A few days into the year and it looks like Pine Trail-based netbooks and e-book readers are going to take up much of this quarter’s headlines. Another e-reader, this time from Skiff and Sprint, who teamed up to deliver a sleek new 11.5-inch touch-sensing slate called the Skiff Reader.
First off, the highlights: it’s not just another plastic-and-glass frame for reading electronic books. This here boasts LG Display’s Metal Foil e-Paper tech that makes it possible to build a slim and durable device. Unlike fragile glass panels covering most electronic screens that tend to shatter, the flexible foil-display used on the Skiff reader allows it to bend. A magnesium alloy housing protects it from travel bumps and (we’re assuming) minor drops—the kind of regular day-to-day abuse that you can expect an 11.5-inch digital newspaper to regularly be submitted to.
The whole thing is also amazingly slim, measuring 0.268 inches thick (or 6.8mm, depending on which side of the world you’re on). The design looks pretty simple on the overall, but it looks like something that Steve Jobs might approve of.
The flexible, shatter-proof screen pays for itself by being a bit more idiot-resistant.
The reader’s second highlight is the 11.5-inch touchscreen itself, which boasts a 1200 x 1600 resolution (at 174 pixels per inch) to make for not only “the thinnest e-reader announced to date,” it also bears the best resolution.
Sprint tosses their hat in the ring, providing this reader with dedicated 3G connectivity. Just like how AT&T plans to serve up dailies onto a number of announced readers (such as Sony’s Daily Edition and Interead’s COOL-ER), Skiff users can use Sprint’s 3G network for instant downloads from Skiff’s digital store wherever there’s a 3G signal. For access outside Sprint’s network reach, this reader can also connect via Wi-fi.
The rest of the spec includes 4GBs of internal memory, an SD card slot for expansion, built-in speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack for listening to MP3s, and a listed battery life of one week (or at least long enough for thousands of page turns with periodic wireless use).
Shipping dates and prices haven’t been made available yet, but it’s going to be available in Sprint’s retail stores when it gets officially launched. The Skiff Reader is also set to be previewed at CES.
Tags: eBook Readers, Skiff, Sprint
