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iriver Story HD e-reader hits the FCC, US retailers next?
We haven't heard much about iriver's Story HD e-reader since it quite literally landed in our laps at CES back in January, but it looks like it might now finally be nearing a US launch. The e-reader has just turned up at the FCC, where's it's been thoroughly tested and dissected (see the link below for some additional evidence). That's not always a sure sign that a US launch is imminent, but it does seem likely in this case -- especially considering that iriver has already lined up a number of US content partnerships for the device. As for the e-reader itself, it's similar in size to the Kindle and packs a 6-inch 1024 x 768 display, along with an 800MHz Coretx A8 processor, 2GB of internal memory, an SD card slot for expansion, and WiFi connectivity. In other words, it remains unchanged from CES, which means our preview is just as relevant as ever.
E-reader statisfaction study shows 93 percent of users are happy, just not you
The wind sure changes very quickly, eh? Just a week ago the University of Georgia revealed that many of its study participants -- Athens residents who were given a Kindle to play with -- weren't happy with their e-reader experience, but yesterday a new study reported something fairly contrasting. Rather than doling out touchscreen-less e-readers to a group of people, the NPD Group surveyed more than 1,000 e-reader owners in late November last year, and found out that 93 percent of them were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their devices, while only 2 percent "expressed any level of dissatisfaction." The report also reveals that wireless access is the favorite feature for 60 percent of the users, while only 23 percent chose the touchscreen. Compared to last week's report, this probably shows that consumers who actually buy e-readers don't really care about the touch feature, whereas those on the outer circle are mainly waiting for more -- and no doubt cheaper -- touchscreen e-readers. Seriously though, only 34 percent wanted color screens? Those guys sure are easy to please.
Study finds people want more from their Kindles, less from their newspapers
This may come as a surprise to you (although probably not, you smart devil), but it turns out that plenty of people are dissatisfied with their current e-reader options -- according to a recent study conducted at the University of Georgia. The study was conducted over a six-month period where participants read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on a Kindle, then provided feedback. The results were, well -- not entirely shocking. Younger adults found the Kindle to be lacking because it had no touchscreen or other applications (though to be fair, neither does the print version of the paper), while older adults seemed more satisfied, but also reported missing the crossword puzzles and comics of a real, live newspaper. Pretty much everyone agreed that the screen was nice and comfortable to read on, but almost no one was a fan of the price. All in all, there's not terribly much here that we think is overly telling -- besides (of course) the fact that paper rules.
