The year of the e-reader
Borders UK announced that it will market Dutch manufacturer iRex Technologies’ new iLiad Book Edition in seven of its stores, starting today. Borders is the first UK bookseller to offer an e-book device, and will shortly launch an online e-book store.
The device is a successor to the iLiad 2, and trades internet connectivity for increased storage and a lower price. It has an 8.1-inch touch screen, a 400MHz Xscale processor, a USB connection and 128MB of built-in memory, expandable to 8GB. Fifty public domain classics are preloaded.
At £399, the iLiad Book Edition does not compete on price with the Hanlin V3 and Cybook Gen 3. Unless “the latest thing” exercises an irresistible attraction, most will await the UK release of the Sony Reader and Amazon’s Kindle, which sell for a great deal less in the USA.
