A new e-book reading device

I look at it this way: there’s a new e-book reading device out, at a cost of $350.

The device weighs 8 ounces and is a little bigger than your old-style PDA. As Michael Kinsley famously requested, it passes the john test. The screen has a pixel-density of 225 ppi, about five times that of most LCD screens, the highest of any device yet released, and it makes for beautiful type, and curved shapes (and pictures). The screen is 800 pixels wide, which makes for lines about fifteen words long.

Two e-book reading programs are available for this new device, which accept Plucker, Palmdoc and fb2 formats. In one of the programs you can read in portrait or landscape mode, and use any font you install on your computer. All the controls are on one side of the device, so you can manage everything — press every button — one-handed, while holding a stylus in the other, when you need to. As you’d expect, you can read PDF’s too.

You can watch Flash animations and video as well, if your e-books are multimediated.

Not unexpectedly, the new device has wireless capability, so you can read books online, as well as offline. Of course, that means you can access the internet in any way you want, too, checking your email or surfing or listening to internet radio. IM and internet phone, as noted below. There’s a large speaker, making for excellent sound.

The new device uses a mainstream OS, not a special embedded version, so when the manufacturer promised IM and VoIP software in future versions, developers ported that software on their own. You can play chess and other games if you’re tired of reading, or use the virtual keyboard (spread across 800 pixels it’s quite usable) with word-processing or spreadsheet programs (which open regular Word and Excel files). PIM software is available too, for those who need it. The touchsceen means you can draw too.

When I compare this e-book reading device with every one that came before, I’m astonished at its capabilities and quality, and especially at the price.

The identity of this new device is, of course, no secret — the Nokia 770, expected to be released within the next two weeks. It probably won’t be marketed as an e-book reading device, but then we know better.