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Netbook Creator Asus to Launch Game-Changing E-Reader
By: Michelle Maisto
2009-09-07
Article Rating:    / 2
There are 2 user comments on this Desktops & Notebooks story.
Asus is hoping to do for the e-reader market what it did for PCs when it introduced the first netbook. Asus, its reported, will release one, if not two, e-reader in 2009, a premium version of which will feature two screens with a booklike spine.Asus is planning to enter the e-reader market later this year with at least
one, if not two, device, the Times
of London is reporting.
The company that invented the netbook is innovating again, as the design ideas
it shared with the Times would surely shake up the market. Unlike the single,
flat screens of current e-readerssuch as the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader and Plastic
Logic Readerthe Asus version would feature two screen on a hinged spine,
more exactly mimicking the look and feel of a book.
Additionally, the Asus e-reader would feature full color, instead of the
monocolor screens its competitors use, for a realistic ink-on-paper look. It
would also feature touch-screens and offer online connectivity. Consequently,
readers would have the option of reading on one page and pulling up a Web pagewith
supplemental materials, for exampleon the other, making it a natural
educational tool.
Another option, reports the Times, is for the second screen to act as an
on-screen keyboard, enabling the e-reader to be used like a laptop. A Webcam,
speakers and a microphone for Skype also will be included.
Our ethos is innovationas our brand is less well-known, we have to run faster
than the competition to develop new types of products, a spokesman for Asus
told the Times.
Any such productincluding an e-readerhas to have the right combination of
functionality and price. No one is going to buy one for 1,000.
Asus is said to be working on budget and premium versions. The premium is
likely the double-screen version described above. The budget model, dubbed the
Eee Reader, after the companys Eee PC netbook line, is expected to be more
traditional and compete at a considerably lower price point. The Times reports
that Asus will likely try for a price of 100 British pounds, or approximately $164.
In
a July 29 report, Forrester Research found that the e-reader market is growing,
albeit from a very small base, according to report author Sarah Rotman.
She concluded that the market will grow once prices fall.
While some will jump on board when prices hit $199 in 2010, others will hold
out for a $99 device in 2012 or a $99 E Ink screen accessory for PCs and smartphones
that could (and should) come out sooner, she wrote.
In
a Sept. 1 report, Forrester reiterated the same, forecasting that interest will
rise as prices drop. The same author predicted that e-readers wont reach
the purchase numbers of MP3 playerswhich in 2009, 61 percent of the U.S.
online population ownsbut that digital cameras, which took 10 years to reach
50 million U.S. consumers, are a more likely model.
If Asus can do for the e-reader market what it did for PCs, it'll be back to
the drawing board for the researchers.
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