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Polaroid’s New eReaders Are a Surprise

Late last week I brought you news of  Polaroid’s plan to release an ebook reader, and today I found out what it is. They’re going to have several models.

Someone leaked a photo last week which showed the new device in a poster. At the time of the leak no one knew what it was, but now I do. The PER 900 is going to be a 9″ basic ebook reader without Wifi, touchscreen, or much in the way of advanced features. It’s coming out around Father’s Day, but I do not know the price. You can see it at right.

Look carefiuly, and you might see a resemblance between the 900 and the 701 I just reviewed. It' more than just a resemblance; all the ports and slots are in the same place. Aside from the screen these two ereaders are the same device.

If you’ve read this blog long enough you might recognize the menu. It was developed by a particular ereader maker by the name of Gajah, and they use it on all their ereaders. But that’s not the interesting part.

I found this ereader in the Southern Telecom booth. Guess who is going to be Polaroid’s new partner?

From what I can tell, all the Slick ereaders (including the 701 I just reviewed) are going to be rebranded as Polaroid. In fact, the 701 on display in that booth already had the Polaroid brand on it. The hardware and software haven’t changed, but the brand has.

And that is the surprise. I suppose it shouldn’t be, because business deals like this are made all the time. But I didn’t expect ST to be the breakout ereader story this year. And they are. The Slick 701 is popular, and clearly ST plans to release even more models. They even picked up the rights to a major brand name.

BTW, ST also had a number of other tablets and ereaders in their booth, but I’m going to take a wait and see attitude. I don’t know for sure that they’ll be released, so I’ll hold off discussing the finer details. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what might be coming:

  • Per 430 (4.3″ Froyo tablet)
  • per 702 (7″ kid’s ereader)
  • Ptab7200c (7″ Gingerbread tablet)
  • PER 701 (was the Slick 701)

Here are some pictures, to give you an idea.

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Comments


cookie January 11, 2012 um 11:06 pm

So nobody at CES was showing off any 10″ (or thereabouts) eInk readers?

Nate Hoffelder January 11, 2012 um 11:22 pm

There were no large screen E-ink devices, no. The iPad pretty much killed off that market.

Brad Linder January 12, 2012 um 7:20 pm

There’s the Ectacto JetBook ith color E In and a 9.7 inch screen.


Eric January 11, 2012 um 11:54 pm

I’m assuming the PER702 is E-Ink?

Nate Hoffelder January 12, 2012 um 12:03 am

No, LCD.

Adriene January 12, 2012 um 12:59 pm

Are the Slick 701 and Polaroid 701 eInk or LCD?

Nate Hoffelder January 12, 2012 um 3:28 pm

LCD.

just bought one July 16, 2012 um 10:40 am

No it is a backlit color lcd. I just bought on for $35 dollars at big lot….

The good
it’s $35 dollars and works.
it takes standard epub files
I have tried it displaying .mp4 video that worked and mp3’s work.
It’s $35 dollars and it works
It will run off usb power if it is plugged in even without batteries in the device.
It’s $35 dollars and it works

The bad
it take 4 standard AA batteries I have it running on nicad rechargable batteries but haven’t had it long enough to speak on battery life.


Mike Cane January 12, 2012 um 7:19 am

Wow, those are some of the crappiest designs I’ve ever seen. It’s like they’ve come from a universe where Jon Ive was never born.

Polaroid’s tablets are vaporware. And if those are what they are planning, my advice is that they should stay vaporware. Such fugly = immediate FAIL.

CJJ January 12, 2012 um 9:35 am

Yes, I agree. Greedy marketing executives paired with a clueless and disinterested development team.


user0312 January 12, 2012 um 7:50 am

Hey,

Was the Slick Er701 and Er700 there? Or is ST strictly all Polaroid ereaders now? I hope they don’t do away with the Slick ereaders.

Does the black ptab7200c look like a good ereader. I like the way it looks, but does it have a good software?

The PER 900 looks similar to the ER701. Did that replace it with the ER701? I actually like how the PER 900 looks. I’d prefer it in black, though.
The

Nate Hoffelder January 12, 2012 um 7:58 am

The 701 was there, only it’s now the Polaroid 701. And I think the 700 has been discontinued.


Ellen Hage January 12, 2012 um 8:31 am

Last year Slick had a 5″ reader that looked very much like the Elonex EB500. I never saw that happen. I was hoping that this year someone would make it happen. Have you seen anything?

Nate Hoffelder January 12, 2012 um 8:35 am

No, it looks like they bailed on that one.


First Impressions of Polaroid’s New 4.3″ Android PMP – The Digital Reader March 10, 2012 um 11:20 am

[…] handheld and this might be it.This was one of the new gadgets that Southern Telecom had on display in their booth at CES 2012, and it looks like I am the first to post a review. I just barely touched on it back in January, so […]


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