11 Jan 10 Amazon Remain Confident As Plastic Logic Shows Off The Que Reader

UK based Plastic Logic has now revealed its e-book reader - the Que - which may compete with Amazon's Kindle e-book reader. The lightweight Que, which incorporates touch screen controls, was put on display at the CES in Las Vegas.

The Que is the product of over a decade of research and development work performed at Cambridge University in the UK. The research program is estimated to have cost over $ 200m.

3G wireless connectivity and a very large black and white screen is incorporated in the reader. It is significantly more expensive than Amazon's Kindle and is intended for "mobile professionals".

Two different models are available. The 4GB Que has a price tag of $ 649 and the 8GB goes for $ 799. The Kindle 2.0 from Amazon, and the bigger Kindle DX model (which is probably nearer to the Que for comparison purposes) sell for $ 259 and $ 489. The 4GB Que has enough memory to store around 35,000 documents. The 8GB has memory sufficient for 75,000 documents - the equivalent of 75 filing cabinets worth of paper.

The Que is, according to Plastic Logic, "more than an eReader". It has an enormous 10.7" shatterproof display - currently the largest e-book reader display in the world. Apart from the huge size, the other noteworthy feature of the display is that it is made from plastic rather than glass. This means that it is more durable, lighter and surprisingly flexible.

The device's overall dimensions are 11 X 8.5 X 0.33 inches. It weighs about one pound - about the same as a glossy magazine. Carrying a Que around with you will be quite similar to carrying a legal pad with you wherever you go.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Que is more than an e-book reader, Plastic Logic have agreed a deal with Barnes and Noble who will be supplying electronic books for the Que. There are also partnerships in place with newspapers such as USA Today.

More than 700,000 books will be available to Que users from the Barnes and Noble website. At the moment, Amazon have approximately 400,000 titles available for their Kindle reader - but this number is growing at the rate of more than 500 titles every day.

The Que's shipping date is set for the middle of April 2010. Customers will be able to buy it direct from the Que website or from Barnes and Noble's site. At this time, it's difficult to estimate whether or not Amazon will be unduly concerned. It could well be that the Que is actually more than an e-book reader, and in this case the Kindle and the Que will be chasing a different customer base. Of course, if they do compete in the same market then, even disregarding the significant difference in price, Amazon would probably be justified to think that their Kindle family would be more than capable of holding its own.

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