koobe def: » Samsung http://koobe.net ebook, computation, academia, and intellectual property (un)tangled Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:02:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Samsung’s new e-reader for the rest of us? http://koobe.net/2009/07/samsungs-new-e-reader-for-the-rest-of-us/ http://koobe.net/2009/07/samsungs-new-e-reader-for-the-rest-of-us/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:15:45 +0000 Wayne http://koobe.net/?p=337 Samsung rolls out its first e-book reader device in South Korea on Monday with this entry level unit: SNE-50K. According to its specs, the SNE-50K is rather an out-dated device lagging behind most of the counterpart, not to mention Amazon Kindle.

The SNE-50K lacks the feature of wireless downloading, so I am not sure how the readers could access the content. It has a built-in memory capacity of 512 MB, which is quite limited and could only hold about 400 titles as some testers reported. The display is also a problem: the 5 inch screen with a resolution of 600*800 does not seem to suffice for most of us. The only advantage we see from the SNE-50K is that it can be used as a notepad with handwriting recognition.

This device is sold at about U.S. $274. Not really a bargain, is it? People now can only access about 2,500 titles from the book library (Kyobo Bookstore, Korea’s largest bookseller). The first entry of Samsung into the e-book business won’t surpass the Amazon Kindle or even Sony reader in any way, but with the strong electronic technology background of Samsung I bet the next e-reader device will certainly stir the e-book market.

]]> http://koobe.net/2009/07/samsungs-new-e-reader-for-the-rest-of-us/feed/ 0