iRex DR800SG Ebook Reader "Experience Unexpected Delays"; No News On A Release Date

What with the battle between the Kindle and the nook, we'd forgotten all about the iRex DR800SG.  First tipped to arrive on the market by October, the 3G-enabled 8.1-inch touchscreen ebook reader is now several months late and that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon; according to a company spokesperson, the DR800SG "has experienced unexpected delays" and iRex are not yet announcing a new release date.

iRex have declined to explain the exact nature of the delay, which leaves us unclear as to whether it's a hardware problem, a content delivery issue or something else.  The ebook reader was to bring together the combined efforts of the Verizon 3G network, Barnes & Noble's eBookstore, Newspaper Direct and LibreDigital, and – perhaps most valuable of all – prized shelf-space in Best Buy.

For that, iRex were suggesting a price tag of $399.99, though with preorders not yet being taken and no listings – apart from one very short lived product page on the Best Buy site – it's hard to tell whether they've stuck to that price.  That product page, incidentally, suggested the DR800SG would in fact drop for $449, significantly higher than the $259 price of the Kindle or the nook.