iriver Japan looking to brand its own e-reader?

It's a touch early to truly understand what's going on here, but it looks as if iriver Japan (read: not the same iriver Korea you're used to) is hoping to make a splash in the burgeoning e-reader market by popping out a device of its own. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much innovation going on, as we're pretty certain this is simply a rebadged version of the Netronix reader we spotted about this time last year. Word has it that the unit will handle PDFs and feature a simple joystick control scheme, an SD card slot and compatibility with music files. We'll be keeping a close eye out for any developments, but our gut tells us this thing won't make it far outside of Japan's walls, anyway.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:30PM]

Bah! I'm tired of all this kindle/ereader jangle. Can we get an anti-kindle RSS feed or something? I just may not use it!

[JeremyBenthem Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:32PM]

eSlick anyone?
Darren Murph reported on that one as well
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/

[iEye Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:33PM]

ahahahahhah!!!

iriver use to be iRiver...

they had to change the name because Apple called them up and told then that they own the letter "i"

that means that these guys are B*****es, so don't buy anything from them

AHAHAHA!!!

[Ellianth Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:36PM]

I will always wonder why companies spend so much time developing a product then put it in an ugly case...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:36PM]

Why so many ebook readers?

[Shravan Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:13AM]

Why so serious ?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:33AM]

lots of readers!

[morissen3k8 Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:52AM]

becuz we're headed towards a more tree friendly world with less massacre of trees and more obama environmentally friendly policies like carbon free friendly footprints...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 9:10AM]

The proper question would be "why are there so many MP3 players, or smartphones, or HDTVs." There are only a few ereaders out there, yet an immeasurable amount of any other device.

[nicksilvestri Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:41PM]

i want an mp3 player with an e-ink display

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:53PM]

It better be touch screen, or its crap. Now if they can just get the prices down...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 1st 2009 11:56PM]

Touchscreen mean expensive. Make it an option.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:01AM]

The more the best if you ask me.

What I need is simple: A good quality e-ink screen, bookmarks, 100mb of memory, basic jpeg and text files compatibility, pdf is nice too but not essential. Price under 120$.

What I dont need; Wifi, mp3, touchscreen, lots of memory, bluetooth...

Keep it simple, its for read books.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:16AM]

"it's for read books".


You is right.

[AeroChoi Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:27AM]

I agree with you.
One of a few selling points of e-book reader is long battery life.
But they pack up the functions drain battery, like wifi, mp3, bluetooth, touchscreen...
If they need such function, they'd better to buy a descent tablet net-pc.

I was looking foward good e-book reader with large screen and high resolution.
But nowadays, I'm waing for a tablet pc for my reading purpose.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:39AM]

Sorry, english is my very recent third language. Im learning it from my japanese wife... the resulting output is often a bit bizarre.

"It's" is short for "it is"... now try to remember that! I should just stop using shorts and internet slang...

[arke Posted Mar 2nd 2009 1:36AM]

@Boards...
I guess Ian didn't comment on you using Its instead of It's or It is.
Even if you write 'It is for read books', I'd still say 'You is right'.

[Quikboy Posted Mar 2nd 2009 3:14AM]

I thought you were from Canada? Based on you user name, I kinda expected that you were Canadian, where I'm quite sure they speak or teach English (even in the French regions, right?).

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:25PM]

We need wifi on these things. A wifi connection can lead to getting onto the internet to buy books or copying pdfs from a file server. The idea of using only USB or memory cards is silly in this day and age.

What we dont need is evdo and other expensive options. A wifi chip is cheap. You provide your own internet. Win/win.

[Shravan Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:17AM]

My everyday office bag/pocket/whatever u carry your stuff in is becoming heavier by the day with just electronic stuff in there. A phone, an mp3 player, and now this. Can;t we just stick on to old school recycled/recyclable paper ? do we need to generate more ewaste that can't even be properly disposed of ? magazines are light, newspapers are lighter. Why the heck do we need these slabs for ?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:43AM]

I think an ebook reader is as light as a small book... not very heavy in any case. And if it mean we cut less trees, Im all for it!

I wish Asus make a eeebooks readers! No kidding.

[Plothole Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:47AM]

An MP3 player? Meh... from my personal perspective, the standalone ones became obsolete a few years ago. Practically everything has a built in player these days. Including most phones and ebook readers.

One of the advantages to eInk is that it is light weight. And it's set to get even lighter when plastic displays replace the glass ones later this year.

BTW, you might want to read up on so called "recycled paper".

[Mike Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:49AM]

You're suggesting I carry two or three 2500-page textbooks to school instead of one 4 lb. laptop? No thanks. I can imagine times when it's beneficial to stick to hard copies, though.

I will definitely pick up an e-reader when PDF support gets better.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 5:39AM]

send me all

[TMC Posted Mar 2nd 2009 1:00AM]

The pictured reader is a Bookeen Cybook Gen3
http://www.bookeen.com/ebook/ebook-reading-device.aspx

[TMC Posted Mar 2nd 2009 1:04AM]

Hmm and looks exctly the same as Netronix EB-600
http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EB-600
Whats going on? Is the Cybook just a branded Netronix EB-600?

[jhoff80 Posted Mar 2nd 2009 3:11AM]

Did you read the bottom of the page that you posted? " * Bookeen Cybook Gen3 - uses the same hardware but the firmware is different. "

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 1:02AM]

I personally can't wait for E-toilet paper!

[Sisyphus Posted Mar 2nd 2009 8:12AM]

NACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[telepheedian Posted Mar 2nd 2009 10:18AM]

I'm waiting for one that's targeted towards textbooks, there is a huge market there that nobody's effectively tapped yet. There have been a few full size ones, but they're prohibitively expensive, and don't have the content.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 2nd 2009 10:42AM]

lol like this wasn't going to happen?

[IanMcGrady Posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:57PM]

is that some kind of joke?

japanese e-reader, picture of a ebook reader called "libre" which is how a japanese person would misprounce "reader" in english? is that supposed to be funny?

[dragonbone Posted Mar 5th 2009 7:58PM]

Ian, the Libre was the first Sony reader released in Japan 3 or 4 years ago. It didn't take off, so they released a second one in the US called the Sony PRS-500, then the PRS-505 and PRS-700.
So this is seems to be the 2nd Libre or the 5th? Depends which way you look at it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Librie
I think libre sound more like 'library' than 'read'...