Going to upgrade your Kindle with a Plastic Logic? May 27, 2009

Was at the “demo booth” checking out the new “business-focused” eReader device from Plastic Logic (see the earlier post for details).  Martha Stewart was there also.  “Are you looking for a Kindle upgrade?” I asked.  No, actually I want to talk to them about putting my magazine on that device.

Looks like the “business-focused” eReader device is also going to be a hit with the consumer market also.

After playing around with the “beta” device I have the following observations:

1. The screen quality is similar to the 1st generation Kindle but it is much larger
2. The delay between operations is quite slow (slower than the original Kindle) but that is because this is a prototype and the software and hardware are not yet optimized (so says the developer)
3. The ability to annotate with a software keyboard (that is a pretty good size) is available in the form of “notes”
4. You can also draw annotations onto the screen with “digital ink”
5. Another form of annotation is the “stamps” pallet that allows you to place arrows, stars, or other simply drawn graphical symbols onto the screen
6. The unit will doc to your computer with a USB interface
7. The unit will also have a “WiFi” connector for network connection to an e-commerce store for content
8. The unit imports content while respecting the original pagination of that content (it does not “reflow” content unless you make a change to “font size” and that is only on “text-only” content
9. The unit will import PDF, Word, PowerPoint, RTF, and other common formats.
10. The device will be priced in the neighborhood (estimated) of around $500

The developer seemed to be eagar to incorporate the healthy stream of suggestions coming from those playing with the demo units.  Looking forward to the first production later in the year.