Samsung E60 and E61 e-readers heading to British digital bookworms in July
Good news, fellow Brits! Samsung has just announced that it'll be shipping its two 6-inch, stylus-donning e-readers -- the slide-out E60 and the QWERTY-packing E61 -- to the UK in July, with the former to be priced at £299.99 ($443) and the latter's to be confirmed. Sadly, no news on who'll be delivering the ebooks over these devices' WiFi, but we're promised an announcement in a fortnight. For now, gorge yourselves on our latest hands-on photos.%Gallery-92774%
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SAMSUNG E-BOOK READER LAUNCHES IN THE UK
Wi-Fi enabled SNE-60 available for pre-order on the high street in the coming months
London, UK – May 11 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., is set to start the distribution of its new e-Book Readers with partnerships with leading high street retailers later this year. The range will be stocked online and in stores with the new 6", Wi-Fi enabled SNE-60 e-Book Reader, available to pre-order from selected high street retailers in the coming months.
Smaller than a hardback, the Samsung e-Book Reader SNE-60 can store over 1,200 books on the internal memory while giving the option of increasing the capacity thanks to the SD memory card slot. Samsung's e-Book Reader devices are the only devices currently on the market with wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi 802.11b/g allows users to download content such as books and newspapers from a server wirelessly, as well as to share content with other devices.
Unlike other e-Book Reader devices, Samsung's SNE-60 uses handwriting functionality to allow users to annotate their reading selections, calendars and notes with a built-in electromagnetic resonance (EMR) stylus pen. This dedicated pen prevents mistypes caused by hands and other objects that may graze the screen's surface. A variety of pen and eraser thicknesses makes the Samsung e-Book Reader perfect for drawing and writing.
"Samsung's arrival to the e-Book Reader market is significant as we are bringing unique functionality to this developing market. The addition of Wi-Fi and accurate handwriting functionality to e-Book Readers will take the user-experience to a new level and ensure e-Books Readers continue to grow in popularity," said Graham Long, Vice President of Samsung's IT Business Division.
The e-Book Reader is equipped with an e-paper display similar to real paper to enable a clearer display even outdoors. Many other functions are also included to provide an effective reading environment. The global e-Book formats ePub, PDF and TXT are all supported, and the built-in dictionaries can be used just by touching the screen with the stylus.
A built-in MP3 player function allows users to listen to an audio book, or to listen to music whilst reading a book. In addition, Samsung's unique "Text-to-Speech" engine can read a book with accurate pronunciations for users who are driving or in noisy environments.
