iriver's E-BOOk reader

We really wish this thing was ready for prime time because we think we may have just found an e-book reader we can get behind. iriver's prototype E-BOOk, um, e-book reader comes swathed in luxurious leather, features side-by-side dual touch sensitive e-ink screens, and uses AAA batteries for up to 6 months battery life (we didn't find out how many turns). iriver still isn't even sure if they're going to launch this thing at home or abroad (read: here), so we should let 'em know how good we all think a reader like this could be (refresh and ghosting problems excepted, natch).

iriver's E-BOOk reader

[Josh @ Jan 8th 2007 10:36PM]

I dig.

[Warner Young @ Jan 9th 2007 1:29AM]

Oh yeah. Now THAT's what I've been wanting to see in an e-book reader. Dual pages, so it's really like a real book. If they ever make this thing, and price is good and yadda yadda, I'll definitely get one.

[Alex @ Jan 8th 2007 9:13PM]

Looks great. I would certainly be interested as long as it comes in at

[Mr. Picklesworth @ Jan 8th 2007 9:44PM]

I think I'll be waiting a while for this technology to get sorted. It's all really great stuff, but these readers so far are thick and bulky looking from the front. (Although the outside on this one is excellent).
These screens are really nice technology, so I'm sure some much more stylish (practically bendable?) designs will be coming about a year from now once it's sorted out a bit more. I guess the trick is somehow cramming it all in there rather than "just making them look nice", but I'm sure it's possible. If my terrible memory serves me right, that written to screen could be made detachable, which would definietly make these things more cool. (Then all their promotional pictures could be detached pages of reader, so they don't actually have to show the big case! ...And the coolness of the technology would appeal to people who just don't get it otherwise).

Touch on this one sounds good! (A better solution than the 50 buttons on Sony's reader).
Does anyone else have a strange wish to have Linux (and WiFi) on one of these sorts of e-paper devices?
Even in grayscale text mode with low refresh rates, it could be a great thing.
Just imagine: Text-based web browsing that's easy on the eyes, seems like paper, /and/ is nice to batteries :)

[Bob Munck @ Jan 8th 2007 10:22PM]

Why in the wide, wide world of sports would it need to have TWO pages? Twice the price, for what? If you really need it to open like a book, just put a hinged cover on it. Having two complete displays is such a stupid idea that I'm suspicious that this might be a joke.

[Jeremy @ Jan 8th 2007 11:00PM]

I personally like the two page idea. Now it's like a real book.

[bluemonq @ Jan 8th 2007 11:22PM]

Beyond simple "likes", what if you want to compare two pages in a book?

[Jason @ Jan 8th 2007 9:35PM]

I absolutely love reading eBooks. I can't even read a printed book anymore. Ok, I'm sure I can, but I don't want to and haven't in ages.

I carry 100's of books on my PDA and finish books much faster since I can read wherever I'm at. Oh yeah and I mostly only read free books (gutenberg?) or discounted books.

I would be very interested in a dedicated ebook reader but will only purchase ebooks if they are not the same price as their printed counterparts. There is no reason for prices to be the same.

[Stephan @ Jan 9th 2007 5:30AM]

Great, I hope that will make it to europe!

[ark_v2 @ Jan 9th 2007 8:52PM]

Looks great. If it's really being produced I'm getting one for sure.

[Veritas II @ Jan 8th 2007 11:34PM]

How does 5 buttons and 10 number keys = 50 buttons?

[Bob Munck @ Jan 8th 2007 11:45PM]

What if you want to compare THREE pages? What if the two pages you want to compare in a paper-based book are on opposite sides of the same piece of paper? Do you often need to compare two pages? Would you pay, say, an additional 50% for an ebook reader because of this need, say $450 instead of $300?

[Bruce Biganho @ Jan 8th 2007 11:31PM]

E-ink is supposed to be nanospheres floating in a liquid. All well and good. But why does the background have to be gray? I went and look at Sony e-ink reader and, again, gray background. Readable but I found myself wondering why we couldn't have a simple white background. We have had to live with gray background since the dawn of LCD. A more legible white background was what I was looking forward to with e-ink. Can someone explain this?

[Mertle @ Jan 9th 2007 12:12AM]

I want one!!

[Glenn @ Jan 9th 2007 12:14AM]

So Im guessing with 6 months of bat life this use's that "e-ink" type stuff the sony reader does?

[Sammy @ Jan 9th 2007 12:24AM]

I'd like the tactility of "turning" the pages. As soon as I saw it, I thought that "flipping" would be natural. I like.

I can't wait a REAL ebook reader to come out. I've been reading the Anansi Boys on my 8525 (HTC Hermes) and it's great, but the screen's a bit small for reading.

[Dave95 @ Jan 9th 2007 12:50AM]

I would love to load my favorites on some e-book some day, but I'm not going to give up the convenience of traveling with a book (small & light) for something this large. I also don't get the whole reason for dual screen, it only adds to the bulk and drains the battery even faster.

[snipenekkid @ Jan 9th 2007 2:36AM]

I know there is no mention of the cost for this reader but why in this day of the $100 laptop do these things need to cost so much? Seriously $300+ is outrageous. All it does is display pixels like a flipboard. If they ever want ebooks to really work these things need to be under $50. BTW, I have RA and cannot hold books open to read so I really love the idea of these things but the cost is just really over the top. Of course $100-bills have become the new $20s so whaddoiknow... ;)

[yumyum @ Jan 9th 2007 3:05AM]

yeah. But can I play doom on it?

[Ende @ Jan 9th 2007 3:20AM]

@Snipenekkid
Personally, I marvel at the technology. I've been dreaming about e-ink tech since my childhood lol

[asa @ Jan 16th 2007 4:21AM]

this is just like the Hitch hikers guide to the galixy book. It looks really cool and the more it looks like a real book the less some body would want to steel it right? so sell it at a resinable price and we will buy it. Sorry about the spelling errors I have ben drinking but I'm still excited. (in the imortal words of HOMER (simpson) WOHO)

[David @ Jan 9th 2007 10:15AM]

The two-screen idea might be a good way to deal with the ghosting problem that these e-ink devices currently have. Apparently, the way to get rid of the ghosting is to flash a black page to clear all of the artifacts, but that this takes time and is disruptive if you have to wait a couple seconds after finishing each page. If you can have the player doing this while you read the next page on the other screen, you can read straight through without any pause. I like the idea, and the refresh rate was the only thing stopping me from buying an e-ink product. Lets hope it comes out here (US) for a reasonable price!

[veggirl1964 @ Jan 15th 2007 7:47PM]

I love the idea of an e-book reader. I don't really care if it's flat or hinged. I am leary, however, of the lack of available books at this point. I searched the Internet (after seeing a Sony eReader) and could only find 3 of the past 8 books I read available as ebooks. What I am waiting for, besides a wider availability of books, are subscription services such as Napster or Yahoo Music, only for books, so that for a monthy fee, I could read an unlimited number of books. THEN, I would be willing to shell out the money for a reader!