IREX "consumer" eReader to feature Barnes & Noble eBookstore
There’s been a lot of speculation
in the press recently about whether IREX would bring a consumer eReader to market. Well, in case you missed it we issued a press release this afternoon to announce our partnership with Barnes & Noble. When the IREX consumer device launches later this year in the U.S. it will include the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, which gives users access to more than 750,000 titles.
In terms of product specs, here’s what I can tell you so far: the device will include an 8.1-inch screen and 3G wireless connectivity. As you saw with the Barnes & Nobles news, we’re putting the content partnership in place and you’ll hear more about network infrastructure and retail presence soon. It’s going to be an exciting few months, so stay tuned!.
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Kevin Hamilton, CEO IREX North America.
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[...] new IREX reader sounds interesting with the 8.1-inch touchscreen coupled with 3G connectivity. This would make it allow it compete well with the Kindle and even surpass it functionally, given [...]
As an iLiad owner from 2006 and a B&N customer, I’m glad to see this partnership happen. I hope the new units are competative in price with the Kindle.
[...] : iRex Technologies Partager cet article [...]
Will this be a US only product, or will variants be available in other countries?
We are in talks with a number of companies that are interested to cooperate with us in Europe and you can expect an announcement later this year on the Frankfurt Book Fair
Ah, excellent. How about Canada?
I hope we don’t start to see two paths with other Wifi readers not having a connection to Barnes&Noble. In other words if the expected High end color reader has Wifi then I hope it also has an easy connection to B&N. I assume this means a connection to Fictionwise.
One undercurrent question that can mess up all of this great news is whether MobiPocket support is going to be dropped. Even though Fictionwise has Mobipocket books we all know they are a competitor of Amazon. With the epub announcement and now this one I am concerned we will lose the ability to read dozens of books, as I am sure many others are also, if we upgrade. Are you talking to Amazon to resolve the exclusivity issues with DRM? This type of obsolescence is going to kill eReaders and no one will win.
@AJ Let me correct my previous statement. It was not limited to Europe. The initial launch is in the U.S., but you can expect an announcement later this year about availability outside the us.
@LY
At IREX, we support an open DRM solution, meaning we believe that consumers should be able to obtain eReader content from any credible source, and be able to view it on any device. We think it’s great that Adobe DE (ePuB) is offering this option. As far as where IREX stands in terms of agreements with book dealers, we are keeping our options open and exploring all opportunities. We would like to ensure that our customers are not limited in any way from obtaining the content they desire to view on their eReader.
Can you confirm the screen resolution? Is it 1024×768 like the Iliads, or is it better? I want something for technical PDFs and would prefer something other than a Kindle DX (and much cheaper than your high-end device).
Wow! I own both a Kindle and an Iliad V2. When I got the Iliad, I gave the Kindle to my wife. I love the Iliad, with all its Idiosyncrasies (battery life issues and page turn speed). I would presume that the new device will address these drawbacks. Additionally, I can tell you that Irex service it top notch. I bricked my Iliad, and the round trip to the Netherlands to have it reflashed took eight days. They even sent me the shipping material. Irex is a small company with a HUGE vision! Sign me up for the new device.
@Gram,
The screen resolution is indeed 1024 x 768.
@James
Glad to hear that, we do our best to turn around the repairs as fast as possible.
Would the wireless shopping work in Canada when it is first released or will Canadian service take a while to be available?
What’s the general time frame on this device? Are we talking next month, ready for Christmas or 2010+?
@Craig Winter 2009 (so next month)
Any chance of being able to purchase the device internationally? With or without the wireless bookstore, I don’t much mind. I need to upgrade from my iLiad, the batteries are about toast
I’d be willing to purchase one and beta test the new model if you’re in need of public testers. Granted, if their are defects I’d expect a replacement:)
Any idea about timeframe for release in Canada? Can a device be purchased in Canada from the U.S. and just wait for the wireless features later or will it have to be a whole different model?
@Jess We have no timeframe for a release in Canada, however the device has a 3G module that can be used worldwide, so the same hardware will be used in all countries where it will be introduced.
Please let us know some details about your release plans in Europe, specifically Germany. Will you be present at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, where numerous eReaders will be introduced for Germany, one of the biggest European markets? When will your reader be released /or/ purchasable in Germany? Please note that your 8.1” design and the notetaking feature make your reader highly attractive for academic use – if you are able to retain the stylus functionality without sacrificing clarity for a touch feature. Such users would be willing to wait past October – if you can provide more concse info as to why your product would be worth the wait!
would I be able to purchase one here from the states then, or will it be like the kindle where you need a US credit card and address?
Will it still have a Wacom pen interface or resistive touchscreen?
Please, whatever you do, do not make the huge mistake that Kindle did by only limiting their market to the US. I was ga ga over the Kindle, but now I’m pretty sour towards them. It’s at the point that even if they did release the Kindle in Canada, I would not buy it. They had a chance to capture my loyalty, they blew it. Are still blowing it.
Canada is a huge, hungry market for this sort of thing. Kindle never saw or realized that, and they still don’t.
So…. Please enter into talks with Canadian providers such as Bell or Rogers, to see about releasing this in Canada as well. Or bypass the wireless carriers altogether, as long as we can get content onto the ebook some other way fairly easily.
But the important thing is to not lock out Canada, like the Kindle did!
Thought I should mention, I’m from Australia, so if it’s available here, as the iLiad avd DR1000S are from local retailers, that would be very good
Any idea on a time frame in which that might happen?