While netbook manufacturers are busy thinking of what they can cram into their latest netbooks to satisfy multimedia junkies, some people actually prefer text and monochrome. If you’re old school/classic like that, Virginia-based company enTourage Systems will soon be putting out a device they call The eDGe (less U2, more techie).
The enTourage eDGe
It’s a… it’s a… well, first things first, we found it via Boston.com:
Smartphones and netbooks may be the best things that ever happened to multimedia junkies, who can now watch movies and play games wherever they like.
But for those of us who love text, the same gadgets, with their flashlight-bright screens, are a brutal way to absorb the morning’s headlines, never mind The New Yorker or a novel.
Enter The Edge, an LCD netbook with a separate, easier-on-the-eyes, grayscale e-reader screen.
The Edge, due out in February, is one of a handful of breakout gadgets that will incorporate E Ink’s reflective screen technology (think Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader) in 2010.
Read the full article here at Boston.com.
The Edge is a full-fledged netbook, going open source rather than the usual Microsoft way. It utilizes Linux with Google’s Android OS, has stylus and virtual keyboard as inputs — although one can easily connect a real keyboard via the 2 USB ports or Bluetooth. It has audio and movie playback capability, and has pretty cool note-taking functions — through stylus or keyboard — via the Journal program.
What’s impressive is the 2nd panel that functions as an e-reader for your PDF eBooks, ePaper for your notes — even write notes directly into your books for that personal touch. Wanna see a full-colored picture from your PDF? Drag it to the other panel for viewing it in living color.
The eDGe is just one of the many gadgets starting to come out that uses the E-Ink technology – much alike Amazon’s Kindle. You do most of your netbook computing on the 10.1″ touchscreen first panel, but the equally versatile e-reader panel gives you a lot of options for note-taking and just plain eBook enjoyment. Hey, it’ll even record lectures and audio.
Click here for a full feature list on The eDGe.
What we like about The eDGe is its novel versatility — it’s a feature-packed netbook that you can rely on for mobile work computing and school, but it also gives you added features via the E-Ink panel. It can give half a day’s worth of battery life, easy. Can you connect a USB DVD player to it? We have to try to get that info, because it would make sense to pair it with an external DVD burner for added functionality. In any case, your MacPCWiz dudes are already taking a liking to The eDGe, already, and it’s not even out yet.
wow, really nice and interesting specialized PC product!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gerardo Diwa, Gerardo Diwa. Gerardo Diwa said: The enTourage eDGe – e-Reader and netbook! http://bit.ly/znRDb at Mac PC Wiz [...]
What segment of professional we think this device will target?? Could be it a cool device while you are travelling and just want to read a doc/pdf, or e-novel kind of stuff?
However needless to say, this is another device which confirms that Android is just not a phone OS, and its capabilities can be leveraged for many other devices.
Any idea about the pricing of this device?
That is exactly the type of device this is.
We agree with you on that one.
Current pricing is at $499.00USD on their website.
Cheers.
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