Aluratek Libre E-Book Reader Ditches E-Ink, Goes LCD To Shave Costs

Could the e-reader market possibly be any larger? Evidently so, as the booming sector just keeps booming even louder. For a society that had supposedly given up on this whole "reading" thing, there sure are a lot of companies out there vying for those eyes. While the mainstays in the bunch (Amazon, Sony and Barnes & Noble, for starters) make waves this holiday season, some newcomers are gearing up to make a splash at CES and into the new year.

Aluratek is the newest rival to join the fray, and while its e-reader doesn't offer much in the way of sweeping innovation, it's still a decent offering at a solid price. The Libre eBook Reader PRO maintains the same basic size and shape that are found on most others, and it includes a 2GB SD card loaded with classic books. One thing that does make this one stand out, however, is the the display. Rather than relying on e-ink technology as most readers do, this one utilizes reflective light LCD technology. What's interesting is that the LCD tech doesn't seem to hamper battery life as you might expect; according to the company, the device can be used for 24 continuous hours, and the auto-off function, page advance feature, MP3 and photo support all contribute to rounding things out.

The monochrome reflective light LCD display technology provides a black and white 5" display with the "same appearance and readability of printed paper," and there's also no battery-sucking backlight. In order to show support for the industry's favorite format, the Libre also supports ePUB and PDF. Potentially best of all is the $179 price tag, which is significantly less than most other alternatives out there. It's available now in either black or white, though it'll have a mighty tough time going up against the big boys with all the marketing dollars. Anyone willing to give the little guy a try?

“Unlike e-Ink displays which require multiple flashes for each page advance, I believe the reflective LCD technology the Libre offers will be a welcome change compared to other eBooks currently on the market” said John Wolikow, VP Sales and Marketing for Aluratek. “The ability to store thousands of your favorite books in the Libre is not only convenient but it’s also good for the environment by saving trees.”

Libre comes with a 2GB SD card, and supports SD and SDHC cards up to 32GB. The audio player feature lets users also listen to their favorite MP3s, and the picture viewer supports BMP, JPG, GIF and animated GIF. Versatile for any user, Libre offers five font size options and also supports Adobe DRM, ePUB, PDF, FB2, TXT, Mobi, PRC and RTF formats.

Other key features of the Libre include: table of contents, bookmark list and page, content search, jump to page, zoom, auto page turn, background music, multiple language formats, auto power off and a help menu.

The Libre eBook Reader PRO is available in either black or white with an MSRP of $179. For more information about the Libre eBook Reader PRO, or any of Aluratek’s other innovative products, please visit www.aluratek.com.