Exclusive: Onyx Boox T68 Available Soon – 6.8″ Screen, Android 4.0 (video)
Kobo’s 6 month reign as the only ereader maker with a 6.8″ ereader is about to come to an end. A friend has just sent me the spec sheet for the T68, Onyx’s not-yet-announced 6.8″ ereader.
If you are like me and were pining for the rumored Android-powered Nook Glow HD then you might want to sit down.
The Boox T68 is running Android 4.0 on a 1Ghz Freescale i.mx6 processor. It comes with 512MB RAM, 4GB of Flash storage, and a microSD card slot. This ereader has the same 6.8″ Pearl HD E-ink screen as on the Aura HD, and it also has a capacitive touchscreen and a frontlight.
According to the spec sheet the T68 also has an audio jack, Wifi, and Bluetooth. That last detail brings this ereader closer to being a true E-ink Android tablet, IMO.
In terms of content, the Boox T68 maintains Onyx’s standard for broad format support. In addition to Epub and PDF, the T68 also supports FB2, Mobi, CHM, PDB, and DJVU ebook formats. It can also read txt, html, RTF, and MSWord Doc files, and it can play mp3 and wav music files.
I’m told that the T68 will let you install apps, and that it also comes with a reading app that supports text-to-speech, annotation, and dictionary look-up. This ereader weighs in at 230 grams, or slightly less than the Aura HD.
I have been looking forward to reading about new 6.8″ ereaders ever since Kobo announced the Aura HD back in April, but so far this is the only model I have seen. I first discovered that it existed a couple weeks ago when Charbax visited the Onyx booth at a trade show. He happened to catch a demo unit for this ereader on film, and he spent a few minutes playing with it:
Onyx is reportedly ready to make this ereader, but before they can do that they need to get orders. They are quoting a price of $145 for a minimum order of 1,000.
I really hope that someone picks up this model and offers it in Europe; I want to buy one. Can you say E-ink Android tablet? Swoon.
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