14 DAY TRIAL // Netronix is a Taiwanese company that produces eBook readers and several computer components. The company also released a 9.7-inch Android tablet back in 2011, which didn't really attract much attention.
After all, the device maker isn't a household name (they are behind the design and manufacture of devices such as the Kobo eReader), although the company seems to be attempting to fill in every product niche with something of its own. For example, not so long ago, at Computex, the company revealed a smartwatch that boasted en E-Ink display.
Remaining in the E-Ink universe, Netronix is making a comeback into the eReader market with a new Android-based device that arrives with an interesting particularity.
The guys over at ARMDevices have been given the chance to play with the device a little bit, even as the product is in its prototype stages for the time being.
The device boasts a 6.8-inch E-Ink screen, and unlike any eReader we have seen on the market, takes advantage of the services of a Wacom digital pen.
To complete the specifications list, we’ll tell you that the device boasts 1440 x 1080 pixel resolution and draws power from a Freescale i.MX6 Solo Lite ARM Cortex-A9 processor.
The default operating system onboard is the outdated Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but at least you’ll be able to access Google Play from your digital reading device, something you can’t do with a lot of eReaders today.
However, at this point we can’t really say whether Netronix plans to launch the device by itself or one of its partners will take the design and build on top of it.
An eReader with a pressure-sensitive digital pen might come in handy for a lot of people, especially students who might want to highlight text or write annotations for studying purposes. Not to mention that Wacom technology is hailed as one of the best there are.
On the negative side of things, such an eReader will probably end up costing more than the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite or the heavily discounted B&N Nook with Glowlight.
Since we’re talking about Wacom tech, we should remind you that an increasing amount of ASUS VivoTab Note 8 owners, a tablet that comes with a Wacom stylus, complained that their pen stopped working after a while.
Several workarounds to get the pen to function again have been identified, but our purpose in telling you this is for you to realize that, despite Wacom’s popularity in the pen garden, these accessories don’t come devoid of problems.
