Spring Alex eReader braves threat of iPad-inflicted obscurity
by Stevie Smith - Mar 17 2010, 14:02
Blink and you'll miss it as the iPad looms large. Image: Spring.
Considering the momentum and high-profile reputations attributed to eBook devices such as the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader and Barnes & Noble Nook, you’d be forgiven for envisioning only obscurity for the oddly named Spring Alex electronic book reader.
However, emerging from CES 2010 with the honour of being crowned Best eReader by Laptop Magazine, the twin-screened Alex is perhaps worthy of a second look and a closer inspection.
So what does the Alex have to offer discerning book lovers looking to make the digital leap? Well, first and foremost it’s powered by Google’s Android mobile operating system and a 624MHz Monahan PXA303 processor. It also comes armed with an adjustable grayscale 6-inch Electrophoretic Display (EPD) that’s supported by a full colour 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD (16-bit) for Web browsing.
Weighing in at a modest 310gm, other contributing features aboard the Alex include network compatibility with Wi-Fi, 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM, a built-in MP3 media player, on-board speakers, and up to 7,500 page turns or six hours of media playback on a single three-hour charge.
While perhaps not blessed with the same all-encompassing content variety as Barnes & Noble or Amazon, Spring’s Alex is compatible with “a wealth of online Adobe ePUB format digital books” from Alex partner bookstores and Google Books. It also supports PDF, HTML and TXT formats.
All content hosted on the Alex, from books and documents through to photographs and video clips, can be stored in the Alex Library on the device’s removable 2GB memory card – while a microSD slot enables storage expansion up to 32GBs.
Sounds pretty decent, eh? However, while the Alex certainly looks the part and suggests the delivery of a versatile user experience, it may cause a few frowns with prospective buyers upon learning that the device comes attached to a $399 USD price tag.
For those of you unaware of current heavyweight movers and shakers in the consumer electronics sector, that leaves the Alex only $100 USD less than Apple’s upcoming iPad tablet, which, while no super computer, offers a 1GHz processor and will likely outstrip the Alex in most categories when it arrives on April 03.
Apple’s fearsome brand power notwithstanding, the first iPad to launch will be Wi-Fi only (the more expensive 3G model is scheduled to arrive later in April) which means the Alex will – at least for a short time – offer a wider range of network connectivity. Spring also claims the Alex’s grayscale reading screen produces the fastest refresh rates on the market.
The dual screen Alex eBook reader will begin appearing on store shelves from the middle of April, which may see it sadly lost amid the predictable furore surrounding Apple’s limelight-stealing iPad. Keep an eye out.
Comment on this Story