14 DAY TRIAL // When the media slate craze first started to surge, Acer was reportedly determined not to enter the fray. Instead, it was determined to focus on laptops, netbooks in particular, after this segment's excellent marketing performance during 2009. This was shown to no longer be the case at a recent event in Beijing, when the PC supplier, among other things, announced plans for a 7-inch slate.
Now that Computex is in full bloom, it appears that there may be more in store for the industry than one would have assumed. In fact, besides just the more or less predictable tablets, PCs and e-readers, a certain unique electronic, dubbed simply eBook, may eventually make it into stores.
The folks over at Engadget took notice of this particularly unusual tablet while visiting Qualcomm's booth. Said product, though supposedly meant for reading, looked more like an oversized iPhone 4G or a smaller slate. What was curious was that it ran Google's Android operating system and that its configuration was centered around a not-so-young Qualcomm MSM7227 processor.
The device left the Engadget team with mixed impressions. For one, the screen seemed quite large and the form factor supposedly had potential for practicality. On the other hand, the gadget wasn't among the most responsive in the world.
This, of course, could be attributed to the still incomplete software. What is clear, however, is that this eBook has nothing in common with the LumiRead, the recently introduced 3G-enabled, sunlight-readable e-reader with content provided by Barnes and Noble.
Needless to say, being a mere concept, the eBook did not come accompanied by a release date. In fact, it is quite possible that it will never actually make it to stores. Still, if the user interface is refined and suitable wireless connectivity capabilities are implemented, there is no reason it shouldn't.