ASUS planning dual screen Eee Reader: world's cheapest e-book reader
By Darren Murph 
posted Sep 7th 2009 3:03AM
posted Sep 7th 2009 3:03AM
According to president Jerry Shen, the Eee Reader will become the planet's cheapest e-book reader, though a premium model could also be launched to satisfy those craving higher-end features -- probably amenities like inbuilt 3G, a web browser and expandable storage. The dual screen form factor would enable users to read books as books were intended to be read, or they could use the secondary panel to surf the web, type on a virtual keyboard or whatever else ASUS dreams up. We're told that the firm is aiming for the £100 ($163) mark on its low-end model, and based on the affordability of its Eee PCs, we'd say it'll probably get awfully close. Hey Kindle, you skeered yet?
[Via BestTabletReview, thanks Rob]
e-ink yes/no?
Given the price, I'd say no. But the picture looks like it might have two different screen types, so e-ink one side, LCD the other perhaps? Can't see it being so cheap with e-ink. The display would cost most of the price, unless it is going to be a three inch screen or something.
Personally, I hope they do it. And offer a standard open book format. Another one for ePub perhaps.
No to e-ink. Given the info in the linked article, that the device will contain a color screen coupled with the low price point I sincerely doubt whether e-ink would be featured. Further, both the image in this article and the one in the original version seem to feature backlit displays which AFAIK is yet to be achieved in any e-ink devices.
@John: The low-end model which the 100 pound price refers to probably isn't going to have the dual screens.
@iChicken: The opaque nature of eInk means backlighting will never work.
No e-ink, which means this device will cause eyestrain and fail as a book replacement.
They're just cashing in on a trend.
Meh, without e-ink this is kind of lame. Seems like you still need to shell out over $200 to get an actual e-ink ebook reader. Won't someone think of the poor college students?!
@ Plothole
One of the Sony readers with an E-Ink screen has a back-light, so I have no idea what you are talking about.
@SiXiam: The Sony e-readers are SIDE lit, not backlit.
Or more accurately frontlit; Basically there is a diffuser in front of the display which spreads light out from LEDs surrounding the display. Unfortunately said diffuser makes the screen kinda fuzzy, which may be why none of the newest models have this feature.
Pixel Qi love maybe? Well, one can fantasize
Does it come in color?
The kindle just e-inked itself
I realize that for the joke to work the kindle would have to be part octopus.
i dont think octopus are native to amazon.
lol omg i loled at both of you so hard
Wow that price is amazing. Although didn't the EePC turn out to be $100 more than they initially promised? If they combine this with the color E-ink, that would be a great textbook replacement. Hmm, maybe this doesn't use E-ink at all... that would be a downer.
How does a cheap computer with a color screen count as an e-reader?
Hahahaha, I betcha you just ponyed up for a new overpriced crappy kindle!!!
How wouldn't it?
If it displays e-book formats as it's primary function, it's an e-reader. There is at least one dedicated e-book reader that has an LCD screen already.
I don't like reading on an LCD. It causes eye strain.
@John Bailey:
There were/are several in fact. Most of which came and went years ago. Those still on the market include the eBookwise, which is extremely antiquated (*has a SmartMedia slot*), and Jetbook. The FLEPia might also count, since the display is a form of Bistable LCD.
I have read over 40 books on my iPaq with a backlit LCD, never had any problem with eye strain, great to read in bed too in the dark.
True. The e-ink is pretty much what makes an e-reader. Without it, one would get eye strain from the LCD screen.
I guess people don't spend their days in front of a computer or on their cell phone.
Between my job and free time I am looking at an LCD screen for 10-12 hours every day. Reading an eBook on it for 30 minutes before going to bed doesn't seem like it would be awful.
Does it come pre-smudged like that?
no, but its easy to set up, basic lessons with an ipod touch/iphone will help out
Comes with a don't touch screen. Capacitive don't touch, I presume.
Obviously, a lot of people didn't pay attention to the sign in front of the device. Even with two exclamation points.
