Hands-On Demo Shows Asus E-Reader Tablet In Action

MojoKid writes "Mobile computing is making its mark at Computex 2010, with tablet PCs and e-readers of all sorts coming out for the first time as rivals to Apple's iPad. After announcing its Eee Pad tablet PC, Asus offered some hands-on time with its new e-Reader/e-Writer, designed for students and mobile business professionals. The little slate's features include 10-hour battery life, 2,450 dpi resolution touch screen, pen writing and input controls, 2MP camera, USB port, and a MicroSD slot. In addition, Asus also has strong ties with Amazon, so it wouldn't be a reach to see some sort of partnership between Asus and Amazon with the Kindle bookstore as a content provider."

Wishlist

[Errol backfiring]

What I would like is to use such a thing as a terminal. Use it as a screen / digitizer combination at work or at home, and to be able to use it as a separate PC when on the train. As I don't do no flash, I cannot see what OS it has and if software can be installed on it, but it could make a great, finally ergonomic, X terminal.

Not released and already an epic fail...

[Lumpy]

Give me 8.5" by 11" or A4 size screen with the resolution to replicate a FULL PAGE OF TEXT.

Why cant these tablet makers get it through their heads? 1200X600 = too small I want to see a full page and annotate it. Otherwise it is another leisure toy and not a real tool for education or work.

Re:color?

[Albanach]

Normally, the display is gray scale because an e-ink display is used which causes less of a draw on power and extends out the battery life to a week. I'm guessing that the 10-our battery life is a conservative estimate. Otherwise your standard eee-pc/iPad clone outperforms such a device because they're color, available now at 300$, and last up to 10 hours.

The specs make this look like a note taking / annotation device. That's something the kindle sucks at. Jobs won't allow a stylus near the iPad, so they're avoiding that market altogether. Netbooks are fine for typists as long as your notes are all text. As soon as diagrams are involved they suck too.

So really this is a $$$ replacement for a pad of lined paper. That said, if the applications are well put together, it might well have a market even if that market doesn't include you or me.

Is it just me?

[interval1066]

Am I out of line by whining that we all should be well over the use of monochrome displays in these devices? When I see an eReader using a monochrome display I think "that looks so last decade...", and the strange thing to me is that it takes Apple and its iPad to deliver full color output? Like its some huge friggin' technological effort to create a tablet device with color; so they get to charge almost $1000 a pop? I don't get it. Am I missing the incredible technological leap that has been made with the iPad?

Re:Not released and already an epic fail...

[BobMcD]

Give me 8.5" by 11" or A4 size screen with the resolution to replicate a FULL PAGE OF TEXT.

Why cant these tablet makers get it through their heads? 1200X600 = too small I want to see a full page and annotate it. Otherwise it is another leisure toy and not a real tool for education or work.

While I can see how this might be useful for a copy-editor or similar, why is this going to matter for the rest of us?

Print is dying, my friend. Soon (if not already) everything important will come in a digital format as well as a printed one, and the application doing the printing will be expected to resize and adjust so things look good once printed.

The demo illustrated one of the key features as to why this is the case - adjustable fonts. Can't do that once it has been printed out...

Re:color?

[bodland]

Without color this device simply will not attract the "note takers"..." who is the biggest market segment of "note takers" who adopt new devices quickly?

College students. Ever seen a young person react to monochrome display...?? "Yucky" pretty much sums it up.

I think it is important to realize that tablet devices are going move quickly beyond the static brick...flexible displays will allow a thin device that has all the characteristics and user experience of a magazine with moving pictures and internet access. Text books, magazines, video, personal apps, media...will all converge...onto one device. Even note taking...

Why would anyone make a device that dumps itself into a tiny niche market?? The real driving factor that people seem to miss is content. What kind of content does a person want monochrome displays for? Mass Media market content is in color. Digital content cannot be free any longer and the publisher's are all lining up to make sure of it. Mark these words:

Publisher's are working very hard to reduce the largest expense they have....an expense that drives advertising costs sky high. Printing and paper. Drastically reduce those two things and make money distributing content to mobile multi-function devices...is where publisher's are all going.