Elonex introduces the eBook in partnership with Borders

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Elonex has teamed up with bookshop giant Borders to launch the eBook. Or the eBook 600EB to give it its full title.

The partnership with Borders means that the eBook comes pre-loaded with 100 “all-time classics”. Presumably Napper Goes For Goal is one of the classics included – it is the greatest story ever told. The Borders’ e-book store has an additional 45,000 titles available to download.

The eBook is only 9mm thick and weighs just 180g. It has a 6-inch e-ink screen which can display eight different font sizes. It also has an SD card slot which can support up to 4GB. Elonex sells an accessory pack for the eBook for £29 which has a 4GB card as well as a leather case. Alternatively just buy a 4GB SD card from Play.com for £6.49.

Elonex states that, with a 4GB SD card in place, the eBook can hold 8,000 books. “With 8,000 books weighing the same as an elephant,” they say. “How else are you going to fit 8,000 books in your suitcase?” Quite why you’d need 8,000 books on you is open to debate though. Surely only Holly from Red Dwarf and, perhaps, Will Self have read 8,000 books.

Sorry if this post came off a little unenthusiastic, it’s just that with every e-book release, the giant Kindle sized hole in the UK becomes even more apparent.

The Elonex eBook will cost you £189.95 and will be available here very soon.

(via T3)

MWC 2008: Hands on with the Readius rollable e-ink phone

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It was at last year’s 3GSM show in Barcelona that we first clapped eyes on Polymer Vision’s Readius e-book display. The show’s name may have changed to Mobile World Congress, but Polymer Vision was still there this year, showing the latest version of the device, which is now a fully-fledged mobile phone, as we recently reported.

Opinion: What Amazon Kindle needs is… interactive book groups

kindle-column.jpgSo, Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader is finally on sale, and although there’s been a mixed reaction from journalists and users alike, Amazon has still won plaudits for the focused way it’s entered the market.

The key thing to remember is that Kindle is a first-generation device, so there’s scope for firmware updates to bring new features, as well as future models that’ll solve the flaws and introduce new functionality.