iriver Story e-book reader turns up in Berlin, deems itself too cool for IFA
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 8th 2009 12:46AM
posted September 8th 2009 12:46AM
Well, it may not have been officially on-hand at IFA, but it looks like at least one iriver Story e-book reader did make its way to Berlin, and Heise Online was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with it -- and take a few pics, of course. While it still bears an undeniable similarity to the Kindle 2, the differences become a bit more apparent up close, with the keyboard in particular sporting more traditional, squarer keys, and a complete lack of face buttons otherwise -- apart from what appears to be two built-in page turn buttons on each bottom corner. In addition to the previously revealed specs, Heise Online also confirmed the existence of a built-in Comic Viewer, an integrated microphone for dictation and, unfortunately, a lack of built-in WiFi (let alone 3G), meaning that the only way to get content on the device is via USB or SD cards. Hit up the link below for the rest of the pics and a few more details.
wahh
oh Shi~ wa?
R.I.P. Kindle
nice, but not cigar.
I did a double take on this, i thought it was cracked.
I love all iriver products!I've had many irivers for many years and all of them are awesome especially mp3s!!!;)
Lack of Wi-fi is an annoyance, but I could certainly live without it.
First and foremost, I would use this as an E-reader. Australia doesn't have Amazon, so a kindle is out of the question, and I have a phone with internet for when I need a web browser.
Under $200 and I get one.
If you're doing comics, you need a color screen. Most modern comics are designed around colors; it would be just plain wrong to reduce them to monochrome.
Manga or Manhwa is black, gray, white. I think that is maybe a bit more important to the South Korean audience (and to me for that matter). Also, last time I checked, American comic publishers weren't releasing manga in .zip form.
I don't need WiFi, I only need an ebook reader without DRM.
They pretty much all support more than one DRM free format. In fact, I dont know of any that have no DRM free formats. So if you want a DRM format free reader, your only option is to wait until open inkpot is ready to go, and use that ion another device.
DRM is I'm afraid something that is here to stay in the short term. I don't buy any books with it either, But at least it is using the Adobe DRM system like many other readers, so it encourages healthy competition. No dedicated "book store", no device lock-in. Not as good as DRM free, but the next best thing.
Nice and I like iRiver's products, but the low resolution (not to mention lack of color) means that for me, I'll still be waiting to purchase an e-book reader.
when I first saw the picture, I thought that's a kindle with smashed screen.
No wifi or 3g?!! NOOOO!!! I don't care for either if it brings the cost down. Hell, just give me some usb ports and support for usb versions of these devices so I can buy them at a later date if I so choose.
it's gotta sell for less than $150 for anyone to buy it... refurb Kindle 1's are 149 and have free sprint 3g internet