iLiad from iRex Technologies
They call its display “Stunningly, Paper-like,” I call it “Stunningly Kindle-like…” I’m kind of kidding, but come on. They’ve got to let us know when this machine was developed. It looks like one of you guys was looking over someone’s shoulder. Having said that, it is a nice looking machine. I’ve heard its related to Kindle but only through marriage. Ok, seriously, I’ve got to let this go but for $599.00 maybe I want a bit of originality…
The iLiad is a comfortable looking piece of tech with an 8.1-inch display using electronic paper technology. You can read its specs at home base here.
Stunningly Paper-like
They make the claim that their high constrast, hi-resolution display reduces eyestrain when reading but that remains to be seen.
With an internal memory expandable up to 8 GB you can keep your entire library of eBooks on it, with a storage capacity for up to 10,000 eBooks. (At $9.99 per eBook…don’t let your iLiad out of your sight.)
It connects to your PC by USB cable. That’s something I like because you’re not dependent on Whispernet or wireless technology to get your eBooks. I don’t have a problem with wireless tech, but eReaders should have a USB or memory card option.
Regarding the actual eBooks, it looks like they’ve got a deal worked out with mobipocket.com right down to using eBooks in their format. “The Mobipocket Reader software works seamlessly with the iLiad.”
Mobipocket’s software also lets you convert from other formats so that’s an excellent feature. (Don’t worry, I’ll be paying a little visit to Mobipocket for eBook price check, etc.)
The iLiad supports the following eBook formats: PDF, PRC (Mobipocket), HTML and TXT. They’re promising support for additional eBook formats in the near future.
The machine itself looks cool. I would love to play with that “intuitive” flip bar for turning pages. That sounds right, but again we’ll need to play with it to know.
I wish these companies would start sending out their eReaders for us to play with. It all “looks” fine until you get it in your hands. I know they’ll be handing these things to focus groups but there’s nothing like the public to field test a device for positives and negative.
We’ve all seen it work with digital cameras. Once those started showing up at parties and on vacations, people started playing with them and everybody had to have one…
The fact that I’ve only seen a couple eReaders in the ‘real’ world shows how new the technology is–or the early adopters are being protective. Pictures alone won’t do it. I saw the Sony eReader sell itself to five people when they got their sweaty little hands on it. Everyone who touched the device did not perceive themselves as eBook readers before they saw it, and everyone of them felt they could be an eBook reader after they’d handled it.
It’s as simple as that.
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