Spring Design Alex: dual-screen Android-based e-reader (Update: not for Barnes & Noble)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Oct 19th 2009 1:51PM
posted Oct 19th 2009 1:51PM
Update: We just heard from Spring Design's PR person, Pat Meier Johnson. We were told that the Alex device above is not the rumored dual-screen Barnes & Noble reader, "this is an entirely different device." Judging by the hastily prepared web site coincidentally appearing on the eve of the B&N device launch, and the domain's registrar, Albert Teng, who has numerous patent applications (not patents granted) covering "electronic devices having complementary dual-displays," we'd say this announcement is quite possibly a desperate attempt to lay claim to intellectual property rights instead of a real product with real manufacturers and real content partners. We'll see when, or if, it launches.
FREMONT, CA - OCTOBER 19, 2009-- Spring Design today announced Alex™, the first e-book based on Google Android featuring full browser capabilities and patented dual screen interaction technology, the Duet Navigator™. The Alex livens up text with multimedia links, adding a new dimension to the reading experience and potentially creating a whole new industry for secondary publications that supplement and enhance original text. Alex's dual-screen display design brings together the efficiency of reading on a monochrome EPD (electronic paper display) screen while dynamic hyperlinked multimedia information and third party input on its secondary color LCD screen, actually an integrated Android mobile device, opens a rich world of Internet content to support the text on the main screen.
Alex is the first Google Android-based e-book device to provide full Internet browsing over Wi-Fi or mobile networks such as 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM. With its dual-screen, multi-access capability, it provides the entire Web universe as a handy reference library, prompting users to delve into its vast information base to complement, clarify or enhance what they are reading. Alex is the first truly mobile wireless e-book device that gives users their own personalized library on the go, whenever and wherever they need it.
Spring Design pioneered its patented dual-screen device with 'touch and extend' capability in 2007, and has been working with major book stores, newspapers and publishers over the past two years to share its vision and the capabilities of the dual screen device. Alex brings together the efficiency of an EPD display with the responsiveness and richness of navigational convenience of the LCD screen. Its removable SD card gives users extensive storage, allowing them to expand their text with multimedia "add on" editions.
Ideal for professional, educational and entertainment markets, Alex dynamically transforms the reader's experience with images, videos and notes inserted as 'Web grabs' or with custom text created by the user or other secondary authors pertaining to the subject being displayed. Users can create their own images and notes and capture them to augment the original text or just dynamically grab relevant content with Link Notes™, Alex's innovative multimedia authoring tool to enhance multimedia publishing.
"This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience."
Alex™ features a 6" E-Ink EPD display and 3.5" color LCD display, earphones and speakers. A removable SD card will free up library space on the device while letting users archive content for future reference. The enhanced Android OS is optimized to support integration between the color and monochrome displays while preserving battery life. Users can capture and cache web content from their online experience on the LCD screen, and toggle to view it on the EPD screen without taxing the battery life. Browser features such as bookmarking, history, and security settings are built in and the device, with full Android browsing capability, is mobile-enabled with smart phone capabilities.
Spring Design is currently in discussion with, and enlisting major content partners and plans to release the Alex device for selected strategic partners by the end of this year.
Alex is the first Google Android-based e-book device to provide full Internet browsing over Wi-Fi or mobile networks such as 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM. With its dual-screen, multi-access capability, it provides the entire Web universe as a handy reference library, prompting users to delve into its vast information base to complement, clarify or enhance what they are reading. Alex is the first truly mobile wireless e-book device that gives users their own personalized library on the go, whenever and wherever they need it.
Spring Design pioneered its patented dual-screen device with 'touch and extend' capability in 2007, and has been working with major book stores, newspapers and publishers over the past two years to share its vision and the capabilities of the dual screen device. Alex brings together the efficiency of an EPD display with the responsiveness and richness of navigational convenience of the LCD screen. Its removable SD card gives users extensive storage, allowing them to expand their text with multimedia "add on" editions.
Ideal for professional, educational and entertainment markets, Alex dynamically transforms the reader's experience with images, videos and notes inserted as 'Web grabs' or with custom text created by the user or other secondary authors pertaining to the subject being displayed. Users can create their own images and notes and capture them to augment the original text or just dynamically grab relevant content with Link Notes™, Alex's innovative multimedia authoring tool to enhance multimedia publishing.
"This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience."
Alex™ features a 6" E-Ink EPD display and 3.5" color LCD display, earphones and speakers. A removable SD card will free up library space on the device while letting users archive content for future reference. The enhanced Android OS is optimized to support integration between the color and monochrome displays while preserving battery life. Users can capture and cache web content from their online experience on the LCD screen, and toggle to view it on the EPD screen without taxing the battery life. Browser features such as bookmarking, history, and security settings are built in and the device, with full Android browsing capability, is mobile-enabled with smart phone capabilities.
