Los Angeles - The iriver Story HD - Google's new entry into the e-reader field - has a launch date: July 17, the company announced on Monday.
Compatible with Google Books, the reader will give users wi-fi access to the 3 million free titles and the hundreds thousands paid titles in Google's eBook store.
The gold-plated product is going for $139.99 (about R980), a dollar more than the also wi-fi-compatible and QWERTY keyboard-clad Amazon Kindle.
Google claims the Story HD differentiates itself through its wireless and direct compatibility with the bookstore, an option not available on its 2009 iriver Story version.
“You can also store your personal e-book library in the cloud - picking up where you left off in any e-book you're reading as you move from laptop to smartphone to e-reader to tablet,'' Google aid on its blog.
Google Books are already available on a wide variety of platforms such as computers, smartphones, iPads and Nook and Sony e-readers. - Reuters