As a fan of e-paper technology, I can't help but share this news, vague though it may be.
Netronix launches its EB-100 and EB-300 «electronic books»
This part is particularly noteworthy:
The EB-300 is much better equipped:
- 9.7" touchscreen(!) display with a resolution of 1200 x 825 pixels
- 512 MB of flash memory, SD cards
- 2 USB ports
- 3.5 mm stereo headphone output
- Wi-Fi 802.11g and Bluetooth interfaces
These features are crucial to the genuine success of an e-paper device. Two other key factors are the price and the ability to read the mountains of books already in one's collection, particularly those in djvu and pdf formats.
Third-party software will, of course, be quick to appear, but I would like to see powerful conversion capabilities provided directly by the manufacturer.
In any case, though, this is only the second generation of devices; the real boom will begin in 2011–12, when high-quality colour screens appear.