The largest video display maker and the largest bookstore in Korea have joined hands in the domestic eBook market. Samsung Electronics on July 27 said it has released an eBook reader in cooperation with Kyobo Book Centre with the hope of galvanizing the domestic eBook market.
Samsung Electronics’ eBook reader, SNE-50K, is a multifunctional portable gadget that makes it possible to easily manage daily schedules, store memos and read books. Kyobo Book Centre will supply eBook content for Samsung’s SNE-50K. The joint venture was initiated on Feb. 20 when the two conglomerates signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint eBook project.
With the cooperation between Samsung and Kyobo as momentum, the domestic eBook market is expected to reach a new turning point. According to Digital Kyobo, the domestic eBook market value will increase from a mere W210 billion (US$169.3 million) in 2006 to W1.06 trillion (US$854.5 million) in 2010 to W2.38 trillion (US$1.9 billion) in 2012.
SNE-50K has a 5-inch screen and a 512MB memory chip that is capable of storing 400 books or 8,000 one-page memos. As it weighs only 200g and is only 9mm thick, the gadget makes it easy for users to write memos and read books. With the low power consumption mode, it is also possible to read up to 4,230 pages of books or memos without interruption, if each page is turned every five seconds. If you don’t turn pages, you can use the gadget for a longer time.
SNE-50K is basically furnished with ePub, a standard eBook format recommended by The International Digital Publishing Forum, and TXT Viewer. If you install a virtual printer driver with the CD provided by Samsung, then PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and PDF files will be automatically transformed into BMP files that will be stored on the gadget.
You can buy Samsung’s eBook reader SNE-50K at Internet Kyobo, or any of the Kyobo branches in Gwanghwamun, Gangnam, Mok-dong, and Jamsil in Seoul starting July 31. But it will be possible to buy the gadget at Kyobo’s Yeongdeungpo branch, which will be newly opened, from Aug. 16.
If you want to read books, which are not supplied online, on Samsung Electronics’ eBook reader, you can ask for help through Internet Kyobo’s Application for Publication on an eBook. Then, Kyobo will meet consumer demand after consulting with publishing houses and authors. Samsung’s SNE-50K is priced at W339,000 (US$273.2).
