Fujitsu introduces color Kindle-killer 'FLEPia'
E-readers, start your engines.
Fujitsu today announced that it will begin selling "the world’s first color e-paper mobile terminal," or e-reader, in Japan today through its online store FrontechDirect.
The device, named FLEPia (doesn't it just roll off your tongue?), is the first such device to feature color e-paper, and has an 8-inch display screen capable of showing up to 260,000 colors in high-definition, Bluetooth and high-speed wireless LAN.
FLEPia is also power-efficient, enabling up to 40 hours of continuous battery operation when fully charged, and does not require power for continuous display of a screen image, consuming power only during re-draw.
FLEPia also supports a 4GB SD card, and with it, can store the equivalent of 5,000 conventional paper-based books when each book is 300 pages long at 600KB per book.
Specs:
- 8-inch screen displays up to 260,000 colors in high-definition; 768 dots x 1,014 dots (XGA), with up to 260,000 displayable colors (4,096-color and 64-color display is also possible, if desired).
- Weighs just 385 grams, or about 13.6 ounces, and is 12.5mm thick, or just under a half-inch.
- Up to 40-hour continuous battery operation
- Bluetooth, high-speed wireless LAN
- A USB mini-B connector supporting USB2.0 (480Mbps) and a SD memory card slot.
- Stereo speakers (embedded) offer audio playback of e-books, including picture books.
- Touch screen, digital stylus, scroll key, function buttons
- Two e-book viewers included as standard features (XMDF and .book formats)
- Windows CE 5.0 (Japanese version)
Software upgrades will be offered free-of-charge. The FLEPia costs 99,750 Japanese Yen, or roughly $1,015 U.S. dollars. Ouch.
No word on whether the FLEPia will make an appearance in other markets besides Japan. Full specs, after the jump:
