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E Ink shows off a foldable e-reader prototype you can take notes on
It has a huge 10.3-inch screen, which could be great for digital newspapers.
Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus is a laptop that doubles as a Kindle
It wouldn't be CES if Lenovo didn't have a bevy of new laptops to announce, but I can't say we saw the company's new ThinkBook Plus coming. It's available with a 13.3-inch matte, full HD IPS display, one USB-C Gen 2 port, a pair of full-size USBs and an HDMI-out. And since this isn't a one-size-fits-all sort of machine, you can configure it with up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of onboard storage. (Sorry, folks, no discrete graphics here.)
Nemeio is a completely customizable e-ink keyboard
Nemeio takes the static out of the keyboard, allowing users to change individual keys, set up hotkeys and establish custom layouts via the magic of e-ink. Nemeio features 81 keys, each one a tiny clear button over an e-ink display. The Nemeio software allows users to drag and drop icons for applications like Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Facebook or Skype anywhere on the keyboard, and also add app-specific tools like cropping or text box placement directly to the keyboard.
E Ink display lets you write on it as if it were paper
You can already get e-paper notepads that come close to replicating the feel of writing on dead trees, but E Ink thinks it can do better. The company has unveiled a new film, JustWrite, that promises more natural scribbling. It doesn't require a backlight or another display layer, and there's "almost no" lag. You won't have to strain your eyes or second-guess your drawing. The technology is also bendable, works with virtually any size and shape, and needs just a basic stylus as well as some basic electronics -- it shouldn't carry a significant premium.
The Freewrite Traveler lets authors battle writer’s block outside
Many authors can attest that writing isn't as simple as just sitting down at a computer and typing. A typical day might go more like this: Check email, look at Facebook, tweet. You know, anything but actual writing. Astrohaus' Freewrite E Ink typewriter was designed to combat these distractions by removing the internet from your view entirely, though you could still save your files digitally. However, its clunky console had nothing on the portability of a laptop. But this spring the company will ship the Freewrite Traveler, a lighter clamshell model that lets writers easily take their craft wherever the mood strikes them.
Sony's FES team and New Balance made an e-paper sneaker
The FES Watch was an e-paper fashion accessory borne out of Sony's interesting idea incubator, First Flight. It was one of the earliest products to make it onto Sony's domestic crowdfunding platform, and it was successful enough to warrant a second-generation product, the more intricate FES Watch U. It's rare to see the e-paper timepieces outside of Japan, but the FES team are here at Sony's IFA booth with a new concept product: A sneaker with e-ink soles and side detailing created in collaboration with New Balance.
Lenovo's new Yoga Book replaces the keyboard with an e-ink screen
Last year, Lenovo surprised us with a novel concept. What if there was a laptop the size of a tablet with a touch-sensitive surface in place of a keyboard? That notion birthed the Yoga Book, a tablet-digitizer hybrid that had a 10-inch display on one side and a smooth, flat surface facing it. Long story short, we were excited about the premise, but ultimately disappointed by the terrible typing experience on what the company called its Halo keyboard.
Fiske’s Reading Machine was a pre-silicon Kindle
E-readers have become one of the most pervasive pieces of tech for many reasons. They survive alongside tablets because they're accessible -- Amazon's entry-level Kindle is just $80 -- and don't require daily charging. E-ink displays don't strain your eyes nearly as much as backlit screens, nor do they keep you up at night. Above all else, though, they can hold the entire works of Shakespeare countless times over while being thinner and lighter than any paperback. But this idea of portability, of condensing the written word into a format only a device can understand, is older than The Great Gatsby. It can be traced back to the early 1920s, and the invention of the Fiske Reading Machine.
I wish I could buy Intel's cute little E Ink dual-screen PC
Computex 2018 has been full of surprises. In addition to the usual array of processor news, updated laptops and fresh gaming hardware, we saw companies like ASUS and Lenovo show off intriguing dual-screen devices as well. Both those companies worked with Intel on their products -- Project Precog and the next-generation Yoga Book respectively, but the chip maker had its own concept to show off too. At its open house here in Taipei, Intel shared demos of a 7.9-inch dual-screen PC codenamed Tiger Rapids, and I'm having trouble hiding my enthusiasm.
Kobo's new e-reader offers an HD e-ink screen for $130
In a world full of full-color tablet displays, it may seem surprising that dedicated e-readers are still around. But these devices actually have an advantage over tablets that avid readers appreciate -- the e-ink displays are much easier on the eyes than backlit displays. They allow for comfortable long-term reading. Today, Rakuten announced a new Kobo e-reader called the Clara HD. It's a 6-inch device with an HD 300 dpi screen at an affordable $130.