Spring Design is currently in discussion with, and enlisting major content partners and plans to release the Alex device for selected strategic partners by the end of this year.
Loving the idea of Android, but not digging the life-guard floater design.
No camera? Must be a great gaming machine.
eXtreme cHess, TicTacToe Heroes, Sudoku Samurai, Crossword Champions and more!
Just sunk your battleship!
ha! good one
Wow... now it's all about android
go android! :D
Yeah, it sure is.
Wonder when Palm's gonna make a WebOS layer for Android?
This year?
Wait a minute...It's an e-reader that also has GSM/CDMA radios? Not to mention Wi-fi?
What say you, Apple Tablet?
Why do all these companies think I want to browse on my ereader? If I quickly want to look up a site, I use my phone. If I want to look something up normally, I use a desktop, laptop or in the worst care, a netbook.
The double screen seems like a bad fix for the unavailable color e-ink display. I need to switch between screens to see it in color? O, need to switch back to save battery life. Simply accept ereaders aren't ready for the web. The refresh rate isn't there and the color isn't there. You can't fix it by putting Android underneath it. However cool it might be.
Two main reasons to buy an ereader:
1. The paper-like screen
2. The 2 week battery life
This has:
1. Only half
2. A lot less than half (if the battery survived a full day of traveling I'd be surprised)
"Why do all companies think I want to browse on my ereader?"...because many of us would like to do so! My wife and I surf the web at night rather than watch tv. We were doing it on our laptops. When we got our iphones, we started using it - despite the tiny screen - because it was instant-on (vs. the laptops: mine actually boots into Ubuntu pretty quickly at 30sec - but that's still too slow...and the machine is too heavy and gets too hot).
We would gladly pay $400 for an instant-on and light web browsing device. If we could read books with it, that would be a bonus. eReaders seem to be "almost" the solution - for us.
Sadly, this "Alex" device is not it. Who had the stupid idea to squish together two screens? People who already have a smartphone (which usually have 3.2" screens already) can use it to surf the web - if they wanted to do that on a 3.2" screen. People who want an eReader would probably like a bigger screen instead...the only "selling feature" here seems to be that you can move a web page over to the eReader display for better reading enjoyment....not much of an incentive, if you ask me.
For someone like me who doesn't use a cellphone, this device would be awesome.
Mind you a bit bigger than what I would like to have, but a step in the right direction.
As for battery issues, I'm sure you would have the option to toggle wifi, radios, and 3g capabilities, even the lcd screen for that matter.
Dont worry Cheek, regardless of what the two morons above me wrote... especially the douche with iphones to surf the web... I agree with you. This beast of an ebook reader is trying too hard to be too many things. It's way too big to carry around as an ereader, and way too weak to be a PDA/netbook/whatever.
Is it wrong for wanting to kick this guy and his wife in the teeth?
"My wife and I surf the web at night rather than watch tv. We were doing it on our laptops. When we got our iphones, we started using it - despite the tiny screen - because it was instant-on"
I can see the two of you douches, sitting on the couch, surfing the web: what a sad sight. How cool are you that you cant wait .30 secs for your Ubuntu machine?
Not everyone has a phone with net access. Plus, on the Kindle at least the browsing is free.
@Tom Wolf
You said that if you can read books with it, it would be a bonus. So in other words, reading books is not your primary desire for this device. So, in other words, you don't want an ereader. You want a device that is instant-on to quickly browse the web while watching television. Sounds like you want a netbook. Check out one of the new netbooks running android. That's what you're after. Or wait for the first ChromeOS netbook.
Simple, the future is convergence. People don't want to lug around twelve devices, they want one that does it all. Dedicated devices are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
Maybe not everyone pays $30 a month for a data plan.
@Cheek:
Somewhat agree. Somewhat.
I do want my ebook reader to browse the web. I want it to do everything. But I'm willing to accept the limits of the technology, which means that eInk really can't do that.
The optimum ebook reader however should be extremely light and thin with exceptionally good battery life. Rather than wasting space on a keyboard like the kindle, a touch screen seems like a good choice. But if the Sony Reader's are any indication, the addition of a touch layer on top of the eInk screen just represents too many compromises in readability. Which is why B&N are apparently looking at a SMALL LCD touch screen below the BIG eInk screen above. Presumably the LCD screen would be off most of the time. The reason to make it LCD rather than just a touchpad with maybe a keyboard on it would seem obvious--you can change the controls as needed. So page numbers or swipe gestures or a keyboard, or whatever. If they don't hurt the battery life too much this seems like a nice idea. We'll have to see how it plays out in terms of price, battery life, size of the device etc vs. the Kindle approach.
