3D Advertising at a Storefront Near You ... If You Live in NYC

Looking like they just stepped off Apple's website, Interead's new eBook reader, the COOL-ER, has all the rounded edges and colors of the iPod Nano. It even has a look-alike of the scroll wheel for navigation on the bottom left side of the device. In fact, the founder of the company calls these the "iPod moment e-readers have been waiting for." Are they?



The COOL-ER comes in 8 different colors, most of them look very similar to colors we've seen on the iPod. Actually the blue COOL-ER looks almost exactly like my iPod Mini (yes those still exist) and it's about the same size as my dinosaur of an MP3 player. Coming in at a 6-inch screen and only 6.3 ounces (half the Kindle 2), this is a pretty sleek and light little reader. But the slim size also means slim features: 1GB internal memory and ... that's about it. No keyboard, WiFi (you have to load files via USB or SD card), no fancy highlighting or selecting text. Just a good ol' eBook reader that just reads books. While it may sound preposterous to have a device that does just the one thing, that is how Apple got its start with the iPod. So we'll wait and see, and probably invest in the electric blue one because it's so cool looking. Did I mention it's only $250?

Interead does have an eBook store available, with file types for just about any type of eBook reader you may already own. However, prices for eBooks from Interead are about the same price as the regular book. The COOL-ER supports EPUB, TXT, JPEG, PDF and MP3. It also does eight languages including simplified Chinese.

Other news in the eBook reader world includes the pricing info on the BeBook Mini and BeBook 2. The Mini will have the same specs as the original, but it will be smaller and come in around $270 (does not come in electric blue). The BeBook 2 will have some juiced up specs including WiFi and 3G access with a very large price tag of $476-$544. The BeBook will be released overseas, so you won't see it Stateside any time soon.

For more on the latest tech news, check out these other electrifying blog posts:

Asus Eee Keyboard to Be Released by End of June

3D Advertising at a Storefront Near You ... If You Live in NYC

Acer Smartphones Hit the Market

Unboxing the 22-inch iZ3D 3D Monitor