The choreographed moves are more cute than intimidating, but seriously, maybe we'll see lightsaber droids one day after all. [NetworkWorld YouTube Channel]

Click through the gallery for a blow-by-blow of e-ink's strengths and failures:

E-ink is a great digital tool for emulating what books were. But a horse with rollershoes can't keep up with the automobile, so why should we expect a digital book to keep up with modern media habits?

I fell in love with the Kindle last year, but I think you're a fool to buy one now—let alone any of its lesser competitors—when so much new technology is about to hit over the next six months. I'm giving up on it. I am waiting for a tablet. Same size, different priorities. And unless you love novels and non-fiction more than TV, movies, cookbooks and glossy magazines all together, you should, too. [Fantastic rendering above by Rob Beschizza]

As far as hardware goes, iRex has gone for as simple a design as they could—a smart move, considering the inconsistent, early-90s look of iRex's last effort, the massive 1000s. The DR800SG is in all ways sleek: it's thin considering its 8.1-inch screen size, and consistently so—the edges are slightly tapered, but this thing is basically a box, with almost nothing in the way of curves or tapers.

The back of the device is near-featureless black plastic, while the front is matte gray. Controls come by way of a single rocker button on the left of the screen, which gets you around the iRex's unusually complex OS without much trouble, or through a stylus (to avoid glare issues, this touchscreen is based on Wacom tablet tech behind the screen, so fingers input isn't an option) which gives you finer control over the device's buttons and menus, which can sometimes be very small. The screen is beautifully contrasty and glare-free, unlike Sony's touchscreen Readers. (Note: The glare in the shots are just the unfortunate byproduct of very powerful theater spotlights.) E-ink's hallmark black flashes between page turns have been shortened beyond anything I've ever seen before, though not by much. They're still jarring.

As Wilson noticed with the 1000s, the DR800SG's software is more complex than your average ebook reader's, relying on Windows-like menus for most functions. Usability-wise, it's nothing revolutionary, but there's one feature that just might be:

The eBook Mall, which we couldn't access today on account of the device's European configuration, is what makes this $400 slab of e-ink more interesting than every other $400 slab of E-Ink on the market. At launch, it'll connect with the Barnes and Noble ebook store as well as ebook libraries for awesome free borrowing, a la Sony, and a few other sources, but it's open to anyone who cares to support iRex's generously wide format choices. That's what ebook readers were always meant to be: Devices that just read books, wherever you want to get them. [iRex]

B&N has about 750,000 titles, including new releases at $10. The DR800SG will also be able to download over 1,100 newspapers from Newspapers Direct, and supports the open ePub book format (along with PDF, TXT, eReader, and Fictionwise). The device has 2GB of memory, enough to store about 1500 books, but no additional memory card readers.

And while the Kindle's CDMA connectivity ties it to Sprint, the DR800SG's Qualcomm Gobi chip means it will work on overseas HSDPA networks: Not only will the same product ship in Europe, but the press release promises international roaming sometime next year. Yes, the included 3G data is unlimited (no contract required), but there's no browser—so it'd take a lot of books to freak Verizon out.

In use, your thumb turns pages using a button on the left, but since the DR800SG uses a Wacom tablet layer under the E-Ink display, you can't use your finger to touch, just the stylus. Pages do turn quickly, though, and you can rotate text into landscape mode.

A leather cover and stylus (pictured) will be included when the DR800SG hits Best Buy in October, and Europe by mid-next year. [iRex Technologies]

The device's total size will fall somewhere between the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX, and touchscreen controls come by means of a stylus, as was the case with the company's previous Wacom-infused e-ink displays. Crave's information is coming straight from iRex, who left plenty of blanks for us to fill, and precious few clues. iRex's wireless carrier choice is unknown but probably not that important, but their choice of online ebook store—with "one of the large online e-book sellers," apparently—is going to be crucial. Is this what Bezos meant about giving the Kindle some competition? Will iRex poop all over Plastic Logic's party? We'll find out before Fall, when this this is due to ship. [Crave]

The Price: $750

The Verdict: If the Kindle was the Sidekick of ebook readers, the iRex 1000S would be the G1. Its functionality is broad, but it lacks the stability, comfort and focus of Amazon's perennially sold-out little snow speeder.
As a technology statement, the iRex is impressive: It's the first ebook reader I've played with that has a 10-inch E-Ink screen. I'd seen the displays at tradeshows, but having one in my hand is different. It's nice to have all of that real estate without a lot of weight and no backlight or glare. (I'm assuming the E-Ink upgrade is the main cause for the 1000S's Hugh Jass price tag.) This is also the first ebook reader I know of with a Wacom touchscreen and an accompanying, almost Windows-like interface of pop-up menus and floating dialog boxes, plus the more typical launcher-style icons. This UI reveals the reader's computer roots, which is exciting but also frustrating.

In the US, the debate between the Kindle and the Sony Reader is one of closed platform versus open one. (Ironic that Sony is the "open" platform here.) The Sony does have a DRM-heavy ebook retail operation, but it also plays, among other things, the many free PDF-format ebooks that are widely available on the internet. iRex doesn't really help you buy books, but rather it equips you with a versatile array of options for easing "large documents" into its memory.

