Kindle rival Plastic Logic signs up content partners

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

It's a day for e-reader news. Along with Amazon.com's Kindle 2 announcement, competitor Plastic Logic revealed the first partners to distribute content on its eReader when the device becomes commercially available sometime in 2010.

The partners include Ingram Digital, LibreDigital, and Zinio, which has more than 1,000 digital magazine titles currently in its stable. USA Today and the Financial Times have also signed on.

The eReader--which is designed to store dozens or hundreds of business documents on a very thin digital reader--is about the size of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch pad of paper and weighs less than most print magazines, according to Plastic Logic.

As the name of the company might suggest, it's made with plastic, not glass, meaning that it is designed to be strong and to be able to stand up to being hit with objects or, presumably, even dropped. Furthermore, the eReader is an open platform that allows content creators to offer their digital content in their own way.

As my colleague Erica Ogg points out, price remains a looming question.

Together with the release of the eReader, Plastic Logic will also launch a content store where users can download digital content from newspapers, magazines, trade journals, blogs, e-books, and so on.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based start-up has been working with a wide range publishers and content creators to ensure a broad variety of content. The company's first partnership in this matter is Fictionwise, an independent e-content retailer.

Plastic Logic plans to make its eReader available in trials and pilots in the second half of 2009, and expects to release the product commercially in 2010.

[DarkHawke]

In this market, they need to bring better game than just a larger display. Sony's got a touch screen and the Kindle has not just Amazon, but the free wireless distribution as well. A bigger screen is nice, but that makes it harder to handle and less friendly to our increasingly mobile lifestyles. How about a color display? Since they're partnering with Zinio, a big e-magazine distributor, that would really make it stand out.

[albertsoler]

Plastic Logic's eReader looks cooler than the Kindle. But, looking cooler than the Kindle isn't very hard to do.

Looks much more comfortable to use, too.

[supergoodnachos]

These devices just seem too expensive given their limited functionality.

[userNoname]

As far as I've learned from history, the successor starts in basic form. Making a gadget full of features brings its price higher and thus makes it a hurdle for early adopters. Mimicking iPhone's App Store and contract-based business model is just competing with iPhone itself. Wrong way.

[ZetaZeta_]

I always think "Nintendo" when I see the term eReader.

[ZetaZeta_]

Also, I'd rather read eBooks on my netbook, or use an iPhone/iPod Touch, a tablet PC, or better yet, that upcoming Android tablet from Archos. There's no need for an eBook reader.

[melanig]

I love eBooks, and I'm glad that Amazon's position as a major entity is calling attention to eBooks. However, Amazon's proprietary format is a HUGE problem. I don't want to be locked into buying eBooks from only one source, and I want to be able to read my eBooks wherever I am - including on my desktop at work. I used my sister's Kindle for a few weeks last year, and was unimpressed. There are great alternatives out there - I currently use the Cybook, which is lighter, more attractive, cheaper, and I can buy eBooks from a variety of sources (more about the Cybook: http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewproduct&PRODUCT=35). The Kindle, while frequently touted as a "huge leap forward", really exemplifies why so many people are hesitant to try eBooks.