Google has announced that the iriver Story HD e-reader will be the first e-reader integrated with the Google eBooks platform, through which you can buy and read Google eBooks over Wi-Fi. The iriver Story HD will become available for sale in Target stores in the US and on Target.com on July 17, 2011.
The iriver Story HD, which retails for $140, is slim and lightweight with a high-resolution e-ink screen and a QWERTY keyboard. Google eBooks supports more than 80 devices, but books need to be first downloaded and transferred from computer to e-reader with a USB cable. The Story HD meanwhile includes over-the-air access so that you can browse, buy, and read Google eBooks with your e-reader through Wi-Fi.
Google says the Story HD is a new milestone for the company, as iriver becomes the first manufacturer to launch an e-reader integrated with Google eBooks. That being said, the search giant is promising more Google eBooks-integrated devices in the future.
"We built the Google eBooks platform to be open to all publishers, retailers and manufacturers," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "Manufacturers like iriver can use Google Books APIs and services to connect their devices to the full Google eBooks catalog for out-of-the-box access to a complete ebookstore."
Back in December 2010, Google launched the Google eBookstore with more than 3 million titles. Google eBooks is compatible with laptops, netbooks, tablets, smartphones, and e-readers. The Google eBooks Web Reader, which works in all modern browsers, lets a users buy, store, and read Google eBooks in the cloud.
Google updated the service in May 2010, offering the ability to select words in Google eBooks and look up their definitions, translate them, or search for them elsewhere in the book. The company has also added new retailers (including more than 250 independent bookstores) and made Google eBooks available in the Android Market.