Like the idea of a cheap grayscale tablet with excellent battery life, but not thrilled about the black-on-white text? NoteSlate has an unusual solution. the company is developing a line of $99 slates which come in a variety of two-tone designs. You’ll be able to get a standard white background with a black black text, 4 different models with black backgrounds and blue, white, green, or red text and pictures.

The company also plans to offer a 4 color version which will show blue, red, green, or white text and drawings on a black background, but that model will likely cost more.

The NoteSlate is designed as a digital note-taking device with a sort of electronic paper display. You can take notes with a stylus and press buttons to save, delete, or view previous screens. The tablet will have a 13 inch, 750 x 1080 pixel display and weigh about half a pound. the company syas you should be able to get up to 180 hours of battery life.

At launch, the NoteSlate software will have a limited feature set, allowing you to make drawings and listen to MP3s using headphones (there’s no speaker). Future updates will bring support for reading PDF files and OCR text recognition for converting written notes to plain text.

The NoteSlate web site has a few inconsistencies. At one point, the device is described as weighing 240 grams, while another section says it weighs 280 grams. There’s also an exclamation point net to “no web browsing” which may be something the developers are really excited about, or just something they want to make sure you’re aware of.

The overall concept is pretty interesting, but the company says the device won’t actually be available until June, so it’s going to be a little while before we can see whether the NoteSlate can deliver on its promise.

July 13, 2011 Update: It turns out the NoteSlate was little more than a concept when the company introduced in January. The folks behind the concept are working to turn it into reality, but that June deadline has come and gone and there’s still no product. In the meantime, there’s a company offering a similar device called a Boogie Board which shows some promise.

via Engadget

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6 replies on “NoteSlate: $99 touch tablet with a two-color display”

  1. Whether it has internet connectivity or not, it is a good deal especially when you consider the fact that ordinary ebook readers often start at $150. This machine can also be used for note-taking.

  2. Wow…I mean I have seen other device do somewhat the same thing, but this looks very cool and the price is very good. From there web page you see that they have a very cute neo-luddite philosophy about this being rural thus the lack of a web connection is in line with that mind-set. I’d say they have a great concept, but they need to get it online if only for exchange of information. I sketch up something and I’d want to SEND it to someone right away not take needless extra steps.

    1. I misspoke; I meant to say I understand why the module isn’t standard…but that I think it should be standard. I’m sure that would cut into the 180 hour battery, and would be against their philosophy, but I think connectivity is now standard you cannot make optional.

      1. I don’t agree, I don’t believe everyone wants internet connectivity all the time, especially with a device as simple as this. I like the idea the WiFi module isn’t standard, it keeps the price down for people who wouldn’t use it (me for one) the reason I want this is to take notes during lectures and for doodling. Saving to a SD card is perfectly sufficient for me. As i think it will be for most people. They have it as an extra for people like you who would use it, but I believe the population who would and wouldn’t is cut down the middle so I applaud them for having it as an extra.

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