After
years of teasing -- FLEPia was first announced in April of 2007, and
first proven in 2006 -- Fujitsu has at last released its color e-book (or e-paper mobile terminal, as they'd like you to call it) to the masses. Featuring an 8-inch XGA screen capable of displaying 260,000 colors, along with Bluetooth, WiFi and up to 4GB of storage via SD card, and measuring less than half an inch thick, FLEPia's not just getting by on color alone. Fujitsu promises 40 hours of continuos use, and the unit can be operated by its touchscreen or the assortment of function buttons. Naturally you can do the regular e-book thing, but the Japanese version of the device also includes full-on Windows CE 5.0, which would probably be a bit of a chore to use with the relatively slow screen refresh times of e-ink (1.8 seconds for a single wipe), but undeniably retrofuturistic. FLEPia ships on April 20th in Japan for 99,750 Yen (about $1,010 US).
Update: Now with snazzier press shots!
[Via
Engadget Japanese]
Read - English press release
Read - Videos of FLEPia in action
posted Mar 18th 2009 at 10:58AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
arcticpenguins @ Mar 18th 2009 2:29AM
Combine this with the popularity and support that is the Kindle, and you've got a sweet deal on you're hands
Chird @ Mar 18th 2009 2:38AM
Let me rephrase: Combine this with the demand and preexisting cost of the Kindle and you've got an expensive-ass E-book reader on your hands.
Sure I'd love to have one, but if they mashed the 2 together into some glorious, full-color, wireless, internet-connected, wonder-device, it's definitely NOT going to be priced for the everyman.
P.S. And for all those whose brains instantly went there: Turn that Everyman into a BEVERYMAN!!! BEVERY stands for BEVERAGE!!!!
why not the LS2LS7? @ Mar 18th 2009 2:49AM
Let me rephrase:
Combine this with the demand and preexisting cost of the Kindle and you've got an expensive-ass E-book reader that can only do the few things that neither Amazon nor the eBook suppliers can find a excuse to sue and/or send C&Ds about.
nighttime__ @ Mar 18th 2009 2:59AM
@Chird
what about me and my blue collar????????
Shinigami @ Mar 18th 2009 4:37AM
The only thing it melted so far was my vision of "sane product policy".
Who needs a color e-book reader for $1000 if you can get a decent notebook for that money?
Ah, yes, those people who buy Monster HDMI cables and fire-proof speakers and THX-certified doors...
Oh, wait, I can see another hope melted - hope for sub-$100 ebook readers with decent screen, no wifi, no mp3, no RSS, no web ect.
Nick8708 @ Mar 18th 2009 4:45AM
@shinigami
Reading from e-ink is supposedly far easier on the eyes over long periods of time than reading from LCD, plus I think it's also supposed to fair better in sunlight (though perhaps I'm thinking of something else). Also, you'd be hard pressed to find a notebook that lasts 40 hours on a single charge. Despite all that, I do agree with you about it being too expensive for the benefits, at least as far as it'd benefit me. I might consider it if it were about half the price since a lot of the books I would use it for have useful images (ala CG Tutorial), but the print versions often use B&W imagery, so they'd have to release the e-version in full color. Then again, most of my books I use just for reference so I'm not reading them for extended periods of time.
I guess color (at this price) would be desirable for business people who sift through a lot of documents with charts and graphs? Still, cool technology.
Boards of Canada @ Mar 18th 2009 5:01AM
Yes its way better in sunlight. Actually ebooks reader like the prs-505 are at best in sunlight.
Shinigami @ Mar 18th 2009 5:29AM
@Nick8708
I do agree that reading from e-paper is supposed to be easier for the eyes (it doesn't flicker). I also agree about having a long battery life but I have no problem with connecting it to a power source.
As for the price, the two main concerns I have about these e-books is that they're expensive and have small screens.
I would prefer A4-sized screens with high resolution (800x600 or higher).
And I would love to have them for a smaller price. Not because I don't want to shell out $300 for a e-book reader. Because I don't want to have ONE sheet of paper I am viewing documents on. I want at the very least two. But they're too expensive to buy even one, IMO.
Knee to the Groin @ Mar 18th 2009 12:08PM
perfect for all those colorful children's books, give one of these to your toddler!
Jack @ Mar 18th 2009 12:47PM
@nighttime__
juice springsteen!
epicelite @ Mar 18th 2009 2:29AM
Looks cool!
