As pretty much everyone out there suspected, we're going to see an absolutely huge number of eBook readers make their appearance at this year's CES, given the fact that this particular segment of the CE market is likely to record quite an important growth over the course of 2010. And one of the first companies to come up with not one, but a couple of portable eBook readers is Interead, the manufacturer behind the COOL-ER series, which has also announced some pretty interesting content-related partnerships.

But first things first, so let's talk about the new models, the first of which is the COOL-ER Compact. As the name says it, this device is very easy to carry around, measuring 6.7 x 4.6 x 0.41 inches (170 mm x 117 mm x 10 mm). However, it still features a 6-inch eInk screen, accompanied by 2GB of onboard memory.

Next in line comes the COOL-ER Connect, which weighs in at only 5.8 ounces (164 grams) and adds the convenience of WiFi and ease of a touch screen, ideal for readers on the move. Last, but certainly not least, comes the COOL-ER 3G, which also incorporates a 3G module and is scheduled to become available at some point in mid-2010.

Furthermore, the company announced the addition of hundreds of thousands of ebooks to its online store through a partnership with OverDrive (for a grand total of 2 million available titles). Interead also unveiled the COOLERMatic, a new feature through which COOL-ER ereaders can access thousands of global newspapers and magazines, as well as Twitter feeds.

Neil Jones, Interead's CEO, commented, "Without valuable content, an ereader is just a nice doorstop. Our mission with COOLER-EBOOKS.com has always been - and will remain - to give readers easy and affordable access to the broadest range of content anywhere. By adding an enormous range of global periodicals from NewspapersDirect, Twitter feeds, web sites, and hundreds of thousands of additional ebooks, we have created a single source for readers of all types and formats of content, through one simple interface."


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