http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/ Engadget Comments for ASUS to launch Eee-book reader this year? http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 6:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 6:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/(I just dovnloaded Sun Tzu's "Art of War" and Kafka's "the trial" and "metamorphosis" , (besides a few PDF web pages with interesting articles) and it's a joy to always have your book in your phone ready to entertrain you whenever you feel bored.
E book readers, just like GPS devices, cheapo Point and shoot cams and videocams, pocket calculators, and many other stuff are gonna be swallowed by the cell phone, I am absolutely convinced.
I know many disagree, but I have no doubt about it.
The universal gizmo is on its way fellas.]]>Aug 27th 2009 7:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 7:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 7:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 7:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
For the last time, a PDF on a LCD or OLED screen does NOT substitute for an e-ink (or equivalent technology) screen. E-ink is like looking at a regular piece of paper. An LCD or OLED is looking at a backlit screen that isn't going to be as easy on the eyes (or on battery) as the e-ink display.

So that's nice that you can read ebook on your Android-based handset, your iPhone, your WinMo phone, your dildo... it doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with e-ink screens, because it will never even approach them. Plus, are you seriously going to read any extended piece of a screen that's only a few inches wide, at the most?]]>Aug 27th 2009 3:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 6:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 6:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 6:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/what a nice name]]>Aug 27th 2009 6:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 6:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 4:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 7:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/]]>Aug 27th 2009 11:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
Here's what i hope for:
- 800x600 minimum resolution (physical screen size matters less as long as it's over 5in)
- 3.5 mm audio with .aac, .m4a, .mp3, .ogg, speex support (and maybe a few other audio formats and codecs i'm not thinking of right now)
This would be very important for audio books.
- decent battery life (i'm not going to specify number of page turns cause one should also be able to rely on it for at least 20hrs of audio playback)
- small, slim form factor with a bezel as tiny as possible
- mini-USB connector, SD card reader (internal memory won't matter if it has a card reader)

Well, that's about it... really ! i don't expect speech to text, text to speech, nor touchscreen, nor QWERTY keyboard, not even wi-fi or some form of wispernet connectivity. It's a book reader ! in a gigabyte you could load books worth 1 whole month of continuous read, probably more ! If it's an EEE product it's probably gonna come in a bazillion flavors anyways so i'm just interested in the above at a decent price !]]>Aug 27th 2009 7:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
Asus getting into the market isn't likely to change it that much; they'd just be joining the existing cheap Chinese manufacturers, but with a slightly better brand name.

BTW don't current Sony Reader view pdf and epub natively (no conversion?) Sounds to me like the PRS-300 is basically what you're asking for - possibly except for the price, but you didn't actually specify that. Oh, wait, I think they don't have audio support any more. Do you really need audio? Could just use your phone...]]>Aug 27th 2009 8:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
Hmm, i just looked up PRS-300's specs and i'm pretty satisfied actually, especially if they release it for under $200 by the end of the year. Sure, the 600s have audio support and touchscreen and an extra inch but other than that i don't think it's worth the extra 100 bucks.
I just hope i get it in my country. For the sake of warranty i'd rather not import it. Plus, if Sony can sell it that low, i'm sure others can chip off even more from the price tag :D *waits impatiently for Christmas*]]>Aug 27th 2009 10:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 11:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
1. Price point.
If they can do what they did with "netbooks" and bring the price way down (sub - $100) then these things have a chance to fly off the shelfs.

2. DRM.
If these devices can read all formats and not just some "special" or locked in format then more people will want them.]]>Aug 27th 2009 11:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
2) Adobe reader ePub seems the best bet for a universal DRM capable format at the moment. And so long as companies get off this stupid "store" meme, things can really take off.

The only hope for the survival of the e-book reader is if there is a bunch of book sellers and a bigger bunch of readers which all use the same formats. Lock in devices like the Kindle are limited way too much to last. Especially if it gets to the point of being Kindle versus everybody else. I'm sure Adobe is quite happy to license their DRM to anybody who asks. Amazon will not give up their Kindle format, or their mobi format, which is only allowed on an e-book reader if it is the only DRM format.

The ideal scenario would be to have one memory card which keeps your books, bookmarks, notes etc, and you can pop it out of your reader, into your phone, into your netbook, MP3 player, or whatever you have to hand, and read on the available screen where you left off with the previous device.

]]>Aug 27th 2009 10:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 11:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/1. Affordable Price , like Asus pricing strategy when penetrated "Netbook" market a few years ago.
2. Open for standard formats , no "lock" to proprietary format.
3. Affordable Contents : It would be great if each E-Book costs us almost identical to "App Store" applications

]]>Aug 27th 2009 2:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
http://www.pixelqi.com/products]]>Aug 27th 2009 8:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/Aug 27th 2009 10:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
I see no reason why you couldn't have a 3Qi screen and a touch screen. The components are usually separate... depending on the specific touch technology there either a membrane is glued to the top, or a gird placed underneath the actual display.]]>Aug 28th 2009 7:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/asus-to-launch-eee-book-reader-this-year/
To me the advantage of e-ink is the battery life, not the ability to read outside. As for reading on a small screen, has never bothered me. A full-size iTablet would be nice, but frankly at my age I don't find the screen size an issue.]]>Sep 7th 2009 12:33PM