Asus Color eBook Readers Swirling; Entourage Edge Has a Mini Competitor

(Photo courtesy Mobileread)

Still trying to dig through the avalanche of new ebook reader announcements from CES? Been saving up your pennies and dreaming of which new, rumored, or announced device is going to be your newest tech toy? Better make some room on your wishlist, because two more devices started circling the rumor mill!

First up is an Asus ebook reader with an OLED color screen, movie and web capabilities, and 122 hours of battery life! Engadget was able to follow the initial rumor with confirmation of ePUB support, plus text to speech. No word on pricing, release date, whether this will run Android, or if there will be a dedicated content store for it. Also, the gang at Mobile Read seemed a bit concerned about the OLED bit; apparently sunlight is not a friend to those kinds of screens, which could hurt Asus in the ebook reader market. If one side is e-ink screens, and the other is e-ink style color screens like Pixel Qi and Mirasol, will there be a place for an OLED reader?

If you like the style of the Entourage Edge, but think it’s a bit too large for your tastes, watch for news on the Astri dual screened reader in the above video. One side is e-ink, the other a color Android screen; it sort of looks like a Kindle, an HTC Hero, and a Nintendo DS had a baby. Presumably it will be lighter and more pocketable than the Edge, which may give it an edge (hee!) in the newly competitive dual-screen market, alongside variants like the Spring Design Alex and the B&N Nook.

I have to say, at first the Asus one sounded interesting, but there are so many color screen tablet/reader devices coming out that I am just not excited for another variant. On the other hand, the Astri sounds really cool, and if it is implemented well could be a very neat pocket sized device. But those are just my thoughts…what do you think?

Via Mobileread (Astri and Asus)

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Tags: Android Phones and Tablets, Asus, Books and eBooks, eReaders