The KeyReader, a 19.6cm by 12.1cm, 300g touchscreen device with built-in wireless connectivity, will be able to download books directly on the go. -- PHOTO: MDA
THE first made-in-Singapore electronic book reader was launched yesterday.
The KeyReader, a 19.6cm by 12.1cm, 300g touchscreen device with built-in wireless connectivity, will be able to download books directly on the go.
For a start, it will be able to access the over 900,000 digital books in the collection of the National Library Board (NLB) for free.
KeyReader's creator iCell, one of the three providers of the Wireless@SG network here, is in talks with other major content producers here, including Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). It is discussing with SPH the possibility of making available the content from its Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao and its search engine Rednano.
Free access to the NLB's collection may count as KeyReader's plus point, considering that owners of other e-book readers like Amazon's Kindle or Sony's Reader mostly have to pay to download titles from online bookshops.
The NLB fiction and non-fiction titles it will be able to access have, until now, been downloadable by the public onto their computers, mobile devices and other e-book readers.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
