Thread: iRex DR800 to be introduced in Europe soon
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Old 01-13-2010, 02:51 PM   #36
mgmueller
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Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
Lightbulb 3G option: Why is it that difficult to solve?
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdejager View Post
According to the Dutch website eReaders.nl, the DR800 from iRex Technologies will be available for sale in Europe from January 18th. The 3G option will be disabled though, since it was very difficult to negotiate deals with the wireless network operators in the various European member states, according to iRex.
3G option: I really don't get it.
Why can't it be solved as with mobile phones?
Okay, I get it - the market for readers is way smaller than the market for mobile phones. Less interest, smaller players. But still...

Option 1:
You could buy your reader and close a contract with a provider of your choice.
You choose the package you need, i. e. price bound to traffic.
No risk for the provider and you're in control of your costs.

Option 2:
I've got a flatrate with T-Mobile for my iPhone. I'm using a twincard in my UMTS-stick without any additional charges.
Why can't I just pop this into my reader? Traffic certainly would be less than with my UMTS stick.

Option 3:
Why are there country versions of readers anyway? (Starting with Kindle US, then moving to Kindle international). Aren't quadband (or whatever it's called) phones common nowadays? Then Sony, Amazon and the others could produce a single unit from the start (more efficient production, bigger lots = lower production costs) and later on, each country could choose its solution/provider/traffic...

Option 4:
Why don't they at least integrate WiFi in parallel?
Or as an add-on (BeBook for example has mentioned WiFi via SD a while ago).
Personally, I don't need 3G at all. But downloading books via WiFi instead of via USB would be quite convenient.
Looking at the prices for WiFi addons in PCs, I guess this would be an add-on for about € 50. Maybe not for everyone and maybe not for all readers (€ 50 for WiFi vs. € 200 for Sony 300 may be a bit harsh), but shouldn't be complicated to add as an option.

I probably could find 374 other options. Why is a feature, that's absolutely common as a feature for Notebooks and other gadgets that difficult to solve?
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