New Skiff Reader bends way farther than the Amazon Kindle 2

Just in time for the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a variety of new gadgets are surfacing including a rumored Apple tablet, the Google Nexus One phone and now the Skiff Reader. This eBook reader promises to be different from the Kindle 2 in that it provides a larger reading area with a super thin, bendable form factor.

The Skiff Reader will have an 11.5 inch display (measured diagonally), be .268 inches thick and weigh 498 grams. Like the Kindle 2 it will still only show books in black & white but seeing an eBook reader with the familiar bendiness of paper is sure to turn heads. Skiff has a challenging journey in front of it though, if it expects to be a real contender.

A huge concern for anyone buying something like the Skiff Reader is simple: how much content is available? Will I be able to read books from the authors I like? Then a series of other questions may surface like how long is content usable on the device and how easy is it to share that content with friends just like we currently lend books. Amazon learned the hard way not to take back books customers have already purchased on the Kindle 2.

The company’s Skiff Service claims to offer a “rich selection of newspapers, magazines, books, and blogs” but so far there aren’t many details available.

Available content aside, the Skiff Reader looks to be a beautifully engineered device with a lot of great hardware features. With the right marketing it could enter the eBook reader space in a big way, hopefully it learns from Barnes & Noble and has adequate supply on hand.

As with its competitors, the Skiff Reader has potential to reduce the amount of carbon pumped into the atmosphere during the publishing process and that’s how innovation and a green lifestyle best merge.