Asus Eee-reader to open like a book
This image, which appears to be a conceptual drawing, shows an Asus e-reader with a backbone.
(Credit: Times Online)We're getting more details about that upcoming Asus Eee-book reader we told you about last month.
The company is looking at two versions: budget and premium, a spokesman for Asus in the U.K. told the Times of London.
But most intriguing is that at least one version of the reader, the higher-end one, would have a hinged spine, opening like a traditional book and closing into tablet form. This design would let users view the text of their book on one screen (turning its pages using the touch screen), while browsing a Web page on the other.
One screen could also act as a virtual keypad, according to the Times report, which would move the device into laptop territory.
The Asus e-reader would have a full color screen, and it may also feature speakers, a Webcam, and a mic for Skype, enabling cheap phone calls over the Internet, the Times reports.
As for price, we don't have hard numbers for you yet, but Asus is known for low-cost products like the ultraportable Eee PC, and speculation has the budget e-reader going for around $163 (Sony's Reader Pocket Edition, in comparison, runs from $200 to $300; Amazon's Kindle 2 also goes for around $300).
Expect to meet the Eee-readers by the end of the year if all goes according to plan.
Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie. 
I reckon the only two problem that e-books have hitting the mainstream is refresh rate and price. The current market is Bibliophiles, commuters and tech geeks (like me!) and the price point is still too high for some of them (also like me - want one but can't afford it).
Asus will take it to the second level at the £100 mark where e-books will begin to look like a desireable object to much more of the population.
I reckon when you can buy a colour digital notepad/ebook reader with the basic ability to take notes and support multiple e-book formats at the price of around £25 and with a refresh rate of 25ms or under - that is when you'll see a major change in society. It could mean major economic upheaval though. Just think how big the papermaking industry is. Just think how many jobs would be affected when the need for paper is significantly diminished. Of course there'll be more jobs in the e-book industry but you're talking a major paradigm shift of the magnitude of replacing petrol as a fuel.
Personally though I think that £25 price-point may be a lot further off than it needs to be. With people adding all kinds of unneeded bells and whistes (When everybody's phone plays MP3s why have an ebook that plays them as well? Nice to have a 3G connection but if it's 'Free' then some of the price will be made up with the cost of purchasing the e-books and some of it is going to be made up with the cost of the device. I'd rather have free and cheap digital media and a cheap reader without 3g personally. Internet access would be useful on the move but is also not essential)
What's needed is a company dedicated to getting the price of a basic e-book down in price and with improved speed. Initially this may mean not using touchscreen technology and not having a colour screen. Once non-touchscreen e-books are down to £25 then adding the ability to annotate using touch technology would be the next logical step. After that colour would be the next goal. A good target for page refresh would be 300ms (around 1/3 of a second) as this wouldn't differ greatly from turning the page of a physical book. 100ms would be the ultimate goal for a BASIC notebook. I haven't found a book with pages heavy enough for me to take 2 seconds turning them yet.....
Definitely nice to see more offerings and competition in the world of ebooks. The reason I hesitate to get a Kindle is due to the closed eco-system of the Kindle system, which makes Amazon the gatekeeper in that case.
Another irony is that Amazon does have an awesome MP3 store that is DRM-free with a large selection and often good prices. Yet that is a completely open format, which is preferrable. I wish they did the same thing with their ebooks (Kindle).
On the note about Amazon, I recently came across an interesting table that details the discounts on Amazon.
It is at http://www.uberi.com
Maybe someone will find it useful too. While you are there, I would suggest checking out the "Amazon Filler Item" among other things there when you get a chance. It's quite amusing.
Yes a book works that way because they are simply printed that way... a collection of pages will have text on both sides, and will be bound and flipped through accordingly.
However, the reasons behind an eBook reader of a similar design (clamshell, text on both sides) don't just have to be the preservation of the feel of a book (which is still a decent reason, imo).
It keeps the screens safe without simply using a cover, and maximizes screen real estate.
The kindle, for instance, has the flap that flips to the left, which you have to hold open and provides zero in and of itself, and if you leave it off, it leaves the screen exposed. There's also a lot of space on the front of the device used for controls.
I don't know, it just seems much more natural and useful to have a dual-screen clamshell design with touch than to have one broad screen.
Sounds a lot like a PSP vs. DS argument, lol.
Or having the virtual keyboard on one side. That could be done with a bigger single monitor, but this one folds in half to be portable.
If it has an mp3 player, wifi, and a decent browser, I'd certainly consider it. Mostly for the seperate keyboard option.
If it has a more traditional operating system than a Kindle, maybe there could be a real market for Eee-Reader-format news websites or other webcasted content...
I'd love to open up my Eee-reader at the breakfast table and read the "morning paper" (digitally downloaded like a podcast, or connected to live, like a web page or RSS feed).
I'd also love to read comics in full color on this guy.
Of course, you won't get shocked in a tub with a book.
Unless it's written by Stephen King. ;)
kind of useless for an E-Reader...
But good thing is that it will not restrict innovation happenings at the other end. Manufacturers will be innovating to the core to make difference.
Hopefully they come up with some good idea.
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/06/dual-display-e-book-reader-lets-you.html
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/06/dual-display-e-book-reader-lets-you.html
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/06/dual-display-e-book-reader-lets-you.html
- by gwynethgh September 19, 2009 5:39 PM PDT
- sorry for the multiple posts
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