French set top and phone maker Sagem Wireless, has entered the eReader market, one of the first major European equipment vendors to do so. It has launched the Binder – an ultra-light eReader and will be sold to operators as a white label product and has already sold it to FNAC, a leading French retailer, as the ‘FnacBook’ and will be sold from November through Telecom Italia in Italy.
The Binder measures just 6 inches x 4.8 inches x 0.4 of an inch, making it smaller than an average paperback book and way smaller than a Tablet computer or the Amazon Kindle. It will have the memory capacity of 12,000 non-illustrated books and combines e-paper (e-ink) technology with embedded 3G and WiFi connectivity to create an eReader which can acquire books over broadband or cellular networks.
The idea is that the Binder will be able to receive magazines and newspapers direct to the device and it says it will support all the major text, image and music file formats and uses Adobe DRM protection. The Binder has short cut tab buttons to switch between home screen, books, news and other content.
‘The eReader market has developed quickly but until now has been plagued by
a simple trade-off – do you want a smaller form factor and less features,
or a fully connected experience but with a device that is no longer pocket-
sized?’ said J’r’me Nadel, EVP Marketing & User Experience, Sagem Wireless.
‘By focusing on the user experience and using the latest technology, we
have developed a device that solves this conundrum. The Binder product
combines 3G and WiFi with a feature-rich experience to deliver a true
connected lifestyle device.’
Well he could have fooled us. Is it touch screen? Has it got social media links like the new Nook that Barnes and Noble launched in the US? No. Can it browse the internet? Can you make handwritten notes on it? No. This is so last year.
The Binder supports eBook and MP3 formats, full note taking capabilities using a virtual keyboard, up to 16GB of memory, and a long battery life equivalent
to over 8000 page turns.
FNAC is retailing the FnacBook at €199 complete with WiFi and free 3G from
mobile operator SFR. How long before Vodafone brings it to the UK? We wonder.