Google launches e-reader with one neat perk… but it's not for sale in Canada
As is occurring to the now overly saturated the tablet space, the realm of e-readers has become a little crowded. Google has launched it's first e-reader, the oddly named "iriver Story HD," which will be availble for $139 next week—in the U.S., that is.
The iriver is to be sold exclusively at Target starting July 17. Obviously, Target is nowhere to be found North of the border. Of course, Target did recently buy a bunch of Zellers across Canada, but my guess would be that Google will find a Canadian retailer to sell through long before Targets pop up here.
The device is priced similarly to the Kindle and Nook. It sports a qwerty keyboard and colourless screen. What's interesting about the iriver is that is boasts access to more than three million free Google ebooks—obviously, this is many orders of magnitude more than any competing device. It can also download ebook titles via wifi.
Google launched its eBookstore back in December, so an e-reader was the natural next step.
Hopefully, the next-next step is Canadian availability. (Note: it may be available online and shippable to Canada, but this is not yet clear.)
Oh, and for some reason it is accented in bronze. I know fashion is cyclical but I don't think people are ready to embrace brass tones again quite yet.
