Plastic Logic has finally unveiled details about its highly anticipated QUE proReader e-reader, which is based on flexible display technology, and said it will be officially released in January at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Plastic Logic, Mountain View, Calif., Monday said that its QUE e-reader is unlike most eBook readers such as the Amazon Kindle in that its main target is business professionals instead of leisure readers.
The Plastic Logic QUE proReader connects users to business and professional newspapers, books and periodicals over 3G wireless networks, which will allow them to keep their publications up-to-date.
The QUE proReader also supports business document formats including PDF files and documents for Microsoft's Word, PowerPoint and Excel applications, and includes tools to interact with and manage the content.
Plastic Logic has already lined up content partners for its QUE proReader, including a mix of professional and leisure publication providers.
They include Barnes & Noble, news organizations USA Today and Financial Times and digital news provider Olive Software, which develops technology that allows newspapers, magazines and other content publishers to produce online versions of their current and archived publications.
Barnes & Noble is also expected to shortly unveil its own e-reader, one which seems to have a dual-screen configuration with a monochrome e-book reading screen and a color touch-sensitive LCD for browsing. Supposed photos of that device were shown last week by Gizmodo.
The QUE proReader's display measures about 8.5 x 11 inches, or the same as a sheet of paper, and is less than one-third-inch thick. Plastic Logic said that its battery can power the QUE for days.
The screen itself is based on flexible plastic display technology developed by Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory in the 1990s. Unlike the LCD displays of most e-readers, the QUE's display is flexible enough to protect it from shattering if dropped, Plastic Logic said.
For updating the content of the display, the Plastic Logic QUE proReader depends on VizPlex technology from E Ink, Cambridge, Mass., which is helping power a wide range of e-readers including the Amazon Kindle 2, the Bookeen Cybook Gen 3 and the Sony e-book Reader.
Details and full specifications for Plastic Logic's QUE are slated to be released on Jan. 7 at CES, the company said.
