Asustek Plans to Release WiMAX, 3G and WiFi Enabled e-Book by 2010

Nowadays e-Book has started to gain popularity as more and more users prefer to read electronics materials instead of conventional physical books. In order to compete with existing solutions such as Amazon Kindle and Sony e-Book, Asustek has announced the plan to develop an e-Book solution that will be featured with multiple wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMAX mobile networks, with the hope that these will be the key differentiators to gain back some market shares in the new segment.

Besides the multiple wireless technologies support, the new e-Book from Asustek is expected to feature with a 9-inch display, which is relatively larger as compared to other competitors’ solutions. However, no detailed specification on what is the panel resolution and more importantly, the embedded processor is unknown but most likely will be another ARM licensees‘ solutions that can reduce power significantly which is crucial for the success of a mobile devices especially for e-book applications to prolong reading capability while on the move. And when coupled with wireless technologies for seamless access and e-Book download, it offers a more complete solution for all digital users regardless of their locations. Nevertheless, battery life time may have to be compromised with the excessive power usage needed by wireless module, even through there should be a way to properly turn it off utilizing internal power management system whenever the wireless access is not needed.

No pricing information yet, the next generation e-Book solution will be available by first quarter of 2010 with the initial market focuses on both United States and Europe countries and may eventually be released to other geographic areas in short future.