BenQ Rolling out e-Book Reader in Asia — nReader
Image Credit: Digitimes
Yet another e-book device is coming to market — if you live in Taiwan, Japan or China, that is. Digitimes says BenQ is joining the ranks of Sony, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, to name a few, by offering its own branded electronic book reader. Dubbed the nReader, it uses eInk technology for the 6″ display, offers 2 GB of internal storage and can handle up to a 16 GB expansion card.
But “content is king,” as they say — and by content, I mean “supported formats.” The nReader is pretty bland in that regard: PDF, HTML and TXT are what’s expected to appear on that screen. Pics are viewable through standard formats and you can listen to MP3 tunes as well. Without wireless support or compatibility with ePub or any other major book-specific format, I don’t envision the 300,000 units sold in 2010 that BenQ sees. Watch for it to hit in January for around $280.
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Also, having used a 6″ e-reader, I’d prefer one just slightly larger, say 7 to 9 inch screen. I notice the new Sony PRS-900BC will be 7″ and is ready to ship (according to Sony web page) around Dec. 18. Curious to see how it stacks up to Nook and others. I think they all need WiFi and wireless 3G connections to compete.