市场上采用电子纸技术电子书的价格一直都居高不下，不过随着越来越多的厂家进入这一市场，或许某天电子书也会成为下一个MP3。
   日前，美国Astak公司推出三款屏幕分别为5英寸、6英寸和9.7英寸的低价电子书。这三款产品均采用E-Ink的电子纸技术，运行Linux或Windows CE操作系统。其中5寸屏基本款的价格在200美元以下。而高端的9.7寸屏电子书支持触摸屏、蓝牙、Wi-Fi和MP3播放等功能，价格也将低于350美元。

   格式方面支持PDF、CHM、TXT和RTF等，这几款产品将在今年6月到10月间上市。

   Astak主要代工企业为台湾振曜。

   同时在台湾，振曜、建汉积极抢攻电子书阅读器、WiMAX新单，振曜除了首季营收创次高纪录，第二季来自欧、美及亚洲等客户电子书订单增温，加上安控及NB扬声器出货成长，单季营收可望挑战新高，建汉WiMAX产品上锁定CPE客户端产品送样中。  

   振曜1月宣布将8,000张股票由元太认股，形成策略连盟，由元太制造电子纸，振曜负责代工组装，并销售品牌客户贴牌，目前市场仅振曜提供组装代工业务，预计可与Sony、亚马逊产生区隔化，并将于今年台湾电子展中推出新产品。

    　振曜表示，目前电子书部分的客户以欧洲通路商为主。第二季来自欧、美及亚洲等客户电子书订单增温，加上安控及NB扬声器出货成长，振曜单季营收可望挑战新高，约较首季成长10％。

    　振曜安控产品主打消费性市场，以代工为主，ASTAK为主要客户之一；年初透过取得ASTAK 51％股权切入无线传输安控产业，未来将朝品牌、代工两种方向前进。法人推估，振曜今年电子书营收1.7亿元新台币，每股盈余可望贡献0.42元，至于安控产品年度营收比重以20％为目标。

令据从IDPF收集到最新的ASTAK产品样机。

Fictionwise wasn't at the conference. At least, I didn't see them and the Astak rep didn't think they were there. So I couldn't get solid info about Ereader support, but I was told that Fictionwise should be ready to announce Ereader support in June. The Astak rep didn't know whether Fictionwise's device would be locked down or what other features it would support.

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The 5" model came in several different colors. Not all worked because they hadn't been flashed yet. One did, so this is fine. It only read the PVI/Netronix STK format. I did get a picture of the menu. As you can see, it's different from the 6". Also, look at the position of the buttons. They bear a striking resemblance to the position of the buttons on the Jetbook.

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The functional 6" models were obviously the OEM from Netronix. The other is their design, and doesn't work yet. It's an engineering mockup they just receive a few days before. I wonder if the menu on the 6" Mentor is the same as on the EB-100? Actually, I think the 6" readers were EB-100. I was told they would only have the 5" Mentor because the others weren't ready yet.

The 9.7" was a preproduction model. If I hadn't told them I was coming, I doubt they would have brought it. It did have touchscreen, but the software was refusing to work that day. I know many here are disappointed by the lack of a hands on review, but I didn't expect to see it at all. Don't complain too loudly.

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There were a number of other questions that people wanted me to ask, and most of the answers are on Astak's website. One thing I forgot to check is the format of the ebooks I was reading.

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