ECTACO Inc., a New York based company best known for their budget series of jetBook eBook readers, hand-held electronic translators, and translating software have launched the most affordable eBook reader available on the market -- the ECTACO jetBook-Lite, with an MSRP of $149. The product was unveiled to the public at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany earlier this month.

According to the company's CEO David Lubinitsky, "The idea behind this new product was to offer the lowest price without risking quality and functionality. We've listened to our customers' feedback and modeled the jetBook-Lite after its predecessor by stripping all the unnecessary additions and leaving the most essential reading options. By user's demand we incorporated four AA batteries to add flexibility wherever the eBook reader is used. They can be replaced with rechargeable batteries if necessary. The other breakthrough is an option to download and read books from the Barnes and Noble website using the new built-in eReader DRM."

With virtually no limit in formats, and now Barnes and Noble's backing, the jetBook-Lite supports eReader DRM, ePub, Mobi, PRC, RTF, .txt, .pdf, .fb2, .jpg, .gif, .png, and .bmp, along with support for many languages including English, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Chinese and others. The pocket size, low-power crisp TFT screen with fast refresh rate, universal power source, multilingual interface, built-in dictionaries.

jetBook-Lite is expected to appear in US retail stores later this month. European release is scheduled for spring 2010.