Interead COOL-ER 3G e-reader announced, adds wireless to the mix
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted December 9th 2009 3:02PM
posted December 9th 2009 3:02PM
We are already fans of the COOL-ER e-reader: if anything, its playful look and decent price point has brought a smile to our embittered faces. But still, the lack of WiFi and a Whispernet equivalent is something of a buzzkill -- who wants to rely on a USB cable or SD card in this day and age? Good news, digital book fans: Interead has big changes in store for next year, including the aforementioned WiFi and deals with AT&T for bandwidth and NewspaperDirect for access to over 1,300 newspapers and magazines. Not bad, eh? If all goes according to plan, we can expect to see the COOL-ER 3G sometime in mid-2010. Hopefully, they can set the MSRP low enough to keep consumers' interest. PR after the break.
Interead to Connect Next Generation ereader With AT&T 3G Mobile Broadband Service
COOL-ER ereaders in 2010 to use nation's fastest 3G network
MIAMI, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interead, makers of the COOL-ER line of ereaders, and AT&T* today announced an agreement that will deliver users of the COOL-ER 3G ereader, scheduled for release in mid-2010, the nation's fastest 3G mobile broadband experience.
The current model COOL-ER, first launched worldwide in May, 2009, works in every country on the planet and comes in eight eye-catching colors. It supports books written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Russian, Japanese and Traditional and Simplified Chinese. Books from COOL-ER's companion online bookstore, COOLER-EBOOKS.com, can be shared with up to five other readers to let friends and families share the works they love. Weighing in at only 5.6 ounces--less than a paperback--COOL-ER supports books in all of the most commonly used ebook formats. QVC will start selling the COOL-ER on Friday, Dec. 11.
In 2010, Interead will launch its next generation of connected COOL-ER ereaders, including WiFi and 3G models. These models will be available from national retailers including QVC.
Neil Jones, Interead's CEO, commented: "We have been overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the COOL-ER and the COOLER-EBOOKS.com bookstore. In selecting providers, we have actively sought those who share our vision and commitment to an ideal reader experience, and we're thrilled to team with AT&T to deliver content over the nation's fastest 3G network."
"Compact and elegant, Interead's COOL-ER 3G will be an impressive addition to its family of readers and to the marketplace," said Glenn Lurie, president-Emerging Devices and Resale, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We're seeing tremendous demand for ereaders and we are excited to provide the wireless connectivity that will keep consumers connected to the content they most desire on this state-of-the-art device, on the nation's fastest 3G network."
Interead also today announced a partnership with NewspaperDirect, to make more than 1,300 newspapers and magazines available to COOL-ER ereaders through both the existing COOL-ER and forthcoming 3G and WiFi models.
Neil Jones continued: "With the addition of thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world, we'll be able to give readers on every COOL-ER ereader exactly the content they're looking for in precisely the way they want to receive it--quickly and reliably--wherever they are."
For more information, visit www.COOLREADERS.com.
* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About Interead
Based in Reading, England and Miami, Interead and COOL-ER are the creation of seasoned entrepreneur Neil Jones. COOL-ER, the lightest and most elegant ereader available, works in nine languages, comes in eight colors, and accommodates all popular ebook formats. For more information, visit www.Interead.com.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse(SM) and AT&T | DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T's Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing and advertising sales. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine's list of the World's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.
© 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE AT&T Inc.
COOL-ER ereaders in 2010 to use nation's fastest 3G network
MIAMI, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interead, makers of the COOL-ER line of ereaders, and AT&T* today announced an agreement that will deliver users of the COOL-ER 3G ereader, scheduled for release in mid-2010, the nation's fastest 3G mobile broadband experience.
