Preview: Kyobo ebook reader with Qualcomm mirasol display

First look

E-books readers have gained popularity in the market these days. After all, it is wise to invest once in an e-book reader than keep buying fresh books for the rest of your life. Coming to this device, it has been introduced by Kyobo, the largest book seller in Korea. They have partnered with Qualcomm to produce the world's first e-book reader with mirasol display. This particular display has been heavily hyped up in the market and it will be interesting to see how it fares.

Kyobo ebook reader

What's new?

Generally, when you think e-book readers, it is the Amazon Kindle that comes to mind isn't it? The manual buttons, the grey screen and the e-ink right? But, Kyobo has broken that myth quite comprehensively.

This e-book reader has a color display with a sold 5.7'' screen that is quite close to perfection. Now, you might get a valid doubt. If this device can display colors it should be made of a LED or LCD screen which might hurt our eyes isn't it? That is where you are wrong. Although it displays colors it is not made of LCD. The Mirasol display is made up of tiny mirrors that practically create colors by reflecting lights. This device is a great step forward in e-book technology.

What's been refreshed?

Everyone wants a batter battery life with e-book readers. Many e-book readers have gone out of the market in a flash mainly due to their bad battery life. Kyobo has not released a specific lasting time for the battery on the device but it has been stated that the battery will last weeks under normal usage. The device also performs well even when Wi-Fi is on. Generally, if you read 30 minutes without Wi-Fi every day, you can attain maximum efficiency with this device for weeks.

Features Walkthrough

The device sports a 5.7'' display screen which is quite good to read and to hold. It can display 1024 X 768 colors and that is very impressive for a e-book reader. Also, it has a very responsive touchscreen which is unique for a touch screen reader.

One surprising thing about the device is that it runs on Android Gingerbread 2.3 which makes it extremely customizable. It can sport different types of applications that can be downloaded from the Market Place. It also has a 1GHz processor with Qualcomm technology that is quite laudable.

What's good?

Keep in mind that the device has been released only in Korea and so attracting their customers should it its main aim. To do that, Kyobo has been giving premium books off cost with the device.

Kyobo's president has stated that the device will give a premium reading experience to its readers. Above all that, its features namely the Android OS, vivid display screen and 1GHz processor are unmatched by any other e-book reader in the market.

Video content and integration to social media sites such as Facebook is a big plus for the device. Everyone is using social media sites and they will find it interesting to have social media integration with an e-book reader.

What's not so good?

Although the company claims that the battery life is good, it is yet to be tested. So, you might be surprised by its quality working with Wi-Fi. Even top quality mobile phones stumble when put under Wi-Fi and 4G networks and so, the reader might lose its power after 12 hours of Wi-Fi usage.

If that happens, it will be a serious low to the device. Moreover, with high end rivals such as Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook and the iPad, the device might find it hard to hold its forte.

Price and availability

Like mentioned already, the device is now only available in Korea. It has been priced at $310 for the US markets. Kyobo also offers around 90,000 books with the device. It will be available in the US markets in the coming months.

Wrap-up

Korea has a literacy rate of near 100 percentile and that will make the device a major hit in their markets. But, how it will fare out in the heavily competitive US and European markets, we will have to wait and see.