Story HD is the brand new ebook reader from Google, distributed starting July 17th. Thus, the silhouette of the fiercest competitor to the Kindle and Nook?
Google seems unwilling to leave any gaps in its business and so, after making its entry into the world of smartphones, today it officially announces its arrival also in the sector ofebook readers. “Story HD”: this is the name of thee-readerunder the Google brand, initially arriving only in Target stores (and on the official website of this American chain) starting from July 17th.
Few surprises on the pricing front:Story HD costs $139.99, so on average as much as aKindle or aNook, the two main players in this sector. At least from this point of view, users will not be able to weigh any noteworthy differences.
As for the technical characteristics, theGoogle e-reader features a 6-inch high-resolution e-ink screen, underneath which is a keyboard that is not touch, but rather “physical” and QWERTY.
The manufactureriRiver has used a Freescale Cortex A8 CPU processor and has made 2 GB of internal memory available, expandable via SD slot.
Story HD connects via Wi-Fi, which naturally allows access to theGoogle eBooks platform: you will therefore be able to purchase ebooks of interest or download all free ones, for a total of about 3 million titles currently available.
The interconnection between Google’s many products is clearly implied, and the use ofStory HD is no exception: the digital reader will be able to upload all ebooks to thecloud, Google’s cloud, so as to always have them available, everywhere, and above all on any device (Android smartphone, PC, notebook, e-reader itself, or tablet).
This feature is very interesting not only for its inherent convenience but also for another detail: the system will be able to recognize the page of the ebook where you decided to stop reading. Therefore, once you reopen the text, you can start reading exactly from that point, even if you change devices.
It is also possible to upload your own books, not necessarily downloaded from Google eBooks: in this case the texts can be converted into EPUB and PDF.
Small and slim, Story HD is lightweight and promises a battery life of around 6 weeks of use.
A supposed launch date for Story HD in Italy: has not yet been announced. We will certainly report it as soon as something is known.
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