Just in time for our discussion on the ideal e-book reader comes a new product that will be the first e-reader sold in the United Kingdom.
Trading Wi-Fi for increased storage and an overall price drop, the iLiad Book Edition is a successor to the iLiad 2. Both use the same iRex e-ink technology and feature a tablet-based touch screen. There is no bundled online service or book store, but both iLiads have support for open formats such as PDF. 50 public domain books are preloaded.
Borders UK will sell the device in a small number of stores, and will launch an online ebook store shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately, even this “reduced” price of £399/€499 is unlikely to win over e-reader skeptics, especially without network connectivity. Buying books will always require tethering the device to a computer and completing the purchase over the Web.
Other iLiad Book Edition technical specs:
- 8.1-inch (diagonal) Electronic Paper Display
- 8.5 inch high x 6.1 inch wide, weight 15.3 ounces
- 768 x 1024 pixels resolution, 160 DPI, 16 levels of grey-scale
- File formats supported: PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC (Mobipocket)
- 128MB accessible flash memory; storage expandable via USB, MMC or CF cards
- Built-in stereo speakers and mini-headphone jack
- USB Connectivity to PC
- Optional external 10/100MB Ethernet networking via Travel hub