In The cheap commodity eBook reader of the future, I wrote about how I look forward to a mass-market ebook reader created from an e-ink display and an inexpensive commodity processor. The folks at MOTO have taken a very cool step in this direction by hooking up a processor running Google’s Linux-based Android ( the mobile phone operating system that underlies T-Mobile’s G1 phone) to an e-ink display. MOTO’s announcement about it includes a short video demo.

As I suggested in a comment on their announcement, if MOTO got an ebook-reading program that understood the EPUB format running on that Android processor—which I’m sure is much simpler than the work they’ve already done—it would make $400 for a Kindle look even dumber than it already looks.

1 Comments

By penn on May 29, 2009 9:23 AM

I’ve been trying to decide which e-book reader to get for my mom. I figured I would have to get her both an ebook reader and a laptop, so she could download things (now she downloads ebooks from http://www.ebook-search-queen.com/ ). Knowing that the Kindle doesn’t require her to go to her computer, or even have a wireless network setup, makes my decision easy. For her needs, it is the ideal item. Thank you for this!