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iRex has announced new ebook readers that could potentially steal the spotlight from the now-old Amazon Kindle.  iRex has announced three such readers, each of them with a 10.2” e-ink display.  The differences between the models are the two Digital Reader 1000S and Digital Reader 1000SW ones have touch screens with styli, and the 1000SW one has 3G, bluetooth and Wi-FI.  The bottom of the line Digital Reader 1000 has the same features, without the touch input, bluetooth, 3G, or Wi-Fi.

All of the Digital Readers can support both PDFs and Office Documents, neither of which the Kindle can support.  The 1000S and 1000SW can even edit PDFs and Office documents through the use of their touch screen.  iRex is trying to advertise the Digital Readers to companies, on their website claiming that thousands of documents are printed for offices, only to be thrown away sometimes within a day.  According to iRex the Digital Reader will save paper allowing you to put the documents on the Digital Reader and edit them with the touch screen on the 1000S and 1000 SW.

It’s doubtful the iRex Digital Readers will overtake the Amazon Kindle any time soon, especially with prices starting at $650 for the 1000.  It is nice to see something new in the space.  Maybe they can force Amazon to innovate on the Kindle.  Removing that ugly keyboard for a touch screen would push me over the edge for a Kindle especially at the current price.  Granted, the iRex Digital Readers are designed with offices in mind, but I could imagine some consumers wanted that functionality without having to pay $650.

Read [Electronista]