Doesn't look too bad be one of those I'd have to hold to know if I liked it though.
cool beans!
wow 3 am and engadget is still posting, of course i am still up at 3 am
Gotta love that!
DailyTech doesn't even post on the weekends. :(
Dual-screen kind of make sense: much more convenient than the recent super-sized e-readers. However, readability is a must and I seriously doubt that it could compete against a Kindle 2 or a Sony PRS-500 on that front.
world's dirtiest e-book reader
Designed with your playboy backcatalogue in mind :P
And what will the battery life be like on this thing? It's not like the Kindle went for e-ink with it's monochrome display and poor refresh rate because they liked the name - this market segment demands incredible battery life. Otherwise, why not just focus on cheap tablet PCs?
My hope would be that they at least use PixelQi screens. While these are still supposed to consume more power in reflective mode than eInk, at least it would be better than a purely transmissive display.
In my opinion this kind of gadget is more practical than the one laptop per child program where
students from poor countries have difficulty affording textbooks. Laptops are a luxury even for
developed countries, and who will pay for internet connection even if you have free laptops. Books
and good teachers that can inspire students play a more important role in child development.
it's not like you can read ebooks on a laptop or anything
But this thing, compared to a laptop, is much better suited for reading textbooks than a laptop.
It's funny you say that because one of the people behind one laptop per child is developing a new screen to be used as an eBook reader, based on some of the work developing the low power lcd screen.
Pixel Qi!
What's prevented me from buying a Kindle isn't the price of the device--it's the price of the media. Amazon's e-books are often as expensive as the physical media. They avoid printing and distribution cost--but they charge nearly the same amount? No thanks.
It's not e-ink, and for me one of the biggest advantages of e-readers is just lightly holding them between a finger and thumb.
Want Want Want, please tell me it runs Linux.
Most do.
"read books as books were intended to be read"
How utterly pointless. There's nothing natural or pure about a book's form factor. This is like the people who design a website like Amazon to be a 3D store you have to walk through and grab stuff off shelves before walking to a cash register, because replicating solutions for practical real life problems that you don't have on a website is 'more natural'.
The only reason a book has two pages next to each other is because that's the most practical way to present a lot of words printed on paper and enabling people to easily get to the part they want to read. Guess what! With electronic books, you've already solved these problems, so there's NO NEED TO USE THE SOLUTIONS THAT APPLY TO INK ON PAPER.
Not quite true. Folding design allows much more real estate that folds into a easy-to-carry package. So yes, while you have a point there, folding e-books might have their place.
But you only ever read one page at a time, so that extra space isn't doing much.
You never use dual monitors?
In the example provided, the second screen can act as a keyboard. Also, in the article they hinted at a single screen device.
If you're using a textbook or reference book, it is very handy to have two pages open at once.
Not that this is the intended function of this device, but eventually comic books will either require a reader with 2 screens like this or one large screen to capture the magic of a dual-page spread.
Don't point.
*Points*
well I don't think 2 screen in waste of resource
how about diagram in one side and text on the other :)
If it comes with PDF support at that price, I would like to order one!
Not having expandable storage in the cheap version could make it pretty useless if it doesn't have a decent amount of memory. They really should rethink that.
How about 2 pixel Qi screens with ebook reading mode.
above one screen keep the cost down . I would love buy one of this even if it costs at much as kindle
since I go to and fro in wiki and book most of my reading . :)
But there is a huge technical problem as far as I know .
lets say screen 1 shows full colour .
then the other screen which is cheap ebook readability screen needs to be touch screen.
well pixel Qi screens are not friendly with touch screen technologies since it no longer reflects required amount of light.
E ink one side and pixel Qi other side will increase the cost of production dramatically ..
very much curious to see the solution :)
The whole point with such readers are the screen type; being as "paper-like" as possible. And the battery life. So if this won't be anything more than 2 cheap LCD panels combined, really, good luck with that.
