Skip to main content

Interead Reveals New COOL-ER Ereader Models

cool-er-ereaderInteread today announced its new models that will be introduced at CES 2010 this week. The new pack of brightly colored ereaders is also multicultural—the company says these new COOL-ER readers work in every country on the planet. The COOL-ER ereaders support ebooks in every language and have menus in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Russian, Japanese and Chinese, and also support multiple zoom levels to create a customized and comfortable reading experience.

The new COOL-ER Classic is the lightest and, according to Interead, “most elegant” ereader model being announced. This model is currently available in a variety of places and colors. The Classic features a Samsung S3C2440 ARM 400MHz processor, 1GB of storage and a Linux operating system.

The petite and portable COOL-ER Compact measures in at only 6.7″ x 4.6″ x 0.41″ (170 mm x 117 mm x 10 mm) and Interead claims it has the “smallest footprint of any ereader while still maximizing the reader experience” with a 6″ E Ink screen. The Compact sports a 2GB onboard memory (expandable via SD card to 6GB total) and will be available this Spring.

Another new model, weighing in at only 5.8 ounces (164 grams), the COOL-ER Connect has built-in WiFi-enabled connectivity. The Connect also sports an “easy-to-use” touch screen—which is nice because most people are turned off by hard-to-use touchscreens. This model will also be available this Spring.

Last but not least, the new COOL-ER 3G model adds 3G connectivity to the ereader experience, keeping you connected on the go and where ever you are. This 3G connected ereader will be available in mid-2010.cooler-e-reader-side

“As we have seen the ereader market evolve over the last year, it has become clear that the ereader is now a lifestyle device–not just a niche gadget,” says Neil Jones, Interead’s CEO. “As such, it’s important that we offer a range of ereaders to accommodate a variety of preferences and reading habits, and this product range does just this.”

More images and prices are to come once the final announcement is made at CES.

Dena Cassella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Haole built. O'ahu grown
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards
Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Read more
AI turned Breaking Bad into an anime — and it’s terrifying
Split image of Breaking Bad anime characters.

These days, it seems like there's nothing AI programs can't do. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, deepfakes have done digital "face-offs" with Hollywood celebrities in films and TV shows, VFX artists can de-age actors almost instantly, and ChatGPT has learned how to write big-budget screenplays in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon, AI will probably decide who wins at the Oscars.

Within the past year, AI has also been used to generate beautiful works of art in seconds, creating a viral new trend and causing a boon for fan artists everywhere. TikTok user @cyborgism recently broke the internet by posting a clip featuring many AI-generated pictures of Breaking Bad. The theme here is that the characters are depicted as anime characters straight out of the 1980s, and the result is concerning to say the least. Depending on your viewpoint, Breaking Bad AI (my unofficial name for it) shows how technology can either threaten the integrity of original works of art or nurture artistic expression.
What if AI created Breaking Bad as a 1980s anime?
Playing over Metro Boomin's rap remix of the famous "I am the one who knocks" monologue, the video features images of the cast that range from shockingly realistic to full-on exaggerated. The clip currently has over 65,000 likes on TikTok alone, and many other users have shared their thoughts on the art. One user wrote, "Regardless of the repercussions on the entertainment industry, I can't wait for AI to be advanced enough to animate the whole show like this."

Read more