14 DAY TRIAL // iRex Technologies, a Philips subsidiary, announced a while ago the 2006 launch of an ePaper device. For now, the company has made public the specifications of its device, called ER 0100, code named Iliad. The device is a electronic paper reader with a 8.1 inch diagonal and with a 1024 X 768 pixel resolution.
ER 0100 is a portable electronic device specially developed for reading applications. It has a monochrome 8.1 inch display with a 1024 X 768 pixel resolution and support for 16 levels of gray. The display offers a high brightness level, suitable for good visibility both indoors and outdoors. Iliad has an Intel X-Scale 400 MHz processor and features 64 MB of RAM; it measures 155 x 216 x 16 mm.
On Iliad, data can be transferred in many ways. It can be copied from an USB stick or from SD or Compact Flash Cards. ER 0100 has compatible slots for cards and USB on the upper side. Connecting to the Internet is possible through Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable. Moreover, you can connect Iliad to a laptop or to a PC using Wi-Fi or USB.
ER 0100 uses little electrical power because it's an electronic reader. The operating time of Iliad's rechargeable battery is for about a week, three hours of reading a day.
Iliad's display is a touch screen one and a stylus can be used for notes and text adding, in the same way you would do on regular paper. The data content is stored either on Iliad's 224 MB of built in memory or on the additional memory cards installed. The books, newspapers and other publications have dedicated folders, which can be accessed through special buttons.
Iliad can read PDF, XHTML, TXT and MP3 files; for MP3, you have a special 3.5 mm audio jack for adding an audio headset.
The price of Iliad was not announced, but seems that it already has a future competitor, called Sony Librie.