrome.

So, why then is color asked for? Because we are attracted by color, we pay more attention to things that have color, we remember book covers by their color. How many books have you gone looking for while murmuring ‘yellow and red, yellow and red,’ or whichever combination it was?

Color is important, and in eReaders it seems to be a race between developing color e-ink (passive, no glare) and low-level LCD (reduced eye strain, but still a risk).

For now, the only choices are two; full color e-ink of the Fujitsu FLEPia, and the dual screen, e-ink + color band (like the Nook).

I’d like to see Fujitsu win the race, but that again, is just me.

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Link to Fujitsu FLEPia, Hands-on, 2010, http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/hands-on-with-fujitsu-flepia-color-e-book-reader/

Link to Fujitsu FLEPia, Review, 2009, http://www.epapercentral.com/fujitsu-flepia-color-ereader-launched-hype-or-the-real-deal.htm

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This article is an opinion of the Author’s.

© alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com, October 2009, to Date. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content