One of the coolest things to arrive in BitchBuzz HQ this past summer has definitely been the COOL-ER - an innovative new eBook reader that "makes reading cool".
I am big fan of books, and have always been put off electronic book readers. I’ve failed to see what’s so exciing about the Sony Reader or Amazon’s Kindle. The Kindle feels too long and thin, and I’m not exactly a fan of two-handed reading. (How else will I eat/text/drink at the same time?!)
Like most avid readers – I’m in the love with the feel of paper in my hands. There’s no comparison to the look, touch and smell of a book, new or used – and this is precicsely why I was surprised at how much I loved the COOL-ER.
Before I go into the techy specs, I think it’s important to point out that the makers of COOL-ER are not hardcore, geeky, tech engineers looking to replace books. The folks at Interead, the company behind COOL-ER and COOL-ER BOOKS are hardcore readers.
Neil Jones, the CEO of Interead is a huge fan of reading, books, and is even a writer. In fact, every member of the Interead/COOL-ER BOOKS team I’ve spoken to immediately gush about how much they love reading, and how the COOL-ER is simply meant to enhance the reading experience for those of us who commute, travel quite a bit, or are on holiday. Not to replace books.
If you’re on a packed train, is it really convenient to bust out your copy of Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser? If you’re travelling a lot for work, why lug around two or three books that only add bulk and weight to your luggage? Or, more importantly, if you’re on holiday and you spend most of your time lounging by the beach or at the ski lodge, wouldn’t it be lovely to be able to read with one hand, and have a cocktail or Irish Coffee in the other?
This is exactly where the COOL-ER comes in to play.
Really, just think of it the same way you think of your iPod. Why would you carry around hundreds of CDs and a portable CD player, when you can just have an "electronic" version of your music on a tiny device that can store all of it for you?
Weighing in at only 178.000 grams (less than your average paperback) and measuring only 183 x 177.74 millimeters, the COOL-ER is really only about the same size as book, but thinner, and weighs considerably less.
As the COOL-ER is stressed to be a “lifestyle accessory” rather than a “gadget”, it naturally comes in eight different gorgeous colors, my favorite being – shock, horror – hot pink.
The COOL-ER only uses its battery when you’re turning pages or selecting a book to read and has an 8,000 page battery life on a single charge. You can change the font size, or even how the book displays on screen (vertically or horizontally on the COOL-ER).
Supporting books written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Russian, and Traditional & Simplified Chinese , the COOL-ER also comes with 1GB of storage, with an SD port that allows you up to 4GB of memory.
It’s compatible with both Macs and PCs, and purchasing books from COOL-ER BOOKS and transferring them to your COOL-ER couldn’t be easier.
You simply connect your COOL-ER to your computer with a USB cable, select the book you want on COOL-ER BOOKS, purchase it, and then drag and drop. There’s really nothing complicated about it, and considering COOL-ER’s recent partnership with Google Library, the amount of eBooks you have to choose from is massive.
Available in the UK, Europe and the US & Canada, COOL-ER is definitely a major player in the eReader market. Yes, the COOL-ER is made of plastic, but it does’t feel cheap. It’s lightweight, easy to hold, and won’t get as hot as the other metal-made eReaders in the sun.
Overall, I'm incredibly excited to see what's next for the COOL-ER. It can only get more snazzy as time goes on, and I feel like COOL-ER will soon be the go-to eReader for traveling book nerds all over the world.
The COOL-ER is available for online in the UK(£189) Europe (€225), and the United States and Canada ($249).
Plus, if you’re in the UK, Argos have announced that they will stock the COOL-ER in hot pink, black and silver for £189.