ILiad Totally Explained

Everything about The Iliad totally explained

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.

Description

Main specifications:

an 8.1-inch (20.6 cm) electronic paper display, area for displaying content is 124x152mm
a resolution of 768x1024 pixels (160 dpi)
16 levels of grayscale
a USB connector for external storage,
a CompactFlash Type II slot for memory extension or other applications
a MultiMediaCard slot for MMC memory cards
a 3.5 mm stereo audio jack for a headset
WiFi 802.11g wireless LAN
10/100 Mbit/s wired LAN
390g weight
400MHz Intel XScale processor
64MB RAM
256MB internal flash memory (128 for user, 128 for system)
Linux-based operating system (2.4 kernel)

It measures 155 mm × 216 mm × 16 mm (width × height × depth), the size of an A5 document, or roughly a 6"×9" steno notebook. The display used is an active matrix electrophoretic display, which uses E Ink display film manufactured by E Ink Corporation. Underneath the E-Ink screen is a digitizing tablet by Wacom which requires a stylus for input.
   The iLiad is capable of displaying document files in a number of formats, including PDF, XHTML and plain text. It can also display JPG, BMP and PNG images, but not in color. It has the largest screen size of existing e-ink products.
   As of May 3, 2007 Mobipocket is supported, making the mobipocket digital rights management (DRM) content available on this platform.
   Through its wireless service, iDS, the iLiad can also directly download content. Les Echos, a french financial newspaper, is distributed this way, and additional content is expected. Users can connect to their computer over a wireless network to sync new data onto onto the iLiad's internal memory or an inserted MMC, SD, or CF card. More wireless and network functions are to be delivered in upcoming firmware updates.
   The distributor of the iLiad is iRex Technologies, a Philips spin-off company. It was initially advertised in December 2005, to be launched in April 2006, but was delayed until July, when it started to be sold as a beta product. It was released to the general public near the end of July, and since then has undergone considerable software revisions.
   Its list price in Europe is €649, and in US $699.

Third-party development

Because of its open Linux operating system, the iLiad is able to run third party applications created for it. Developers and users wishing to create or run third party applications can request shell access from the manufacturer.
Developers have been able to improve on the devices functionality by porting viewers such as FBReader, and programs such as abiword and stardict. Full screen PDF reading is made available by community-supported iPDF releases. Programs for recreation, including audio playback, sudoku, and calendars, are rapidly growing community content available for use on the iLiad. Independent users have also reported successful porting of mobile web browsers to iLiad's Linux platform, although with limited functionality and many bugs.

Version 2

In September 2007, iRex Technologies released an update to the iLiad. While officially called "iLiad 2nd Edition", it's generally noted to be a minor update to the original. The update includes:

Redesigned backplane

Increased battery capacity

Software version 2.11

Updated travel charger

Included case The 2.11 software, which contains stylus calibration, extended battery life, and other things, is also available to first-generation iLiads.

Book Edition

In May 2008, iRex Technologies added a third installment to the iLiad line of products, this time branded under the name iLiad Book Edition. Essentially, the Book Edition is the iLiad Version 2 with a new silver look and is noted to lack the WiFi component present in the original iLiad. The technical cutbacks place it at the $599 price point, which is $100 cheaper than the original. It also comes with 50 free Classics, including works from well-known writers Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Lewis Caroll, and Leo Tolstoy, presumably in the Mobipocket format.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Iliad'.

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