Interead announced new a Cool-ER model

[Nate the great]

We already knew about the Wifi and 3G models, but Interead just announced that another new model. From the press release:

Las Vegas-January 4, 2010-Interead, makers of the COOL-ER line of ereaders, today announced new models that will be introduced at the 2010 International CES® in Las Vegas.

* At only 6.7” x 4.6” x 0.41” (170 mm x 117 mm x 10 mm), the amazingly affordable and portable COOL-ER Compact has the smallest footprint of any ereader while still maximising the reader experience with a 6” E Ink® screen. With 2GB onboard memory (expandable via SD card to 6GB total), it easily holds thousands of ebooks.

The Cool-ER Compact is Interead's own design. It is smaller than the standard Netronix model because the bevel around the screen has been reduced and about an inch has been removed from below the screen. My favorite change is that the 4 menu buttons on the side were removed; I never liked them. It also uses a MicroSD card instead of regular a SD card.

The price will be announced by the end of January, and the expected release date is the first quarter 2010.

[Not_A_Crook]

Well they managed to make this look more like a second generation Ipod now....

[GA Russell]

I don't find that such an announcement means much without the price.

If it is small enough to fit in a lady's purse and has a low price, it will compete with the $169 6" (I forget by whom) that was mentioned two days ago.

[brecklundin]

Nate:

Good info but after looking at the photos, a question comes to mind. When do reading devices become too small? The very first thing I noticed was there appears to be no margin/spacing between the edge of the text and the reader frame. Not sure if you had the time to find out, but other than something like Calibre to reformat all of a person's books intended for the device, can that margin be adjust to any degree? Did you find the lack of a margin distracting? I know we all can get used to almost anything but not sure this one would not leave me shaking my head.

Because of my hand problems I am also attentive to the issue of these devices getting too thin and small. PDA size is fine as long as I can hold onto it without squeezing. Plus, I already have a PDA size device in my PDA. But I could see for someone who wants the smallest reader possible, why not if the price is right?

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Nate:

Good info but after looking at the photos, a question comes to mind. When do reading devices become too small? The very first thing I noticed was there appears to be no margin/spacing between the edge of the text and the reader frame. Not sure if you had the time to find out, but other than something like Calibre to reformat all of a person's books intended for the device, can that margin be adjust to any degree? Did you find the lack of a margin distracting? I know we all can get used to almost anything but not sure this one would not leave me shaking my head.

Because of my hand problems I am also attentive to the issue of these devices getting too thin and small. PDA size is fine as long as I can hold onto it without squeezing. Plus, I already have a PDA size device in my PDA. But I could see for someone who wants the smallest reader possible, why not if the price is right?

Well there are people who have been debating a 5" or 6", thinking that 5" is just too small a screen and 6" is too large a device. This is something of a happy compromise.

I suspect I'm the only one who thinks the text in that photographed device is enormous. As far as the margin...6" and 3:4 is not enough real estate for real margins IMO.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

The very first thing I noticed was there appears to be no margin/spacing between the edge of the text and the reader frame.

A related point is that the bezel appears to be deep. A deep bezel may be required for a thin frame, but there have already been reports of shadows being an issue on the PRS-900 (High Bevel on Frame stinks). Once again, user settable margins would help but most implementations of mobile ADE don't support this although they could.