News: Verizon getting two e-readers / tablets from Entourage in September?

(retracted)

"makers of the oddball Edge"
..."sans the Edge's crazy dual-display design"

Oh gee thanks for the kind words, Engadget. You know, we haven't forgotten about your first article on the eDGe as it may have soured many of us on your news service.

Seriously though, that would be pretty sweet if Verizon picked it up for mobile service. Verizon's EVDO cards are the most popular around the DC Metro area (which includes entourage's headquarters in VA).

Maybe its not too far from the truth? Anyone else looked up who all the execs at entourage worked for/with before?

From the About Us Page - http://www.entourageedge.com/about-u...y-profile.html

"Previously, Mr. Mostafa served as founder, President, and CEO of Vinci Systems which designed, manufactured, and sold interoperable broadband Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). The company was purchased after two years of operation for $52.5M by Tellabs Inc. To date over two million of these ONTs have been sold to Verizon for its FiOS network"

"Mr. Ortega served as the Chief Systems Architect at Vinci Systems where he designed and built the first interoperable Broadband Passive Optical Network (BPON) Optical Network Terminals (ONTs)"

And those are just from the profiles of the first two execs... aside form what looks like a long history of working together, it looks like all the execs worked at Vinci and Tellabs... so I did some googling on Tellabs and Vinci, it looks like they are the company responsible for the majority of the ONTS used for Verizon FIOS. With that kinda history of success with Verizon, maybe these previous ties actually lean some wight to the rumors? and maybe millions of eDGes, just like the ONTs?

Boris... youre a tease

Here is to hoping that the evil giant the is verizon (said lovingly) does get a 3g enabled eDGe soon as they are the only wireless provider that has coverage over here. I would happily buy a new eDGe from them if it had built in 3G as it means I will no longer have to haul around my mifi with my eDGe.

One less thing to carry = one happy Din0sG0R4wr!

*crosses fingers*


... now if they could only slap some solar cells onto the eDGe.....

And I see the Engadget commenters by and large displayed their usual level of intellectual acuity.

Interesting stuff.

The comments are dumb, but they do reflect that I think that some younger prospective buyers will consider that the eDGe's design feels dated. In a thread a couple of weeks ago, I disagreed with someone over whether the "eDGe would sell itself" if placed next to an iPad. The eDGe has a broader range of capabilities, but next to an iPad it can feel clunky--particularly if just comparing the LCD experience (i.e., not fully appreciating having the 9.7" eInk).

There was also a recent discussion about where Best Buy should place the eDGe: with eReaders (where it would be considerably more expensive) or the tablets. Personally, I think that the device sells better as an "eReader with a Tablet" rather than "Tablet with an eReader," so I'd put it in with the eReaders.

Boris, have you gotten any word on whether the Verizon story is true? If so, my Dad want's one.

Assuming the story is indeed true, what would be really cool is if Verizon subsidized the cost of the eDGe with a two year contract (like they do for netbooks).

For example, if the eDGe cost something like $200 plus a $40/month for 3G 250mb (the lowest monthly mobile broadband that they offer), then it might make the product more appealing to some people. Although for me (since I'm rarely outside a Wifi network when I'm not traveling), paying full price for the eDGe and then doing pay-as-you-go mobile broadband probably make more sense even if something like that Verizon deal was available.

Originally Posted by Batman Jr.

And I see the Engadget commenters by and large displayed their usual level of intellectual acuity.

Probably the same commenters from Engadget's original review who predicted the Edge was going to get clobbered by Courier, Slate, JooJoo, and Adam this summer...