I've always thought the point of such readers was to allow you to easily carry a whole library with you, and allow the benefits of digital content such as search, editing, saving multiple copies, and multimedia features. Seems like this would qualify.
Well we have those features on our netbooks and laptops. Even the PDF support is there if you look at that way.
@Fred
I really wasn't giving your comment much thought... until you used all capitals at the end. That really got my attention. You really took charge there.
I personally have been using Sony Readers since they came out. I assume, Fred... if that is your real name... that you don't have one. Because, aftering having owned a couple e-ink readers I would have to say that it is more natural to read with to pages than one. I think it's the fact that we have been reading like that since children. Though some of us are still children in that case it wouldn't make much difference. But, I would really like the ability to read from left to right across a bind to another page. Close the book. Open the book, and be on another page. I am sure that not everyone feels that way. But, apparently ASUS and the OLPC do... because they are making one that I would buy almost immediately. And, yes... OLPC's second model is a similar design. Look it up on this great page called. Goodle, or Goggles, or Googles. Something like that.
"and based on the affordability of its Eee PCs"
So, like the original Eee-PC it'll be half the announced capabilities at a 50% higher price?
If it's going to use Pixel QI's tech for the screens. uses perhaps Barnes & Nobels for Content. and has an all day battery life. Count me in.
Unfortunately Pixel Qi's screen will have less battery life than an e-Ink screen.
Some of the latest news is that they are working on getting the refresh rate to lower then 15 cycles per second, which means it will always use more power, even if it was only 1 per second.
@SiXiam
Maybe, maybe not. Another factor to consider is how much each type of display consumes during a refresh cycle. I could be wrong, but I think an individual cycle of an LCD uses considerably less energy than eInk. It's the sum total that makes them less efficient over time. I hypothesize that if the refresh cycle were low enough then in practice there may not be a huge difference (depending also on the user's reading habits).
NOTE: I'm really thinking towards the future of this technology, rather then the incarnation that should be available when the time this device is released.
I predict $369.
I actually find this kind of annoying.
'Cheap' is useless. I'm interested in 'value'. And w.r.t e-readers, the value is in the content. What content can I get for this thing? What newspapers? Can I get newly released books? Can I get books on the NYTimes bestseller list? And what happens to that content if my hardware becomes lost or broken? What happens to my content if/when I want to upgrade to a newer model? Or what happens if I want to upgrade to a competitor's e-reader? If only a higher-end model has 3G, what's the content distribution model for this?
Until the questions surrounding the whole e-reader 'ecosystem' are answered, this thing is useless.
IMO, the value proposition isn't there for any e-reader yet, due to content issues. Bringing down the price of the reader itself doesn't change that.
Great innovation. As long as they stick to e-ink and remain an e-reader, they will be able to lead the market. But as the link to the article pointed, they might implement needless distractions such as webcam and speaker etc. If only they can avoid cramming unrelated features.....
One screen is enough... Why bother with 2?
How many of you want to bet it will be GLOSSY SCREEN?
Can't wait to see reviews.
Cut the second screen and sell it for $80
What is the screen technology? LCD are not as easy on your eyes as is e-ink.
What is the battery life? Can you go a week on a battery charge?
How heavy is it? Is it as light as a paperback book?
Hmmmmmmm... LCD+electronic device that LOOKS like a book=e-reader?
It's an amazing concept, but what makes e-readers expensive is what also makes them e-readers: e-ink. Leave it to Asus to pioneer a new ebook design, though. I'm sure it'll be just as high quality as everything else they make.
I've been holding out on buying one of these readers because I want the 'proper' book form factor. Seems someone has finally decided to offer it.
For those saying a device has to have an e-ink display to qualify as an ebook reader / e-reader, no it doesn't! The e-ink displays simply make readability easier for some (personally I find reading from LCD more comfortable) and used less power. Any device that can display text/images in a similar manner to printed media can technically be considered an ebook reader.
