Plastic Logic Admit Que is Dead

It now official that the only ereader to have a longer gesticulation period than an elephant is dead! The Que ProReader has been officially cancelled by Plastic Logic, which says it will focus its efforts on a second-generation product.

"This was a hard decision, but is the best one for our company, our investors and our customers," said Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta. "We plan to take the necessary time needed to re-enter the market as we refocus, redesign and retool for our next generation ProReader product. We continue to perfect our core plastic electronic technology and manufacturing processes that are central to our product's unique value proposition."

The problems it now faces are that it has a credibility issue in the market with those who once believed being sceptical second time, the market moving at a pace which is hard for ‘outsiders’ to get market traction, the price point has shifted considerably and will only go one way and at the top end it now faces tablets and increased functionality it may not be geared to match. Its original appeal was to business and to newspapers which have had to vote with their feet. It hasn’t the conent or market position or brand to compete effectively in the ebook market and it lowered its sights it will still find it hard to compete against Amazon, Kobo, B&N Google Editions and even Sony.

The real losers are the investors who backed a slow horse and rather than focus on the second generation ,perhaps given their speed to market, they should think about the third generation instead.

Plastic Logic to become an Urban Myth?

We all waited and waited and waited. Everyone said it would change the face of eInk and take it into the corporate space and bring newsprint to the net. We started to doubt it and some said that it had a longer reticulation period than an elephant. Now we hear that our favourite urban myth Plastic Logic’s Que-e reader isn’t shipping yet again with an official rating of a “delay.” They have gone as far as to cancel all pre-orders and new ones and that they are no longer offering a date for its launch.

Plastic Logic’s email to customers simply said, “We need to let you know that since your unit will not ship on June 24 as planned, our automated ordering system has automatically cancelled your order,”

The iPad has effectively wiped the Que off the market and although it claimed to be able to do much more in handling Microsoft Word files, Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, digital books, PDFs, magazines and newspapers, the price was high and it was still the same black and white tv.

Plastic Logic have made the fatal mistake of promising too much and taking too long to deliver in a rapidly changing world. They would have been far wiser to get out there a year ago with some shortfalls and get it right on version two than strive for perfection and never deliver or arrive to the party as all the guests are leaving.

Is Plastic Logic an Oxymoron?

Sometimes the wait is too long and by the time that something arrives the world or one’s needs and aspirations have moved on. Imagine being told about the iTouch or iPod 3 years ago and still waiting for them today? Alternatively being sold on the Kindle 2 years ago and still waiting for that single device monochrome screen the wake of the tablet era. Would you still want them today?

The only creature with a gestation period longer than the Plastic Logic Que proReader is an elephant and maybe that’s what it will feel like when it finally arrives. Pre-orders of the $649 and $799 business-focused readers have already sold out and were expected next month but a further delay has now been announced. Would you want one when tablet in full colour with full media capabilities and much more are about to land and at a cheaper cost?

Irrespective of their screen technology they sound to us like Betamax in a VHS world or VHS in today’s world.

News versus Noise: CES Part 1

So what else has emerged from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this week?

The Greening of Notebooks
Sony introduced not one but four new Vaio notebooks with the ‘w’ series catching our eye with its green-tinted plastic case being made of 23% recycled CDs and the carrying case is made of recycled plastic bottles. Why not call it the ‘r’ series for recycled?

Too Long In Labour?
Plastic Logic finally launched its Que e-reader and may prove to be an oxymoron. This has had a longer gesticulation period than an elephant! Will it succeed in what is now a very crowed market of ‘lookie likies’ and even with all its initial super hype is it a case of being always a bridesmaid. Since it offered so much the world has moved on and one would seriously have to question why this when we have tablets, duo screen devices and so much more better value all around us.

