PocketBook 614 eReader launching Soon in Russia
New ebook reader launches may be few and far between here in the US but that’s not the case everywhere. The Ukrainian ereader maker Pocketbook has just unveiled their latest gadget, the Pocketbook 614.
Pocketbook hasn’t disclosed all of the details on their new device, but I do know that this gadget will fall solidly in the middle between budget and premium models.
The PocketBook 614 will come equipped with a 6″ E-ink screen, a 1 GHz CPU, and 256 MB RAM. In terms of storage it has 4GB internally, and it also has a microSD card slot for additional space. There are no details on Wifi, a frontlight, audio, or a touchscreen, but I would not assume that they are present.
Retails is set at 3990 rubles ($119 USD), and the PocketBook 614 is due out in the next few months.
For a blog called "The Digital Reader", I sure don’t post about very many ebook readers, do I? There’s a reason for that.
As much as I might want to deny it, fewer and fewer ereaders are being launched every year. When I was in Las Vegas for CES last year I spoke to reps with Gajah. They used to be one of the leading ereader OEMs (they sold their designs to other companies), but in the past year they have largely given up on developing new ereaders because they don’t sell as many new models as they used to.
This is part of the reason why they turned their attention to tablets and for consumer products like the InkCase and other accessories which add an E-ink screen to a smartphone. There’s a market for smartphones and tablets which dwarfs the ebook reader market, and that’s been true for some years now.
Comments
Jörn January 15, 2014 um 10:10 am
Is it possible, it’s all about the PocketBook Basic 2, which PocketBook has shown last week: http://ebook-fieber.de/e-reader/pocketbook-praesentiert-guenstigen-einsteiger-ereader-pocketbook-basic-2/12805 [German]
Nate Hoffelder January 15, 2014 um 10:17 am
I agree that they look the same but Pocketbook announced this device as new hardware. (I saw your post but didn’t write anything last week because of CES 2014.) If PB is going to give them different model numbers then for the moment I will treat them as different models.
Jörn January 15, 2014 um 10:43 am
I see. I wondered, because the original post by pocketbook was posted on 19th of december: http://www.pocketbook-int.com/ru/news/pocketbook-614-novinka-sredi-nedorogih-riderov
Nate Hoffelder January 15, 2014 um 10:44 am
That I missed. Thanks.
Helmut January 15, 2014 um 11:29 am
I don’t understand why eInk is not developing Android compatible drivers for their screens that vendors finally could equip tablets with eInk screens.