Fujitsu sells first color e-paper touch device

[Pugsly]

At a time when Amazon is trying to revive the popularity of the book with electronic ink in its recent Kindle 2 grayscale, Japanese Fujitsu launched the marketing of Flepia first book in electronic ink color. The technology of ink or electronic paper (e paper), no backlight, mimics the properties to recall the real paper and does not consume the energy that loading a page.

Fujitsu claims up to 40 hours playback with a full charge. The touch screen 8-inch display 260 000 colors and a definition of 1024 x 768 pixels. It fits in a box barely larger than 24 x 16 x 1.25 cm for a weight of 385 grams. It also features a memory card reader SD and WiFi wireless connectivity and Bluetooth.

Based on Windows CE, it includes access to an online store, an Internet browser, an e-mail software and the Microsoft Office suite.

By using e-paper, the company manages to net 40 hours of active use from a single battery charge by only consuming display power when redrawing the page.The Japanese creator also provides the FLEPia with Bluetooth that can be used to connect the tablet to the Internet through a cellphone's 3G link. For local storage, Fujitsu depends on an SD card slot and a USB port. It's also possible to use the reader for audiobooks and other sound through both internal speakers and a headphone jack.

Pre-orders start today and price the reader at the equivalent of about $1,018 for the FLEPia's April 20th release date. Fujitsu hasn't indicated whether or not it will export the reader to the US.The FLEPia theoretically competes against not only major e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle but also color, touchscreen devices used for similar functions, like the iPod touch.

[Pugsly]

Another factor: More and more electronic versions of books are becoming available, they are cheaper, and some - legally or not - can even be had for free.

Users also say that in some cases, e-books are more convenient. Stored on, say, an iPhone, Tolstoy's War And Peace is much easier to tote around than the weighty tome itself. The National Library Board (NLB) is leading the e-book charge here. It has more than 770,000 e-books in its collection, and said interest has grown by an average of 10 per cent over the past year.

Featuring an 8-inch XGA screen capable of displaying 260,000 colors, along with Bluetooth, WiFi and up to 4GB of storage via SD card, and measuring less than half an inch thick, FLEPia's not just getting by on color alone. Fujitsu promises 40 hours of continuos use, and the unit can be operated by its touchscreen or the assortment of function buttons. Naturally you can do the regular e-book thing, but the Japanese version of the device also includes full-on Windows CE 5.0, which would probably be a bit of a chore to use with the relatively slow screen refresh times of e-ink (1.8 seconds for a single wipe), but undeniably retrofuturistic.

[Danior]

Let me rephrase: Combine this with the demand and preexisting cost of the Kindle and you've got an expensive-ass E-book reader on your hands.

Sure I'd love to have one, but if they mashed the 2 together into some glorious, full-color, wireless, internet-connected, wonder-device, it's definitely NOT going to be priced for the everyman.