Entourage Edge gets super official at CES, set to ship next month for $490
By Darren Murph 
posted January 7th 2010 4:34PM
posted January 7th 2010 4:34PM
ENTOURAGE SYSTEMS LAUNCHES WORLD'S FIRST DUALBOOK™, ENTOURAGE EDGE
e-Book store now includes popular e-textbooks, giving students enhanced interactivity with learning material
Las Vegas, NV – 2010 International CES – Consumers who desire a do-it-all device can now rely on the enTourage eDGe™, the world's first dualbook™, that combines the functionalities of an e-reader, tablet netbook, note pad and audio/video player and recorder into one, sleek solution. The product is making its official debut at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas January 7-10 on display in the e-Book TechZone, Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Central Hall booth #12140 and the Innovations showcase in the LVCC Grand Lobby.
The enTourage eDGe is a dual-screen, WiFi-enabled electronic device that merges an e-paper screen with an LCD screen for enhanced interactivity. The left side is comprised of a 9.7" diagonal e-paper display, where users can easily read e-books in PDF and EPUB format, draw diagrams and take notes. The right side of the product is a 10.1" diagonal LCD screen for easy Web surfing, email and instant message composition and sending and video watching. This screen also includes a virtual keyboard for convenient typing. These two screens work uniquely together to make content more interactive, such as pulling up pages and images from the e-paper screen in color on the LCD, opening up video links from textbooks or dragging and dropping terms and names from the e-book into a Web browser to easily search for additional information.
enTourage Systems is building its own e-book store, which has access to over 200,000 trade books and more than one million free public domain books digitized by Google, as well as to many popular magazines, newspapers and periodicals. This includes popular higher education e-textbooks in a variety of subjects from publishers such as McGraw Hill and John Wiley & Sons, as well as content frequently adopted by professors for course use from Oxford University Press.
"The enTourage eDGe is an industry-changing product, breathing new life into content by making e-books more digitally enhanced and interactive, while also offering capabilities of other leading devices in a single platform," said Asghar Mostafa, CEO of enTourage Systems, Inc. "Partnering with McGraw Hill, Oxford University Press and John Wiley & Sons allows us to make the enTourage eDGe an even more powerful educational tool, creating a new-age learning experience for students."
"Today's students increasingly require advanced digital access and capabilities," said Ed Stanford, president, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. "By collaborating with enTourage Systems, McGraw-Hill will be able to increase the reach of its digital content and deliver an innovative learning solution that empowers students to achieve academic success."
"We're thrilled to partner with enTourage Systems to deliver additional material that will bring high educational value to enTourage eDGe users," said Colleen Scollans, vice president of sales and marketing at Oxford University Press. "This is a device that will revolutionize the classroom, and we are excited to be a fundamental part of pushing that forward."
"The enTourage eDGe has the potential to make a significant impact on the way college students use learning materials," said Lisa Culhane, director, program and channel development at Wiley. "As a portable e-textbook with interactive tools that enable note taking, diagram-drawing, and mobile internet access, it represents a unique entry to the e-textbook market. We look forward to working with enTourage Systems as they launch this innovative platform."
The enTourage eDGe includes a built-in noise-cancelling microphone and 1.3 Mega Pixel camera to easily capture audio and video content, perfect for classroom lectures or taking down meeting minutes. The microphone can pick up audio from up to 30 feet away and stores the files in MP3 format. The product also runs on the Android operating system, making it easily customizable for each user.
With the enTourage eDGe, consumers also get a complete eco-system to complement their user experience. enTourage Systems backs up all material directly to its servers, ensuring user documents are never inaccessible if a unit gets damaged or goes missing. This also includes the e-book store enTourage Systems is building from scratch, giving the company the ability to answer to consumer demands of what content they'd most like to see. To complement the user experience, enTourage eDGe users can also easily share files between devices.
The enTourage eDGe also comes with a battery with advanced power saving modes to stay powered longer, with a minimum of six hours utilizing the LCD screen and over seven days if simply accessing the e-reader. The product was also designed with portability in mind, folding a full 360 degrees with ability to orient its displays horizontally or vertically, so a user can hold the enTourage eDGe as a book, single screen or prop it up like a laptop. This feature is also useful to orient the screens most comfortably whether the user is right- or left-handed. The enTourage eDGe is one of the first consumer electronics to use Marvell Smart technology, allowing for increased performance on a mobile device.
The enTourage eDGe is available for pre-orders now, and will be fully available in February 2010 online at www.entourageedge.com for $490. For more information, please visit this site or visit the enTourage eDGe Facebook page or @enTourageeDGe Twitter handle.