For one, you can "print" to the 1000S. It sounds high tech, but it basically involves converting the document you're looking at in Windows to a special format that gets saved on the 1GB SD card the 1000S calls its home drive. Another means to get content is PressReader, a third-party Windows app that securely transmits "800 newspaper titles from 81 countries, including The Telegraph, Washington Post, USA Today, Die Welt, NRC Handelsblad, Le Figaro..."

The 1000S currently supports Adobe PDF, TXT, HTML as well as the DRM'd Mobipocket PRC, but I couldn't figure out quite how to introduce the PRCs I did have to the system. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying the process isn't as easy as 1, 2, 3. Along those lines, there's a folder marked "Audible," and another marked "music," but it wouldn't take my Audible recordings or MP3s and besides, without a speaker or headphone jack, I'm not quite sure what they'd do with them anyway.

A perfect example of how this advanced device makes no sense for Grandma (or even Mom, Dad, Big Sis, Big Bro, your kids, or any but the most nerd-tastic of your friends and neighbors) is the dictionary look-up function. I can set the stylus to instantly look up words that I tap, but when I do, the 1000S can't find any dictionaries. The nice thing is, you can add as many dictionaries as you want to the thing, but I don't happen to know where digital dictionaries come from. Maybe I'm dumb, but technology is supposed to help me with that, not make it all the more painfully obvious.

I wanted to like the iRex. Its nine capacitive buttons are a fun departure from the typical interfaces of the day, though I found myself using the stylus most of the time to get around. That scared me, because, as a Wacom touch surface—which you can even draw on—the screen itself doesn't react to your finger. Lose that stylus, and you lose the easiest way to work the thing.

Though I am someone who thinks that a gadget like this is only as good as the lush garden of content surrounding it, I can see how people who are into shadier sourcing of ebooks would find the 1000S a way cooler alternative to Sony's Reader. But for those people, I just hope that iRex works to make the firmware less buggy. In the few days I've been using it, I've had numerous freezes and crashes, and several full-battery false alarms—I thought the thing was fully charged only to find out, a half hour later, it was running on fumes.

If you do buy one—and the daring (+ rich) among you may want to—whatever you do, don't pop out the SD card without selecting "Safely Remove." That's as bad as stealing Jobu's rum. As in, very bad. [Product Page]

Check the jump for the full email. – Jason Chen

Product Page [iRex - Thanks Danny!]

Dear Sir, Dear Madam,

Opening of iRex shop to the public

Thank you for your ongoing interest in our iLiad E-reader.

Some time ago you registered to be informed at the time when our online shop was available. We are happy to inform you that you that we have just opened to the public.

You are invited to visit to:

www.irexshop.com

The iLiad average shipping time is between 3-5 weeks depending on availability.

iLiad current status:

The iLiad hardware and design are final, while registered iLiad users are entitled to free software updates that include bug fixes and expansion of the basic set of features.

CURRENT STATUS OF THE ILIAD

Supported formats:

- PDF
- HTML
- PNG, BMP, JPG

Page refresh/ turning speed:

? The iLiad display is based on the innovative Electrophoretic technology
? Electrophoretic technology is a breakthrough for electronic reading (reading in and outdoors) and mobility (light, low power consumption).

? The iLiad is NOT equipped with an LCD screen.
? Electrophoretic technology is not suitable for video applications.
? The iLiad currently turns pages in about 2 seconds. Page turning can take longer depending on the complexity of the content and differs per format (PDF, HTML, etc.)

Local connectivity:

? The iLiad connects to the PC via USB. PC documents can be transferred from the PC to the iLiad with the help of the travel hub and the USB cable, both included in the box.

? The iLiad is also able to read USB memory sticks, Multimedia cards (MMC) and compact flash (CF) cards via the slots at the top of the device.

Network connectivity:

? The iLiad supports Ethernet and WiFi.
? The iLiad can NOT browse the internet directly.
? Network connectivity allows the iLiad to establish connection with iDS (iRex Delivery Server). Each iLiad has an in-box available in iDS to receive software updates and documents directly from the internet without the aid of the PC. The documents in the inbox are downloaded when the user presses the connect button and an internet connection has been properly set up.

? iDS also allows management of several settings online from the PC. Please check: https://myirex.irexnet.com

Software release version:

? Current software version of the iLiad is 2.4
? We expect to release v2.5 shortly

Release 2.5 highlights:

? Annotations:
? Notes. Annotate pictures includes selection of scribble gray-color, line thickness, erase and work from templates.

? Annotate in HTML and PDF is not available yet.
? PDF:
? Open last read page in PDF documents
? Power Management:
? Average battery life before recharge is about 8 hours in v2.5. Further power management improvements are planned in upcoming software releases.

Attract journalists by blowing up your robot [Akihabara]

Bandai's Swiffer Robot, BN-17 (IREX 2005) [Akihabara News]

SORA, The Receptionist Robot [OhGizmo!]