The current model COOL-ER, first launched worldwide in May, 2009, works in every country on the planet and comes in eight eye-catching colors. It supports books written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Russian, Japanese and Traditional and Simplified Chinese. Books from COOL-ER's companion online bookstore, COOLER-EBOOKS.com, can be shared with up to five other readers to let friends and families share the works they love. Weighing in at only 5.6 ounces--less than a paperback--COOL-ER supports books in all of the most commonly used ebook formats. QVC will start selling the COOL-ER on Friday, Dec. 11.
In 2010, Interead will launch its next generation of connected COOL-ER ereaders, including WiFi and 3G models. These models will be available from national retailers including QVC.
Neil Jones, Interead's CEO, commented: "We have been overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the COOL-ER and the COOLER-EBOOKS.com bookstore. In selecting providers, we have actively sought those who share our vision and commitment to an ideal reader experience, and we're thrilled to team with AT&T to deliver content over the nation's fastest 3G network."
"Compact and elegant, Interead's COOL-ER 3G will be an impressive addition to its family of readers and to the marketplace," said Glenn Lurie, president-Emerging Devices and Resale, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We're seeing tremendous demand for ereaders and we are excited to provide the wireless connectivity that will keep consumers connected to the content they most desire on this state-of-the-art device, on the nation's fastest 3G network."
Interead also today announced a partnership with NewspaperDirect, to make more than 1,300 newspapers and magazines available to COOL-ER ereaders through both the existing COOL-ER and forthcoming 3G and WiFi models.
Neil Jones continued: "With the addition of thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world, we'll be able to give readers on every COOL-ER ereader exactly the content they're looking for in precisely the way they want to receive it--quickly and reliably--wherever they are."
For more information, visit www.COOLREADERS.com.
* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About Interead
Based in Reading, England and Miami, Interead and COOL-ER are the creation of seasoned entrepreneur Neil Jones. COOL-ER, the lightest and most elegant ereader available, works in nine languages, comes in eight colors, and accommodates all popular ebook formats. For more information, visit www.Interead.com.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse(SM) and AT&T | DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T's Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing and advertising sales. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine's list of the World's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.
© 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE AT&T Inc.
Looks like an iPod.
@(Unverified) yes this is the current version though. I assume the 3G one will look different
@Faceless Troll
Thats why everyone will buy it.
more AT&T usage?
what a bunch of idiots.
"who wants to rely on a USB cable or SD card in this day and age?"
Um, me. I don't want none of that fancy crap. Just a super cheap E-Reader with a good sized quality screen able to read with many formats with a some good options. Is this so much to ask for?
@incogneato
I'm with you. I've got gigs of material that I need a good reader for. No battery-draining wireless required.
Engadget has obligations, of course, to hammer away for the most tech per product, but it doesn't mean that real people want it.
@incogneato The Wireless feature is there to lock you into a particular store for your ebook purchases. You will find that for the features the ones with wireless connectivity are generally cheaper. This is because Amazon and Barnes and Noble know they are going to more than make it up in the end when you buy more books on impulse than you woul dif you had to hook it to your PC.
I Agree though, I could care less about anything less than a nice screen, being able to support a gazillion formats and perhaps wifi. Well that and some decent way to take notes or annotate (but I do quite a bit of editing/proofreading that typical users don't).
I think it looks fantastic! Moreover, with my wireless earpiece and mp3 set which I bought from www.gsm-earpiece.com it'll be so convenient to listen to the recorded files and audiobooks! I love it :)
I'm pretty sure there isn't a single ebook reader on the market that requires a subscription fee.
This is a little off topic, but when thinking about bookstores for these devices, I am forced to wonder why Amazon uses a proprietary format for the Kindle. Does anybody understand the business logic behind that?
I would understand if they were offering books primarily to drive hardware sales, but their PC and iPhone reader apps suggest that they really just want to sell as many books to as many people as possible.
Why, then, do they not just sell industry standard ePub downloads usable on any device? I have a Sony reader and I would gladly buy my books from Amazon instead of Sony's store if I could because they have a better selection, the same way that I occasionally buy music from AmazonMP3 instead of the Zune Marketplace.
