The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.
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Description
Main specifications:
- an 8.1-inch (20.6 cm) electronic paper display
- a resolution of 768x1024 pixels (160 dpi)
- 16 levels of grayscale
- a USB connector for external storage,
- a CompactFlash Type II slot for memory extension or other applications
- a MultiMediaCard slot for MMC memory cards
- a 3.5 mm stereo audio jack for a headset
- WiFi 802.11g wireless LAN
- 10/100 Mbit/s wired LAN
- 390g weight
- 400MHz Intel XScale processor
- 64MB RAM
- 256MB internal flash memory (128 for user, 128 for system)
- Linux-based operating system (2.4 kernel)
It measures 155 mm × 216 mm × 16 mm (width × height × depth), the size of an A5 document, or roughly a 6"×9" steno notebook. The display used is an active matrix electrophoretic display, which uses E Ink display film manufactured by E Ink Corporation. Underneath the E-Ink screen is a digitizing tablet by Wacom which requires a stylus for input. The iLiad is capable of displaying document files in a number of formats, among them PDF, XHTML and plain text. Additionally, it has the largest screen size of existing e-ink products. As of May 3, 2007 Mobipocket is supported, making the mobipocket DRM content available on this platform. The distributor of the iLiad is iRex Technologies, a Philips spin-off company. It was initially advertised in December 2005, to be launched in April 2006, but was delayed until July of the same year, when it started to be sold as a beta product. It was released to the general public near the end of July, although since that time it has undergone considerable software revisions. In Europe it is list priced at €649, and in the US list priced at $699.
Third-party development
Because of its open Linux operating system, the iLiad is able to run third party applications created for it. Developers and users wishing to create or run third party applications can request shell access from the manufacturer. Developers have been able to improve on the devices functionality by porting viewers such as FBReader, and programs such as abiword and stardict.
iLiad Version 2 Update
In September 2007, iRex Technologies released an update to the iLiad. While officially called "iLiad 2nd Edition", it's generally noted to be a minor update to the original. The update includes:
- Redesigned Backplane
- Increased Capacity Battery
- 2.11 Software Version
- Updated Travel Charger
- Included Case
The 2.11 Software, which contains stylus calibration, among other things, is also available to first generation iLiads.
See also
- Dedicated e-book devices - other similar devices
External links
- The iLiad product page containing a PDF specification
- German Reseller for the iLiad
- Dutch specialist in e-Paper for education, training and knowledge management
- A discussion thread containing large device images
- manybooks.net - free iLiad formatted ebooks
- Dream reader: iRex iLiad Some stats and photos of iRex iLiad. Include 11 photos of iLiad showing math formulas in the comment section.
