Tomorrow's Book

Hardware and software-development issues are causing iRex Technologies to delay the release of the DR800SG indefinitely, forcing the firm to miss the lucrative 2009 holiday selling season and could cause Best Buy to drop the product entirely, we're told by insiders at the retailing giant.

iRex had positioned the DR800SG eReader as a high-profile competitor to the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, upping the ante with a full 8.1-inch touchscreen, Verizon 3G wireless and connectivity to the B&N online store. We're told there is no one factor delaying delivery of the devices: rather, it's a combination of delays in the software-development process combining with delays in procuring some key components in enough quantities -- which we're assuming has to do with the touchscreen.

In many ways the iRex DR800SG is a transitional product: it's intended to be used as a tablet device as much as an eReader. However, without features like handwriting recognition -- which will pretty much be mandatory for any device competing in the tablet space -- the DR800SG is best seen as a eReader on steroids.

Which would be a good thing, except the space is already getting pretty crowded, with the Kindle DX and the yet-to-be-released Que proReader also working in the large-format eReader space. On paper, the iRex DR800SG has a lot going for it: with connections to the B&N store and very good wireless support (3G from Verizon is vastly superior to the 3G support from AT&T found on the Kindle and Nook) and a large-format touchscreen, the DR800SG should wow users. It certainly wowed the folks at Best Buy enough to devote shelf space to the product.

But that shelf space is gone, and any mention of the DR800SG gone from bestbuy.com. Folks there tell us off the record they're really not surprised the schedule has slipped from November (the original release target) to yet-to-be determined: iRex was attempting to bring out a cutting-edge product under some very tight deadlines. It certainly looks like the firm bit off more than it can chew, and without a single point of failure (shipping problems would be easier to explain if, for example, they were caused by delays in obtaining touchscreens), it's a lot harder to plan for a future release. Really, there's only a small window of opportunity for iRex to make a splash (one that we think will grow much smaller when the Sony Daily Edition is released), and the firm will need to scramble and perhaps price very aggressively to make up for the lost chances.