Yesterday the Taiwan-based OEM Avalue announced, in partnership with E-ink, that they have “a Digital Paper tablet that can be optimized for use within a wide array of industrial and educational applications”.
What this essentially means is that Avalue is moving into the same niche as Netronix, the Taiwan ereader maker which is the hardware partner for Kobo, Barnes &Noble, and Sony. If you have a few hundred thousand dollars to throw around, Avalue will design an epaper tablet for you.
Their device will reportedly have a “paper-sized” screen. The actual dimensions aren’t given, which means it will most likely be a 13.3″ screen (a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper has a diagonal measurement of 13.9″).
The press release mentions the following features.
- Letter size – full page view, no scrolling or zooming
- Reads like paper – no glare, use indoors or outside
- Annotate, highlight, erase – enable active reading
- Take handwritten notes – organize your thoughts and ideas
- Always on – quick access to documents and notes
- Long battery life – lasts about three weeks
- Thin, lightweight – similar to about 30 pieces of paper
- Durable and unbreakable – take it anywhere
- Secure – keep documents digital
- Wireless enabled – access documents and notes anywhere
- Customizable – optimize for use with existing applications
If this were a real device, I would be excited. But since it’s not, I will temper my enthusiasm.
On a related note, I went digging through Avalue’s website and discovered that they also “make” a couple signage prodcuts, including models that use the 42″ and 31″ E-ink screens which were announced 5 or 6 years ago, but never actually used anywhere.
They also list a 13.3″ “eNote Tablet” in their healthcare IoT section. That device would appear to be almost identical to the one that launched yesterday, but since yesterday’s launch is so vague it is hard to be certain.
You just finished reading Avalue Launches a Whitelabel 13.3″ E-ink Tablet which was published on The Digital Reader.