Portable Ebook Reader

The Archos Company, known as a French consumer electronics manufacturer, is the author of the 7^th generation internet tablet Archos 5 (announced on September, 2009). Running on the Google’s Android operating system the Anchos 5 is expected to deliver all Android capabilities and bring the consumer a new way to enjoy Internet, Media and TV all in one. It is powered by an ARM Cortex A8 processor at 800 MHz and 4.8- inch 800×400 touchscreen display. It is a sharp and bright display which uses a resistive touch technology and has two common drawbacks. The tablet features only two physical buttons.

The Archos 5 has been designed to be a slim and sexy device and is certainly good to look at. Overall the tablet has dimensions of 143.2 x 78.8 x 10.4mm and weighs 182g. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet has built-in features of a PDF reader, Mac and PC compatibility, built-in speaker, integrated kickstand and game capabilities. On the audio side the tablet have support for great variety of formats, including MP3, WMA, OGG, and FLAC. It is also best for video playing. The device comes with two HDMI ports and is capable of 720p video playback. For video, expect MP4, WMV and MKV file supports. Don’t worry about the tablet memory, as Archos offers you a whopping 250 Gb of storage that can hold 300 movies, 145,000 songs or millions of photos.

For connectivity Archos has chosen to use Wi-Fi B/N/G along with Bluetooth, through which you can access the 3G connection of your mobile phone. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet has also GPS capabilities that the company powered with a photo satellite view version of the map. Thanks to this feature you won’t get lost with the Anchor 5 in your hands, and yet you will enjoy the navigation as this software includes various tons of options including type of route, traffic, list of radars and more. Browsing becomes almost seamless with the built-in Opera web-browser and Adobe Flash 8 video supports. Thanks to the Archos built-in full email apps you won’t also miss the ability to write, download or send attachments right to your contacts. And lastly, the Archos 5 comes with a built-in battery that can deliver up to 12 hours of audio and 4 hours of video.The Archos 5 can be a great choice for you and the  pricing of the  tablet starts at $249.99 for the 8GB device and maxes out at $439.99 for 500GB.

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet can be found at:

• Amazon for $302 USD

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Young people today are totally ‘plugged in’ with their cell phones, video games, iPods and other gadgets that they use on a daily basis. Offering students a cool, handheld device to use in the classroom, on the train or in a coffee shop may be a way to make learning fun. Irex digital readers are thought to be a motivator to students to become more involved with their learning.

Irex DR800s is the newest addition to the company’s innovative line of e-readers. At just 1 cm thick and with an 8.1-inch screen, the Irex Digital Reader 800S is just the thing for bookworms everywhere. A unique screen surface differentiates the DR800S from competitive devices, and delivers a natural reading experience in the living room, on the train or in a coffee shop.

The user has the opportunity to enjoy a variety of electronic books, magazines and newspapers with this digital reader that features an 8.1-inch interactive touch screen with a natural, paper-like display and adjustable text sizes. The Irex uses E Ink Corporation’s Vizplex ink-imaging film that is dubbed EPD for electronic paper display and has a 768 x1024 pixel resolution at 160 DPI 16-level grey scale. You can also use  the supplied stylus and menus easily, thanks to electronic touch-screen paper technology. Internal menus are supported in the following languages: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Greek.

Running on Linux operating system and featuring the FreeScale i.MX31L processor, the Irex DR enhances users’ true reading experience that far eclipses what they’d get from a multifunction device. The DR800S supports multiple formats, including the industry standard ePub, rather than a single, “closed” proprietary format along with PDF and JPG / BMP/ PNG / GIF file formats. That’s not all though! The mini-USB 2.0 port on the DR800S lets you download electronic versions of the latest bestsellers and newspapers from the internet. You will copy or transfer your own documents directly to the device without any additional software or fees, just connect to a computer and transfer them to the DR.

An SD card slot is onboard for extendable storage of up to a big 2 GB SD, so the digital reader will contain up to 1,000 books or photos. The 800s is powered by 2800 mAh lithium-ion battery, which lasts for up to 6,000 page turns.  The e-reader has also a build-in sleep mode, which stretches the reading experience even further and lets the device wake up in seconds at the touch of the button.

The dimensions of Irex 800s are 1, 07 cm x 14, 9 cm 19, 3 cm and it weights just 360 g. The device comes with a custom cover and stylus.

The IREX Digital Reader 800s can be found at:

• Amazon for $399 USD

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Popularity: 14% [?]

STORY is the latest e-book reader from iRiver. And yes, it’s as good as it can get. The keyboard design is one of its nice features. I can say it’s sexy, it’s solid, and it’s slim. After the iRiver Story’s release in the UK, Germany and Korea, it’s finally coming to the US. This wait definitely is taking its effect since that people really are looking forward and get excited about the iRiver Story.

