The recent Kindle announcement of a price drop might have you scrambling for your credit card and fill in pre-order forms. That seems fair enough since $139 for a Kindle is quite a bargain. But bargains never stop in this era of competition. Copia, a subsidiary of DMX Worldwide announced that it will release its own eBook reader, the Ocean Reader and The Tidal Reader. But the one who seems to be Copia’s champion on this year’s price war is the 5-inch, Wave5, priced at $99.
Copia Readers were set to hit the market this spring but the schedule changed for undisclosed reasons. Copia’s line includes Ocean Readers, Tidal Readers and Wave Readers.
Aside from the price hype, the only detail that seems to be clear about the Wave Reader from Copia is that it will have a colored display. Even with that it’s unclear if it uses color e-ink. Although, that might seem doubtful since Color E-ink technology is still in its infancy. E-ink technology on displays is known for its very low power consumption enabling users to maximize the battery life of their devices between charges.
Copia Reader’s success depends largely on how the market and other developers will take advantage of the social platform it is offering. A key aspect into this is convincing the public and soon to be partners that the technology is competitive enough to convince users that they still need the limited functionality of an eBook reader with their tablet pcs, smartphones and laptops already in tow.
Copia’s move was to adjust their pricing. It also promises a Copia Platform that lets you start conversations and connect with your kindred spirits—well when it comes to books, that is. If you’re up for an online book club, Copia Reader might just give you that. The platform is also targeting other eBook reader, iPhones and smartphones, netbooks, tablet pcs and other devices.
First seen at the Consumer Eletronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas this January, Copia Readers have been marketed as the first “social reading” platform. The e-book reader will support social media integration allowing users to access their Facebook and Twitter accounts and its feeds. This can easily be done without opening another web browser and while users browse through their eBook library. They can also share notes, join discussions and give out book recommendations.
Ebook readers have been bent on a price war since Apple launched the iPad. There have been fears that eBook readers’ survival in the market is at stake with more multitasking tablet PCs invading the market this year. Each tablet PC that gets introduced aims to top iPad’ features and win the market with lower prices.
Copia has managed to win the price tug of war and add some interesting features, to boot. Well, at least for now.
Features
Wave5 ($99.99) and Wave7 ($129.99)
- 5&Prime or 7&Prime capacitive touchscreen LCD (800×480)
- 64MB RAM and 2GB onboard storage
- SD card slot
- Mono speaker and 3.5mm headphone jack
- Supports most audio and image formats, plus ePub, TXT, and PDF
- 6.7oz and 12oz respectively
Ocean Color$299.99
- 10.1&Prime 16:9 capacitive multi-touch LCD (1024×600, GPU accelerated)
- 512MB RAM and 4GB onboard storage
- SD card slot, 2 x USB 2.0
- Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks
- Tilt sensor
- Wi-Fi, browser, e-mail client, IM
- Supports MP3, AAC, WMA, MPEG-4 and WMV video, most image formats, plus ePub
- HTML, TXT, PRC, PDF
- 1.12lb (18oz)
Tidal ($149.99)
- 6&Prime E-ink display (800×600, 16-stage greyscale, portrait or landscape mode)
- 2GB onboard storage
- SD card slot
- Wi-Fi (optional, $10 extra)
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Supports MP3, AAC, WMA, most image formats, plus ePub, HTML, TXT, PRC, PDF
- 9.3oz
Anurag Bhullar
Almost in a state of war against viruses and other security threats ever since my laptop crashed due to a virus attack quite some time back. The writer inside me has grown only more passionate to unearth the best of security software and Internet technologies, just to save other people from nasty online bugs on my rescue mission. Even, my friends keep coming back to me with their security hiccups. ‘Security Geek’ is what they call me! All right mate! Let’s handle it!
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