Skip to main content

Boyue Teases a Dual-Sided 8″ LCD/E-ink Tablet

Do you like the idea of Yota Devices’s dual-screen smartphone but feel that a 5.5″ screen is too small? Then I have just the thing.

The Chinese gadget maker Boyue is now showing a concept design for a hybrid 8″ ereader on its website. They haven’t released any specs and I’m not entirely sure it will ever see the light of day, but I still want to laud Boyue for for being either bold enough or crazy enough to come up with this:

Click to embiggen

Click to embiggen

The Boyue D81 features an 8″ IPS display on its front and an 8″ E-ink display on the back, and if it is ever built it will run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on a quad-core CPU. It will probably also cost a lot of money, somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 (by my guesstimate).

I don’t know that Boyue has worked on a dual screen design before, but they have developed a couple Android tablet as well as a couple ereaders which run Android. So even though this device presents twice as many technical issues as a single screen tablet, it’s entirely possible that they could pull it off.

I’m going to go start bugging them for a review unit. Yes, I know it doesn’t exist but sometimes it pays to get an early start.

MobileRead

Similar Articles


Comments


Lila Phillips December 22, 2014 um 11:19 pm

If the email side could surf web pages easily & quickly, this would be such a wonderful product! Thanks for the news & please keep us posted!


Jmirko December 23, 2014 um 4:03 am

I – and many others I am sure – had this idea years ago. It is the ultimate answer to the "tablet or e-reader" question, until we have screen technology that can switch between reflective and backlit. I definitely think there is a market for this product, although probably not in the U.S. where most people don’t seem to care about anything except the Ipad and the Kindle.


Feda December 23, 2014 um 6:59 am

I just hope they put out an 8″ e-reader with Linux OS and front light.

Nate Hoffelder December 23, 2014 um 7:29 am

The InkPad almost meets that description. But you don’t actually have access to the LinuxOS.

DSpider December 23, 2014 um 7:32 pm

You know that Android is based on Linux, right?


Jmirko December 23, 2014 um 7:10 am

Sure, but I hope it won’t be this one… This needs to have Android on both sides for consistency.


Boyue D81: Spannender eReader-Tablet-Hybrid mit E-Ink- und LCD-Display | eBook-Fieber.de December 23, 2014 um 10:02 am

[…] Quelle: The Digital Reader […]


Howard December 29, 2014 um 7:54 pm

I tracked this down, and got an email from a company rep explaining (in broken Engrish) that this project had been abandoned for "technical reasons" (with a link to a Chinese version of the site).

Too bad. I thought it might be an interesting device. I think I might have enjoyed having one, but I’m a bit of an outlier. I wonder if there is actually enough of a market for something like this to make it viable.

I can think of some difficulties with using such a device. One of which is that you would need some sort of protective cover for the side not currently in use, which could be problematic. Could be this was one of the "technical reasons" for not producing it.

Nate Hoffelder December 29, 2014 um 9:10 pm

It would have been fun, yes.

Jmirko December 30, 2014 um 1:38 am

What a pity… I don’t think people would have flocked to this in droves, but I do think there is a market. Just consider the countless "Should I buy an e-ink reader or an LCD tablet?" -type articles online. This is clearly a dilemma for a lot of people. Of course, price would have been an important factor.
I don’t think the cover could be a showstopper. It should be fairly easy to design a folio cover with hinges at the spine, making it possible to open the cover from either side. The factorry cover of the Irex DR800 used a similar solution. My guess is rather that the device would have been too thick. But I could be wrong, of course.


anon January 13, 2015 um 8:47 pm

security would suck for this. everyone can read what’s on the back.

Howard January 13, 2015 um 9:34 pm

If the back was covered, security would not be a problem. However, a cover that could be easily switched from one side to the other would probably be slightly more complex (and expensive) than a typical tablet over.


Write a Comment