Amazon Kindle clones from China – half the price, wi-fi and no DRM!
Kindle clone. Even better than the real thing... child (apologies to U2)
I’ve been holding back. I told you about the Apple Tablet clone a couple of days ago, but now I’ll come clean with the whole story. Boeye doesn’t just do Apple Tablet clones… they also do Amazon Kindle clones! Both the DX and the Kindle 2. I tried both of them at GITEX in Dubai, and not unlike my reaction when I played with their Apple Tablet clone, I was pretty impressed.
The screen is exactly the same as a regular Kindle with an e-paper display. No reflections, no backlight and very easy on the eyes. The build quality, once again, was stellar. The controls are pretty much laid out as they are with the Kindle. Boeye does both the larger form factor DX clone and the smaller Kindle 2.
So, why would anyone want the clone in stead of the real thing, you might ask. Well, for one, the Boeye device is supposedly available for $190. Secondly, there is no DRM (Digital Rights Management) or copy protection on this device. After all, on such a true-to-life clone, DRM would be sort of ironic! Third, while there is no free cellular service as there is on the Real Deal from Amazon, Boeye does offer an integrated browser and wi-fi. With that, you can pretty much download all the PDF e-books you wish. But, ahem, of course you’ll only download the legit copies from Project Gutenberg or copyright-expired texts. I can’t see honest sophisticated people such as yourselves going over to limewire or bit torrent sites to download e-books illegally!
The Kindle clone from Boeye - here I'm running the built-in browser.
So the moral of the story is you gotta feel sorry for Amazon. Not only are they contending with the new, more advanced Barnes and Noble nook, they are also dealing with the prospects of a variety of e-readers from Plastic Logic, an upcoming Apple Tablet that might spell doom for them… and as if all that weren’t bad enough, now they also have Boeye in the market with an inexpensive DRM-free clone. Phew. The technology industry can be exhausting. Am I wrong, Amazon?
November 11th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
[...] Boeye Kindle clone Here’s another story from Tech Lahore about another Boeye product. This time it’s a near replica of the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. And [...]
November 14th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Does the clone are good quality (component) ?
November 14th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Yes, the build quality was pretty stellar… you wouldn’t know the difference other than the logo of course.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:20 am
Anybody know where you can buy Boeye e-readers? I have only found places where you are able to buy them in bulk.
November 26th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Boeye is not a direct sales company – they work only through their channel. So, unless you write to them and can convince them to ship you a single unit, you’ll have to wait for a reseller to appear in your region.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Is it available in Lahore or Islamabad? This is perfect. As a follow up question, is the Kindle 2 available locally anywhere?
August 7th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
now there’re more e-ink book in China.but thank for amazon,they can keep in high price