New eReader Called Skiff Enters The Fray

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With the countdown to the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas just a few days away comes the onslaught of launch previews.

The big one today will be Google's own smartphone; the Nexus One. The mythical Google phone becomes a reality later today. No one is really sure how it will be different from the other smartphones with the Google Android operating system. But, there's lots of excitement around Google's foray into hardware regardless.

But I digress. Let's let Skiff have their 15 minutes today before Google takes over.

Skiff is a new eReader that has two main brags; an 11.6 inch screen making it the largest available eReader on the market beating out the Amazon's Kindle DX and it uses some sort of new "foil technology" that makes its the most hearty, durable screen on the market as well.The other eReaders use glass in their screens (so don't sit on one of them, by accident).

Here's what we don't know about Skiff:

- What it will cost to buy one (pricing is still being worked out)
- What it will cost to use one (Skiff is in partnership with Sprint's 3G network, which makes me cringe. No one needs another device requiring a monthly wireless plan).

Here's what we do know about Skiff:

- It's parent company is Hearst (as in newspapers). So,Skiff has come to save the news print business.
- Customers would buy content through the Skiff store. Oh Lord, could another app store be next? The only thing more depressing than not making money selling iPhone apps would be losing money making apps for the Skiff store.

Parting thoughts on Skiff:

- It's probably a decent product.
- It will probably won't live long enough to become a trivial pursuit question.
-The "confirmed rumors" are looking pretty solid that Apple will finally announce its iTablet later this month and have them on sale by March. All believe it will be a game changer in the eReader market.
- Don't count out Amazon's Kindle. Kindle has been building steam for awhile, almost single-handedly building the fledgling eReader market.
- Last year, some 5 million eReaders of all brands were sold. Look for that number to explode around, oh, March! (Getting back to Apple's iTablet, again).

Bottomline: good luck, Skiff. You will need it.

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio