Iriver Story HD WiFi Launches in Germany and Austria with Competitive Pricing
With all the buzz around the new Kindle models, the Sony PRS-T1, and the Kobo Touch, an old acquaintance almost slipped into obscurity: the iriver Story HD. This eReader, which we tested thoroughly in July, is set to hit the market in its Wi-Fi version starting November 9.
We already reported that the Story HD was launched in the U.S. market in collaboration with Google at the retail chain Target. The U.S. version was equipped with Wi-Fi and different software from the start, allowing direct access to the Google Book Store on the reader.
For Europe, however, the situation is different. The book wholesaler Koch, Neff & Volckmar (KNV) will launch the Story HD WiFi, making its own eBook store with around 155,000 books directly accessible on the device. KNV is the largest German book wholesaler, supplying booksellers throughout the entire German-speaking region. Unfortunately, the press release does not provide specific details about availability – it merely states “at your trusted bookseller.” This probably excludes Thalia, as they are supplied by the competitor libri. Online, you’ll likely be able to purchase the Story HD WiFi at least from e-buchkatalog.de.
A pleasant surprise is indeed the price: at 139 euros, it will be 10 euros cheaper than the base version at Thalia & Co.
Just a reminder: The iriver Story HD is the first eInk reader with a resolution of 1024×768 pixels, and it particularly impressed us in our test with its sharp display performance. A few minor weaknesses cost it a very high rating – but overall, it held its ground with a rating of 2.0. With the direct access to the bookshop and Wi-Fi, a better rating would likely have been possible. You can find all the other important details about the reader in our test report.
