Panasonic announced today that the new Android based ebook reader they unveiled a couple weeks back would son hit the market. The is due to ship in Japan on 10 August with a retail price of around 34,800 Yen (~$444 USD).
The UT-PB1 is based on a 7” (1024×600) screen, and it’s running an unnamed version of Android on a dual core CPU with 4GB Flash storage, a mocroSD card slot, Wifi/Bluetooth, and a 1.3MP camera.
It’s going to ship with a number of apps, including an Adobe PDF reader as well as access to the Rakuten Raboo ebookstore. It’s not clear yet how open the device will be, but the press release suggests that it won’t be as open as the usual Android tablet. I wouldn’t expect to be able to install third-party apps.
Curiously enough, when Panasonic showed off this e-reader a couple weeks ago they were calling it a prototype. This kind of turnaround indicates that they might not have been completely sure about releasing it, and the positive press may have changed their mind.
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Like the looks, but I don’t want a closed system…