Fujitsu e-book reader makes Kindle look cheap
(Credit:
Fujitsu)
We've had a lot of CNET readers tell us they're waiting for a little color before they jump onto the e-book reader bandwagon. Well, as one might expect, a little color is going to cost you a lot of dough, as Fujitsu gets set to release its Flepia color e-book reader in Japan with a $1,000 price tag.
In the works for several years, the Flepia has a bigger display than does Amazon's Kindle 2--it has an 8-inch 1,024x768-pixel XGA touch screen that can display 260,000 colors (Fujitsu refers to its e-ink technology as "color e-paper").
The unit also has built-in wireless Bluetooth and Wi-Fi options, an SD card slot capable of holding up to 4GB of storage, and a battery that, according to Fujitsu, is rated at 40 hours of continuous use (we assume that using Wi-Fi would drain it quicker, however). The Flepia runs on Windows CE 5.0.
A lot of e-book reader manufacturers are looking to Bluetooth connectivity as a way to counter the Kindle's built-in cell service (and Amazon is perhaps looking at a Bluetooth-equipped version of the Kindle for Europe to avoid country-to-country roaming-charge issues). You link your cell phone to the e-book via Bluetooth to access an online e-book store and a Web browser.
While the Google translation of the original post on Engadget Japanese is pretty garbled, the Flepia appears to have these features.
No word on when Fujitsu's color e-book reader might hit North America or Europe, but it's available for preorder now in Japan and is scheduled to ship on April 20. From the pictures, it appears that you'll get the choice of a black or white finish.
Anybody excited about this?
Link: English news release
(Source: Engadget Japanese via Gizmodo)
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
I remember the first color Palm. It was too expensive, too (though the price difference wasn't as great as this one). Now, everything except devices with e-ink displays are in color, for no appreciably higher cost. Give it a year, and the Kindle 3 will be in color for less than $300.
e-magazine
e-comic
next they'll put Flash ad-ware on it in an attempt to annoy the reader into buying stuff.
I want an *e-book* in black and white and high resolution.
Call me traditional but most of the books I've read (hundreds) aren't in color
- ability to buy "used" books (whatever that means in terms of e-books)
- want all the books available in electronic format
- price go to < 300 for "just e-book" or <700 for an actual usable "touch screen" laptop/tablet (read office apps, drawing, browser, email, etc).
good start anyway
which is more damaging to the environment, an e-reader or a library card?
I just don't get it.
new development is always a good thing. i'd love to see the kindle come down in price, though... but I guess my 99c cell phone would have cost a couple hundred dollars not that long ago, too. the fact that another company is spending R&D dollars on developing the tech for readers is a good indication that (a) they're going to get more usable and (b) cheaper.
They just need to cut the price down a bit. But I imagine that will happen as they start making them in larger numbers.
Fujitsu has started a revolution with far deeper and lasting impact and positive effects than iPOD, Kindle, Iliad, and all others combined. Can you Fujitsu?
I would much rather have a modern mobile OS than Windows CE/Mobile.
- by dpreston March 19, 2009 5:41 AM PDT
- 1.8 seconds to turn the page in 16 color mode. 8 SECONDS in full color. That'll get tiresome pretty quick.
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- by mbenedict March 21, 2009 10:00 AM PDT
- Actually it's 1.8 seconds for 64-color mode, which is pretty decent (more than enough for illustrations and faster loading than most web pages.)
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