01 June, 2006

The race for the first eInk eBook Readers

Have now been waiting patiently for 4 months now for the iRex iLiad. Originally they announced a launch in April, then they put it back to May due to technical problems on their online shop. Now they're saying that they will prioritise B2B customers and the general consumer will have to wait until September! Well some of are getting impatient. So I did a search on the blogosphere and found this TeleRead.org - Irex Iliad postponed.... Again! which lead to this MobileRead And, a Google search later, this Jinke It looks like Jinke will be releasing samples of their V2 eReader near the end of June. The hardware doesn’t look as good as the iLiad but it's running on Linux so perhaps overall it might be cheaper. It also comes with an API so customisations galore! (Note the V2 is a later version than the V8) The race is getting closer now and chances are, who ever releases first will get the clear advantage. Personally I'm not looking to get the Sony reader, partly because of the promised DRM and the fact that Sony always over price their products, esp in the UK. If Jinke can get their V2 out by July/August then they will win it for me. Edit - Here is a link to E Ink, the company providing the ePaper for all three companies E Ink.com.