Nestled amongst ten new products launched by Elonex at IFA 2010 were a threesome of eTouch tablet computers. Powered by the company's own ARM-based LNX processor and running on the Android platform, there are a couple of 7-inch (17.78 cm) models and a 10-inch (25.4 cm) version – all with backlit touchscreen displays, 2GB of storage and Wi-Fi connectivity. Gizmag visited the Elonex booth to have a look at the e-Readers and tablets on offer.
In addition to displaying what is claimed to be the UK's cheapest e-Book reader – the GBP79 (US$122) 500FB freeBook, which offers access to over a million free titles – and the first color e-Book to come in under the GBP100 (US$155) mark, Elonex also showed off its 7-inch 710EB and some new touchscreen Android tablets.
The entry-level eTouch 700ET tablet carries a suggested retail price of GBP99 (US$153) and features a 7-inch, 800 x 480 resolution, LED-backlit resistive touchscreen display. It's powered by the company's own ARM-based LNX Code 9 processor supported by 128MB of system memory, and runs on the Android 1.6 operating system, which has been touch optimized. The tablet features 2GB of NAND flash storage that is expandable via an included microSD media card slot.
There's orientation correction thanks to an included accelerometer, a mini-USB 2.0 port for connectivity to other devices, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi too. Elonex says that its Li-ion battery should be good for 3.5 hours between charges.
The eTouch 750ET also sports a HDMI-out port to allow users to view 720p high definition video content on big screen televisions, and there's also a full-size USB port.
Rounding off the Elonex tablet launches is the 10-inch 1000ET model, which carries a suggested retail price of GBP149 (US$231). Its LED-backlit, resistive touchscreen display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 and its ARM-based LNX 11 processor runs at 1GHz, supported by 256MB of system memory. The tablet also benefits from a newer version of Android, 2.1 to be precise, but retains the same amount of storage and microSD expansion capabilities of its smaller siblings.
A protective case with built-in tactile USB keyboard is available as an optional extra for all of the new tablets.
Also on display at the Elonex booth were seven LCD and e-Ink e-Books, including a couple of freeBook models. The 700FB and the 500FB offer readers access to over a million free titles in ePub and PDF format from the company's dedicated portal. The 7-inch model supports up to 720p high definition video playback as well as popular photo and audio formats. There's 2GB of internal storage, SD/MMC card expansion and a claimed battery life of 8 hours reading, 4 hours video or 10 hours audio (via headphones).
The 5-inch (12.7 cm) 500FB offers a choice of five font sizes for viewing comfort, AVI video and WAV/MP3 audio playback and a gigabyte of internal storage with SD/SDHC/MMC expansion. Its 2000mAh battery is said to be good for 6 hours reading, 4 hours of video playback or a good 20 hours of audio (providing the backlight is turned off).
Each of the freeBook models has a twin e-Book model, offering similar specs but capable of displaying DRM content as well as free books. The 500EB model also benefits from a storage increase to 2GB.
The remainder of Elonex's products are all e-Ink models and include a 5-inch touchscreen reader with physical QWERTY keyboard and 512MB of internal storage, and a Wi-Fi-enabled 6-inch (15.24 cm) device with enough storage for about a thousands e-Books and a 532MHz ARM-based processor.
Our U.S. readers might like to note that the company told us there are no current plans for a Stateside release. It is also worth noting that prices quoted in the official release (and reproduced here) differ from those given at IFA, so checking with Elonex is advised.