About enTourage Systems, Inc.
enTourage Systems, Inc. is a provider of a new interactive dualbook that improves the way we learn, do business and entertain. The company's flagship product, the enTourage eDGe, is a comprehensive tablet netbook, notepad, e-reader, video player and audio recorder that allows users to easily manage their digital needs from a central device. enTourage Systems, Inc. is headquartered in McLean, VA. For more information, visit www.entourageedge.com.
$490, yes pls ;)
Another day, another half dozen eReaders.
This one seems more pointless than the rest.
this is so ugly and i hate that 2-screen design. nook & alex are ok... but this is so unpractical.
i am wondering... is there anyone who is actually listening to the customers? we want sub-$300 ereader with bigger screen than kindle 2!
@malymato There are about a dozen eReaders with 6 inch screens either out or soon to be out (http://www.ereaderguide.info/ereader_table_large.htm), but the cheapest so far is the Sony Daily Reader/PRS 900 (and that's only 7 inches) at $399. And they go way up from there I'm afraid.
There were big decreases in Kindle 2 prices from $359 at launch to $259 less than a year later, so I'd hope for decreases in the large eReader segment. But I don't think they'll be on the same order for larger models, as the large eReader market is smaller--for instance, I doubt the large Kindle DXs have been flying off the shelves like the Kindle 2s.
@malymato I hate the other ereaders tablet/slate style layout. I do agree with you that the screen sizes were to small. Howerver I have 2 cpu monitors for a reason, 2 screens increase productivity.
While not completly what I wanted in an e reader its the closest thing. I have been following the entourage since I first heard about it. I wanted a dual 2screen ereader that has things on both screen like a real book. Im not sure if you can use the lcd screen to read books on this though because it has never mentioned yay or nay. It also doesnt have TTS (text to speech) but they do say it is coming. I dont know if that mean via update or a 2nd generation device. Another thing that would make this absolutely kick ass would be color eink lcd from Pixel Qi. Its available now but it wasnt when they were engineering this thing. Because of this I dont know if I will get the gen 1 reader but I absolutely love it. I do have this pre ordered so I guess I should decide soon or ill be charged.
@typenn84 I can't read books on LCD... it just hurts my eyes. yes, two screens could be nice (microsoft courier etc.).. but this is awful. can you actually imagine holding this in your hands?
i would buy kindle dx but i am not going to pay $489+$50 (kindle dx + cover)... and i'm from europe.... that's additional 30$ for shipping and 19% tax
total: ~$670 - so i could read books, ridiculous
I LOVE THIS!!
@TiffRoss
+1
@gerrrg *Laugh* Now I feel embarrassed because it was such a small comment - it just summed up everything I felt seeing it... (Especially after the Courier let down.) I like the way it looks. I like that it shows you can write on it! I don't like the price, but that can change with time. It's the concept itself that I like.
I'm almost beginning to think that the entire industry has been paid-off by Apple to launch so many ugly "slates" one after the other. They're making Apple's job easier, not harder.
Is this another device powered by everyones favourite little android?
this thing would be so much cooler if it came apart into a MID and a reader that could be used separately because I can honestly say that I can't think of a time that I would ever use both at the same time, if I am reading the e-ink I have no reason to go online and if I am online why do I need to read a book- it is a neat experiment but kind of useless, if the 2 came apart and I could say, leave the reader in my bag while I use the MID or vice versa it could be cool
@whormongr
email, chat, research, note-taking... Sounds good to me! But, I think I'll wait for something like the mythical Courier.
@palehorse but yo could do all that if it was a regular mobile touchscreen device, it doesn't need to be a book form with a reader attached to it
@whormongr
You've obviously never tried to read a regular LCD in the sunlight, or tried to read a book on a regular LCD. E-ink was invented for a very valid reason, and that is because LCDs are VERY difficult to stare at for any length of time, even in places with no sunlight.
In this case, the LCD/e-ink combo allows you to do both on a single device... and at the same time! If they can get rid of some of that bezel, and make it thinner all around, then I think they'll have a real winner on their hands.
In the meantime, the Spring Design Alex will have to do...
LCD =\= e-reader
Wait, why is that screen interrupting all my bezel?
It's ugly as sin but assuming there's a good amount of text books available for it this could be great for education. If it were a little cheaper that would be nice too.
I read books, reference books all the time, so holding this wouldnt be a problem. I also have a 2 gig+ ebook library and my book shelves are past full. Like I said I love this device and have been following it since it was first announced. This thing weighs 3 pounds so if you cant hold that maybe you wanna hit the gym and not read books.
This looks awFully fuGLy
Who has a bigger bezel? this or the iPhone XXL, aka iPad?