While the US is drowning in a sea of eBook readers, down here in Australia, we’re not so much drowning as dying of dehydration. Fortunately, there is now the BeBook eBook reader, which is hopefully the first second step in bringing e-ink readers to our shores.The BeBook comes with 512MB of internal memory, plus an SD card slot for extra storage. It measures in at 184 x 120 x 10 mm and weighs just 220 grams with the battery. The battery will supposedly last for 7000 page turns, which is a lot of books, no matter how you look at it.
The problem, naturally comes down to content. When you go the the local Bebook website, you get redirected to BookHampers.com.au, which doesn’t exactly offer a great deal of information on how to get book son your device. Sure, there are links to all the free, post copyright titles that you can get for free online, but what about the latest Stephen King novel?
The other issue is price. Not that the $550 asking price from Bookhampers isn’t unreasonable, but with a simple google search you can pick one up from BeBook’s own website for $400 Aussie (for a limited time) plus $45 postage. That $100 could go a long way to filling up your ereader…
Still, considering how much we read from the US about the Kindle, it’s good that we’ve got something available over here now. If only there was a content provider who didn’t completely charge through the nose for an electronic version of the book here in Australia.
After the successful launch in Europe last year BEBOOK is now available in Australia. This Ebook reader from Endless idea, a Dutch company, is capable of reading most file formats unlike some other models that only allows you to buy ebooks from related websites. You can read your documents anywhere thanks to the unique e-ink technology, even in bright sunlight.
The BBEBOOK is available for $549.00, one of the lower priced models currently on the market. New BEBOOK models with touch screen and 3G are expected soon.
[BeBook]