CeBIT 2010: Asus unveils DR-900 e-book reader

Latest entrant in growing market shows its hand

The Asus DR-900 e-book reader has a 9in capacitive display

HANNOVER: Notebook manufacturer Asus is the latest hardware vendor to get into the burgeoning e-book market with the unveiling of a new e-reader at CeBIT this week.

The DR-900 will be priced at around £250, notably lower than Apple's iPad, but by no means the cheapest dedicated e-reader on the market.

Asus said that the DR-900 has a 9in capacitive display, 2GB or 4GB internal storage, wireless 802.11g and optional 3G. The device can support files including PDF, JPEG, and GIF, weighs 530g and measures 222mm x 161mm x 9mm.

Iain Bristow, technical PR at Asus, was upbeat about the firm's ability to take market share in the fast growing e-book space by offering a different product specification from the likes of Amazon.

"We have big ambitions with this product and believe it will be successful. I don't think we will be competing against Apple having seen its pricing plans yesterday, but we think we offer something different as well," he said.

Asus has yet to finalise any partners for the device, but Bristow said that this is being discussed and that the device is platform agnostic.

Bristow added that the company will launch a second reader, the DR-600, by November or December which will have a colour screen. Asus is also considering a third product with a 6in greyscale display.

The DR-900 should be on the market by the end of May or beginning of June, according to Bristow, as the software still requires some "tweaking".