enTourage closes dual-screen eReader content store

The tablet frenzy sparked by the launch of Apple's iPad in April 2010 and the success of eReaders like the Kindle has seen many new players enter the market in the past year ... and there were bound to be some casualties. The enTourage eDGe looks to be one. The company has officially closed the content store for its eDGe and Pocket eDGe eReaders and there are reports that the dual-screen hardware will follow suit.

Sitting somewhere between an eReader, tablet and a laptop, the enTourage eDGe "dual-book" was shown at CES 2010 and released soon after. Its unique design sees an E-ink screen placed on one side and 10.1" LCD color touchscreen on the other. The platform seemed to be primarily aimed at students, but the price of around US$500 put it at the high-end. The smaller, lighter Pocket eDGe followed at a lower price point (US$399) but the devices have not been well supported in the applications and OS update (the devices run on Android 1.6) department.

Owners of the dual-screen eReader devices can still download content already purchased. But hurry - the announcement at the enTourage Store site says the store will cease operations on May 27, 2011 and directs customers the the Google ebookstore and to Amazon's Android store for apps - "Go to the Amazon page and download the Android Store App and you will now have access to a lot of Android Apps that Google would never give us access to."

enTourage is rumored to have a more conventional single screen "Slate PC" device in the works, in the meantime there may be some bargains to be had on eDGE dual-books.