Plastic Logic, which is still gestating its entry in the new market for electronic reading devices, is disclosing a little bit more about its upcoming product.
After announcing earlier this week that Barnes & Noble would manage its electronic book store, the company said Wednesday that AT&T’s 3G network will provide the mobile broadband connection for the device, which is due to go on sale at the beginning of next year.
The Mountain View, Calif., company declined to disclose any more information about the pricing, or whether it will charge consumers monthly for that wireless connectivity. Amazon.com’s Kindle accesses content through Sprint Nextel’s wireless network, although users are not charged for the service and many probably do not even know their Kindle uses Sprint to download books and access the Web.
The Plastic Logic Reader, the size of a regular piece of paper, will be slightly larger than the Kindle DX and sport a touch-screen. Plastic Logic says the device will be targeted at business users, which typically suggests a higher price and the need to lure more affluent customers.
Unlike the Kindle, the Plastic Logic Reader will also be able to access Wi-Fi hotspots.
Does anyone think AT&T’s 3G access will be free?
If the 3G access is covered in the price of the books, as Amazon does it, then it could be “free.”
It won’t be free but they most likely will bill someone other than you? Of course they might bill you like text messaging?
Sprint has no local coverage so the Kendal isn’t going to do a lot of selling in my neighborhood.
John Dvorak commented in his book some time ago in reference to ebook readers coming on the scene- get over it a book is a book is a book
They will never go away
Everything in life is in regards to your choices and alternatives
In regards to the current pricing of books now many people are accepting alternatives and being able to use their financial resources , or the convenience factor plus the other features available to move onto the new product formats
Does anyone think that AT&T’s 3G network is going to be fast enough?
#3,
You are simply wrong about that. The determining factor about the success of new tech is “Do the kids like it?” and in that regards, so far every last one of these devices has been an utter failure.
E-books are an obvious progression of the technology, thus they are bound to fail. PDAs were obvious. They failed.
Take the only successful PDA like device in the last 10 years… The iPhone. Do you ever hear anyone talking about its PDA functions? Or even glowing about its phone functions? Nope. It is something new, and not obvious. It retrospect, whatever it is, will be obvious, as the original iPods success is now. But it certainly didn’t appear so the first couple of years of the iPod.
These e-books are developed in all the wrong ways… Slow screen long life, limited internet connectivity. On the other hand, look at the iPhone. Fast high resolution screen, a good fast processor, and compared to the e-books gives content authors full freedom of the device.
Web page viewing??? No so much, web page viewing is a a full computer application. Reading books??? Books are gonna take a few more years, but I long ago gave up the idea that you could shoe horn old tech onto a new device and improve it much. It has to be something new, that the old tech couldn’t do.
I have to ask something.
On the Kindle..can you Search the device and Easily find your Files, and copy them?
I would Dub it intolerable if I have paid for a File/book/document and its not available to me.
I know the ipods can be hacked to find and gather the music, but thats not an option. IF you BOUGHT it, you should have it Accessible.
This device, I will say the SAME THING. If I bought the material, and I cant have access to it…WHATS THE USE? its like going to the library, and you DO NOT KEEP the book.
As in all things, the Kindle is what it is.
What is the value of its ease of use coupled with the REALITY that certain works will get deleted for whatever reasons?
Compare that to the cost and ease of use of alternatives.
Shake the sand out of your panties.
I’m with John Dvorak: the design is wrong. Same with Kindle and other readers
As a former engineer, I see an obvious problem with the reader in the picture. It looks too thin and flimsy to stand up to normal wear and tear. Books are flexible, can use paper bookmarks or a mark on the margin to show where the previously read page is, and they don’t cost $400 plus the price of each book or document. I’ll also guess that I wouldn’t be able to load my own personal notes to take to a meeting. I think I’ll be using a sturdy laptop for awhile…
Will this e-reader also have a “kill” switch like the Kindle?
So you buy a book, and the next day, Barnes & Noble/Amazon/Obama decide you aren’t allowed to read it, so they remove it.
Why don’t they substitute the school books for this?
That would make it popular and maybe make the children read those books.
Aside from that, a lot would be saved in paper every year, since kids don’t tend to take much care of their books, which make it hard to pass it on to other students.
Does it survive a simple drop onto a sidewalk like a book? How is it in the rain? Likely to get stolen? Any chance to scribble notes in the margins? How about when you fall asleep while reading and later roll over it with your fat a**—-does the screen survive?
I like to read while eating. Spaghetti sauce might stain a book page, but it remains readable. Same with almost anything else you spill on a book..coffee..salad dressing…soda..snot…beer. How about a china coffee mug to the pages from several feet up? A book never develops a short circuit or a broken glass screen. Does it have that wonderful musty smell of old paper?
I’m sticking with books.
11,
go look at the 2nd and 3rd videos I posted..in #6.
I asked them for 1 other feature..a Digital recorder.
Its a special material..
Flexible Electronic Plastic.
“Sprint has no local coverage so the Kendal isn’t going to do a lot of selling in my neighborhood.”
Nobody has 3G in my neigbhorhood and I’ve have no problem with the Kindle. 2G or whatever it is downloads them fast enough.
9
“cost $400 plus the price of each book or document. ”
WRONG..the NEW version for most KINDLE like products will probably be MORE then the book.
And Im not even counting USED BOOKS at 1/2- 1/10 the price.
Meanwhile, when Apple releases its tablet in Q1 ’10, it will immediately dominate the segment.