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Szenio Launches a 6″ E-ink eReader in Spain

EREADER_1600DC_BIG_1With Amazon, Kobo, BQ, and other companies selling ebook readers in Spain, one might think that a new company launching new generic looking model is making a mistake.

Szenio would disagree with you. Last week this Spanish smartphone and tablet unveiled their first ebook reader. The 1600DC is a rather bland looking device with a 6″ screen and a 69 euro price tag, or about 10 euros less than the Kindle.

It’s not clear who developed the 1600DC for Szenio (it could be either Netronix or Oaxis), but I can tell you that Szenio did not make the 1600DC; if you zoom in on the image you will see that all of the text is in English.

I also know that the product listing and launch announcement mention that it is running a version of Linux on a 600MHz CPU with 128MB RAM. In terms of storage, it has 2GB Flash storage and a micro SD. The 1600DC also has Wifi, but there s no mention of other features like audio support.

eBook format support includes PDF, Epub, FB2, and CHM, and the DC 1600 can also read txt, rtf, and html files. There is also limited support for image formats, though I’m not sure how useful that will be.

All in all, this is adding up to be a rather unimpressive and bland looking ereader, and I haven’t even gotten to its screen yet.

The 1600DC has a 6″ screen which I am fairly certain is an E-ink screen, and not one of the so called knockoff screens. It has a resolution of 600 x 800, which is far below what can be found on ereaders from Kobo, Amazon, or other device makers, and it comes equipped with a touchscreen (but no frontlight or backlight).

The reason I say that I am fairly certain this is an E-ink screen is that Szenio describes it as a TFT screen. That doesn’t actually tell us whether we are looking at an epaper screen, an LCD screen, or what have you; both types of screens can use a TFT backplane to support different screen materials.

It took me a few days to double check my facts, and now I am fairly certain that this is an E-ink screen. Of course, we won’t know that for sure until user reports come in, but I bet I am right.

Szenio

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Comments


Ebook Bargains UK April 26, 2014 um 4:09 pm

One thing we’re noticing is that ereaders is that ereaders appear to be more popular – or at least more new ones are coming into the market, suggesting demand – in countries with sunnier climes.

As anyone who’s taken their tablet to the beach and tried to read the latest airport blockbuster will know, e-ink is wonderful thing. And sorely lacking in most tablets. Even reading by the window can be a challenge with a tablet sometimes.

No actual data to back up the supposition, but we suspect cheap e-readers have plenty more life in them in where the sun shines. Warmer climes tend to have a more laid-back approach to life and leisure, and laid-back people are less likely to worry about fancy specs and just want a bland, cheap device that does the job.


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