The once-nonexistent intersection of
netbooks and
e-readers seems to be populating quite hastily these days, first with this morning's questionable
Spring Design Alex and now with the entourage eDGe. On the left side of this dual-screen, dual-function hybrid, where ePub and PDF files are said to open by default, we've got a 9.7-inch e-paper display with 16 shades of gray. On the right, a 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600 resolution screen with
Android. Both sides are stylus-centric touchscreen -- scribbling and note-taking is encouraged here -- and other amenities include 3GB memory, 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, SD slot, two USB ports, 3.5mm headphone jack, a Li-ion battery for up to six hours, and support for EVDO / HSDPA via external modem. No word on what processor's actually under the hood, but we won't get our hopes up for anything more than very casual browsing. The site just launched with pre-orders being accepted to the tune of $490, or $530 if you're wanting any color other than midnight blue, and will ship out February 2010. We also happened to stumble upon a PDF presentation from the company dated back to August 2009, if you feel so inclined to take a trip down memory lane.
Read - Entourage eDGe product page
Read - Aug. 2009 presentation [Warning: PDF file]
posted October 19th 2009 3:51PM
There must really be a problem of getting the price of eInk technology down to affordable price levels if all we're seeing is new ways to combine other screen technologies to an eReader device in the hunt for something they believe consumers will want to pay for.
The simple fact is that most people are looking for one of two things. A cheaper pocket sized eInk reader ($99 entry level) or an affordable Letter/A4 sized eInk device -- probably at about $250 -- but clearly the manufacturing process is still not cheap enough to manage either of those as yet.
Hybrid devices are not the answer long term. Cheaper eInk (or a suitable alternative) is what will drive the market.
Wow. This thing is like someone was reading my mind (see my comments in the Alex article)
Is that 3GB of RAM or 3GB of flash? I'm guessing flash. How much RAM?
Is there a video out of some form?
Stylus centric? Meaning you _can't_ use your fingers?
If you can use your fingers, can you use one screen for a keyboard, and the other for the display?
The hinge looks like it can do a full 360 range of motion ... so you can bend it back and just use one screen at a time. Is that right?
If all of that is a "yes", add a non-mobile web browser to it, and I'd be VERY interested.
The ideal, for me, would be being able to run Android on one screen, and Maemo/Mer/Ubuntu on the other, swapping them back and forth between screens as appropriate. Or at least being able to dual-boot them.
From what I can gather from the presentation, the eInk side uses a stylus, while the LCD side has finger (capacitive) input.
Hm. If I can use it for ConnectBot SSH, either using the LCD as a full screen landscape keyboard, while using the e-ink as the display ... or using just the LCD with portrait keyboard at the bottom and 80x24 terminal screen at the top... and then add in a decent IM client, and some form of VNC client ... this thing starts to sound better and better.
But I still want to see a real web browser...
Reminds me of the computer book from Inspector Gadget.
I have actually seen this product in the lab and it is all that they promise. My uncle is involved with the company and in my opinion it is perfect for college students. And when you think about the cost of text books these days, the device alone almost equals the cost of some intro text books. And the eDGe weighs a lot less than your average text book.