@Chefgon They're worried that kindle users will get their books elsewhere if they have the option
@Chefgon Amazon are trying to copy the iTunes model - sure, iTunes is sort of open-ish nowadays, but I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of iPod owners use that store first and foremost. They don't want people buying a Kindle and then getting books from somewhere else; and they don't want people buying another ebook reader that isn't a Kindle so they can get books from Amazon.
If and when the flood of other ebook readers increase market share and mindshare so that Kindle is a small minority, I'm sure Amazon will switch to an open format. Right now they're probably still hoping for Kindle dominance. (And with some justification for that hope - I'd guess it's still the best-known device by some margin.)
@Chefgon I'm assuming they use a different format to discourage piracy, though there are converters now... Someone out there still has to buy ONE copy of each for them to get onto the internet. If they used regular ebook format or .doc files, anyone could use any copy of the e-book for any reader.
@(Unverified) The fastest way to get Amazon to switch to an open format is by buying the competition that uses the open format. If nook sales succeed, I have little doubt Amazon will open up. They are not averse to open formats, but they are certainly about making money. When they first introduced their music store it was in DRMless MP3 format, not because of some altruistic intentions, but because they knew it would take away sales from iTunes. When it becomes financially logical to go with a standard format, they will. It is up to us consumers to make that happen sooner.
Does it have a 10" screen? no.
Does it have Android? no.
Does it have Mac OS X? no.
Why is this device interesting?
@(Unverified) Because it's an ebook reader... none of that stuff determines it's worth (except maybe the 10" screen)
@NathanHeil
Those things most certainly do determine it's worth.
The only interesting device (to me) among e-readers is a 10" Android device (the Entourage eDGe). And the only thing that could affect my interest there is if the 10" Apple Tablet (running Mac OS X, not iPhone OS X) comes out of the world of fiction.
So ... any ereader that isn't a 10" tablet that's also fully functional general purpose computer, running Android or Mac OS X (or maybe Maemo or Ubuntu), isn't even remotely interesting to me. And therefore, such devices have no value to me. So, those 3 features definitely determine the device's worth.
All this e-readers seem useless if people don't read; Amazon has made a great job, but Apple should make an ebook reader to bring ebooks, or books at all, to the masses (even if they only read Harry Potter and Twilight crap).
@Arkv2 I dont think its the Books , i think its the fact that there isn't any color to the device , so it like buying an iPod touch with a Black and White tube screen . try to watch everything with out color , would suck .
That being said , what with make the E-readers big to everyone is to build a cooler e-reader and make Marvel and DC as well as other comic companies to bring there Digital libra to these devices .
I will agree that if Apple could pull off a Colored E-reader , with a full touch screen to it , and add the market to iTunes we are going to see a big increase of sales on books and comics ..
Personal i would buy one if apple built one , but it has to sport a color screen and iTunes or apple does have to police these books like they did with TV shows and songs . E-Books are just to much at this time . Meaning that the E-book should coast as much as the real book .
Comics could sale for .99 cents to 2.99 depend on the date of the comic . have then cheaper if you by a subscription to that series .
Magazines could also go up for sale at the same price tag as comics .
Books would need to be anywhere from FREE ( Like google and others ) to at least 5 dollars less then the hard copy or paper back copy .
@(Unverified) Now that ebooks are available in a standard format, presumably it's a reasonable time to buy in as future readers will still work with your books. (I say 'presumably' - don't know how easy it is to get the DRM to play nice with changing device with epub.)
If a techie buys one knowingly then that a decision they made but its a pity to see the innocent run out to buy these devices. People need to have control over the content they purchase and the formats they can load onto these devices. If I buy an ebook then I should be able to have complete control over how I use it. I shouldn't be bound by formats unless we are talking something obscure. For now, these devices will only attract those that have the money to throw at it and those that don't realize that they have so limited control over content.