FREMONT, Calif. - March 16, 2010 - Spring Design today announced that the dual screen multimedia Alex™ eReader will be available online at www.springdesign.com today for $399. Customers may visit the online store to pre-order their Android-based Alex eReader supporting eBooks in EPUB, PDF, HTML and TXT formats. With Alex's full Internet browsing using WiFi connectivity, users can read and download books, access online audio and video content including YouTube videos, communicate using Gmail and chat and use a number Google Android applications. Due to localization of international versions with partners, pre-orders placed on the Web in the U.S., will be shipped no later than mid-April.
Alex connects to Google's bookstore with over one million titles, and other bookstores that support Adobe DRM. Spring has engaged multiple international partners to jointly deliver multi-language versions of Alex for countries speaking Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean and Hebrew. Alex is the first eReader to offer international versions of the product through its local country partners connecting to local bookstores.
Alex features a 6" EPD (Electronic Paper Display) screen and a full color 3.5" Android based touchscreen LCD enabling users to multi-task over the Internet while reading their eBooks. A touchscreen virtual keyboard supports easy searches as well as creation and access to interactive hyperlinks.
Maximizing the Power of Links
The power of Spring Design LinkNotes™ opens up a whole new dimension in publishing. Authors may insert hyperlinks in their books that show up on the EPD reading screen indicating that there is linked-in web-based content available. Users can click on hyperlinks in eBooks, corporate documents, or periodicals that lead to relevant web-based information or to multimedia content stored on the Alex eReader that will enrich their reading experience. Spring Design anticipates that this feature will be highly valuable in the education market where professors will be able to provide their own study notes, video illustrations, and audio enhancements to augment already-published textbooks.
"By combining a full multimedia browser with the efficiency and flexibility of an EPD screen supported by our open Android-based Alex eReader, we have truly placed a powerful tool in the hands of authors, publishers, professors, and institutions to create interesting interactive eBooks `" said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "Whether for entertainment, education, or corporate communication, Alex offers the most dynamic and powerful multimedia eReader in the marketplace for creating new media text."
The Alex eReader weighs only 11 ounces and measures 4.7" by 8.9" and less than a half inch deep. Users may add their own content or download content to the microSD card offering expansion of user libraries up to 32GB. The Alex may be updated over WiFi and USB 2.0 and comes with headphones, AC/USB power connector and a padded cover.
About Spring Design:
Spring Design Inc., founded in 2006, designs and delivers eReader products to the eBook market. Its Alex eReader is the first multimedia, Android-based, dual-screen eReader with a full-function browser. It offers a hyperlink publishing tool, "Link Notes", that links eBook text to related video, audio, notes or web addresses. Spring Design Inc. is located in Fremont, California with engineering offices in Taiwan and China. Spring Design's innovative patented technologies incorporate the seamless interaction of dual display and multi-online access in a single device, benefiting and leveraging the technology and resources of the Web to enhance the reading experience. For more information please see www.springdesign.com.
