After repeated delays, it has been decided that the fast growing e-reader market has deemed the Que eReader a has-been before it ever got the chance to ship. Plastic Logic has now decided to cancel production of the Que eReader.
Plastic Logic began work on the Que nearly two years ago and the device made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010. It was set to ship earlier this year but that will not be happening now. The company says that it will return with a ‘second-generation’ reader ProReader which will be redesigned and retooled.
The Que eReader featured an a large e-ink screen and was geared toward the business user. It had a nice user interface and innovative and cutting-edge plastic electronics technology. It was never revealed by Plastic Logic why there were so many delays in the device’s release. Perhaps it was the release of the $500 Apple iPad that did it. The entry-level Que eReader was set to cost $649, which is a pretty hefty chunk of change. Over the past several months other ebook reader manufacturers have decided to sell their devices for far less and now a price war is heating up as the devices are being made cheaper and simpler. The cost was most likely the deal-breaker here as the company could not possibly justify the high price they had attached to the device.
Plastic Logic had originally planned to ship the Que eReader in April but then the company put off the launch until the summer of 2010. Then, abruptly in April, the pre-orders were cancelled. We are not being told when we can expect the new ProReader to be unveiled so nor are we being told what the price might be.
The Que eReader was a highly anticipated device that created a good deal of stir on tech and gadget blogs. The Wi-Fi capable device was set to operate on AT&T’s 3G network. The design was innovative as it was the size of a sheet of paper and super slim, weighing less than most magazines. Users were to be able to interact with documents via the e-ink touchscreen and could scribble notes and highlight text without having to use a stylus.
Those who pre-ordered the Que have now moved on. It is really not all that surprising that the brakes were put on the release of this over priced ebook reader. This market is changing quickly and manufacturers are realizing that they must attach affordable price tags to readers if they expect to do well. We are looking forward to Plastic Logic’s next announcement regarding the ProReader and can only hope that it looks as great as the first one.
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