Plastic Logic QUE Preview

Posted by Artash Arakelyan On February - 12 - 2010 ADD COMMENTS

plastic logic quePlastic Logic is a spin-off company from the Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics. Plastic Logic’s Mission is to lead a revolution in the way people acquire, organize and consume information. The headquarters of Plastic Logic is in Mountain View, California.

Plastic Logic unveils QUE, the first proreader designed for the business professional. QUE is built using unique plastic electronics technology, and was designed to have the benefits of paper, but without weight and clutter. The Plastic Logic QUE ebook reader was designed by industrial design firm IDEO and is the best-looking device in its category.

The QUE borrows a certain Apple-like quality as it’s both extremely thin and very minimalist. The Plastic Logic QUE is an e-reader that enables you to carry reading material wherever you go. After three different debuts, we know QUE will be size of 1/3 inch thick and weighting 16 oz (453 grams), less than many periodicals (about a pound). Besides compact size the QUE is also a beautiful device. The company clearly put a lot of effort into everything from the design to one-touch navigation.

QUE features a crisp, clear screen that looks and reads just like paper. QUE has a lighter 10.7 inch display which is possible more durable than a glass screen. The screen displays your latest emails and calendar, pulled from Outlook along with your favorite subscriptions and books. The user is able to interact with the documents with the touch of a finger. Today the QUE has the largest E link display among ebook readers, as well as the touchscreen interface.

The device’s touchscreen display includes a virtual onscreen keyboard allowing the user to add notes, to include comments, highlight text, scribble free form, and even add a stamp to emphasize a point. No stylus is needed for the QUE.

plastic logic que ereader

Plastic Logic’s strategy is to aim its product at business professionals, given the large screen and support for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. Plastic Logic has also given it email and calendar support, together with Outlook sync. QUE users will be able to connect to content and download wirelessly via Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 3G network, the nation’s fastest 3G mobile broadband network. With the QUE software, it’s easy to quickly transfer content from your PC, Mac computer, or BlackBerry smartphone to your QUE.

The company has also lined up a host of business publications to provide content for its platform, including the Dow Jones Company and The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and All Things Digital, Forbes, and Fast Company. The standard 4GB model can hold 35,000 documents or so, and an 8GB version pumps that up to 70,000 or so and the latest adds 3G connectivity. As nice as it is, Plastic Logic promise to reveal the Plastic Logic QUE in March. Preorders for the QUE proreader will be priced at $649 USD for the 4GB model with Wi-Fi or $799 USD for the 8GB model with both Wi-Fi and 3G.

Here’s the original preview article we posted in May 2009 about the QUE. Seems like Plastic Logic is really taking their time to get it perfect. ;)

plastic logic que ebook reader

Foxit eSlick Review

Posted by Jennifer Wang On January - 13 - 2009 1 COMMENT

Who the heck is Foxit, you may ask? Well, to those in the PDF world, they’re known as an Adobe competitor, having developed a lightweight PDF reader in 2007 which had a great reception and is still used by many. So they definitely have some “cred” when it comes to the ebooks arena.

Their first portable ebook reader is known as the Foxit eSlick and could be considered an entry level device due to its very affordable pricetag ($289), yet it still manages to offer users a great set of features.

Features of the eSlick

Design

  • e-Ink screen - Nothing unusual, pretty much every ebook reader uses this technology
  • Thin profile - A svelte 0.4 inches…nice!
  • Lightweight - 6.4 ounces (think 2 average sized cell phones)
  • Long battery life - A single charge lasts up to 8000 page turns (wow!)
  • Quick recharge - The battery can be recharged in only 3-4 hours
  • Internal memory - Only 128 mb, fairly weak compared to competitors (some offer > 2 GB)
  • External memory - An SD slot is available, so this gives you the option of adding up to 8 GB of dat
  • Colors - Available in white, grey, or black

Audio

  • Built in MP3 Player - You can transfer music to the eSlick via a USB port and listen while you read.

PDF

  • Create - The eSlick of course uses Foxit’s great PDF generation technology (their PDF Creator software is included) so you can convert and download many file formats
  • Zoom - You can easily zoom between 50-400%
  • Reflow - The font size can be controlled and text is automatically resized for optimal viewing

Price

  • Price - Hold the phone!! $289? No way! This is the cheapest ebook reader we’ve seen so far!

Summary

The Foxit eSlick is a very affordable ebook reader that offers all the bare essentials one would need to read electronic books. If you need all the fancy bells and whistles, such as Wi-Fi, a web browser, or “Read-To-Me”, the eSlick is likely not for you. But if you’re looking for a cheap (pricewise, not design!) electronic reading device that does everything most people require, or if you just want to dip your toes in the ebook reader pool…you should be quite content with the Foxit eSlick.

Rating:
1 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 10 (1 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
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