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(Credit: Plastic Logic)

Plastic Logic and Barnes & Noble announced on Tuesday that Plastic Logic's Que proReader will be sold through Barnes & Noble's retail stores and on B&N's Web site in 2010. The Que is Plastic Logic's long-awaited e-reader that is not set to be officially unveiled until January 7 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but both companies continue to promote the device vigorously as Barnes & Noble gets set to launch its Nook e-book reader in November.

While Plastic Logic has yet to show a full profile image of the Que, it has provided some details. The device will feature a larger, "shatterproof" 8.5-inch by 11-inch e-ink display with an integrated capacitive touch screen--it's unclear whether the touch screen is a separate, smaller color LCD like the one found on the Nook or whether the entire display will be a touch screen--and have Wi-Fi and AT&T 3G wireless capabilities, like the $259 Nook does.

The slim Que (one-third inch thick), which is geared toward mobile ... Read more

NEW YORK--As nearly everyone already knows, Barnes & Noble is officially entering the e-reader business on Tuesday with the launch of the Nook, a $259 device with an e-ink display as well as a secondary color touch screen.

I'm on hand at the Chelsea Piers event to provide live coverage and share whatever surprises might be remaining.

4 p.m. EDT: The event hasn't started, but I can tell you all of the rumors and leaks are basically true. It looks like what you think, and you will be able to lend e-books to a friend who can read it on their Nook or other device compatible with Barnes and Noble's software.

Also, there are some high-fashion cases from Kate Spade New York and Jonathan Adler.

(Credit: Barnes & Noble)

4:20 p.m. EDT: Things are about to get started.

4:23 p.m. EDT: Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio kicks things off, noting company's entire management team and some of its directors are at the event.

4:25 p.m. EDT:... Read more

NEW YORK--Barnes & Noble's forthcoming electronic book reader will be called the Nook and sell for $259, according a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal, citing a forthcoming ad for the product, also says the device will feature the ability to lend electronic books to others as well as a widely reported dual-screen display that features an electronic ink display and a smaller color touch screen.

The bookseller is expected to unveil the device at an event here on Tuesday. Leaked photos of the device cropped up last week. Also, as I noted earlier on Monday, Barnes & Noble has received FCC approval to start selling an electronic book reader.

The field, long dominated by Amazon's Kindle, is quickly becoming more crowded. In addition to a new crop of devices from Sony, a host of others have either announced products or plans for products that combine an e-ink display and wireless connection.

Plastic Logic said on Monday that its larger-screen Que device will be out early next year, while start-up Spring Design announced ... Read more

Plastic Logic has given a name--but not a launch date--for its forthcoming e-reader.

The e-book reader, which can display electronic books as well as PDFs, PowerPoint, and other business documents, will be dubbed the Que, the company is announcing this week. Plastic Logic said it will show off the Que at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, at which time it will announce pricing, availability, and other details.

Plastic Logic plans to show off the Que at CES in January, at which time it will announce pricing, availability, and other details.

(Credit: PlasticLogic)

The product was originally slated for launch this year, but the company said in March that it would not arrive until early next year.

As previously detailed, the Que will have both Wi-Fi and a connection to AT&T's wireless network and is about the size of an 8.5-inch-by-11-inch pad of paper.

The big question facing Plastic Logic is how much of its thunder will have been stolen by the time it launches. Since the company first showed its prototype ... Read more

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

So far, Amazon's Kindle has been in a safe position as one of the dominant electronic readers on the market. However, this may be changing because its rival, the Plastic Logic e-Reader, has been busy gaining prelaunch partners.

Plastic Logic, the start-up maker of the possible Kindle "killer" e-reader, announced Thursday that Olive Software will be a key service provider and partner for the Plastic Logic Publishers Program. The partnership means the two companies will develop content-publishing solutions for newspapers, magazines, and Web content providers, as well as other publishers that distribute their content via Plastic Logic's e-reader.

Olive is a prominent digital publishing company that produces hundreds of newspapers and magazine titles across multiple platforms--including electronic reading devices, smartphones, browsers, and Internet-enabled TV.

Plastic Logic e-reader photos

The Plastic Logic e-reader is an electronic reader designed specifically for mobile users. The device will be about the size of an 8.5-inch by 11-inch pad of paper and weighs less than most magazines. It seems to be an ultrathin, simple, and strong ... Read more

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

Last week, Plastic Logic hooked up with Barnes & Noble. Now it's got something going with AT&T to provide the 3G wireless connection for its upcoming e-reader, due out in early 2010.

Early Wednesday, the company announced the agreement, though details were scant. There was no mention of pricing, and it remains unclear whether you'll have to pay extra for AT&T's 3G service or whether it will be included with the device, like it is with Amazon's Kindle. (Amazon has a partnership with Sprint to supply the Kindle's wireless connection.) However, the announcement does note that AT&T offers worldwide coverage and that "AT&T devices work in more than 200 countries and regions."

Plastic Logic's upcoming e-reader has been in the works for a while. It uses E-ink technology, is about the size of an 8.5-by-11-inch pad of paper, is less than 0.25 inches thick, and weighs less than many print magazines (at least the ones that still attract advertising). It also ... Read more

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

Plastic Logic envisions its e-reader simplifying life for students.

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

CARLSBAD, Calif.--In between the big name CEOs speaking at D: All Things Digital, Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg also have a few tech companies on stage to show their wares.

A short while ago, electronic book maker Plastic Logic showed off the user interface of its touch-screen reader, which is due out early next year. The interface seemed simple, although the page turns on the prototype seemed interminable.

The company wouldn't reveal pricing, but did say that the device will have both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless, though it did not specify the carrier. As for color screens, they said they have it working in their labs, but it won't be a next year kind of thing.

Currently, the CTO of force feedback specialist Immersion is showing a couple new technologies, including a prototype touchscreen keyboard. When a user presses a key on the soft keyboard they not only see and hear which key they have pressed but can feel it as well.

"It is a very natural experience," said Immersion CTO Cristophe Ramstein. "Sounds are not as profound as touch to give you this feel."

The second demo was what the company is calling "hapticons," essentially adding feel to an electronic message. He sent a love note to Mossberg, with his screen pulsing to a beating heart.

(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.

In case you hadn't heard already, this morning Esquire officially unveiled the first "digital" E-Ink cover in paper magazine history at an event in a Borders store in Manhattan. The special cover, which helps promote/commemorate Esquire's 75th anniversary edition, is only incorporated into 100,000 copies, all of which are available only at newsstands for $5.99 a pop--that's $2 more than the usual price. Sorry, subscribers, you get a ho-hum nondigital version.

The whole venture is sponsored by Ford and its campaign for its new "crossover" vehicle, the Flex. The cover is actually pretty cool in a gee-look-what-we-can-do sort of way; it's basically an electronic billboard that flashes on and off in different sequences, highlighting words and images. E-ink is monochrome but there's a plastic overlay that has some color images printed on it, so from a distance, the ink appears to be in color in spots--but it's not. On the inside of the cover, there's also a bit of e-ink flashing on the background of ... Read more