Thursday, September 25, 2008

Hanwang Intros New eBook Reader



Wang Xinhua paper books - paper books electric N510 -- Google machine English page link (sample quoted):
Wang Xinhua paper book is the N510 Wang's new class of a paper reader. Based on the latest electronic ink display technology, like reading e-books to read as paper books, comfortable environment, no eye injury. At the same time, also has a large capacity and the portability of features: a hand in, a thousand volumes of books; electronic ink, the books still. Blue Sky let you study to become green! Bit by bit to your use of the time, added to your wisdom, so that your life is full of joy!

Machine English tends to crack me up.

汉王电纸书 - 电纸书N510 -- native Chinese language link

I saw this over at MobileRead.

What's striking is it's the first five-inch eInk screen eBook device. And the price is just $200?! Update: MobileRead corrected the price. About US$330. Bah!

The design seems a lot like the Ectaco jetBook, except the row of buttons are now on the left side of the screen instead of the right. They are also now Sony Reader-style buttons.

With that five-inch screen, I expect it to be the size of the jetBook too. And the actual dimensions prove that guesstimate to be true:

Hanwang: 152mm x 108mm x 11mm
jetBook: 153mm x 109mm x 13mm


jetBook next to first-gen Sony Reader, size comparison

Now there's an idea for Sony to -- word of this week -- cramdown the price of the Sony Reader to a near-impulse buy price of $199: make one with a five-inch screen! Really, Sony, I don't think it'd matter much to people, the smaller screen. It'd be a fast and cheap intro to eBooks and they can always upgrade to the six-inch screen later!

Sony Reader Mini?

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