WoW at a WoW Price
Dell's Adamo XPS being only 9.9mm thick is now being billed as the world's thinnest laptop and is even thinner than many mobiles! It also opens to sits up, with the keyboard ergonomically tilted to offer a better typing angle. Its 13.4” LED widescreen offers 1366 x 768 pixels but the interesting design element is that motherboard and 128GB solid-state drive are behind the screen, not beneath the keyboard. We thick this could be thinking itself a future tablet but being this thin and only 1.44kg, it may not be the lightest around but it offers much to think about. However it suffers one major drawback in that it will cost you £1,750.

A Tablet For All Seasons
Notion Ink’s Android “smartpad” which claims to support full HD video playback, WiFi, Bluetooth and use the Pixel Qi transflective 10” 1024 x 600 Pixel display a 3-megapixel autofocus camera with video 16GB or 32GB of SSD. Interesetingly it even has a water sensor! The screen can be viewed as a regular LCD, or outdoors in either transflective mode with reduced color vibrancy or at a flick in fully reflective 64-level grayscale mode. The battery life is claimed to be 48hrs standby, 8hrs of HD video playback and 16hrs of internet surfing over WiFi. Price is not know but expected to be around $300.

Lets Get Social?
The Copia reader joins the usual eInk suspects but offers not one but a group of readers joined together by a social networking and reader support. So the question is whether the network pulls is strong enough to tie the devices to the readers or is just a gimmick that is only as good as the network of users. Why create a social network around a platform this way it doesn’t make sense,perhaps they should have looked at the track record of BookRabbit, perhaps they just want to sell tin, but perhaps they don’t know what the want to be when the grow up.

Plastic Logic Demo

If you want to look at the Plastic Logic from Wall Street Journal 'Plastic Logic: The Full D7 Demo'

Looking at the demo it looks still like a prototype. It sounds like a technology looking to solve a problem and one that was announced very early, no pricing, still crude and clearly shows they have some way to go yet.

eBook Reader Line Up

So as most ebook readers promise to get bigger the new BeBook e-book reader plans to get smaller. The new machine will be the same as before only it will now have a 5” display screen and be priced at $200 or less. The price will certainly be more attractive but by the screen size they automatically reduce the cost so its yet another eink reader albeit smaller.

As BeBook is manufactured by Chinese company Tianjin Jinke Electronics, who own the Hanlin ereader brand, the mini BeBook will also be available as the Hanlin v5 Reader.

So who are the eInk and ebook reading devices out there today?


Amazon has its Kindle 2 which is rumored to become larger later this year and maybe even make it past the Whispernet and into Europe. Amazon also have the iphone Kindle app and have just acquired Lexcycle’s Stanza application platform. They also own Mobibook.






Sony has the PRS505 and the PRS700 which could break free from the umbilical cord to Adobe’s Digital Editions and maybe even go wireless this year. Although it renders Adobe eBooks as well as epub and that old Sony format its current strength is its current exclusive tie to Adobe DRM through Adept and ACS4 and their current UK exclusive with Waterstones. Today it is still the epub reader with DRM.




iRex has the iLiad Book Edition with an 8.1” screen with built in Wi-Fi capability with an option for external ethernet networking, but is expensive and remains outside of the Adobe world today and is heavily reliant on Mobibook.




Samsung is to launch its touch-screen Papyrus. Samsung is expected to make Papyrus available in Korea this summer, with a later launch date in the US and UK.





Fuijisu have the FLEPia is the first e-book reader to support colour via a 8” display, comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support and a touchscreen with a stylus. It is only available in Japan today, with plans to come to both the US and UK. The big issue is the price, a whopping $1,000.





Plastic logic. The reader is expected to measure 8.5 by 11 inches, be thinner than its competitors and today has a look that is fresh and could appeal. It will support Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe PDFs, newspapers, periodicals and books and a wireless capability. However, only an elephant has a longer gesticulation period!

If Apple were to launch their rumoured iTouch as a multi media netbook without a keypad then the PL tablet could die before it makes it onto the street. It could be a classic case of a premature launch.



Hanilin, Jinke, Bebook, Pixelar same box different badge and has been covered already.










Foxit eSlick Reader is a 6” display but is lighter both in its weight and its price than its competitors. However it has limited file support and a clumsy USB umbilical cord to the PC for downloading files. Some may say it’s a cheap man’s ereader.





