It arrived!!!

It arrived! Yes, the engineering samples from Bookeen, of their new Cybook Gen3 ebook reader, have arrived at NAEB LLC and I got my sample/review unit this morning! I've charged it up and I've taken a photo of it side-by-side with my Sony PRS-500. Both of these ebook readers use the 6" e-Ink display from PVI Inc. but the Cybook uses the newer 'visplex' version which has a somewhat brighter background.

If you haven't heard, the nice thing about e-Ink displays is that they use very little power - many people report being able to leave the devices on for 10 days to 2 weeks without running out of power - and they can be read indoors or outside without getting a washed-out screen. This latter is a big problem with PDA and laptop displays - all of which use backlighting to shine light *through* the screen.

I'll be doing a review of the Cybook Gen3 and posting it on MobileRead.com. Feel free to also drop by our (NAEB's) website. We'll be marketing the Cybook Gen3s as soon as they become available, either later this month or early next.