The latest reader from iRex, on sale in the US from 2 January 2009, takes the biggest-is-best route and features an almost-A4 size display with touchscreen functionality.
As you can see from the Kindle comparison, it offers plenty of space and still weighs in at a modest 550 grams. At this price, you can get a well-spec’d budget notebook computer so it’s fair to say that this isn’t aimed at the consumer market and would be more likely to find a home in a corporate niche such as technical documentation.
But would you buy one of these if this rumour turned out to be true? TechCrunch reports well-backed rumours that Apple is lining up a large screen version of its iPod Touch for a late 2009 release. With a 7- or 9-inch screen, access to the iTunes store/iPhone apps and Apple’s legendary ease of use and consumer-friendly design, this is more likely to have the eBookers drooling. Probably closer in price to the iRex 1000S but who’d choose the latter when this is the competition?
Read full review of the iRex 1000S: Lightning Review: iRex Digital Reader 1000S Lightning Review
Read the TechCruch rumour piece on the big format iPod Touch.