Asus DR-950 Leaked-Bring on the eBook Army!

(all photos courtesy MobileRead)

Post-CES, everyone has been patiently waiting for the flood of e-ink screens due to be released. Well, Mobileread caught pictures of the Asus DR-950 on Flickr, and from looks alone these might be enough to make you rethink your gadget budget this year!

There’s no word on pricing yet, but here is what is known, courtesy of Register Hardware:

The DR-950 measures 222 x 161 x 9mm and weighs in at 370g. A full battery charge – which Asus said takes 3.5 hours – will let owners read for up to four days. Recharges over USB 2.0 will be possible.

The machine will support PDF and ePub file formats, Asus said.

For reference, the other e-ink devices that come in around 9 inches include the Kindle DX and the upcoming Plastic Logic Que Reader. The DX retails for $489, and the Que is projected to start around $649. Asus IS the company that brought us a $300 netbook, and while it’s unlikely the DR-950 will come in that low, it isn’t unreasonable to expect the pricing will be competitive.

I don’t see this device completely unseating the Kindle DX; Amazon’s tight store integration is still a killer feature, and most people who are willing to spend $489 are doing so for the Kindle Store and Whispersync as much as they are for the larger screen. On the other hand, for buyers looking to read PDFs without much scrolling, zooming and resizing, if Asus brings this in cheaper than the DX there’s a compelling case to buy the DR-950. In addition, coming in below the DX pricing will definitely put pressure on the Que pricing as well. Yes, Plastic Logic has a very compelling argument for why the Que is more than just an ebook reader, but the sticker shock is high for a non-c0lor device. And there’s a certain rumored tablet announcement this week that may seriously pressure the high end of the reader market…

But all that’s for another day. For now, just enjoy the leaked shots of the DR-950!

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Tags: Asus, Books and eBooks, Rumors and Speculation