The iRiver Story includes features such as 6-inch e-link display with a 800 x 600 resolution, 36 inches slim, has built-in features of a mp3 player, voice recorder, office file viewer, personal organizer, a memopad and a scheduler. You can store up to 13,000 books with its 2GB internal memory and an expansion SD Card slot that can store up to 16GB. This gadget can read Microsoft Excel files (.xls), PowerPoint (.ppt), Adobe Acrobat files (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc), e-Pub, and play wma, audio book files, and mp3 files. The battery life lasts for up to 9,000 pages – up to 30 books. How is that possible? It’s because the iRiver Story will consume battery life only if the pages are turned. If you will be using this to play audio files, the battery can last for up to 24hrs. If you want to record voice, then it can last for up to 5hrs.

The iRiver Story lets you read your e-books just like when you’re reading paper books. How incredible is that? You still have the old paper book feel while using a so-called high-technology gadget!

But then again, like everything in life there is a downside. The iRiver Story doesn’t have wireless capabilities such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G. But don’t worry, because in the later part of 2010, the iRiver Story U.S. version will have Wi-Fi capabilities. As per the final price ranges, there aren’t announcements yet. Some say it would cost at around $340 USD, however as I said, this isn’t final.

Of all the different e-book readers out there, you have the decision for as to which one has the “edge” you are looking for. I have stated everything there is to know about the iRiver Story, now it’s up to you to go, get, and judge it.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Plastic Logic is a spin-off company from the Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics. Plastic Logic’s Mission is to lead a revolution in the way people acquire, organize and consume information. The headquarters of Plastic Logic is in Mountain View, California.

Plastic Logic unveils QUE, the first proreader designed for the business professional. QUE is built using unique plastic electronics technology, and was designed to have the benefits of paper, but without weight and clutter. The Plastic Logic QUE ebook reader was designed by industrial design firm IDEO and is the best-looking device in its category.

The QUE borrows a certain Apple-like quality as it’s both extremely thin and very minimalist. The Plastic Logic QUE is an e-reader that enables you to carry reading material wherever you go. After three different debuts, we know QUE will be size of 1/3 inch thick and weighting 16 oz (453 grams), less than many periodicals (about a pound). Besides compact size the QUE is also a beautiful device. The company clearly put a lot of effort into everything from the design to one-touch navigation.

QUE features a crisp, clear screen that looks and reads just like paper. QUE has a lighter 10.7 inch display which is possible more durable than a glass screen. The screen displays your latest emails and calendar, pulled from Outlook along with your favorite subscriptions and books. The user is able to interact with the documents with the touch of a finger. Today the QUE has the largest E link display among ebook readers, as well as the touchscreen interface.

The device’s touchscreen display includes a virtual onscreen keyboard allowing the user to add notes, to include comments, highlight text, scribble free form, and even add a stamp to emphasize a point. No stylus is needed for the QUE.

Plastic Logic’s strategy is to aim its product at business professionals, given the large screen and support for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. Plastic Logic has also given it email and calendar support, together with Outlook sync. QUE users will be able to connect to content and download wirelessly via Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 3G network, the nation’s fastest 3G mobile broadband network. With the QUE software, it’s easy to quickly transfer content from your PC, Mac computer, or BlackBerry smartphone to your QUE.

The company has also lined up a host of business publications to provide content for its platform, including the Dow Jones Company and The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and All Things Digital, Forbes, and Fast Company. The standard 4GB model can hold 35,000 documents or so, and an 8GB version pumps that up to 70,000 or so and the latest adds 3G connectivity. As nice as it is, Plastic Logic promise to reveal the Plastic Logic QUE in March. Preorders for the QUE proreader will be priced at $649 USD for the 4GB model with Wi-Fi or $799 USD for the 8GB model with both Wi-Fi and 3G.

Here’s the original preview article we posted in May 2009 about the QUE.  Seems like Plastic Logic is really taking their time to get it perfect.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Are you tired of carrying around multiple gadgets? Nowadays, people of all ages use many different technological devices. An average person usually has at least one cell phone, an audio or video player (an iPod perhaps), an e-book reader, a laptop, and the like. What if I tell you that there will be a gadget available that can serve as your audio/video player and recorder, e-book reader and a netbook or notepad – all in one? Will you be interested? If so, then this is for you.

