ASUS DR-570 e-reader to sport 6-inch OLED color screen, 122 hours of battery life
By Paul Miller 
posted January 17th 2010 1:54PM
posted January 17th 2010 1:54PM
Well, isn't this a doozy. ASUS was a bit of a no-show in the e-reader arena at CES, but has dropped some knowledge on the Times Online's InGear: it's building a 6-inch color OLED e-reader, which flies in the face of previous rumors about an ASUS e-reader entry. The device, currently dubbed the DR-570 and pictured to the left, will play back Flash video, includes WiFi and 3G, and supposedly can last for 122 hours on one charge under "real world conditions." It's supposed to be released by the end of the year, and while from anybody else we'd assume this would cost an arm and a leg, the ASUS brand gives us some hope that we might actually be able to afford one when it hits.[Thanks, Ian S.]
then 3 months later msi continues to chase asus with the amoled wind-reader
Unless it comes with Jessica Alba, I don't quite have a use for an e-reader.
@Level 5 Shes pretty
@IAMKITTY and the sky is blue
OLED screen = not an ereader. Sorry engadget, you fail.
@kojo87 and i think to myself...what a wonderful world.
@JeremyBenthem
I think you are confusing Acer with ASUS.
Starting next year, we'll be having a rain of Assuuus eee ereaders ;)
@sweet greggo
"electronic-reader"
@seriousam7
Holy crap, how'd I get down ranked for that? Listen up, lemmings: A true ereader has to have e-ink, period. Any type of lit display is going to cause faster eye fatigue than e-ink or paper.
Have some sense of techy geek pride and stick to standards.
@sweet greggo
I agree in principle. Most of the original point of e(book)-readers was the advantages of e-ink for actually (shock horror) reading books.
However, there is a tendency for original MOs to stretched to breaking point (have you seen what they are calling a netbook these days?) and there's not point in getting zealous about it. Shit happens.
That means the screen will, like any current OLED based mobile/cell phone, be unreadable outdoors, therefore defeating the object of creating a medium that can replace the printed word. Let's see how Apple tackle this one later this month.
@Oflife
Are iPods really that easy to read when it is sunny. From my experience, they are just as difficult to read outdoors as my S9 (which has an AMOLED), meaning that I would rather settle for and OLED screen which looks gorgeous inside.
@John W Harding
I'm pretty sure he's not comparing OLED to LCD, but rather e-ink...
@John W Harding
This product is not competing with iPods. E Ink is quite readable indoors and out.
@Oflife I don't really care about reading outdoors. It's the eyestrain that comes from backlit screens that makes the biggest difference to me. My eyes start hurting after a couple hours of intense reading (like a book as opposed to just surfing the web).
@Oflife
The reason I compared it with iPods is because I thought he was referring to the iSlate (mentioning what Apple will release in a month) which I assume will not use e-ink, but rather a LCD screen. If Apple is releasing an eReader (Jobs in the past has shown is dislike for the Kindle) I would be very interested in what that will offer.
@Oflife
Why would you assume he was comparing to a rumoured product which might possibly compete with this, instead of the current products which DO compete with this.
@PhoenixFox
what Apple products currently compete with this?
@PhoenixFox
Because he said "Let's see how Apple tackles this one later this month". Unless Apple has an e-reader I do not know about, I assumed he was talking about the iTablet. I guess I originally misread the quote as inferring to th iTablet being easier to read, but he was interested in how Apple would deal with the LCD screen being read outdoors. I apologize for anybody who felt I was attacking Apple or starting a flame war.
@Oflife Further, eInk displays (or any unannounced non light emitting display tech that can display full motion video) are easier on the eyes than LCD or OLED - vital for elongated reading sessions.
@oldpass56 Well, I guess there's an iDevice for that, you know the one which will be officially stated on the 27th of this month. Albeit, for this reader I think the skiff device is already a good rival.
It will be the thinnest e-reader to hit the market, weighing just over a pound and sporting an 11.5" touch screen. It will also be the first product to rely on a new technology of e-paper that uses a sheet of stainless-steel foil which can be bent. E-reader getting the limelight now: http://bit.ly/skiff-reader-amazing-details
@Oflife
honestly, why does everyone care about reading outdoors? Read indoors like a good bookworm!
