E-Readers

CES 2011

jetbook_oxford

The Ectaco jetBook Oxford+ educational eReader

January 8th, 2011 | by Zara Stone

I’ve always thought that the natural place for eBook readers resides in schools, if only to prevent kids from the terrible backache caused by heavy backpacks. Ectaco have just announced an eReader especially for schoolchildren, the jetBook Oxford+ / jetBook K-12 (they don’t seem to have made up their mind on the title). What immediately strikes you about this is the design- it comes in its own stand with penholders and the Ectaco C Pen arranged to its side. It’s quite an eye-catching design, and the finish is ruggedized, to cope with all those knocks and bumps in the playground. The jetBook Oxford + comes preinstalled with a selection of books from the reading lists of states countrywide and has a 5 inch TFT screen, is 15mm thick and weighs in at 220g. It has been designed with the education system in mind, and this is evident from the number of thoughtful features included in the device. The included Ectaco C=Pen allows you to scan printed text and upload it to the eReader, which will enable students to put the majority of work they get given on their device, and get rid of all those ‘the dog ate my homework’ excuses.


CES 2011

Hanvon_colour-ebook reader

Hands on with the Hanvon eInk colour Ebook reader

January 8th, 2011 | by Zara Stone

For years the debate has raged- do you opt for the pretty (but tiring on the eyes) LCD eReader for eBooks, or do you go for the drabber but infinitely better eInk screen, which lacks colours. That choice just got easier with news of the Hanvon eBook reader which uses eInk AND has a colour screen. How does it achieve this? Very simply, actually- it simply uses a colour filter to display 4096 colours. They did look rather muted on the devices we got to play with, but we were told they can look brighter with different PDF's. Hanvon hope that this option will change the way people choose which eReader to buy, as their reader will offer colour in combination with the 30+ days of battery time associated with most eInk readers. The eReader will play most common formats, including ePub, TXT and PDF files and will also display JPG's. It features integrated WiFi to allow you to download easily from their eBook store, and their are plans for a 3G model in the works. The screen is 9.7 inches and has a digitizer touchscreen, and you can use your hands or the included stylus to flick through pages or surf. There's seems to be quite a lag on the page turns however- we were quoted 2 seconds- which seems a long time to refresh, but hopefully this will be improved on. There's an SD card slot so you can expand the memory, and a 3.5mm jack, as the reader can also handle audio. It comes preinstalled with a selection of games and books, and feels rather nice in the hand- substantial, but not too weighty. A release date has yet to be confirmed, but it will be on sale for approximately $500 from, Hanvon in China later this year


CES 2011

E-FUN_Nextbook

EFun add two Android tablets to their Nextbook lineup

January 5th, 2011 | by Zara Stone

Efun demonstrates that tablets are their preferred medium by adding two more to this year’s CES 2011 line-up. Their new tablets are both Android based and feature capacitive touchscreens for ease of use. The tablets on offer are the 10.1 inch High Definition Next4 and the 7 inch Next6. The former runs off Android 2.2 whilst the latter uses Android 2.1. What’s interesting about these is that they are trying to juggle both the tablet world and make dents into the growing eBook marketplace, as the tablets both come equipped with built in Wi-Fi and the Borders eBook store app. The Next4 features 8GB of flash memory whilst the Next6 has 4GB and they’re both expandable via an SD card slot. They come preloaded with 25 eBooks (most likely classics out of copyright) and feature Wi-Fi for streaming content. The tablet has multiple uses, as not only does it allow you to stream and browse the web, but it also acts as an alarm clock, weather station and photo viewer. Both devices feature built in speakers and a G sensor which acts as an accelerometer, adjusting the screen when you turn it. The new Next tablets will be available in Q2 of 2011, the Next4 for $349.99 for the Next6 for $269.99 from NextBook



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