Spun out from Philips and relying on a combination of technology developed at the Dutch consumer electronics giant as well as that of E Ink, start-up iRex has announced its first entry into the e-book market. Dubbed the iLiad ER 0100, the company aims to revive the languishing market for standalone e-book readers with a unit equipped with a 8.1-inch, 16-greyscale display which delivers near paper-like contrast levels while requiring far less power than traditional displays.
In addition to its touch screen enabled display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and 160 DPI, the iLiad is fitted with a 400 MHz processor, 64 MB of RAM and 224 MB of non-volatile memory. Furthermore, the unit accepts memory expansion by means of a built-in USB connector for memory keys as well as expansion slots for CompactFlash Type II and SD/MMC Card formats. Additionally, the iLiad also features Wi-Fi 802.11b and 10/100 MB Ethernet connectivity.
Measuring in at 216 x 155 x 16 mm and a lightweight 390 g, the device supports a range of common content formats including Adobe's Acrobat (PDF), XHTML, standard ANSI TXT files and even MP3 audio files. iRex also said the company expects to expand support for other formats in the near future, with battery life for currently supported formats ranging in excess of 20 hours.
Due for a commercial launch in 2006, additional information concerning the pricing and availability was not available at the time of press.
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