HP Concept eBook Reader With Page Turn Feature

By Andrew Liszewski

HP recently showed off a concept eBook Reader at the ‘Making Connections’ event in Shanghai. Even though the company claims it uses ‘cutting edge’ technology the only feature that really sets it apart from others already on the market is a nifty page turning feature. Sliding your finger across a touch sensitive pad on the bottom results in the text being turned and distorted as it if were on an actual page.

But other than that I think HP has a lot of work on its hands if it intends to compete against Sony and Iliad who are already selling their own readers. First off HP’s device won’t be hitting the market for at least a couple of years giving their rivals plenty of time to upgrade their own products. Secondly while the HP reader will tie into their Snapfish photo sharing website the device won’t have Wifi meaning albums need to be downloaded to flash cards in order to be viewed. And thirdly in a truly baffling move HP has decided to shun the PDF format and instead develop its own file format for use on the device. (You know that decision was made in a boardroom full of suits.)

So while their concept is quite clever I won’t be putting HP’s eReader high on my wishlist when it eventually comes out.

[ HP Concept eBook Reader @ Pocket-lint ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]