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Qumo to Launch 3 New eReaders in Russia – HD E-ink Screen, Frontlight, and Android

LIBRO touchluxThe Russian gadget maker Qumo is  about to launch a trio of new ereaders at a variety of price points.

This company has been in the ereader market since 2010 and has mainly been selling Kindle-clones, and the new ereaders are more of the same.

Like the current Kindles, the new Libro ereaders are aiming for very different users, with the Libro Basic offering just a Pearl E-ink screen (no Wifi, even) while the Libro Touch and the Libro TouchLux also offer a touchscreen and a touchscreen+frontlight, respectively.

The ereaders will all ship with 4GB of storage, but aside from the brand name that’s all they have in common. The Libro Basic doesn’t have the FM tuner tuner or Wifi found in the more expensive models, but then again it is also half the price. It’s going to cost 2990 rubles, or about $89.

The Libro Lux has the same Pearl E-ink screen as on the Basic, and it also has a frontlight, FM tuner, and audio player. It’s going to retail for 4490 rubles.

The Libro TouchLux is  going to be Qumo’s new premium model along the lines of the Kindle Paperwhite, only better. This ereader has an HD E-ink screen, frontlight, and a touchscreen. It also has Wifi and (according to the press release) runs Android.

The Libro TouchLux is in effect an E-ink Android tablet, and Qumo says that you will be able to browse the web from the TouchLux.  I don’t have any details yet on which version of Android it’s running or the speed of its CPU, so I can’t say for sure whether you will want to browse the web on this ereader. But I do have my hopes up that it will be worthwhile.

The Libro Touchlux will retail for 5990 rubles, or about $181 USD. That’s going to make it one of the more expensive on the Russian market. Luckily it’s still going to be cheaper than the Onyx Boox i63ML, an out-and-out Android E-ink tablet that costs 6990 rubles and ship with Google Play.

If you happen to get your hands on either ereader, I’d love to hear what you think (which one is better?).

The-eBook.org

 

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Comments


Leonid August 21, 2013 um 5:17 am

I own the Onyx Boox i63ML. I’m the kind of guy who immediately roots his devices and installs my preferred applications. On the one hand, the experience with a rooted Onyx Boox i63ML is quite similar to my experience with my rooted NookST (only Onyx has a superior screen resolution and frontlight). On the other hand, the Android firmware that Onyx uses is not without bugs. WiFi is unstable and the IR touchscreen sometimes just shuts off by itself. Also, just like in the NST, some programs would not run (or even install). All in all, I’m looking forward a firmware upgrade to fix the critical bugs, but other than that I’m very pleased with the device.

dmc October 10, 2013 um 10:08 pm

Could you mention what apps you have successfully installed? As I am interested in getting an e-ink android reader as well.

Leonid October 24, 2013 um 8:42 am

I installed Alreader for reading, Foldersync for synchronizing with Dropbox, Tasker for automation, Goldendict for dictionaries…


A Hodgepodge of Useful Bits & Pieces – Mid-October 2013 | KD DID IT Takes on Books October 15, 2013 um 12:45 pm

[…] Hoffelder at The Digital Reader writes that Russian gadget maker Qumo has released three different levels of eReaders in Russia at three different price points: the Libro Basic, Libro Touch, and the Libro […]


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