More news from the world of e-readers.
First, Slashgear reports on the Bookeen Cybook Opus, a 5" e-ink device with 1 gig of internal memory (plus a memory card slot), able to read ePub and PDF formats. The device has an accelerometer and can be used in landscape or profile orientation (via auto-rotate). The Opus was shown off at a gathering of MobileRead forum users by Michael Dahan, co-founder of Bookeen. One of the attendees says a 250€ ($347.50) price was mentioned, but that isn't official. There's no mention of wireless capability so we can probably assume there isn't any. Check out this set of photos at flickr, and we've embedded a quick video of the Opus in action at the bottom of this post.
Next up, Publisher's Weekly reports on the F-150 Series Ditto Book, a $250, 6" e-ink device. The Ditto supports text, pdf and ePUB formats and plays mp3s. It has 128 megs of internal memory but comes with a 2 gig SD card (and supports up to 4 gig SD cards). No wireless. No accelerometer. Ditto calls it "an elegant no frills device."
Heading into the realm of rumor and leaks, Business Week says AT&T is working on an e-reader that will support 3G. Absolutely no details are available, and it isn't clear if AT&T is building from scratch or partnering with an existing e-reader manufacturer. This is part of an AT&T initiative to make their 3G network more valuable to customers.
And last of all, the Amazon Kindle 2 has had its price cut to $299 (a drop of $60) making the 'no frills' Ditto Book (and similar devices) look a bit less like the bargain they hoped to offer. The price cut comes hard on the heels of cnet reporting that Amazon has filed for patents that would "hint at ad-supported books for its Kindle e-reader." Is Amazon willing to take a hit on the hardware in order to build out its ad-serving Kindle 2 base, or is this just economies of scale at work? Either way, readers get a better deal.
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