I found this announcement which I’m quite excited about. I think I might like one of these, seems better than the Amazon kindle and it doesnt use proprietary software, so you can read .pdfs. word docs etc as well.
Cost is quite prohibitive though I think unless everyone I know wants to club together and get me one for Christmas… or maybe Borders (whom I love more than is healthy at times) could send me one for saying such nice things about them? *hint* publishers this is your chance too, I’ll be able to review more books this way *hint*
From Borders UK
The Iliad
We are proud to announce that we are the first retailers in the UK to sell the must have gadget of the year, the bookworld’s Ipod moment – The Iliad. It is the biggest change in the history of bookselling and bookmaking since the printing press was invented. The Iliad will totally transform the way you read your books.
Iliad Book Edition – RRP £399
The iLiad lets you enjoy digital books as never before. The large paper-like display offers an amazing reading quality with plenty of storage so you can carry everything in your collection everywhere you go. In addition to reading digital books, it is also possible to read your own digital documents (PDF or text formats) and make handwritten notes and annotations with the stylus.
Viewing text on the iLiad’s screen is just like reading text on paper. Unlike the display of a laptop screen, which is backlit and can strain your eyes, viewing the pages on the iLiad is as comfortable as on a real book due to the stable image which does not need to be constantly refreshed, the large viewing angle, and the fact that it uses reflected ambient light. It has a similar contrast ratio to that of a newspaper and is lightweight and durable.
Key Product Features
Size
The iLiad is comparable in size to an A5 sheet of paper and weight 14 ounces. It’s more than portable.
Screen
Thanks to the high contrast, high resolution display of the iLiad you will no longer experience eyestrain when reading- and with a near 180° viewing angle reflecting screens are something of the past. The touchscreen display and innovative software allow the user to navigate through their library, open a book, turn pages, zoom in and out and make handwritten notes.
Memory
The e-book edition has 128 MB of free memory and is easily expandable to 8 GB by adding a CF type II card, MMC Multimedia Cards or USB stick. The iLiad lets you carry everything in your collection- up to 10,000 e-books.
50 Free E-books
The iLiad Book Edition comes with 50 pre-loaded classic titles to get your collection started.
News, Notes and additional features
Make handwritten meeting notes and annotation in existing documents and books. Access and view Adobe PDF, MS Word and HTML documents. Read the daily newspapers, RSS feeds and other web content.
Connectivity
USB, Ethernet, the iLiad book edition is not WiFi enabled.
