Asus is planning to roll out touchscreen ebook reader with two screens with a price tag of as low as $163, which is expected to hit the market by end of this year. What else you can ask for? It will be a dual-screened e-book reader which will give you a feel of a real book that folds in the center. The eReader  which is being dubbed as Eee Reader is going to take on directly with Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader. The Asus Eee Reader would be a full color unlike the current ebook reader which have monochrome screens. According to the reports in Times Online, Asus is going to put forward two models, low-end and high-end. The high-end model will also feature speakers, a webcam, a mike and Wi-Fi internet connectivity. Asus comments on this announcement.

Such features would move the device squarely into laptop territory. Our ethos is innovation — as our brand is less well known, we have to run faster than the competition to develop new types of products. Any such product — including an ereader — has to have the right combination of functionality and price. No one is going to buy one for £1,000.

Surely this development is going to heat up the  ereader market and more importantly Eee Reader has all the qualities to become Kindle (price $299) killer.

Image Credit: Times of London

Follow-Up

TimesOnline: TechNews: For the smarter kind of bookworm by Alex Pell

BestTabletReview.com: The Asus Eee Reader gets more details

Electronic Pulp: Asus Eee Reader in the works, coming out before 2010 by David Gonzales

GottaBeMobile.com: Asus Foldable ebook Reader Set to Disrupt by Warner Crocker

Between the Lines: ASUS low-cost touchscreen ebook expected by end of 2009 by Jason Hiner

ReadWriteWeb: Asus Plans to Enter the ebook Market With Cheap Dual-Screen eReaders by Frederic Lardinois