Books and e-readers at the Taipei Book Exhibition
The Taipei International Book Exhibition opened yesterday. I visited the exhibition today at the Taipei World Trade Centre to see what was new this year. This year’s special guest exhibitor is France. Francophones will be sure to enjoy the large range of French literature on display. There is also a selection of French films screening every day.
One of the new things on display this year is e-readers. I was curious to have a look at them and get some idea of how they look and operate. The one pictured above is the BenQ nReader K60 which was on sale for NT$8,990. It is operated via buttons and also a touchscreen. Books can be downloaded via wi-fi. Several other e-readers were on display including Greenbook, the Amazon Kindle and iRex.
Publishers are also looking at new ways to deliver e-books. One interesting system I saw used 7-11′s ibon system to deliver mini books to mobile phones. BenQ has partnered with eBookTaiwan to sell e-books. Greenbook also has an online bookstore.
The Far East Book Company has a good selection of dictionaries and Chinese-language learning materials. The best selection of English-language books are available from B.K. Norton and Bookman whose displays are next door to each other in TWTC Hall One.
The book exhibition continues until Monday 1 February at the Taipei World Trade Centre. Entry is NT$100 and half-price after 6:00pm during the extended opening hours over the weekend.
2009 Taipei Book Exhibition
At the book fair
Some books about Taiwan
2008 Taipei Book Fair
Taipei Book Fair
Posted: January 28th, 2010 under Books, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Tags: exhibition
Comments
Comment from David Reid
Time 30 January 2010 at 11:33 pm
Ed, I looked at about four different models but I don’t think I saw the Asus. I think the e-reader has finally arrived and it will be interesting to see how they develop in the near future.
Comment from Ed
Time 31 January 2010 at 1:36 am
Definitely. I’m going back to Taiwan in July and I think they’ll be much cheaper there than here in Europe. ASUS has international warranty for both laptops and screens bought in Taiwan. I hope it’s the same for e-books. I wonder if the built in store will work anywhere in the world. Right now we buy tons of books for wifey when we go to Taiwan and it would be really neat if we could just buy e-books instead 
Comment from Ed
Time 30 January 2010 at 4:22 pm
Did you see the ASUS dr-950 e-book? It seems mighty promising from what I can see online.