Konosuke @ Mar 18th 2009 2:37AM
I'll wait till the price drops to $20 in the next 15 years before I get it....
unzarjones @ Mar 18th 2009 1:35PM
With the coming inflation it'll still be $1000, but will be like $20 now.
A.C.E.R. @ Mar 18th 2009 2:41AM
Anyone told Fujitsu about our antidote thing yet?
The Walrus @ Mar 18th 2009 2:48AM
My books only need two colors and so do my e-books
kylehase @ Mar 18th 2009 3:35AM
Color can convey a lot of information. Text-only is fine for some books like novels but color charts, graphs and diagrams can be very useful in educational textbooks and technical reference books.
Don't forget that many people read news on their ebook readers and color pictures would certainly enhance the article.
The Walrus @ Mar 18th 2009 3:56AM
Good points. I'm probably in black and white mood because I've been studying Calc for the last few hours
Muu @ Mar 18th 2009 1:05PM
But these guys can tap into artbooks and such, even if the load times make it somewhat impractical at the moment. Hell, if you go to their web store 'Fleppi-ya' which seems to be already active ( http://www.ebookbank.jp/flepia/ep/top/ ), they already have a few of those kinds of books available.
Their selection is very sparse though, lack a lot of new titles and lack some big publishers. Hope some other company does tap into their tech, as like Japan's side of the Sony ebook reader I don't see these guys lasting very long.
Josh Ladella @ Mar 18th 2009 3:29PM
Most people said the same thing when the iPod Photo was released.
I'm excited to see how this will evolve.
JamesD @ Mar 18th 2009 6:13PM
I think it would be good for my comic books.
ryan @ Apr 4th 2009 8:51PM
you spelled "continuous" wrong.
H0rK @ Mar 18th 2009 5:48AM
You didnt capitalize the first letter of the first word in that sentence.
Grammar police. Its annoying isnt it.
superhobo @ Mar 18th 2009 6:23AM
@H0rK:
didn't*
It's*
isn't*
Kwikit @ Mar 18th 2009 6:28AM
he's writing in a forum post; the individual he's addressing is writing a column. Different requirements, expectations and consequences. :D
He was trying to be helpful. You were trying to be snarky. :o
Decode @ Mar 18th 2009 1:07PM
Who gives a shit!
Personally I'd type properly if you payed me, until then? no sir.
Although I don't think I do so bad with grammar... I'm just used to typing how I'd write.
Chuong @ Mar 18th 2009 3:01AM
This would be extremely useful for reading the tons of marvel comics i have scanned. I was getting tired of reaadin manga on my ebook reader. too bad at $1000 pretty much unobtainable
Boards of Canada @ Mar 18th 2009 5:02AM
Do you know where I can find manga by Jiro Taniguchi? (scans I mean...)
Bad Beaver @ Mar 18th 2009 3:37AM
All thumbs up!
BradS @ Mar 18th 2009 2:42PM
Like they say in Chernobyl, three thumbs up!
kylehase @ Mar 18th 2009 3:39AM
Wonder if the manga otaku would read color ebooks. I imagine producing and transporting manga is very resource intensive.
Ashu @ Mar 18th 2009 3:58AM
What's the f*&king price??? $1010???? Holy cow! This is ridiculous for this product. Wasted my time on this...
Boards of Canada @ Mar 18th 2009 5:05AM
Come on its the first... I've paid 6000$ for a freaking macintoshSE 20 years ago. 800$ for my first 4x cd burner. Now I am more clever and I wait price go down.
68newyorker @ Mar 18th 2009 1:08PM
Absolutely. It's a bit spendy, it's running Win CE so it's certain to be a bit clunky but it's the first of it's kind.IMO, give it a few years and everyone will have something like this. Color Eink+touchscreen/stylus+wireless connectivity is a natural. It just needs to work well together and the price needs to come down. It will happen.
sweet greggo @ Mar 18th 2009 2:10PM
Not sure why Ashu got low ranked for his comment. He's right, over $1000 is WAAAAAAY too much for this device. I don't care if it is the "first" of it's kind, you could get a cheap tablet computer that does tons more for that price, and still be able to read an ebook.
