According to Spring Design, the dual-screen Alex e-reader will be shipping around the end of next month. February 22 in fact. The price however is a surprise. At $399, it’s about $150 higher than the Nook.

And it’s very similar to the Nook. How many users will be willing to pay that? You tell us. to refresh your memory, it sports a 6-inch display using monochrome e-ink (not color), but it also has a secondary 3.5-inch color touchscreen that lets you browse the Web.

The Alex looks similar to the Android-powered Barnes & Noble reader, but this one sports a 6-inch display using monochrome e-ink (not color), but it also has a secondary 3.5-inch color touchscreen that lets you browse the Web.

Yeah, VERY similar to that Barnes and Noble reader. Spring Design claims that it’s “enlisting major content partners, and plans to release the Alex for selected strategic partners by the end of this year.” Interesting.