In the tech-savvy ebook reading world dominated by Amazon Kindles, Nooks, and Sony Readers, yet another ebook reader joins the fray – Literati by the company Sharper Image.
But the question is, is there really room for one more ebook reader? And more importantly, what does it bring to the table to make it stand out from the rest? Let’s find out.
The Literati comes with a 7-inch, 800 by 480-pixel LCD color screen, full QWERTY keyboard, and Wi-Fi connectivity which will allow users to access download content from the Kobo ebook service. The device runs on a custom Linux operating system, and is available in white and slate grey colors.
Kirk McLean, co-founder of MerchSource which is handling distribution of the Literati, describes it as a “a simple, dedicated device that lets them get right to the book.”
When readers get their hands on the Literati, they will find it preloaded with 25 public domain books, with access to 125 more free ebooks upon registration. This ebook reading device supports ePub, PDF, and Txt formats to enable the user to have a wider range of ebooks to choose from. From the Kobo service alone, there are two million titles available including New York Times best sellers, new releases, magazines, and newspapers.
No details however have surfaced on the battery life of the Literati, which would presumably be “heavier” on resources considering its color display. It’s worth noting that the latest generations of the Amazon Kindle DX and 6-inch Kindle now feature batteries that can last for weeks without recharging.
All in all, it would be interesting to see how the Literati fares in an industry where there are so many players and seemingly not enough users. The Sharper Image device hits stores in October 2010 at a retail price of $159.