More On enTourage's Dual-screen E-Book Reader

Barence writes with some more information on a device mentioned in passing earlier today: "The enTourage eDGe eBook reader was the highlight of the CES Unveiled event, which gives journalists a sneak preview of what’s set to appear this year’s show. It has a 9.7in e-paper display on one side and a 10.1in LCD screen on the other, both of which are touchscreens, allowing you to annotate eBooks with handwritten notes or scan through web pages with the flick of a finger on the LCD screen. In a brief hands-on demonstration, the eDGe showed several clever touches, such as allowing you to perform a Google search on the term using the built-in web browser, and then link the search results to the eBook page, which is a great research tool for students reading academic texts. It's an Android device, too."

The highlight?

[CannonballHead]

Who defines what the highlight is? I've never been to anything CES and don't know a ton about it (aside from reading about it every year), so I don't know if maybe they actually do pick one item as a highlight... or this it the highlight according to the submitter :)

Dual screens -- Neat idea

[Locke2005]

Might sell; will probably be too pricey to be successful. I have one question: with a touchscreen on each side, how does it keep from scratching one screen up while you are using the other? Also, although I'm sure an eInk display is a big win in terms of power consumption, I'm still not convinced it is that much more readable than a color LCD. Resolution is good, contrast not so much... maybe I'm just bothered by the slow page update time.

It may be a good all-in-one for travelers

[hwyhobo]

The TFA didn't point to the full-spec page:

enTourage eDGe [entourageedge.com]

Battery should last 16 hours using E-reader alone. Not exactly a record breaker, but usable. The right side is a complete netbook attached to the E-reader. Not a bad combination for travelers. I kind of like the idea, whether this particular implementation is perfect or not. For what it offers, the price is not bad, either.

Just fixed the f****** capitalization of it, fer crying out loud. Is the intended market teenage mallrats?

I won't own one til they gaurantee my rights

[BlueCoder]

What's the point in investing in an ebook reader if your locked in?

I want a central copy registry where I have legal registration for copies I own and am guaranteed indefinite ownership and am guaranteed the right to transfer my ownership for individual items.. And I want to be able to lend items to people. Same as a physical book.

I want it an outside legal trust independent of any publisher with both the monetary backing to last over a hundred years and an endorsement by the US Senate and the EU and audited every 2 to 5 years. It will be this agency that dictates file formats and implements standardized copy protection. They will be required to develop and deploy software for any platform that meets certain criteria; essentially any platform with a to be determined minimal user base as well as being paid by a company or a platforms supporters to implement it. Sort of a combination of an international copyright office and a library of congress. They will also have the right override a publishers price according to laws in various countries with a mind toward maximizing revenue.

I further want a guarantee from all countries that they will not try to "legally confiscate" my licenses for material if I was not physically in that country when I purchased it. So if I step off the plane in Saudi Arabia they will not confiscate my digital playboy collection... Of course I would make the distinction between owning something and being able to use view it... so theoretically if some small country legalized child porn for sale one could own the material but not be entitled to view it. The latter is a separate issue. For this discourse I only care about ownership rights.

The problem with Google searches

[martin-boundary]

The problem with linking a google search to a page of an academic text is that the web is dynamic. Today's search hits won't be around tomorrow, or might be edited, have a changed layout etc, whereas an academic text is timeless. As a student, you're much better off going to the library to look up the references directly rather than relying on web clippings as if they were real notes.