Come March 2010, this device will be out in the market. It is called the enTourage eDGe, the world’s first dualbook. As I mentioned, this will combine features of an eBook or an electronic reader, a notepad/netpad and an audio/video player and  recorder, letting you read, send emails, and instant messages, listen to music or watch videos, surf the net, take digital notes, and a lot more – anytime, anywhere! What more can you ask for? As for file transfers back and forth your enTourage eDGe, you can use an SD card or a USB flash drive, it also has the netbook feature so no worries about all those limitations of other e-readers.

Having the netbook feature allows you to view images, a contact list function, an alarm clock, a library to manage your files, and even open a virtual keyboard. This enTourage eDGe dualbook also is flexible in the sense that it allows other applications to be installed, it lets you flip through pages around 180 degrees, and it’s so portable that it fits easily in backpack, briefcase, or even a tote bag. Some say that the main advantage of this enTourage eDGe is that it has two screens. You can allow a different application to run on one screen and read an eBook on the other. With your stylus, you can also take notes. It lets you go back and forth between two screens, plus you can annotate texts and create bookmarks as well.

At about $500, this device is indeed very impressive. Just by looking at its specifications, you are sure to be awed. It has a dimension of 8.25″ by 10.75″ by 1.0″ when closed, approximately 3 lbs, has an internal memory of 4GB, a 1024 x 600 pixels LCD touchscreen display, uses Penabled / Wacom as input, powered by a Lithium-ion battery which lasts  16+hours when using the e-reader and up to 6 hours when running the LCD screen, and has a 3.55mm audio/microphone jack. It runs the Linux with Google Android operating system, plays audio formats such as mp3, wav, 3gpp, mp4, acc, ogg, m4a and video formats such as 3gp, mp4, and Adobe Flash lite.

The enTourage eDGe is something new in the market, actually, it has yet to be released. I tried to research about it and some say that there are still bugs that needs to be ironed out, but like any othertech gadget these days, there’s no bug that an update cannot fix. And besides, the makers still have one more month to fix ‘em, and by that time I bet all will be well. We cannot really tell as of now, March 2010 is a month away to judge it by ourselves. But as the saying goes, “Knowing is just half the battle”, so let’s just wait and see.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry. Pocket is still known for publishing books on management skills, self-development, customer care, and all aspects of business and management. There are over 100 different titles of e-books to choose from the Pocket list which are ideal for continuing professional development.

The newest in the PocketBook line the PocketBook 360 is a 5 inch e-book reader with a terrific ergonomic design featuring the newest processor and Vizplex display for faster page turns and more enjoyable reading. Also known as 360 Degree Feedback, it is one of the most powerful experiences a person can have in the workplace, according to Tony Peacock the author of the 360 Degree Feedback Pocketbook.

The PocketBook 360 model uses a 5’’ third generation Vizplex electronic display with G-sensor, allowing automatic orientation of pages in portrait or landscape mode. Smaller than the 6-inch standard for most eReaders it has nonetheless a resolution of 600×800 and is capable of displaying up to 8 shades of gray. Controls placed on the side of the unit combined with a position sensor allow for holding and control in either hand or in landscape mode.

The 360 Degree PB is running on a Samsung S3C2440 AL-40 processor with 400MHz, and Linux operating system. The battery is powered by Li-Polymer (1000 mAh) which lasts without being recharged up to 8000 page turnings. The eReader is equipped with 4MB of RAM expandable to 32GB. The PocketBook 360 comes with 512MB internal memory which can be supported a microSD slot up to 2 GB. For connectivity the PocketBook 360 has no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cellular 3G connectivity– you’re stuck with the USB cord.

Communication possibilities include the availability of Mini-USB port, there is a slot for microSD, microSDHC memory card. When connected to PC this particular device is recognized as a USB-device, which allows easy transfers of electronic books to the device. The PocketBook 360 can read FB2, TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, DJVU, DOC, EPUB and TCR formats and supports JPG, BMP, PNG and TIF image formats. The languages on the book are German, English, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Russian, and Hebrew. The main page is available a list of the last 2 open books, a larger list can cause short-term pressing the power button.

Of the additional functions of PocketBook the 360 Degree features a set of mini-games, the possibility of reading a computer preloaded with RSS feeds, calendar and notes. Five games are included in the package: Sudoku, Chess, Solitair and Ship Battle. The PocketBook 360 offers also users to download English-Russian dictionary along with other dictionaries from the developer’s site.

The PB e-book measures 6.6 inch x 5.5 inch x 0.39 inch and weights just 150 grams. The design of the case and layout of the controls the PB360 was produced exclusively for the PocketBook Company and comes in color black or ivory color.  This stylish 360 Degree can be a great choice for e-book readers and also for PB fans.

The PocketBook 360 can be found at:

• Dulin’s Books for $239 USD
• PocketBook for $259 USD

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Popularity: 21% [?]