Well it's about time, Spring Design! After missing its
February ship date, the company is finally ready for you to whip out the plastic and pre-order its Alex -- that dual-screen,
Android-based ereader we
liked so much at CES. While you can shell out the $399 today, you'll still have to wait until mid-April for the mailman to drop off the package. We'd like to say the wait stops there, but we've also learned that early buyers won't have access to the promised
Borders eBook store until June. When we chatted with Spring Design CEO Priscilla Lu last week she confirmed that Borders will officially launch its store in the "June time frame," which will be around the very same time that the 3G version of the Alex will be ready to hit the market -- at least there's access to Google Books and an micro-SD card slot for sideloading in the meantime. With so much coming down the pike it may be worth waiting a bit more time for this one, but our own Alex arrived just last night so no matter what it'd behoove you to wait a few days for our review before you hit the source link to pre-order.
Update: Well, this is odd. Even though this news hit the wires today, the shop page on Spring Design's website is definitely non-functional right now. Instead, you'll see a message to check back soon. We'll keep doing just that until we see signs of life... or hear otherwise.
Update 2: And we're back...the pre-order page is
finally up!
posted March 16th 2010 8:00AM
Yay, the e-book reader space wasn't yet crowded enough!
@Nitesh Agreed, this won't really take off but everyone else has an e-reader these days, so what's another "me too" products out there.
@XChrisX I hope you are wrong. I have intentionally avoided purchasing an ereader prematurely. Of all the options available (or available soon), this one has appealed the most to me for a number of reasons, but especially:
1. Android - access to everything except voice and gps apps
2. Web access - I read a lot of articles on the internet, and I like the ability to view the web on the larger e ink screen
3. e ink - Visibility and battery life can't be beat (suck it iPad)
3. Speed - I know refresh rates a slow with e ink, but initial CES previews said this was much speedier than the nook, who may or may not have copied the design, and performed well overall.
@cayton Don't misunderstand me, I don't wish for the demise of any company, but after CES this year and the launch of the iPad. I can easily see this ereader getting lost in the shuffle. That's a hard truth to swallow for some, but there are just too many ereaders out there these days, and adding android really isn't doing this device much justice. :-/
@Nitesh. I suspect that this reader will fail. as many will. due to date and price. I can get a Kindle now. and get the books now. I will be able to get an ipad in just a couple of weeks and the price is only $100 more to also have email etc.
I applaud Borders for embracing the whole ebook thing even if it's a bit late but really, these places need to stop with the exclusive hardware. Even Amazon opened up and made apps so I can buy their books and use it on my computer, on my iphone etc. and there's no word that Apple is going to cut the app off the ipad etc (dumb ass move if they do). much smarter move to me
better (by far) than the ipad
@bryoneill11
What do you guys like about this thing so much? It's freaking $399!
With access to the app store alone, the iPad has this thing beat hands-down for only another $100
@bryoneill11 more like DOA
@BMills He's just trolling.
To some people on the internet. Hitler is better than iPad, because blitz counts as flash.
@bryoneill11
Care to explain why its better (by far)?
Every used an iPad? No. Ever even seen one? No, didn't think so.
What utter nonsense.
Since I am not trolling I'll weigh in as well. I personally would by this before an ipad as well. That is because my main use for this device would be reading. This device strives to be a sort of hybrid of tablet/e-reader and how well it performs that task is what will make or break it. How well it can take a web page from the android screen and render it in the e ink screen will be a huge factor. We have seen google books works great, but what about other web sites. If the site is not specifically made will it cut off text outside of the screen's pixel range? Will it require a lot of scrolling and refreshing the e ink screen potentially wasting a lot of time and patients? If I wanted to read an online comic would it reformat the the image to fit the e ink screen or would it chop it off?(and would the page forward and page back work as the arror keys work on those sites) for me those are all important questions. If all the answers to those questions are that the alex does a great job and once the borders book store is up than I will probably buy one with 3g(if the data is free). The battery life boost that e ink screen can provide over a lcd only device is another big factor for me. If the interaction between the android lcd and the e ink screen is terrible, slow and the page rendering is not optimized for the e ink screen then I might look to the ipad.
Until devices with the mythic Pixel Qi screen start coming out this looks to be the best option to have a e ink and "tablet" hybrid.
@Masterface7
The whole 'you can't properly read on an LCD screen' is one big fad. Sure, e-ink might have better readability in some cases, LCD in other cases (for example when it's dark). The common misconception that looking at a backlit screen will somehow strain your eyes too much, wear them out, or give you epilepsy, it all traces back to the time we were all using 50Hz CRT's with a high-pitched noise and wobbly scanlines. I spent over 8 hours a day behind a backlit LCD screen, just like half of the population with desk jobs, and I never thought 'wow I really need to have an e-Ink screen before I can make it through the day looking at a screen'.