The device pictured here though is obviously confused about what that area below is for. Watching videos and viewing pictures? As you say that's stupid. The battery life will be next to nothing or the thing won't be thin and light and cheap anymore. Stupid.
That's kinda cool
So is chibi Devil Jin :D
@Matthew,
You're right that my primary purpose would not to be reading *books*, but my primary purpose is to *read*. I surf the web, sure enough, but the sites I frequent are mostly static, readable content - i.e. I don't need video playback capability (for which eInk with its slow refresh rate would be unsuitable anyway).
You mention netbooks. My friend has one - it's not instant-on (a Dell Mini 10). Also it has a 600px vertical resolution - not very much. I believe the Kindle has around 820px? (Plus on a netbook addtional pixels are taken away for window title borders, task bars, etc.)
So, I want to maximize my reading ability of online content - including books. To me that means a device with good screen resolution (to minimize eye strain) and not waiting for a device to boot.
Despite what Agent.25 may think (if higher brain functions are within his grasp), devices that cost what eReaders cost, should try to appeal to as many people as possible (as long as they're within the technology's reach) to gain traction. If an eReader was given away for free or heavily subsidized by book sellers, eReaders could succeed purely by reading books and pdfs, but something that costs this much is a different story.
This may be what apple is going to do too, the whole dual screened concept, but they wouldn't do it like this. Maybe they found a way to overlay an E-Ink display over a LCD screen, so that the screen can switch back and forth in display technology depending on the task.
I doubt even Jobs could pull off such a device. You'd have a touch screen surface overlaying an e-ink display overlaying an LCD or OLED screen. How much contrast will you get with such a Frankenstein combination?
eInk screens are opaque, so, no overlaying is possible.
There's a company who makes a hybrid LCE-eInk display - was even mentioned in an engadget article recently:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/17/pixel-qi-e-ink-lcd-hybrid-display-to-debut-on-tablet-next-mont/
That seems like a much better solution than this two-screen design. So if Apple were to go into the eReader market and couldn't wait for true color eInk to come out, I would guess/hope that they would go this route instead of this clumsy design.
PixelQi has nothing to do with eInk.
eReaders seem to be at the same stage as MP3 players were just before Apple released the iPod.The market is ripe for a good e-ink device that isn't crippled by DRM and poor usability.
What makes you think that current gen ereaders have poor usability?
This is just stupid. If I wanted videos and a color screen, I'd take a netbook.
An e-reader should be a as-small-as-possible (screen and a little bezel for holding), light, thin device with great battery life and a screen that is perfect for *reading* (not surfing, not watching videos, or any other nonsense). Instead of focusing on the main things with a reader, devices like that one or the rumored B&N reader focus on useless gimmicks that water down the reading experience...which is plain stupid.
The future is mixed media. I agree that it's clunky, but it's nice to be able to look up definitions, Tie-Ins or additional information to the story or article that you're reading. Personally I like the concept of a separate screen as not to interrupt your reading much.
The dictionary lookup on my Sony Reader is great. You don't need an lcd for looking up definitions.
I love convergence - and I'm an early adopter of most things (HDTV, MP3 jukeboxes, e-readers, you name it) - but I cannot see a market for this convergence. E-readers are a niche - this is a niche of a niche - it doesn't move it into the mainstream.
As has been said, a huge part of the value of e-readers over netbooks is the battery life - this has been sacrificed for a negligibly useful second screen. Seems to be differentiation for the sake of it.
I'm just hoping you didn't mean HD video
I'm honored that they named their product after me.
Not like me. :(
I can only find mugs with 'Bort' on it.
You can sue them now for copyright infringement and then settle out of court at the first opportunity.
I don't like the form factor of this.
If it folded like a book, with both screens the same size I might be interested.
Make it the size of a novel and I would be sold.
Screw waiting for Apple. I want one of these. Sure I'd prefer a hinge between the two screens but as it is. I'll take one of these when someone allows me to tip it on the side. Finger control on the left/colour side and flick stuff over to the big side to read. (And look, you right handed people, if you need to you can just turn yours on it's other side.)
We live in really exciting times. It's good to be a gadget geek right now!
Looks awkward.
If the 3Qi technology really IS poised to appear in a bunch of devices over the next couple of months...
http://www.rgbfilter.com/?p=2098
I suspect a limited lifespan for dedicated e-readers. With netbooks approaching the 10hr battery life mark, all it takes is someone like Acer or HP to come out with a convertible netbook using 3Qi screens to create that truly 'use anywhere' all-in-one device, and not have to worry about file formats, or purchasing from one book vendor etc...
You already don't have to worry about formats or purchasing from one book vendor. I have a Sony PRS-505 and have yet to purchase a book from Sony. And for formats I use the Calibre book management and converter. I have yet to find a format that I can not read using that.
