Will Astak Mentor be available in Europe?

[Wizard-mag]

I am very much interested in the upcoming Astak Mentor 9.7" device, but putting aside the issues with the final release date, in which regions is it actually expected to be available?

I understand that it will be distributed in some U.S. store chains, but haven't seen anything about Europe.

[HarryT]

It will be available world-wide from the Astak web site.

[kesey]

Originally Posted by Wizard-mag

I am very much interested in the upcoming Astak Mentor 9.7" device, but putting aside the issues with the final release date, in which regions is it actually expected to be available?

I understand that it will be distributed in some U.S. store chains, but haven't seen anything about Europe.

That's right Ted.

Looks like it will be well into next year before the 9.7" screens hit the market based on other posts here, some of which seem to be from guys who appear very knowledgeable re what is going on. The fragility of such a large screen is obviously a definite consideration.

[swamp]

I had a reply from Astak representative and they say;


The 6 inch should be first released and that should be in late November! The 5 inch will be released around the next spring. The 9.7 inch are projected to release to 2009 February.


So hopefully no delay this time.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by swamp

So hopefully no delay this time.

History would suggest that more delays are likely. I think, though, that Astak are doing precisely the right thing in delaying the release until the devices are ready, rather than rushing to market to meet artificial deadlines.

[igorsk]

If they're going to receive new chips from Epson only in October, I honestly don't see them making November deadline.
Though in this case the wait could be worth it if the reports about the speed of the new controller turn out to be true.

[HarryT]

Yes, it would certainly be nice to be able to "flip through" the pages of an eBook at the speed one can on a device with an LCD screen.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by igorsk

If they're going to receive new chips from Epson only in October, I honestly don't see them making November deadline.
Though in this case the wait could be worth it if the reports about the speed of the new controller turn out to be true.

That's not "necessarily" true. I know as a developer it is possible to write a new version of your own product using a beta or pre-released framework or library. But, you can't release until that product is officially released because most betas do not allow for deployment. So, they could be ready to go with pre-release hardware, or whatever.

BOb