The first e-book reader based on Google's Android operating system has been unveiled - and it's got not one, but two screens.
Dubbed Alex, the dual-screen e-book reader the work of US-based Spring Design aims to enhance the reading experience for users by incorporating multimedia links within text.
It will serve up full browsing capabilities with support for Wi-Fi and 3G. There's also an SD card slot for additional storage, too.
The main, six inch screen is a monochrome electronic paper display, while the secondary display is a 3.5in, colour LCD screen with the power of an Android-based mobile device. The patented technology behind the dual screen approach is called Duet Navigator.
"This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, Spring Design's chief executive, in a statement.
"This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience."
The Alex device will be made available to Spring Design's partners by the end of the year.
