PHOTOS: E-readers at CES
Hanvon, a Chinese company that is the third-largest e-book company after Amazon.com and Sony Corp., is coming to the U.S. this spring with its Hanvon reader. Estimated to cost $260 for a 5-inch E Ink screen with a stylus, the device also recognizes handwriting in five languages. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Alex reader, made by Spring Design, is set to come out at the end of February for $359. It features a 6-inch gray-scale E Ink screen, the same used in the Kindle, as well as a 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD, similar to the iPhone. Above, the Alex is shown with Albert Teng, co-founder and chief technology officer of Spring Design. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Que proReader is the priciest, but arguably prettiest, of the e-readers at CES. It has an 8.5-inch E Ink touch screen and goes for $649 for a 4-gigabyte version, $799 for 8 gigabytes. At one-third of an inch, its also among the thinnest. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
More of a digital recipe box than a book reader, Demy is made to stand on a kitchen counter and resist spills and drops. At $199, it has a 7-inch touch-screen color LCD that users can load up with recipes via USB from the companys website, KeyIngredient.com, which has a library of 250,000 recipes. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Story, from Korean MP3 device maker iRiver, is set to come out at the end of the month with a 6-inch E Ink screen for $279. The company promises a version with Wi-Fi in April. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
Cool-ER, $249, comes in a rainbow of colors. But its most distinguishing feature is its ability to take in RSS news feeds from the Web (via USB connection to a computer) and display the content on its 6-inch E Ink display. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
At $199, Bookeens Opus is among the lowest-priced digital readers on the market. It has a 5-inch E Ink screen, but no wireless connectivity. For that, youll have to wait until April, when Bookeen comes out with Orizon, which will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Ditto Book D6 reader, due out in February, will cost $249 and have a 6-inch E Ink screen. It will also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G wireless connectivity, although users will need to provide their own 3G service. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Copia Ocean 9 3G is a 9-inch touch-screen reader set to hit retail at $299 in April. The device will be linked to TheCopia.com, a social network dedicated to book lovers. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Pocketbook 901 is made by a Ukranian company that has been commissioned by the countrys government to provide its schoolchildren with digital readers loaded with all their required textbooks. This one, due out in the fall, will have a 9.7-inch E Ink screen and retail for about $450. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
The Pocketbook 360 is the little brother of the Pocketbook 901. Its called 360 because an accelerometer allows viewers to view text in a vertical as well as horizontal format. Its selling for $240. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
