With the buzz this week centered on the new Kindle, we'd like to take a moment to remind you of the Plastic Logic Reader — an upcoming large-format reader that poses a serious threat to Amazon.
Due for an early 2010 release, the Plastic Logic is as wide and long as a sheet of Letter-sized paper (8.5-by-11 inches), measures less than 3/10 of an inch thick, and weighs less than a magazine. The actual display area measures 10.7 inches, according to the company. To display text, the device utilizes E-Ink technology, and it will feature a touchscreen for turning pages, typing with a virtual keyboard and navigating the menu.
The reader will launch with an e-content store including e-books, newspapers, magazines, tradejournals and blogs. Plastic Logic, whose factory is based in Germany, has already started forging partnerships. This week the company announced making deals with newspapers Financial Times and USA Today, as well as e-book distributor Ingram Digital and e-magazine host LibreDigital.
Amazon's new Kindle — thinner and more attractive than its predecessor — looks promising. But if you look at the numbers, it's clear the reader industry is a fairly green pasture that any company has yet to claim: Amazon says 10 percent of readers sold are Kindles, and Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney predicts there were about 240,000 Kindles sold in its year of existence. So roughly, that would amount to 2.4 million readers being sold overall — which isn't much in the tech industry.
That's why we think Plastic Logic has a chance to nab this new market. It's got a couple things going for it. First of all, a touchscreen, which is clearly the direction the industry is moving in. The iPhone set this precedent.
Second, the size. Smaller form factor isn't necessarily convenient or practical for every gadget — especially for a reader, which you're going to be holding and staring at for hours and hours. That's why Plastic Logic's notepad size is its strongest selling point. Imagine how much easier it would be to hold and read one of these while sitting on a bus. Also, magazine content will be easier to translate for the Plastic Logic's dimensions. This reader could even potentially attract die-hard print subscribers because of its more familiar size.
Third, the look. The Plastic Logic's appearance is extremely simple, kind of like Apple's fine design. And we know gadgets today are as much a fashion statement as they are service providers. Until readers truly break into the mainstream, you'll look awkward reading off any of these no matter what. But a Plastic Logic, in our opinion, will make you look far less weird than something like the Kindle.
Fourth, the company's road map for the next five years. Plastic Logic is striving toward making its reader flexible, like that nifty gadget we saw in Minority Report. And it plans to adopt color. Tell us that isn't cool.
Of course, these are our first impressions based on seeing prototypes at the CES and DEMO conventions, so we'd have to do some thorough testing before dubbing the Plastic Logic a "Kindle Killer." But check out some videos and our past coverage and let us know what you think.
Photo: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com
