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Interead the company behind the Cool-er e-reader has been put into liquidation, it can be confirmed. A petition was made to Liverpool District Court by PR Beam Agency in late March, with the motion granted by a judge on 8th June.
News of the liquidation is only just now leaking out having been reported on a Dutch-based e-reader website. Interead's websites (http://www.coolerbooks.com" target="_blank" title="coolerbooks.com">www.coolerbooks.com">coolerbooks.com and http://www.coolreaders.co.uk" target="_blank" title="coolreaders.co.uk">www.coolreaders.co.uk">coolreaders.co.uk) remain live, however the ordering facilities no-longer work. An email sent to Interead went unanswered. Beam declined to comment.
Interead launched a range of Cooler Readers in 2009 noted more for their colourful packaging than technical innovation. It also launched an e-book store, which it claimed was the "largest ebookstore in the world"—largely because it offered 1m public domain titles provided by Google.
The company planned to launch an e-reader with 3G connectivity and another with WiFi and a touch screen in 2010. It had earlier claimed that sales of its devices had "surpassed seven figures".
Interead was founded in 2009 by former banker Neil Jones. Jones told the Guardian in September 2009 that he had big ambitions for the company. "I'm pretty confident we'll be number two in America by this time next year in terms of sales, and number one in the UK."
The company never filed accounts with Companies House, and it is not clear what plans, if any, the liquidator has for the company or its remaining assets.
Earlier this year Dutch e-book manufacturer iRex Technologies, which produced the Iliad, filed for bankruptcy.