Attentive (and loyal) TeleRead readers may remember that I dubbed the upcoming Alcatel OneTouch Hero possibly the one smartphone I’d most like to have on account of its e-ink cover, intended to double as an easier-on-the-eyes ereader accessory. Now, according to news from CES relayed via Engadget, Alcatel appears to have gone one better by cutting the cover free from the phone as a separate item, the Magic Flip.
Alcatel Magic Flip appears to be already an Alcatel brand, currently serving for slick-looking covers for the Alcatel OneTouch Scribe smartphone, with an inlaid watch dial. But a phone cover this is clearly not – it’s more a miniature ereader, with its own microUSB socket, and scroll and home icons which appear Android-based.
According to the Engadget coverage, the new 4-inch device will link to any current Bluetooth-enabled Alcatel smartphone and display ebooks in any leading format. Exactly what this means in terms of Kindle compatibility, for instance, remains to be seen, or whether this is simply a screen repeater service or designed to integrate with ereader apps more directly, or even a more or less standalone mini-ereader that basically transfers files to and from the parent device via Bluetooth. Or whether it can work with any other devices besides Alcatel products.
In any event, it looks intriguing, and the Engadget coverage has a full photo gallery to check it out in detail. Hit it up.