Sony's smaller, cheaper Digital Paper tablet reaches the US
Was your heart aflutter when you heard that Sony was releasing a smaller version of its Digital Paper E Ink tablet? If you live in the US, you can satisfy your heart's desire... well, almost. Sony has started pre-orders for the 10.3-inch model (the DPT-CP1) through retailers for $600. That's far from a trivial purchase, but the $200 price advantage over the 13.3-inch variant might be just enough to sway you if you don't need the size of the larger model. You're still getting a long-lasting, lightweight tool for annotating documents and filling out your calendar, just in a notebook size that stands a better chance of fitting in your bag.
The quirky Pomera E Ink typewriter is coming to the US
A very niche, very Japanese word processor is heading to US shores in the form of Pomera, a pocket-sized, E Ink typewriter. The device, made by Japanese company King Jim, is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. It's basically a convenient new way to take notes. King Jim prefers the term 'digital memos', but you get the point.
Sony shrinks its Digital Paper E Ink tablet
Sony is one of the few companies persisting in E Ink stylus devices, despite the fact that they're way less practical than a tablet and surprisingly expensive. It has just unveiled a new model, the DPT-CP1 that helps (a bit) on the latter count. It's much the same as the A4 (13.3-inch diagonal) DPT-RP1 released a year ago, but has a smaller, 10.3-inch diagonal (A5) sized screen instead.
Soofa's Sign is a 21st century smart bulletin board
Smart cities of tomorrow will run on information, with various pieces of connected urban infrastructure all sharing data amongst themselves. But what sharing information amongst the citizenry? That's where the Soofa Sign, a community bulletin board for the 21st century, comes in.
Kindle Oasis review (2017): Cheaper, waterproof and a bigger screen
Amazon's last Kindle Oasis felt like an e-reader meant for the very rich. It was astoundingly thin and light, but its $290 price made it a tough sell. The new Oasis is still the company's most expensive e-reader, but at $250, it's slightly cheaper than before. It also features a few firsts for Amazon's Kindle lineup: It's waterproof -- something that readers have been begging for for years -- and it has a larger 7-inch screen. While it's still hard to stomach paying so much for a mere e-reader, the new Kindle Oasis makes a stronger case for doing so than before.
Dual-screen Yota3 is official with a sharper E Ink screen
Well, the wait is finally over. After a teaser back in June, the third-gen dual-screen YotaPhone -- now simply dubbed Yota3 -- was unveiled in China yesterday. Pretty much all the main specs are identical to the leak Engadget received earlier, but this was our first time seeing this rounded metallic design. First and foremost, there's a 5.5-inch 1080p Samsung AMOLED screen along with a 13-megapixel f/2.2 camera plus a fingerprint reader on the front. Flip the device around and you'll see its headlining feature: a 5.2-inch 720p E Ink Carta II display -- an expected upgrade from the previous 4.7-inch 960 x 540 screen -- accompanied by three capacitive navigation buttons at the bottom.
'YotaPhone 3' isn't the dual-screen powerhouse you were expecting
If you're one of the few people who are still waiting for the next dual-screen YotaPhone, listen up: we finally have an update for you. During Harbin's China-Russia Expo over the weekend, Baoli Yota -- the joint venture formed by investor Baoli (formerly known as REX) and manufacturer Coolpad -- teased its upcoming "Yota3" with a date: it's due in the early fall later this year (almost four years since the launch of its predecessor) and will come with 64GB or 128GB of storage for a more favorable $350 or $450, respectively, according to RBC.
Sony's latest E Ink tablet comes to the US in June
Did you see Sony's second-generation Digital Paper and realize you found your dream e-reader? If so, you'll get to do something about it very soon. Sony has announced that its latest 13.3-inch E Ink tablet (the DPT-RP1) will reach the US sometime in June, when it will sell for the previously announced $700. As mentioned in April, it's really about a lot of incremental improvements: you're most likely to notice the higher resolution (1,650 x 2,200), but the thinner, lighter design and NFC unlocking will also be helpful. The centerpiece remains the ability to read and annotate documents in exceptional detail -- this is aimed at pros and students who need to plow through complex documents like research papers.
Would you pay $1,600 to replace your sheet music with a tablet?
Last year, we told you about the Gvido, a lovely double-screened tablet designed to organize and display sheet music. Created by Japanese company Terrada Music, it allows musicians to turn pages with the tap of a finger. Now, it looks like the Gvido is finally getting ready to ship. It'll be available on September 20th for a measly $1,600.
Sony's new superthin E Ink tablet costs just $700
Despite being the only horse in the niche race, Sony continues to develop E Ink devices. The company has tried to sell higher-end professionals on edit-friendly displays since it released the 13.3-inch Digital Paper in 2014, which cost a whopping $1,100. The latest version, DPT-RP1, incrementally improves on its predecessors. But its $700 price tag might still be hard to stomach for a device ultimately trying to out-value regular paper.
