There has been a fair number of e-book readers available in the market to date, and this time round we have Adtec Corp. from the Land of the Rising Sun that will release their latest electronic book reader at the end of next month in the land of its birth. This model will be built based on the “eSlick”, and just in case that comes across as rather familiar, the eSlick is currently being sold Stateside by Foxit Software Co., although Adtec’s version will (obviously) support the Japanese language. For those living in Japan, the Adtec e-book reader will be exclusively available from Adtec under the Foxit brand.
This reader will comprise of Prime View International (PVI) Co. Ltd.’s OEM device and Foxit’s proprietary software, merging to become a decent force where e-book readers are concerned. For its display, Adtec has settled for a black-and-white electronic paper screen that was developed based on E Ink Corp’s technologies. Measuring a rather generous 6″ in size, you will find that its 800 x 600 resolution ought to be enough when handling all of your portable electronic reading material. Unfortunately, the reader will lack built-in Wi-Fi capability which clearly is a strong case against picking one up - after all, many other newer e-book readers already come with integrated Wi-Fi support, considering the number of wireless hotspots that have mushroomed around the world no matter where we are. The lack of Wi-Fi would mean transmitting content data through USB or by an SD memory card. We have also heard that this reader will support contents compatible with iDoc K.K.’s “KeyringPDF” DRM technology.
Expect Adtec’s online store to be the main seller of this e-book reader, where it will retail for around ¥30,000 (approximately US$319). Adtec is targeting sales of up to 50,000 units in fiscal 2009, and word has it that the company is currently building coalitions with several firms to increase the number of contents. For those who can wait, Adtec will be working on a new next-generation model of the e-book reader that will be released next year in Japan, where it will feature color electronic paper and wireless communication capability. Given that 2010 isn’t too far away, we’d prefer to wait till then.
