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CES: 2010 new e-book readers galore (photos)

A bevy of new e-book readers made their debuts at CES 2010. Here's a look at all of them--as well as some prototypes of new digital displays.

David Carnoy
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
David Carnoy
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Aluratek Libre

Aluratek recently started shipping a 5-inch e-reader for $199.
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2 of 28 David Carnoy/CNET

Libre

Promotional materials for the Libre.
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Plastic Logic Que

Plastic Logic officially unveiled its business-oriented Que, which has a screen the size of an 8.5x11-inch piece of paper and integration with Barnes & Noble's e-book store. The big issue is how expensive it is. A version with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will cost $649, while a version that adds 3G wireless is $799. It's available for preorder now.
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Plastic Logic Que

The Que in profile.
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Bookeen Opus

Made by French company Bookeen, the Opus, which has a 5-inch screen, retails for $250 in the U.S. but should drop to $199 shortly.
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Bookeen Opus

The Bookeen Opus will soon be available in multiple colors.
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Bookeen Orizon

The Orizon is an upcoming 6-inch e-reader with a touch-screen display that uses new "In-Cell touch capacitive sensing technology." It offers much smoother operation than Sony's PRS-600 Touch Edition with no glare or contrast issues (we were impressed). The Orizon is due to ship this spring and should cost about $250.
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Bookeen is still trying to decide on the colors for the Orizon.
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Promotional materials for the Orizon.
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M-Edge's waterproof Kindle case

M-Edge was showing a Kindle submerged with its upcoming case, which also floats.
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M-Edge Nook acccesories

M-Edge will soon start shipping cases for the Nook.
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Kindle cases

More Kindle cases on display.
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Demy degital recipe reader

The Demy has a protected touch-screen LCD that's designed to repel spills in the kitchen (yes, you can wipe it off). The Demy actually came out last summer, but the company recently sold out of the product. It will start shipping again in a few months for $199 (it originally cost $299).
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Demy digital recipe reader

A recipe on the Demy.
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The Hanvon Wise e-book reader

Several generic e-readers were on display.
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Entourage Edge

Geared toward students, the Android-powered Entourage Edge has an e-ink screen on one side and a LCD touch screen on the other. The two sides work in tandem. It will will be available soon for $499.
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Liquavista

A company called Liquavista was showing off color screen technology that it hopes will be adopted by e-book reader manufacturers. The is not an e-ink display.
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Pocketbook

This Pocketbook model didn't do much to distinguish itself.
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Pocketbook 360

Another generic 5-inch e-book model.
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The Iriver Story

Iriver is about to start shipping a $290 e-reader with a 6-inch screen that has 2GB of internal memory and an SD card slot. It has a built-in voice recorder and audio player and natively reads ePub, PDF, TXT file formats along with Microsoft Office files (XLS, PPT, DOC).
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The iRiver Story

The Story seen from another angle.
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Mirasol screen technology

A company called Mirasol, which is backed by Qualcomm, was showing off an interesting color LCD technology that's energy efficient and highly reflective (it doesn't get washed out in direct sunlight). Unlike e-ink e-readers, it can show full-motion video, which is very cool. Mirasol hopes e-reader manufacturers will build e-readers with it.
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The Skiff

The Skiff e-reader, which uses Sprint for a 3G wireless connection, is one of the largest e-readers (11.5-inch touch-screen display) and is appealing for viewing newspaper and magazine content. The company is being very secretive about launch dates and pricing.
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Spring Design Alex e-reader

Spring Design's dual-screen Alex e-reader, which has some similarities to the Nook (Spring is suing Barnes & Noble), now has a release date of February 22 and a price: $399.
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DMC Copia e-readers

A global company called DMC is gearing up to launch a line of six new e-readers this Spring along with its Copia e-book portal, which has a strong social-networking element (the site seems pretty impressive, based on an early preview we got).

The Ocean line will have models ranging in size from 6 to 9 inches; all of them will feature touchscreen ePaper displays.

Meanwhile, the Tidal line has three models with 6-inch screens, with an entry-level unit that features a built-in keyboard (and no touch screen). The two higher-end models have touch-screen interfaces.

The company says prices will range from $199-$299.

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Copia Tidal Touch 3G

Close-up of the Copia Tidal Touch 3G, which is due to arrive this spring and features 3G wireless connectivity.
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Copia Ocean family

A closer look at the three Ocean e-readers that are also due out this spring.
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Samsung E6 and E101

According to Samsung, unlike other e-book devices, E6 (6-inch screen) and E101 (10-inch screen) enable handwriting directly onto the display, allowing users to annotate their reading selections, calendars, and to-do lists with a built-in electromagnetic resonance stylus pen. This dedicated pen prevents mistypes caused by hands and other objects that may graze the screen's surface, according to the company.

Both e-readers feature built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The E6 and E101 will be priced at $399 and $699, respectively, which is probably too high to make them a significant factor in the marketplace. They will be available in early 2010.

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