For this product I wouldn't pay more than $250, MAYbe $300. $150 or less for the b&w Kindle. Hell, I'd pay engadget 100 buck just to stop talking about it.
linderman @ Mar 18th 2009 3:59AM
Wow...now I do not have to read the words anymore, I can just look at the pictures. To pay a Grand just to have the opportunity to read a book, I would have to be that stupid!
BrianB @ Mar 18th 2009 4:09AM
You gotta be kidding me. They tease us with A4-sized demo models (14.3" diagonal), then make it tiny for production. I mean, if you're going to price it this high, why not go for a model you can use for color applications you would actually want, like reading magazines, business documents, or non-fiction books?
Why are ebook manufacturers so in love with tiny screens anyway? Is it because they have been so driven to build tiny phones, mp3 players, etc?
Of course, if you can put all your back issues of Playboy on an SD card for viewing on a color reader, you've got a winner of a product. This ain't it yet.
Macca @ Mar 18th 2009 5:03AM
As the name implies, e-book readers are designed for reading books. That means we're talking about novels, paperbacks, manga - regular size books.
If they made them bigger than they'd no longer be convenient to carry around like the size a book.
sam @ Mar 18th 2009 7:56AM
Um. Not to point out the obvious - wait - yes, I'm pointing out the obvious.
If it costs $1,000 with a small screen, you could expect it to be in the $2,000 range if they doubled the screen size, or perhaps more (do e-ink screens have yield issues that increase with size like LCDs? because if so it could be more like $4,000).
This is pretty much the first of its kind, so the price is actually very reasonable. I'd be more concerned about the quality of the display. When it's showing b/w text, how does it compare to the quality (contrast, resolution) of the best current b/w e-ink displays? (Which already are not great in terms of contrast - paper's still a lot better.)
Even if this is as good contrast-wise as b/w e-ink, it probably won't be suitable for use as a photo frame unless you like your photos kind of washed out :) Should be good enough for photos in newspapers, diagrams in textbooks, etc though. And no doubt they will continue to improve the technology. (Probably very very very slowly like improvements in b/w e-ink...)
maveric101 @ Mar 18th 2009 4:11AM
i can't wait for these things to reach high refresh rates. e-ink displays would be much easier on the eyes for people who sit at computers all day long (whether it be for work or play).
Plothole @ Mar 18th 2009 5:04AM
This particular device doesn't use eink. It's a very different bistable technology, which currently has an even slower refresh rate.
Streaker @ Mar 18th 2009 4:54AM
It's too expensive and it has a very unfortunate name. When do we start calling it a FLOPia?
Jon @ Mar 18th 2009 5:23AM
Why does this cost more and do less than a $500 notebook that has more hardware and software? These screens are not that expensive. These things will cost $300 in two years and do way more, don't see any point in buying one now. I'm not an early adapter just for the sake of it.
Plothole @ Mar 18th 2009 5:45AM
EInk is at present relatively expensive compared to other existing display technologies. But that's irrelevant here, since this is NOT EINK. It's a proprietary technology, which for all we know might be extremely expensive to manufacture. At least with their current yields.
anus1220 @ Mar 18th 2009 11:52AM
or buy a tablet for that price, and you have a whole plethora of formats readable.
sam @ Mar 18th 2009 7:16PM
Actually, these screens *are* that expensive. That's why.
At least, it's one reason. The other reason is that because it's so expensive, they aren't going to sell that many, so it'll have to be a high price for each individual one in order to turn a profit [or more likely, break even or not lose too much].
pika2000 @ Mar 18th 2009 5:45AM
and people are complaining that the Kindle is expensive... LOL
Relax people, this is in Japan. They always have stuff we will never see, like blu-ray camcorders. We probably won't see this in the US for 5 to 10 years in the future, that is assuming that our economy survive. In the meantime, US consumers can enjoy cheap-ass plastic netbooks that only last 3 hours max on battery. Oh wait, we have the Kindle... but no, that's too expensive too. :P
Manga on the Kindle... Amazon, are you reading this?
apple nerd without a cause @ Mar 18th 2009 5:49AM
i love how now one cares it 1000 bucks
Generic @ Mar 18th 2009 7:11AM
You mean you are not a fake millionaire like the rest of us and you really care about how much things cost?
Generic @ Mar 18th 2009 7:14AM
Speaking of price, what is so important to read that would make someone shell $ 1,010 USD.
Vidikron @ Mar 18th 2009 10:40AM
Ummm... several people commented on the price before your post.