Foxit eSlick E-Reader Canceled

Of the many companies that announced their intention to join the growing competition on the e-reader front, some have already succeeded, while others decided they would experiment with other endeavors. One of the latest developments in this field comes from Foxit. This company had planned to offer the eSilck, a device unveiled back in December 2008 and based on Netronix hardware combined with their own software. Apparently, the fact that it lacked any sort of wireless connectivity was enough to cause the premature death of the project.

One of the major factors in this decision was the fact that Kobo is already selling a Netronix-based e-reader which is $50 less expensive. Between that and the lack of WiFi, not to mention 3G, the eSlick did not look like it had any chance against the likes of Amazon's Kindle, B&N's Nook or Sony's collection. Furthermore, their proprietary software did not nearly have as wide an e-book format support as these others. Basically, the company will no longer develop the eSlick and, instead, focus on so-called “platform-independent PDF technology and multi-device support to leading eBook providers.”

“We have been licensing our PDF and ePub technology to a number of eBook vendors. Our decision to discontinue eSlick is to eliminate the possibility of competing with our partners,” said Erik Bryant, Assistant Vice President Sales, Foxit Corporation. “We’re looking forward to making the most impact possible on the growing eBook market by providing our proven, top-of-the-line PDF software technology as an industry standard to the principal providers of electronic reading devices.”

The Foxit Reader, a free PDF viewing software with an easy-to-use navigation system which enables the easy download of PDF documents while consuming little resources, is what Foxit is best known for. This program can view and print documents and has evolved into the Foxit reader 4.0 iteration just recently. Moving forward, the outfit will also close its European branch office “in an effort to provide its partners with more flexibility in managing local markets” and “work directly with local distributors and resellers from its U.S. headquarters in Fremont, Calif.”