I started reading ebooks back in 2000 on my Psion 5mx and have continued doing so on various devices (iPAQ 2210, HTC Magician, HTC TyTN, and HTC Touch HD).
Clearly this is that new LCD screen that doesn't need backlighting reported on recently, beware of it and beware it's not the same as e-paper.
Electronic paper is not one single technology, but rather a category that includes any display which is high contrast [reflectively] and bistable. The PixelQi technology fails in the latter, though it performs admirably in the former (even if it's still a little behind eInk).
lol i love the DON'T TOUCH sign at the bottom, it just makes the smudge funnier
For the sake of technology, this seems like progress. For sake of functionality, this seems to be a waste of time (almost). I read one page at a time for most books. The only place where I can see some real usefulness is if when reading text books and there is a reference to a diagram, the diagram appears in the opposite page.
Otherwise, why do I need to see a page of words. Especially if having the other page on means that the battery drains twice as fast.
If it only had integral GPS, it would be the netbook (that's right, *netbook*) of my dreams. Sigh. Even so, If ASUS delivers all it promises for this device, I'm definitely getting one. As for battery life, perhaps it will leverage the ARM technology to save power and extend battery life.
I for one, don't really care about having a book-like form factor. I like a tablet design better. Scrolling down the page is easier for me; got a "page spread" - why not make the spread so it can be scrolled sideways on that one page setup? Technology is all about designing things to be used in novel ways.
The e-reader market hasn't exactly been a hotbed of competition yet. The Kindle, the Sony Reader, and most of the other entrants to the market have been very similar products launched at very similar price points. That's all about to change thanks to Asus. They're finishing up work on a brand new e-reader that's going to blast the status quo and leave the competition gasping to catch up. Visit http://www.i4u.com/article26783.html for more information on this topic.
I remember when the first workstations had your choice of amber or green screen monitors. Lots of people believed this was all the computer world needed. Very few people wanted to pay an extra $300 for the original IBM 4-color monitor. Many of us knew that color & graphics would make computers a much more valuable tool, allowing color graphs, pictures and eventually the video output we enjoy today. I think e-ink advocates have assumed that most e-readers are paperbook centric. A book or a newspaper comes alive with color, pictures and video -- even if traditionalists promote "it stifles the imagination" argument. Mankind has progressed from books -- to color books -- to film -- to radio -- to color film -- to television -- to color television -- to PC's -- to color PC's & bulletin boards -- to the internet -- to internet video -- to HD television -- to e-readers -- and now to color dual-paged e-readers. Soon nearly all e-readers will be touchscreen & color & video & internet & phone capable. We'll just invent whatever is necessary to make it happen. I think most e-readers will be dual screen with both touch sensitive and touch responsive to be used as a keyboard, when necessary. Remember that Samsung already makes phones (Alias 1 & 2) using e-ink to create shifting e-ink keypads that display differently when displayed horizontally or vertically. The creative minds at ASUS have again started a paradigm shift. But as we continue to invent new and better things, we're probably only taking baby steps as to what devices we'll have in the future. -- John Hite, retired, Oklahoma City
Screw this, I want the new iReader from Apple. It is supposed to be around $650, and Steve Jobs voice will read the stories to you at bedtime in a soothing voice. It will also have a nodofforameter so just when you are about to drift into deep sleep, his desembodied voice will tell you to buy the new iPhone.
Comes with iFart from the app store to use as an alarm clock.
Regarding "if it's not e-ink, it's not a real e-reader" - toss that!
I have seizures, and I can read 150 - 200 pages an hour. The standard e-Ink readers? Well, they have a problem for me - *blink* *blink* *blink* *blink* *blink* *blink* *blink*
Within 10 pages I have a massive headache. I've already left a message with the head of the Kindle engineering and development group about it, but I'm sort of an edge case.
On the other hand, a nice, calm LCD with back lighting? Wonderful. Especially if I can switch it to black screen with white lettering. I can read for hours that way. As long as I have a cord, I don't care about battery life.