Pocketbook has been very quiet the last calendar year, while the company restructured itself on a business level. Today in Russia, Pocketbook announced two new e-readers and a tablet. The company is betting on an color e-ink alternative to the Jetbook Color and a new six inch device.
The most exciting device they announced today was the PocketBook Color Lux. It features a full color e-Ink Triton 2 display, with a resolution of 800 × 600 pixels. It has a seven inch screen, which is the only e-reader in the world with this type of display. Commonly, most ebook readers have a six inch screen. The extra screen real estate should make reading PDF files a bit easier.
PocketBook Color Lux can connect up to the internet via Wi-Fi, has 4 GB internal memory, and can be enhanced further with the Micro SD card up to 32GB. It has a Freescale 800 MHZ processor and 256 MB of RAM.
The second e-reader to be announced was a six inch Pocketbook Touch 2. It features the same HD e-Ink Pearl display found on the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo. The exact resolution is 1024×758 and has a front-lit display, which is optimal for reading in the dark. It also has 256 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal memory, and SD card support for up to 32 GB of memory. Battery life should be good up to 7,000 page turns. It also has an audio jack so you can listen to audiobooks and music.
The final device to be announced today is an Android tablet named the Pocketbook Surfpad 2. It has a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280×800. It has 8 GB of internal memory and support for a Micro SD card. I am happy to report that it has a dual-core 1.5 GHZ processor and 1 GB of RAM. It also is Google certified, which means you can connect up to the official Google Play market.
Pocketbook has risen from the ashes and announced three compelling products. The brand still means something in eastern Europe, but sees poor visibility in the North American market. Stay tuned for full hands on reviews of the entire lineup in the next few weeks.
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.