@pk
why can't they just make a gameboy color-like LCD but bigger
@John W Harding Ipod battery life is bad and unpractical for ebook reading due to the long hours involved
its good for music though, assuming the screen is off most of the time
@dez it is not just for outdoors. there is a refresh rate with oled and lcd that doesn't exict on e-paper. this is where the strain comes from. reading an ebook is like reading paper over long periods of time. looking at an lcd/oled is like looking at a PC screen for long periods of time
@oldpass56
the one that 'comes out' in 9 days.
A 6 inch OLED screen will be small small for an e-reader, however it will be gorgeous. I hope it can run android, and be more of a tablet than e-reader, but I highly doubt it.
@John W Harding 6'' is pretty much the standard size of ereaders only a few are bigger such as the kindle dx and sony daily edition.
Hmm, give this whole e-reader thingy another 10 years and i might be interested in buying one. Until then, it will be good old paper for me.
@Wally I agree. I think 10 years is an appropriate timeframe for new technology. I'm upgrading my computer to Windows ME this afternoon, while I connect my PS2 to my CRT TV.
@morcheeba
Good times, good times...
Just to let you know, this picture looks awful up in the "Hero Module".
@FallenArms3 This story isn't even featured in the 'Hero Module', but rather the 'Top Stories' section, so I don't know what you're talking about.
The 'Hero Module' is the strip along the top of the site that is currently highlighting the Nexus One Review, CES 2010, Dell Going Mobile, etc.
@meeku Eh, whatever. I just think Hero Module is a funny name.
None of this changes the fact that it's blown-up and pixelated like crazy.
I'd take OLED over e-ink any day. It's a fallacy to say OLED displays are unusable outdoors. They may be unusable in DIRECT sunlight, but that's not a deterrent for me, especially considering all of the benefits of OLED.
Nowadays, the Asus brand name is usually associated with ‘cheap’
@dreamerkm
fail
@dreamerkm you mean like your mother?
@dreamerkm and from now on i will associate dreamerkm with "doesn't have a clue what he is talking about"
@dreamerkm
Tell that to my (Asus) motherboard that should be completely demolished right now, yet lives on. I prefer Asus over every other company, simply because of their competitive pricing and reliability. So, stfu.
hopefully this puts e-ink to a well deserved early death...
6 inch is a good diagonal width .. but this one is fail cause the aspect ratio is wrong. It needs to be pocketable .. and it fails in that. A 6 or even 6.5 inch with a 2:1 aspect ratio is good.
If it's not pocketable it may as well be 13.3 inch or something.
@JS
..and of course the wideness of the bezel on the sides doesnt help in pocketability.
@JS Can you put a Book in your pocket? Why does this need to be pocketable?
@JS
Then make it 10 to 13 inches or the size of a book when it's folded open. 6 inches diagonally is smaller than a book btw .. I am looking at some paperbacks here they are bigger than 6 inches diagonally.
I want it to be portable so I can take it on public transport or sitting around in a waiting room.. if it's going to be the same as a book, why don't I stick to books? I expect advantages.
If it's not going to be portable .. I need to carry it in a backpack (always fun at a dentists office or while waiting for a haircut) .. which means it might as well be at least a 10 inch screen. Furthermore, e-readers aren't just for reading paperback novels .. it's also for magazines and maybe even light web browsing. But we'll leave web browsing aside .. it's also for magazines.
@JS I agree with you on the bigger screen. I would like to see it be 8 inches or so. If the screen were smaller then it would not be practical for long periods of reading, which is it's primary purpose.
"if it's going to be the same as a book, why don't I stick to books? I expect advantages." Well I'm pretty sure it's easier to carry an e-reader then an entire library of books so there's one advantage. It's also very easy to pick up new e-books, say as soon as you finish reading one you could purchase another and start reading it in the same sitting.
@Edobe "I would like to see it be 8 inches or so"
That's what she said!
ASUS DR-570 e-reader to sport 6-inch OLED color screen, 122 hours of battery life, and 60,000 dollar price tag.
Okay, honestly, who else only noticed or clicked on this article because of the picture of Jessica Alba?