CES 2010: QUE proReader lets you work with documents, not just read them

I just returned from the Plastic Logic press event on the CES 2010 show floor where they unveiled everything about the QUE proReader. If you are looking for another ebook reader to compete with the nook, Kindle, or Sony Reader then you might as well stop reading this post now and look for my other articles because this is NOT a competitor to those devices that are focused on ebook reading. The QUE proReader is a device for the mobile business professional who wants to take their electronic file cabinet with them on the go to read and work with their documents. My engineering office is almost entirely paperless and we do everything digitally so I can easily see where this device will fill the gap between the small screen smartphone and the heavy, processor intensive laptop.

The QUE proReader is extremely then and felt great in my hand. There is one single button on the entire device to help you quickly jump back to the Home screen. The Home screen is also business focused with your synced up Outlook calendar appearing on the left side with appointment attachment support. The center area is for your content with thumbnails of documents. The lower right has an area where you can pin your favorites and the lower left has a button for the QUE Catalog.

As you can see, the QUE Catalog is powered on the back end by Barnes & Noble with a business focus so you will see BusinessWeek top sellers rather than the New York Times bestseller list and much more for the enterprise user. However, you will still be able to fully access all Barnes & Noble electronic content so you can buy ebooks and read them as well.

The QUE is 8.5 by 11 inches in size and very thin. It is made of plastic, including the display, so its display is shatterproof and quite durable. Even though the display is a capacitive touchscreen I was amazed by how clear the fonts are on it. There is no touch layer degrading the eInk clarity on this device like we see on other ebook readers. The onscreen QWERTY keyboard is just under half the size of the display in portrait mode so it is easy to tap on and enter text for notes or searches. All navigation is done by touch, including circling text and making notes with digital ink pens.

To get documents on your QUE you can print to it via a printer driver you install on your PC, you can drag and drop to the QUE It folder on your PC and have them appear on your QUE, or you can send them from your BlackBerry smartphone via Bluetooth with the BlackBerry application. The QUE has WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB support for document transfer.

QUE has a technology called truVue that keeps documents in their original format so you don't have to compromise to get them into digital eInk form. The USA Today has a definite style in print and they are able to bring that same experience to the proReader as you can see in my photo.

There are actually two models to start with, the QUE 4GB has 4GB of internal memory (35,000 documents), WiFi, and Bluetooth and will sell for $649 and the QUE 8GB has 8GB of internal memory (75,000 documents), WiFi, Bluetooth, and AT&T 3G support for $799. You can pre-order them now with availability slated for mid-April.

While this may seem expensive, if you are a business user who works a lot with documents I think people will find it very attractive. I don't work this way so my B&N nook is perfect for my ebook reading.