SoftBook


SoftBook was one of the first commercial handheld e-readers produced for reading e-books that released in 1998 by SoftBook Press, Inc. of Menlo Park, California.

Overview

The SoftBook, designed by IDEO and Lunar Design, featured a brown leather cover which flipped back to give the device a more book-like feel, and was notable for its large 6 × 8 inch touchscreen display which allowed you to navigate the HTML-based pages as well as highlight and draw simple notes on the pages. It could store approximately 1,500 pages, and claimed that the rechargeable battery allowed up to 5 hours of reading time.
Use of the SoftBook did not require a desktop computer or an Internet service provider; it had an RJ11 telephone jack and internal 33.6 kbit/s modem to connect with the "SoftBookstore" to download books. Publishers included HarperCollins, McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster, Warner Books, and others, and subscriptions to periodicals such as Newsweek, Time, and The Wall Street Journal were available. Users could upload their own documents via SoftBook's Internet website for downloading to their SoftBook.
The SoftBook was the first device to comply with the Open eBook specification, which was "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press".

Specifications

Technical specifications printed on the back of the product box:
SoftBook utilized the and patents.

SoftBook Press, Inc.

SoftBook Press, Inc. was founded by James Sachs and Tom Pomeroy in 1996, and located at 1075 Curtis St., Menlo Park CA, 94025. Book conversion was managed by of Ottawa ON.
In 2000, SoftBook Press was acquired by Gemstar-TV Guide International, who also acquired its competitor, NuvoMedia, and merged them into the Gemstar eBook Group.