Las Vegas – Plastic Logic unveiled its ultra sleek new
e-reader, and CEO Richard Archuleta stated that the Que proReader would provide
business users with all the benefits of paper without any of its drawbacks.
“In
some ways paper was almost perfect,” Archuleta stated, adding that its
disadvantage for business users was that a document was obsolete almost as soon
as you print it out. For this reason he added that this upcoming ultra sleek
device would create a new category that would sit between paper and a laptop,
but that it wasn’t meant as a replacement for a laptop or a smartphone. “We’re
not looking to create a paperless office,” said Archuleta, “but rather a
paperless briefcase.”
Thus the Que isn’t meant to compete with existing e-readers;
rather it is designed for mobile business users, and with a partnership with
Good Technology will allow users to have wireless access to Microsoft
Outlook/Exchange, as well as e-mail and calendar from Google, Windows Live and
Yahoo mail.
The device also features a new technology leap that allowed
Plastic Logic to build transistors directly on plastic, and the Que requires no
glass screen, making for a reader that is less than a third of an inch thick.
This makes for a sleek reader that features a 10.7-inch plastic touchscreen,
where everything is controlled by button presses and swipes.
The Que truVue functionality automatically converts from
portrait to landscape views as needed, and automatically formats content to
ease search and navigation. Archuleta noted that many e-readers, as well as
other devices, often lose the formatting of magazines and newspapers, and he
stressed that the Que proReader would preserve this formatting and editorial
identity of the content. These editorial partnerships including
The Wall Street Journal,
CNBC,
Fast Company, Forbes,
The Huffington
Post,
Sporting News, San Jose Mercury New
and
Thomson Reuters.
The Que proReader will be available in April directly from
the Que Web site as well as from partner Barnes & Nobile. It will be
available in two models, including a 4GB version that can hold 35,000 documents,
features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB for $649; and an 8GB version that can hold
75,000 documents, also features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB, as well as 3G
connectivity through AT&T for $799.