EPD=ElectroPhoretic Display if you want to be accurate
Finally! The e-book reader for people who don't read books.
I'll keep my Kindle2, thanks.
I'm glad I have a Sony PRS-505 and NOT a Kindle2, personally.
I think it's funny how everyone thought this would be Plastic Logic's contribution, and I semi-jokingly remarked how Plastic Logic is nothing but vaporware, and this revelation does nothing to alter that perception.
I have no hate for Plastic Logic, but I do hate how they've been "teasing" for 2 years, and still have nothing to show for it. Who wants an 81/2 x 11 e-book reader anyhow? That is not my definition of portable or handy.
PL's is a different market - not for novels, more for PDFs - so they claim. And see their press release today - 7th Jan to launch their product, as they've been saying for a while. But it's going to cost a whole lot more than this, I fear...
This just In breaking news , especially uninformed.
Why the heck would u drop a dime in a reader when it's been on the iPhone for over a year now. Dee Dee deee!!insane.
Dude, are you a robot that Apple created or what?
Because an backlit LCD device is at best a mediocre reader. That may be sufficient for many people, but it is not as good as having a dedicated reading device with an interface and screen that is optimized for reading.
Yes, your iPhone has a camera, but when you go on vacation, what camera do you take with you?
theday the iphone is an amazing all around well versed machine that has no flaws and sells 1 million in 24 hours is the dead engadget fixes the commenting system. sadly, neither will come.
fuck. day*.
also inb4 truth tries to insult me by trying to crrect my spelling and then mentions that his iphone has auto correct and he never has misspelled words. :x
Because the iphone has a flickering backlit screen like other computers. Not a good environment to read on. That's why ebook reader tech is over 10 years old and only taking off now. eInk was the missing link. Why would I read a novel on something with an LCD screen?
i just cant see the reasoning behind making 2 separate screens. it would have been better to use 1 physical screen and then have a toggle button between the 2 displays. i am amazed sometimes at the lack of thought that goes into engineering.
A toggle button that switches an e-ink display into an LCD? I'd love to see your designs for that one. But you're right, engineers should spend more time using magic to create impossible devices.
EPD does not stand for "electronic paper display", it stands for "electro-phoretic display". "Electronic paper" could refer to any of a number of technologies, while electro-phoretic refers to the proprietary E-Ink technology of dual-colored particles flipped by an electrostatic field.
Actually electropheritic display can refer to any screen which uses particles suspended in a fluid. The concept was initially developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center back in the 70s (their version used white particles in a black fluid IIRC). EInk itself is a proprietary implementation an EPD... the only one to have reached the consumer market at this point... while there are other companies developing their own versions.
Ahahhahh, keep telling yourself that...as I upgrade my G1 to yet a newer more robust Adroid rom...I love the smell of freedom!
I like it, just another step closer to an e-reader I would buy, I agree with Cheek, needs 2 week battery life though.
damn cache, ignore this post please...sorry
Calm down, their marketing/engineering/etc. people are on drugs.
James Barsby (and Douglas Bailey), you might be interested in the enTourage eDGe... it has two screens that open like a book. Check it out: www.entourageedge.com
(Note: the Alex belongs on engadget-mobile as well... it's supposed to have not just 3G data, but full phone capabilities, usable via wired headset)
I've been thinking lately that something like an Android or Maemo version of the Kindle DX might be an interesting mid-range device. Only:
0) TI OMAP 3640 CPU, 1GB RAM, 32GB internal flash (or, see #7)
1) drop the thumb keyboard (android and maemo both have on-screen keyboards)
2) add a touch screen; 8-10" size, rotation.
3) if you go with maemo, add a portrait mode on-screen keyboard
4) add KVM support (usb host and/or otg, and some form of display out)
5) I'm agnostic about color LCD vs e-ink ... color LCD would be better for general use, but e-ink increases the battery life
6) LOTS of battery life ... so it probably can't be exactly as thin as a Kindle, but try to keep it as thin as possible
7) at least one SDHC card slot ... two would be pretty nice. Maybe instead of dedicated internal flash, have an internal SDHC card slot (populated when you buy it, but user removable/upgradable), accessible via the battery compartment ... and then an external SDHC card for general data.
8) getting back to the Alex -- drop the "full phone" capability, just Wifi, Bluetooth, and optional 3G data
9) some form of kickstand, so you can use it at meetings with a portable USB keyboard, for taking notes and such.
Yup, I'd buy that.
For the Alex ... as long as I can use the main display to display a ConnectBot ssh session, and the LCD for displaying the keyboard, that might be acceptable. I'd also want it to have a browser that can do non-mobile versions of websites (the default Android browser only does the mobile versions of Googel Apps, for example). Except that the screen is too small to be my mid-range device ... and the device is to big to be my pocketable device. That means carrying a third device, which isn't in the cards.