With a greater-than-ever focus on digital publishing at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, several companies took advantage of the attendance and industry focus to launch or offer sneak previews of their ereaders and tablets.
One of the rumors before the event was that Tolino would get a facelift, but the European e-reader, created in a unique partnership between five different companies, not only got an update, it got two new tablet cousins. The Shine e-reader offers an ePub, PDF, and TXT file compatibility for ebooks on 4GB of internal memory, supported by an additional MicroSD card, but the two new tablets, which come in 7″ and 8.9″ screen sizes, provide a more in-depth experience with HD video and audio, additional storage, and access to over 800,000 apps through the Google Play store, all while running Android 4.2.2. The Tolino devices are due out in November.
Bookeen also shared a preview of its upcoming device, also due out in time for the holidays. The device is still pending, meaning Good e-Reader was allowed to use the device and only photograph it with its cover closed. While still definitely an e-reader, this one maintains a streamlined, no-frills reading experience for people who just want portable access to books without having to carry a lot of bulk, as this one (with the cover in place) looks and feels like a good-sized greeting card.
One of the more exciting devices introduced to Good e-Reader today was the Imcosys e-reader. Again, it’s a fairly lightweight device, but incorporates some exciting features like user-optional front lit display, touch screen and thumb buttons for relaxed reading, and the pre-installed Dropbox app. That app is actually quite important to Imcosys’ device, as it allows to be the only device currently on the market that lets readers share audiobooks, not just ebooks. The device also includes a browser and the ability to read ebooks of any file format, whether bought in the Imcosys store or the user’s favorite retailer.
While Frankfurt has always traditionally been a rights’ fair where publishers and agents negotiated content deals, more and more companies are taking advantage of the hundreds of thousands in attendance to feature some of their new and pending projects.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.