Kogan enters ebook reader market

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 16:40

Your IT - Entertainment

Kogan continues to diversify its range of low-cost consumer electronics. The latest addition is a $189 ebook reader.

Kogan's new Linux-powered ebook reader features a 6in (15cm), 800 x 600 pixel, grayscale e-ink screen. It weighs less than 230g.

Support for the PDF, CHM, EPUB, TXT, HTM, HTML, RTF, PDB, DJVU, DJV, IW44, IW4, FB2, OEB, PRC, MOBI, TCR and OPF file formats provide compatibility with ebooks from "almost any online store," company founder Ruslan Kogan claimed. "This device isn't tied down to one content provider."

The reader comes preloaded with a collection of 1500 books from Project Gutenberg Australia, ranging from Blinky Bill to Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Adobe's free Digital Editions software for Windows or Mac OS X can be used to manage the library.

Other features include MP3 audio playback and the display of JPEG and other image formats.

2GB of storage is standard, and the memory slot takes SDHC cards of up to 32GB capacity.

Company officials claim the reader's battery is capable of 10,000 screen refreshes per charge, said to be enough for three months usage.

CONTINUED