IREX Technologies today announced the IREX DR800SG – a $399, 8.1-inch, touch-screen eReader that offers multi-mode 3G wireless capabilities.
IREX supports multiple formats including industry standard ePub format and multiple DRM solutions, rather than a “closed” proprietary format adopted by its biggest competitor, Amazon’s Kindle.
Key partners include Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Qualcomm and Verizon Wireless, which together provide access to the content, retail presence and the wireless network.
Kevin Hamilton, CEO of IREX, said, “IREX has been a driving force behind the evolution of eReaders since its founders invented e-paper display technology based on E Ink Corporation’s electronic ink. With the DR800SG, we bring to market all that readers have been asking for: a stellar device that puts the reader in the driver seat with regard to where they buy content and what they do with it.”
The IREX device includes the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, the world’s largest bookseller, giving users access to more than 750,000 titles, including new releases and bestsellers at $9.99. Barnes & Noble expects its eBookstore will increase to well over one million titles within the next year.
3G wireless connectivity is supplied by Verizon Wireless using Qualcomm’s Gobi multi-mode 3G module, enabling it to support global connectivity with GSM compatibility. The IREX DR800SG will launch in Europe the first half of 2010. Additionally, users will have the ability to download content to the device while traveling abroad next year.
The IREX DR800SG comes with a leather cover and will be available in October at select Best Buy locations with an MSRP of $399.99. Wireless access to download content is included in the cost of the DR800SG and no contract is required.
Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest chain of bookstores, announced this summer it will provide free Wi-Fi in all 777 of its stores throughout the United States.
Barnes & Noble signed a strategic agreement with AT&T to provide free Wi-Fi to all its customers. No AT&T subscription required. The company hopes to bring more customers into the store, and expand its current e-book catalog of 700,000 titles — 500,000 of which are free public domain e-books from Google — over the coming months.
TechCrunch has an e-book reader cheat sheet, comparing the Kindle (6″ screen, $299), Kindle DX (9.7″ screen, $489), Sony Reader Daily Edition (7″ screen, $399), and the Irex DR800SG (8.1″ screen, $399).
In July Barnes & Noble said it will also be the exclusive provider of digital books for another e-reader from Plastic Logic. That device will use a wireless connection from AT&T. Both the Plastic Logic Reader and the iRex Reader, unlike the Kindle, can access Wi-Fi hot spots. Sony will likely add that feature soon.
E-readers are set to have a breakout year, notes the NY Times. Slightly more than one million of them were sold globally in 2008, according to the market research firm iSuppli. The firm predicts that 5.2 million will be sold this year, more than half of them in North America, driven by the popularity and promotion of the Kindle, which is available only through Amazon’s Web site.
A recent report from Forrester Research suggests most consumers will buy a digital reading device only when they cost less than $100. One way this could ultimately happen is if a wireless providers like Verizon subsidizes the device.
Related Dailywireless articles include; E-Book Clash of Giants: Amazon Vs Google, New Sony E-Readers, E-Books from Sony, Asustek & MSI, and The Death Of Paid Wi-Fi.
