The Netbook and Ereader Combo Device -- EnTourage EDGe

Two of the hottest tech devices in the world are the Netbook and the Ereader. It would only be logical that the two would combine their powers and present themselves in one package.

enTourage Systems has done just that with its enTourage eDGe, a powerful, dual Netbook and Ereader. enTourage CEO Asghar Mostafa found that his children were more inclined to use an Ereader if it had the power of the Internet with it. Mr. Mostafa launched the first "dualbook," an Ereader, Netbook, notepad, and audio/video recorder all wrapped into one. Thus, the eDGe lets you read books, access the Net, take notes, send and read emails, watch movies, and listen to music on a single, double device.

As enTourage touts: It's nothing you have seen before.

The eDGe is run with the Marvell Armada PXA 168 processor and Google's Android OS. The Ereader screen is 1200 x 825 pixels, or 9.7 inches measured diagonally with glare-free screen. It allows notes to be physically written on Ebooks and reads EPub files and pdfs. Ebooks are accessed through enTourage's digital bookstore of over a million public-domain books and a partnership with Ingram Digital that provides professional and trade Ebooks, as well as 175 popular periodicals provided by Libre digital.

The Netbook portion has a screen of 1024 x 600 pixels (10.1 inch diagonal screen), which allows images from the Ebook to be displayed on the Netbook's color display. A virtual keyboard allows notes, instant messages, and emails. The Netbook has an audio recorder and a video camera that takes video and still pictures as MP4s or 3GP files. Additionally, there is the ability to use headphones, microphone, or speak and record with a built in recorder, and there is a calculator, alarm clock, and library management system.

You can open a virtual keyboard and type instant messages or emails. The battery has a 16-hour life. The whole package weighs less than 3 pounds with a size of 8 ¼ x 10 ¾ inches closed.

The enTourage eDGe is $490 [http://entourageedge.com/devices/entourage-edge.html].

Sources:

enTourage Systems: http://entourageedge.com/devices/entourage-edge.html

"When Netbook Meets Ereader," Smart Computing, Jan. 2010, p. 10.