@drange I totally agree, I read nearly every day from my netbook turned sideways to make the screen portrait, that is why I only mentioned the battery life benefit only of the e ink screen. Since it is on the order of weeks in stead of a few hours. One other advantage of the e ink screen that i personally would benefit from is outdoors reading. I enjoy sitting outside whether it be at a resturant or my apartments courtyard area and backlit screens of any type are more difficult to read when the sun is shining on them. So while i do agree the eye strain argument is fairly played out, I still believe e ink has worthwhile advantages.
I wonder what happened to the $359 price we all were hearing about during their first, or second, or was it the third time they were supposed to go one sale?
@TristWolf $359 is the subsidized price through Borders.
@cayton Where do you get your information? Links on this please because that is the first I have heard of it.
It will be this or the iPad for me.
Wifi, eInk, open android, battery life are all excellent reasons to buy this device.
This device will definately cost less to own in the long run vs. the iPad and it's locked down apple media stores.
I'm guessing it will read pdf's and word docs???
I still can not find it on pre-sale on the springdesign web site. So is ot really ready yet?
i'd love to see a ebook reader dock for the iPhone, something like this:
http://conferenza-info.com/2009/10/30/iphone-kindle-nook/
or a case for the iPad, solar on one side and e-ink in the other:
http://conferenza-info.com/2010/03/05/talkyoo-mockup-custodia-ipad-e-ink-case/
@alexiaco
That has to make one awkward device to carry around or one really big one.
@bleep i did this mockup before sdk 3.0 maybe the iPhone can acces the memory of the "kindle" via bluetooth or wifi and upload there the content. so your iPhone/Android/Pre will be in your pocket. (disclaimer i'm italian maybe i'm not clear) :-p
@bleep i did this mockup before sdk 3.0, maybe now the iPhone can acces the memory of the "kindle" via bluetooth or wifi and upload there the content. so your iPhone/Android/Pre will be in your pocket. (disclaimer i'm italian maybe i'm not clear) :-p
Too long and thin.
@Wolfticket That's what sh---- no, its to easy
@TristWolf
I'll toss 'em up, you hit 'em outta the park :-)
that is the dumbest looking piece of tech i've seen in quite some time. is that thing even real or is engadget playing a joke on us?
FUGLY!
@FCells
nuh huh!
its $150 more than its competition and it doesnt even have 3G. the lack of android's marketplace ruins it as well.
Ugly as sin. Hard to believe anyone would pay actual money for this plastic abomination.
399 I think is over priced. That LCD screen is to small for me to want to surf on it. I think the Entourage Edge for 100 more is more functional. I'm still sitting on my Kindle 1. I'm going to give Amazon a chance to impress me with their next reader before I buy a new one.
1. It's unfortunate that Spring Design decided to go with the $399 price rather than the $359 they mentioned at CES. That extra $50 will be their undoing.
2. It's a shame the black Alex isn't shown in this Engadget photo. The black looks good, this beige deserves all the "ugly as sin" comments.
3. Is the 3G available for no cost, i.e. the Kindle approach, or is there a monthly fee, i.e. the iPad approach. Definitely wouldn't order one until this question is answered.
@KenJr Looks like the black version is available on the website.
@KenJr $359 is the subsidized price through Borders...which isn't out yet.
Per the Alex eReader Facebook page:
"Alex eReader - $399 was a fair price that they determined based on worldwide resellers and consumers. That way the resellers have some flexibility in their pricing and Spring Design won't undercut them." http://www.facebook.com/#!/AlexeReader?ref=ts
Seems like they are saying that there will be "resellers" and they will have the option to sell at a different price?
lol, here is what i get when trying to access their web site: Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /us/ on this server.
Who the hell does that when updating a web site? at least post a msg something like, we are updating our web site, pls check back shortly. Looks like their software QA has no clue how to do their job
What an odd name for a device, I think I'm going to release my own line of desktop computers called Keith.
That's a person's name.
A *person.*
I wonder if you can tether it off an existing Android phone for a 3G connection?
I think the black one looks pretty good. I also think it fills a niche quite nicely between a standard kindle and an ipad. It is in between the two with regards to price and features. I don't know why there is so much hate towards the Alex.
Still waiting for a Pixel Qi touchscreen e-reader.
i hope this can zoom pdf and does panning too :D