It seems like just yesterday that Hanvon first announced its full color touch screen e-reader, and today we got the first experience of hands-on reporting with this new e-reader!
This new offering from Hanvon is a capacitive touch screen color e-ink electronic reader with a 9.7 inch screen and a resolution of 1600×1200. The unit is powered by a Freescale 800 MHZ cpu processor and uses WI-FI to connect to the internet. It also has a built in accelerometer to switch between landscape and portrait mode.
On the side of the unit we noticed stereo speakers, a mic input, two different USB ports (Mini USB and USB 2.0) and SD slot in order to upgrade the memory. There was no word on how much memory the device came with though, but there is also a manual switch to turn WIFI on and off. In addition there is a hard reset button that you can press with a pin, if you ever get into a situation where the unit is unresponsive. All of the ports on the side of the unit are not visible like most e-readers, but instead they are hidden behind a hinged support protecting door that blended very well into the unit.
When we looked at the main screen on the front of the unit it featured many buttons near the bottom of the screen, much like most Android tablet computers we have seen at CES. This offers an ebook turning button, both forward and backwards, to assist you if you do not want to turn the book pages via the touch screen. There is also a menu button, OK button, back button, and two buttons to assist you in moving up and down key menu features. At the top of the screen there is an indicator light to let you know if a Stylus is in use or not, as well as battery life, volume, and a clock.
Taking a look at the software side of things, there is the main menu that has many different options and allows you to engage in the device in different ways. Some of the menu options you have on the main home screen were Library, Programs, Dictionary, Pictures, Memos, Tools, Games, and recent files.
When we looked at some books on the device, the text really jumped out. This leads us to believe this unit has a very high DPI setting. Although there were only two books loaded into the device when we saw it, there were plenty of Color Comic books and pictures.
Ultimately, the Hanvon color e-reader was the most impressive e-reader we saw at the convention. Not only is it the world’s first color e-ink e-reader, but it has a very swift response time. It will be exclusively released in China in March and will use the new Hanvon eBook Store, which we first reported on last week for the eBook content.
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Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