Brother with its very expensive SV-100B document reader planned to launch in Japan this summer.







Onyx International, China has announced its Boox ereader is not available today but Onyx are looking for OEM customers for their touchscreen for their 6, 8 or 9.7 inch touch screen sizes. It claims to do everything but is still to seen.



This list is growing with many stalling or failing and rumours of a Barnes and Noble reader, a Murdoch Newscorp one, a Hearst one etc. This is without the iPhone and mobile apps, online readers and of course the ultimate reader - the book.

News Change Continues

The newspaper industry, America’s source for news and opinion for so long, is clearly struggling to change in these difficult times where ad revenues are tightening and moving online, news is being made available free over the Internet and what and how we read is changing.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will produce its last printed edition on today and become an Internet-only news source, leaving the city with only one mainstream daily, the Seattle Times. This in turn will put additional pressure on the money losing Times, as the two papers had a joint operating agreement, where The Times handled all non-newsroom operations for both, like printing, delivery, advertising and marketing.
The agreement is now effectively dissolved and leaves the Times in the same situation that The Denver Post found itself in after its rival, The Rocky Mountain News, folded late last month when its owner, E.W. Scripps Co., couldn’t find a buyer. In Arizona, Gannett Co.’s Tucson Citizen is set to close Saturday, leaving one newspaper in that city. Hearst has also said that it would close or sell the San Francisco Chronicle if the newspaper couldn’t slash expenses in coming weeks.

Media companies continue to fall at an alarming pace, with four newspaper companies, including the owners of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer, seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in recent months.

Detroit Media Partnership (DMP) has announced that it will launch a trial with 100 Plastic Logic e-readers to gauge reader reaction to electronic editions of The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. DMP has been cutting down its print distribution costs and a cut in home delivery of its papers to Thursday, Friday and Sunday. However the Plastic Logic large screen reader will not be fully released until 2010 which may be too late for some and makes 2009 a difficult year for all.

The demand for news I not in question but its creation, editing, collation and distribution is certainly under increasing pressure. However it is not alone and like most media sectors change is clearly gathering pace. The only thing that is certain is that tomorrow will be different.

Hearst to Move Onto eInk?

It is unclear as to whether individual media companies will follow the Amazon route and build their own devices and try and control their own channels or whether they will adopt a more open and inclusive approach to the market.

Hearst Corporation, the giant media conglomerate, announced it will launch an e-reader of its own by the end of the year. Hearst’s magazine and news papers include SmartMoney, Esquire, Oprah Winfrey's O Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Popular Mechanics, Seventeen 16 daily and 49 weekly newspapers including San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer both of which Hearst has put up for sale.

The first unkown is the device which is almost certain to be based on eink with Hearst Interactive Media being among a group of strategic investors that have together poured more than $150 million into E Ink’s technology. Will they use Plastic Logic device or opt for their own? What is becoming clear is that the Hearst e-reader will almost certainly be larger and wireless to accommodate the format of newspapers and magazines. This will help reproduce the more-complex layouts of print periodicals as well as letting advertisers buy spots in the sizes and format they're already used to. However for now they will have to accept greyscale which to some degree will dilute the appeal of their glossy magazines to consumers and to their advertisers. There is some speculation that Hearst is exploring making the device foldable or rollable to enhance portability.

The second unknown is the business model with many predicting that the will attempt to move from the free online to a subscription model a tricky move with only a few such as Wall Street Journal sticking ridgidly to it. However we note that Newsday has declared their intent to move to a paid model for their online edition.

The Hearst e-reader may work if readers see added value but we are now seeing the collapse of newspapers as we have known them for over 100 years. Advertising revenue, the shift of classified advertising to the likes of Craigslist, online free news, services such as Google news and the news on your mobile are all compounding to cannibalising the model.

February 9th - eReader Day

We have written on Plastic Logic’s ereader which first surfaced at last year’s CES show and has taken a year to market. This is good news as it is clearly aimed at the ailing newsprint and business document market.

