Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader

We're not surprised anymore when another company jumps on the ever-fattening e-reader bandwagon, because really, pretty much everyone is making one now... including, apparently, companies we thought had basically ceased to exist. That's right folks, Neonode is seemingly back from the dead (though truth be told it looks like the company was never actually fully cold), pumping its touchscreen tech -- called zForce and made specifically for e-readers -- into Taiwanese company Koobe's just announced Jin Young reader. We don't have fully specs on this bad boy by any means, but we know that it's going to be a 6-inch e-paper styled affair with 2GB of memory (and up to 16GB by way of microSD). The reader claims to be the thinnest device boasting a touchscreen ever made, and should make its way to retail in April (in Taiwan) for somewhere between NT10,000 and NT13,000 (that's between $312 and $405), depending on the content agreement. Full press release is after the break.

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Neonode's Touchscreen, zForce, Featured on New Koobe e-Book

STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Neonode, Inc. (OTCBB: NEON), the Swedish leading Optical Touchscreen Technology Company, announced today that the newest Koobe Inc e-Book reader, the JinYong Reader, uses its zForce optical touch screen solution for e-book readers.

"We are pleased to work with an e-publishing leader like Koobe to incorporate our innovative zForce e-Book touchscreen platform into the Koobe products. Our zForce e-Book touchscreen will help to enable feature rich e-book applications that can be enjoyed by the growing user base in Asian markets"

The JinYong Reader incorporates an ARM-based application processor connected to a high contrast 6 inch electronic ink display and Neonode´s optical touchscreen, supporting smooth finger input with gestures and sweeps.

The JinYong Reader will feature the work of renowned Chinese martial arts novelist Jin Yong among others and will be sold mainly in the traditional Chinese-language market (including but not limited to) Taiwan and Hong Kong. It will be available in the major book stores and consumer electronics channels.

The JinYong Reader is the slimmest multi-touchscreen capable eReader ever. The device supports text in a wide variety of formats such as PDF, ePub, html, txt, as well as images in JPG, BMP and PNG formats. The internal memory of 2GB can store up to 1500 e-books and can be expandable with a micro-SD memory card (up to 16GB).

Page-turning on the JinYong Reader can be done with a single slide on screen or button, while other basic functions like bookmarking, page refresh and annotation can be done with one touch, as well. Touch operation is simple and can be done with either hand.

"We are pleased to work with an e-publishing leader like Koobe to incorporate our innovative zForce e-Book touchscreen platform into the Koobe products. Our zForce e-Book touchscreen will help to enable feature rich e-book applications that can be enjoyed by the growing user base in Asian markets," said Thomas Eriksson, CEO of Neonode Technologies AB.

Neonode delivers a touch solution that is many times more cost effective than any other high performance touch solutions currently in the market. Neonode's technology incorporates all functionality and performance features from traditional touch screen solutions such as resistive and capacitive response (i.e. iPhone). zForce supports high resolution pen input, multi-finger touch control and zoom-in gestures combined with superior picture quality. zForce is currently being integrated into products such as mobile phones, mobile internet devices, e-books, digital picture frames and tablet PC's.

"Koobe continues to drive the evolution of e-book reader design through style and enhanced capabilities," said Mr. Younger L. Liang, Director of Koobe Inc. "In adopting the Neonode eBook touchscreen technology, we have created an e-Book that overcomes the limitations of conventional e-Books. The easy-to-use touchscreen complements the sleek industrial design and rich content. A light finger touch is all you need to control the device."

For more information:

Please visit our web site at www.neonode.com or contact

Thomas Eriksson, CEO, Neonode Technologies AB
Linnegatan 89
SE-115 23 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)8 667 17 17
E-mail: sales@neonode.com

About Neonode Technologies AB.

Neonode Inc is the leading provider of optical touchscreen solutions for hand-held and small to midsize devices. Neonode is offering software licenses and engineering design services that enable companies to make high functionality touchscreens at a low cost. zForce is the name of Neonode's proprietary patented touchscreen technology. Neonode Technologies AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of Neonode, Inc., has its base in Stockholm, Sweden. Neonode Inc is listed on the OTCBB under the symbol NEON.OB.

About Koobe Inc

The value position of Koobe® is as a total e-publishing solution provider for both hardware and software companies. Koobe also serves as a bridge between creators and readers. It lets valuable content break technical limitations to achieve the goal of "Create Once, Publish Everywhere" to be a reality. Koobe® brings revenue for authors, allowing for multiple types of styles for publishers, adds value for their copyrights, attracts readers to distributors, and makes e-content publishing efficient and reading fun.