14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that even Sharp has decided to come in strong on the e-reader market, its offering actually being made up of two devices that have enough tablet elements to be considered both e-readers and media slates, at least somewhat.
Even though most e-reader unleashed so far have stuck to the E Ink grayscale screen, Sharp has just added to the small number of exceptions.
The company brought forth a pair of devices that boast liquid crystal displays (LCDs) instead of the aforementioned solutions.
To be more precise, Sharp has created the Galapagos e-book readers, a pair of slate-like electronics with screen sizes of 5.5 inches and 10.8 inches, respectively.
In that order, they have the respective names of EB-W51GJ-R/S and EB-WX1GJ-B and share mostly every other specification.
Not every bit of their hardware was mentioned, but it seems that both feature the same sort of color LCD touchscreen.
Said LCD has a resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels on the 5.5-inch slate, while the other one goes higher, to 1,366 x 800 pixels.
It is also stated that the e-reader boast 802.11 b/g WiFi, for wireless access to the web and any other services Sharp may offer.
Speaking of services, the outfit intends to launch an entire e-book store around the same time as the e-readers themselves.
Said store will, at least at first, come with 20,000 books, magazines and newspapers.
Sharp means to make the official launch on December 10, when the 5.5-inch and 10.8-inch tablet/e-readers will start to sell for prices equivalent to $473 (39,800 yen) and $651 (54,800 yen), respectively.
Initially, they will sell only in Japan, though it is quite likely that it won't be long until they spread to other regions as well.
Entertainment content is expected to expand in spring, 2011, when video and music, among other things, will be added to the TSUTAYA GALAPAGOS store.