It seems that the mobile e-book reader mania is slowly, but surely engulfing the entire world. Thus, after the unveiling of the iRex iLiad and of Sony's own e-book reader, yet another company joins this race, namely eRead from China, who's presenting what they're considering to be the world's lightest and thinnest mobile e-reader, the STAReBOOK.
I'll get right to the point: This one looks very sweet.

STAReBOOK e-book reader boasts a 6-inch display using E Ink technology - apparently the same display manufactured by PVI and used in the Sony Reader and the Jinke HanLin eBook.
Specifications:
• 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales E Ink display
• 250g (160g without case and li-ion battery)
• 188mm by 118mm by 85mm (last one looks like a typo and should probably say 8.5mm)
• ARM-based 250MHz SAMSUNG processor (S3C2410A core)
• 64MB SDRAM system memory
• SD slot (MMS compatible)
• USB 2.0
• headphone jack
• rear-mounted mono speaker
• Linux 2.4.1, MP3 player built-in, uses own e-book format internally (STK)
Another very interesting fact about the STAReBOOK is that it's not at all power hungry, one charge of its internal Li-ion battery allowing the user to read more than a thousand pages.

The reader is supposed to become available this November in three different editions, two for the Chinese market and one for the English, at a price of around $440.

written by Florin C.