iRiver Story HD hits Target this Saturday for $139, downloads Google eBooks wirelessly
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
It’s been many moons since iRiver announced the Story HD e-reader, packing a competition-busting 1024 x 768 resolution in its six-inch screen, and come this Saturday, July 17, when it finally hits Target at the competition-matching price of $139.99, it’ll also be the first e-reader to be fully integrated with Google’s eBooks service. That may not sound like a major feat, but you need to understand that previous Google-compatible e-readers (like the Nook and Sony’s offerings) required you to undergo an eight-step process to transfer Google books, not to mention physically tether your slate to a PC. But as you can see in the screenshot above, the Story HD lets you directly download them over a WiFi connection. It’s also an obvious shot at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple, as this move gives Google an integrated reading ecosystem for the very first time. We’re not sure whether iRiver + Google eBooks can make much of a dent in the Kindle armor -- high resolution or no -- but either way, viva wireless freedom!
Source: The Official Google Blog
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