Who needs the Kindle? Singapore's newfangled e-book reader 'mimics real paper'

It's the first ever made-in-Singapore electronic book reader and it was launched earlier this week. The KeyReader is the creation of local service provider iCell Network, one of the three providers of the national-wide free Wireless@SG broadband network, which might be a bit late to the game, considering that Amazon's Kindle has been around for over two years and Steve just made Apple groupies swoon with the new iPad launch.

But, and this is a big 'but,' the KeyReader has one advantage going for it. Or rather, over 900,000 of them, to be exact. For a start, it will be able to access well over that number of digital books in the collection of the National Library Board (NLB) for free. Repeat, free. Most other e-book readers like the Kindle or Sony's Reader require users to pay to download content from online sources. 

Like every other e-book reader, the KeyReader is a touchscreen tablet-format device with built-in wireless connectivity, measuring 19.6cm by 12.1cm and weighs in at 300g. iCell proclaims that it uses "technology that mimics real paper," which we can't verify for ourselves without a set in hand, but in all likelihood points to some page-flipping interface.

iCell is also in talks with other major content producers here, including Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), to make available content from its Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao and its local search engine Rednano, according to the Straits Times. The KeyReader will be available sometime in March at selected stores as well as through iCell Network, but if you're keen to get your grubby geek hands on it (as are we), it'll be making its rounds around Singapore on the Media Fiesta’s traveling exhibit, the Media Transformer. It'll retail for S$499.