The new FLEPia can display images in 260,000-color mode.
In 64-color mode, the menu screen can be replaced in 1.8 seconds. Pen touch operation is available.
Fujitsu Frontech Ltd started selling an 8-inch model of the "FLEPia," a mobile information device equipped with a color electronic paper display, to the public March 18, 2009.
The company is accepting orders on its online store. The price is ¥99,750 (approx US$1,039) including tax. Shipments will start April 20. Fujitsu Frontech partnered Papyless Co Ltd, which runs an electronic bookstore on the Web, to market the FLEPia to general consumers as an electronic book viewer.
The device features an 8-inch (123.6 x 164.8mm) display with 768 x 1024-pixel XGA resolution. Display colors and the time to replace a page can be selected from 64 colors (1.8 seconds) for high-speed replacement of menu pages, etc, 4,096 colors (5 seconds) for high-contrast viewing and 260,000 colors (8 seconds) for displaying images. The company said it secured the wide color gradations by increasing the resolution performance of the coloring characteristics determined by the voltage.
The battery can run the device for about 40 hours (equivalent to 2,400 pages) if a page is replaced every minute in 64-color mode. It takes about three hours to charge the battery. The viewer measures 158 x 240 x 12.5mm and weighs 385g. It comes in two colors, white and black.
As functions for electronic books, the new FLEPia incorporates Sharp Corp's Bunko Viewer and Voyager Japan Inc's T-Time. Users can purchase and read about 20,000 electronic books in the XMDF or .book file format. When a 4-Gbyte SD card is used, about 5,000 books can be stored in the device.
The latest model complies with Bluetooth 2.0 specifications in addition to USB2.0 connection and IEEE802.11g/b wireless connection, which are supported by the previous model too. Users can access the Internet through dialup using a mobile phone. Fujitsu Frontech also opened "FLEPi-ya," an electronic bookstore, on its Website in collaboration with Papyless.
The "FLEPia" is based on Windows CE5.0 operating system, which enables to use standard Web browsers, mailers, Office documents and PDF viewers. It has a scroll/enter key and six function key buttons. As it employed an electromagnetic induction touch panel, users can enter data using the dedicated pen. This model, however, does not recognize touch from a finger.
Fujitsu Frontech plans to sell 50,000 units in 2009 and 2010. Then, the company will aim to sell 100,000 to 200,000 units including other variations such as 6- and 12-inch models in 2011.
"We will initiate a content delivery business after further improving our Website," said Hirosada Tone, a managing executive officer of Fujitsu Frontech. "We believe that online newspaper, which we are currently discussing with a newspaper company, will be the best form."
He also said that the company aims to lower the price of the device to ¥40,000 to 50,000.
Fujitsu Frontech has shipped samples of the "FLEPia" for business use since it released the product in 2007. About 300 units have been shipped so far, according to the company. And the device has been tested several times as an information terminal, for example, on restaurant tables (See related article).
This time, Fujitsu Frontech boosted the number of colors that the device can display, while achieving 1.5 to 1.7 times higher brightness, contrast and page replacement speed than the previous model. In fact, I felt that its blue color was natural though its red color looks slightly weak. This device has an advantage in displaying content that is normally in color, such as magazines and Websites, the company said.
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