Irex The First of Many eReader Casualties?

IREX Technologies BV developed the first eInk way back in 2004 and spun itself from Royal Philips Electronics a year later. It has championed eInk ereaders and ebooks but over the last three years has been overshadowed and out manoeuvred by all the new ‘lookie likies’. The biggest issue was that they made even eInk look dull and their pricing was always at the top end of the market. We now read of their demise into administration in the Netherlands. It never ceases to amaze us what the folk at Philips invent and fail to deliver themselves.

We predicted that there would be eInk casualties as the market was saturated, with too many identical or near identical readers and supply clearly greater than the demand. The price was clearly too high and when colour arrived it wasn’t eInk but Apple that supplied the obvious.

Meanwhile Seth Godin predicts a “paperback” e-reader, a cheap Kindle which would could make e-books affordable for all. Godin suggest $50 is the right price, or as any retailer will tell you $49,99. At that price we would agree Amazon would be on a winner and if the can subsidise it correctly provide a price point that many of its competitors could not live with. We even may buy one! It is a position we believe that eInk readers have to adopt to survive. Unfortunately many are just manufacturers and only supply the reader, they don’t get ebook sales revenues, are not locked as value added suppliers into sectors such as education. So once the device is sold that’s it no more money!

Perhaps this cheap Kindle reader is the position Amazon aims to adopt to fight Apple. It certainly makes more sense than trying to compete with eInk colour in a battle that will not be won on poor substitute technology.

As for iRex and the iliad readers they will not be alone for long.

eBook Reader Line Up

So as most ebook readers promise to get bigger the new BeBook e-book reader plans to get smaller. The new machine will be the same as before only it will now have a 5” display screen and be priced at $200 or less. The price will certainly be more attractive but by the screen size they automatically reduce the cost so its yet another eink reader albeit smaller.

As BeBook is manufactured by Chinese company Tianjin Jinke Electronics, who own the Hanlin ereader brand, the mini BeBook will also be available as the Hanlin v5 Reader.

So who are the eInk and ebook reading devices out there today?


Amazon has its Kindle 2 which is rumored to become larger later this year and maybe even make it past the Whispernet and into Europe. Amazon also have the iphone Kindle app and have just acquired Lexcycle’s Stanza application platform. They also own Mobibook.






Sony has the PRS505 and the PRS700 which could break free from the umbilical cord to Adobe’s Digital Editions and maybe even go wireless this year. Although it renders Adobe eBooks as well as epub and that old Sony format its current strength is its current exclusive tie to Adobe DRM through Adept and ACS4 and their current UK exclusive with Waterstones. Today it is still the epub reader with DRM.




iRex has the iLiad Book Edition with an 8.1” screen with built in Wi-Fi capability with an option for external ethernet networking, but is expensive and remains outside of the Adobe world today and is heavily reliant on Mobibook.




Samsung is to launch its touch-screen Papyrus. Samsung is expected to make Papyrus available in Korea this summer, with a later launch date in the US and UK.





Fuijisu have the FLEPia is the first e-book reader to support colour via a 8” display, comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support and a touchscreen with a stylus. It is only available in Japan today, with plans to come to both the US and UK. The big issue is the price, a whopping $1,000.





Plastic logic. The reader is expected to measure 8.5 by 11 inches, be thinner than its competitors and today has a look that is fresh and could appeal. It will support Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe PDFs, newspapers, periodicals and books and a wireless capability. However, only an elephant has a longer gesticulation period!

If Apple were to launch their rumoured iTouch as a multi media netbook without a keypad then the PL tablet could die before it makes it onto the street. It could be a classic case of a premature launch.



Hanilin, Jinke, Bebook, Pixelar same box different badge and has been covered already.










Foxit eSlick Reader is a 6” display but is lighter both in its weight and its price than its competitors. However it has limited file support and a clumsy USB umbilical cord to the PC for downloading files. Some may say it’s a cheap man’s ereader.





Brother with its very expensive SV-100B document reader planned to launch in Japan this summer.







Onyx International, China has announced its Boox ereader is not available today but Onyx are looking for OEM customers for their touchscreen for their 6, 8 or 9.7 inch touch screen sizes. It claims to do everything but is still to seen.



This list is growing with many stalling or failing and rumours of a Barnes and Noble reader, a Murdoch Newscorp one, a Hearst one etc. This is without the iPhone and mobile apps, online readers and of course the ultimate reader - the book.

Compare ebooks

A simple and comparison on the eink players.

Click here

It's interesting to read and although basic raises many questions.

Pity they only reviewed eink ebook readers as these may only have a short life as we know them today

SeptemberFest - The ebook Races

It appears that size, contrary to everything people say, does matter, or so Amazon believe. As a result, it is reported in Wired that a new Kindle will soon be with us measuring 8 1/2 by 11 inches, like a sheet of letter-sized paper.

What would be obviously more appealing than the extra inches would be colour, a fully functional web browser, but then we would have a laptop! Why increase the size of the screen to compete with devices that we all have, use and that cost only a little more than this one dimensional tablet?

Is the ebook reader we know today doomed? Today they don’t add that something, so special, they are a must have one. Neither do that present a cool style icon, that makes them a ‘must to be seen with’. Lets be honest the Kindle took three years to develop and the design says it all. The Sony forgot the interaction, gave us a screen, a carrying case and an umbilical cord back to the PC and the iLiad tried but got the economics, the look and marketing all wrong.

We have seen the buzz about the iPhone and the copycat races between all the mobile devices all trying to catch up or surpass it in looks and functionality. It is clear that applications and functionality is going mobile. It is clear that in the world of labels, design matters. It is clear that Apple got it right.

We now brace ourselves for the ‘ebook event’ of the year – the worst kept secret ‘Septemberfest’. What do we expect? There is bound to be plenty of press coverage - after all Amazon and Sony can deliver that. There is bound to be many who want the latest gizmo – after all someone had to buy the Sinclair C5. There is bound to be those who want to stand out at the airport or think that they look cool with it in public – after all Michael Douglas ran up a beach on film carrying a brick (early mobile phone). There are bound to be smart statements claiming phenomenal sales, but if like last time, probably lacking real numbers.

The issues that will determine success are availability of the right content, ease of use, functionality, interoperability, price and the feeling that it’s got some life expectancy. We haven’t found one today that we would want to spend more than $50 to $100 on and treat as a gimmick, or as a potential throw away. Also we would want to know that what content we buy also has some future and isn’t tethered to a short life product and can be transferred to whatever as many times as needed into the future.

We are not negative towards digital content or ebooks and are fully behind them we are just very cautious about placing a bet on a horse that is obviously lame before the race has started.