Phantom eReaders from ASUS?

The lines are abuzz with news of a new eReader announced from ASUS, the people who revolutionized netbook computing. The Sunday Times reported yesterday that ASUS had announced a new color OLED eReader with a battery-life of 122 hours and features packed in tighter than sardines. That was followed this morning by GIZMODO announcing that it had seen a new grayscale eInk ASUS reader that was a new phenomenon. The color OLED is the DR-570 and the grayscale eInk is the DR-970.

The pictures of the devices look great, showing full color renditions of Elle Magazine, for example. But surprisingly, ASUS is silent. a search of their Web site comes up blank on all related topics. Their press page shows no new announcements since the 10th. A single paragraph in The Sunday Times report says:

Not all the ereader action was at CES. Asus, the Taiwanese manufacturer that pioneered the netbook concept, has given InGear exclusive details of its DR-570 reader, to be released by the end of the year. Asus says it has developed a 6in, high-brightness, OLED colour screen that should run for a whopping 122 hours on one battery charge — and that’s not just when displaying text but under real-world conditions, such as running Flash video over its built-in wi-fi or 3G. If that claim stands up, it would make this game-changing device nearly as energy-efficient as today’s monochrome readers.

Even a search for InGear comes up with no relevant information.

The UK's Electric Pig Web site includes this comment: "We’ve confirmed with Asus that the Asus DR-570 is indeed on the way, and are chasing more details now so stay tuned: we’ll update them as we get them."

Electric Pig also has the most complete description and photo gallery of the grayscale DR-950, and says: "The Asus DR-950 will pack a 1024×768 resolution display, and on the software front will offer RSS feeds, translation and text to speech. It’ll also pack 2 or 4GB of internal memory and an SD slot, Wi-Fi and HSDPA or even WiMax, plus a USB port for sideloading, a 3.5m audio port for music."

There are simply too few details regarding pricing and availability to make an assessment as to the viability of either device, but they could spell a new level of competition in the eReader market.