We have also reported on the Kindle 2 which is expected to be announced in New York on the 9th February, but what we didn’t expect was that both the K2 launch and the Plastic Logic reader would appear on the same day and in the same city. Yes PL plans to launch their device in New York on 9th February at the Tools of Change conference in New York.

We would ask if this is wise? It certainly will raise the column inches on both announcements but what will consumers make of two potential heavyweight offers squaring up to each other on the same day, in the same city? Bezos will have the consumer eyeballs and PL ,by their choice of venue, the technology attention.

Expect one to talk books and education and the other newsprint and business and the consumer to read about it all via their news alerts and on their iPhone.

Compare ebooks

A simple and comparison on the eink players.

Click here

It's interesting to read and although basic raises many questions.

Pity they only reviewed eink ebook readers as these may only have a short life as we know them today

Another Day and Another Big eReader

Septemberfest is well on us now and another digital reader announcement is in the making. Not to be undone by Plastic Logic’s reader we now see that iRex is currently running a teaser on its site for a new product to launch on 22 September. The event is called "seeing is believing". It not unlike the campaign, which we reported on early this week that is currently being run by Sony.

Forbes, report that the company is to launch an "evolved" e-book reader dubbed the iRex Reader 1000 with a 10.2 inch diagonal E-Ink display with a touchscreen plus stylus version available as an upgrade screen and aimed clearly at the business user. The reader will have 80 hours battery life, support a wide range of document formats and some models will also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity.

This raises the bar further against new entrants such as Plastic Logic and the rumoured bigger Kindle. The question is whether the business sector approach has more legs than the ebook consumer one? With pricing for a basic non-touch model rumoured to be $650 the business approach seems sensible. The Blackberry, like the laptop before it, has shown that the business market can drive volume and stimulate the consumer market. In addition as business becomes more communications dependant being able to read documents and other material on a reasonable sized tablet could have appeal. In many cases it’s down to whether the IT heads want to push it or restrict users to laptops and notebooks. Remember eink still doesn’t support video or even colour.

The IT guys are the business world gatekeepers and a friend told me last week that he could have a Blackberry, or a 3G dongle, but not both. It appears that life in IT is Binary all the way through!

Is It Wise Dot Com?

Imagine carrying a tablet around with you with a screen 2.5 times larger than the Kindle, weighing two ounces more and a third of the Kindle's thickness. It will enable you to read your daily news digitally and is the latest ebook eink device to hit the market. Today many of us get our news feeds free direct to our mobiles and PCs, but that obviously is not seen as the answer for these technology people. Some may say that it is technology for the sake of technology.

The new electronic newspaper, reported in today’s New York Times is a large portable screen that is constantly updated with the latest news. The new device is based on eink technology, produced by Plastic Logic and is to be launched next Monday. The Plastic Logic’s device, which will be shown at an emerging technology trade show in San Diego, can be continually updated via a wireless link, and can store and display hundreds of pages of newspapers, books and documents. Plastic Logic’s gains its weight benefit by using lightweight plastic, rather than glass technology.

The reader will go on sale in the first half of next year but today there is no newspapers announced to be available through the service,nor a price fixed.

E Ink expects that within the next few years it will be able to create technology that allows users to write on the screen, view videos and of course view colour pages. The biggest competitor is not the Kindle or other ebook pretenders, but the web itself and the guys working on the news web sites and offering today full colur, digital copy for free.

Lets again step back and ask the question whether we need another device. Are you seriously going to work with a laptop in bag, mobile in pocket and now a tablet under the arm? Can you remember when muggers targeted iPods? Well they will have little problem spotting these!

It's one thing to provide a screen big enough to support newsprint layout, but its another to ask, why do we have to? Even The Times shrunk in recent years and newspapers constantly have to now reconsider their layout!

A shaman friend once wanted to create a web site for debate, that when confronted by a new idea would ask ‘Is it wise.com?’ We think this one would fail the test and oit makes us question the manufacturer's name - Plastic Logic.