Wireless E Ink e-reader works with Vista PCs—but it’s just in prototype stage
“The Home E-Reader is a small handheld portable Windows SideShow device that connects wirelessly to a Windows Vista PC. It combines the convenience of electronic documents with wireless access to Windows Vista. It has a reflective eInk type display that is optimized for reading documents so that reading with the Home E-Reader is as comfortable as it is on paper. It can cache a large number of pages on the device so that it can also be used offline. It also includes stylus capability.” – Paper Gadgets.
More information: Trish Mellor, a sales VP at RicaVision, tells me the device, built at Microsoft’s request, is just in the prototype stage. But she says several OEMs are looking it over and it might come out in the next year. It uses Microsoft’s Widows Sideshow technology. She doesn’t know which formats it works with. Hmm. No IDPF standard, presumably. And could the melding of Vista and related hardware be one way Microsoft intends to bind people to its OS—open standards be damned? Not fun. Still, I love the tether idea. You’ll be able to pick up e-books from your Vista PC even if the power isn’t on, judging from info on the Sideshow side.
No, I don’t know the price. Meanwhile I’ll quote more from Paper Gadget: “As small and lightweight as a single book, the Home E-Reader allows users to download and take along newspapers, books, and documents, or upload them to share with family, friends, or co-workers. In addition, the stylus capability enables the user to make notes that can be easily transferred to a PC. As electronics become more integrated into our contemporary lifestyle, a device like the Home E-Reader may become essential to access the computers with the ease of ordinary pen and paper. For personal or professional use, the Home E-Reader can add significant value to Windows Vista experience.
“The Home E-Reader uses the SideShow as the primary GUI and Windows Vista as the means by which pages are actually rendered for display on the device.”
Notice the reference to sharing? With Microsoft involved, however, I suspect there’ll be DRM restrictions.
That aside, this could be a significant product category if the price is right. Like it or not—and I have mixed feelings because of the heavy-duty DRM infestation—Vista isn’t going away.
(Via Mobile Read.)
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