Okay all you gadget-loving early adopters, the latest must-have tech gadget is finally taking pre-orders and is said to be shipping this week.
The enTourage eDGe is a new compact, portable, digital combination e-reader, notebook, mp3 and video player/recorder that lets you do all that the Kindle and iPad do, and then some.
Available in 5 colors, the device, with a horrible typographic treatment of the name*, is priced at $499.00 is taking pre-orders now and expected to start shipping this week.
*that capitalized DG in the word edge stands for Digital Generation.
The enTourage eDGe™ is the world’s first dualbook, combining the functions of an e-reader (complete with their online e-book store) , netbook, notepad, and audio/video recorder and player in one. It’s a comprehensive device that lets you read e-books, surf the Internet, take digital notes, send emails and instant messages, watch movies and listen to music anywhere, at any time.
Get books wirelessly, move files onto your enTourage eDGe™ using an SD card or a USB flash drive. Use the mini-USB port to move files back and forth from a Windows, Mac, or Linux-based PC. And with a netbook built in, you can forget the limitations of other e-readers, the enTourage eDGe™ does it all.
Netbook Functionality
The enTourage eDGe™ color touchscreen is a whole netbook, ready to play movies or MP3s, organize your books, notes, and pictures, or let you instant message your friends.
The screen is 1024 x 600 pixels, or 10.1 inches measured diagonally. You can view images from the e-book you're reading on the color display.
You can open a virtual keyboard and type instant messages or emails. The netbook includes an audio recorder to capture lectures for later playback or sharing.
It also has a video camera to record still images or movies as MP4s or 3GP files. You can plug in headphones or a microphone or use the built in speaker and recorder.
It has web browsing with built in WiFi®, audio/video record and playback, an email function and contacts list, a calculator, an alarm clock, and a library function to manage your books and files. The enTourage eDGe™ uses the Google® Android® OS, so you can add other applications you need (like Microsoft Office).
The netbook can be used in portrait or landscape mode, but you can also flip everything around 180 degrees. When you do that, the e-reader, where you keep your journals or take notes on books, will be on the right side, and the netbook will be on the left.
The enTourage eDGe™ only weighs about three pounds but can hold thousands of e-books in its built-in 3GB of usable memory. You can use an SD card or a USB flash drive to add to the storage, or move files to and from your MP3 player, your phone, your PC, even your camera.
Designed to let you go all day without recharging the battery, the lithium ion battery can last up to 16 hours of reading without recharging (note: that's 16 hours of reading. If you're using the LCD screen, the battery lasts about 6 hours) One of the big advantages of the enTourage eDGe™ is that the battery can be replaced if it's ever necessary.
5 Different Colors:
The enTourage eDGe™ comes complete with a Stylus, a Power adapter, a USB cable and a Quick Start Guide
Technical Specs:
•Dimensions: 8.25" x 10.75" by 1.0" (closed)
•Weight: approx. 3 lbs.
•Internal Memory: 4 GB (3 GB for user) up to 3000 books
•E-reader File Formats: ePub, PDF
•LCD Touchscreen Display Size: 1024 x 600 (10.1")
•E-paper Display Size: 9.7" e-Ink®(1200 x 825), 8 shades of gray
•E-paper Input: Wacom® Penabled®
•Operating System: Linux with Google® Android®
•Screen Rotation: 90 and 180 degrees
•Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth capability
•Battery Life: 16+ hours utilizing the e-reader screen / up to 6 hours running the LCD screen
•Battery Type: Lithium-ion polymer
•External Memory: SD card slot, 2 USB ports
•Audio and Microphone Jack: 3.5 mm each. Includes internal microphone and speakers.
•Audio playback: MP3, WAV, 3GPP, MP4, AAC, OGG, M4A
•Video playback: 3GP, MP4, Adobe Flash Lite (H.264)
•Input: Stylus input on e-paper and touchscreen. Virtual keyboard. USB keyboard (optional)
Check out what Wired magazine's Gadget Lab has to say about it here.
Pre-order yours now here.
all images and information courtesy of enTourage eDGe
