Asus DR-570 E-Reader To Bring OLED Display

MojoKid writes "Reportedly, Asus will be introducing the DR-570 color eReader by the end of 2010, but it won't be just another one in the crowd. In fact, it just might be a game-changer. The reader will supposedly have a 6" screen, but rather than using e-ink like every other reader out there, this one will utilize a color OLED screen. Word is the unit will last a whopping 122 hours on a full charge. It should also be able to run Flash applications, download books over 3G to Wi-Fi, and most likely surf the web, unlike any other reader out there." Asus will be rolling out two other ebook reader models this year as well.

Comments

vaga222

[Anonymous Coward]

122 hours on full charge? Really?

Does anyone have any information to back this up? OLED screen power requirements etc?

O RLY?

[Mr_Silver]

In fact, it just might be a game-changer.

Okay...

The reader will supposedly have a 6" screen, but rather than using e-ink like every other reader out there, this one will utilize a color OLED screen.

According to Wikipedia: " OLEDs typically produce only around 200 nits of light leading to poor readability in bright ambient light, such as outdoors "

They're proposing that an OLED E-Reader which cannot be read properly in sunlight will be "game changing". Forgive me for being not quite so optomistic.

Re:O RLY?

[TheRaven64]

I saw this a few days ago, and it sounds like a nice tablet machine. If it's hackable then I'd be very interested in one, especially if I can use it with a Bluetooth keyboard. As an eBook reader, it sounds pretty poor.

Of course, that's assuming that it just has an OLED display. One thing I've been hoping for for a while is a hybrid with eInk under transparent OLED. You'd designate different regions of the screen to the different displays, so you could have colour images and videos in boxes on a text page. For something like a web page, most of the text would be rendered on the eInk display, but videos and images would use the OLED, unless you were in low-power mode, then videos would be disabled and images would be converted to greyscale. Touch a button and it would make the eInk black under the image and use the OLED to show the picture.

Missing the E-ink point.

[onion2k]

The point about e-ink is that it's passive. It doesn't emit light. That's what makes it very easy to read for extended periods. Throw that away and you might as well go back to reading books on your laptop.

Maybe...

[Primitive Pete]

I agree with your point about the passivity of e-ink (and I'm a kindle user), but I think it is also important to note the distinction between people who read, and people who look at the pictures (say, in Elle). There's probably room in the market for both products, and they may not experience too much conflict in user communities.

Re:but...

[shutdown -p now]

I thought the WHOLE POINT of an e-book reader is that e-ink displays are easier on the eyes for long periods than other display technologies.

Not really, there's also the very long battery life. Which of those two is more important depends on who you ask, though.

Apple will be first

[Anonymous Coward]

I predict Apple has kept the iSlate super-secret because it's not just a tablet PC, it's a color e-reader with multi-touch support and weeks-long battery life (when not used for video or wireless).

We know the technology is there, and Apple only releases new product lines to be game-changers of existing product categories. What could be game-changing about a simple tablet PC? Many other are offering them now. A highly usable full-color e-reader in early 2010, on the other hand...