Guest article by Joan Weiner
For fans of Google’s ebook site (are there any of you out there?), Google announced yesterday their release of an ebook reader device designed specifically to link to the Google eBookstore. Similar to the way Kindle owners have to buy books from Amazon, owners of the iRiver Story HD will be married to Google. Google’s ebookstore, which opened its doors last December, is itself not generating that much buzz. With an already crowded ereader market, I don’t expect this new device will either.
Intended to compete with the Kindle in price and design, the iRiver retails for $139.99, and oddly, will be sold only at Target and online at Target.com. Its other quirky aspect is the iRiver’s two-toned color scheme: white in front, brown in back. The device has an e-ink screen, but no touch screen, and it mimics the Kindle’s full keyboard under the screen. The Google eBookstore is accessible via WiFi, but not 3G. With a 6″ black-and-white display and weighing in at only 7.3 oz, the device is considerably smaller than other ereaders on the market. The manufacturer claims it can go six weeks (or 14,000 page turns) before needing a recharge.
With the current battle for stand-alone ereaders now basically a two-man contest between Kindle and Nook, with Kobo and Sony eReader bringing up the rear, and plenty of great ereading apps available for iPad and Android platforms, it’s unclear if there is room in the market for another device or if one is needed.
Google’s press release announcing the device boasted of the 3 million titles available in Google’s store. For the most part though, these titles are available everywhere else too and not a selling point. Although the device syncs to Google’s website out-of-the box, it does support numerous file types and comes with a USB. I assume that means the Story HD can to handle side-loaded content acquired from other sources such as overdrive or other ebookstores.
This is the first of what Google promises to be many devices linked directly to their bookstore.
[…] being fully integrated with Google ebooks. Last week, Techcitement reported on the release of the iRiver, the first eReader fully integrated with Google eBooks. This latest announcement is a boost for […]