Today Interead — the company behind the COOL-ER eReader – announced that the next generation of their flagship device will come with wireless connectivity provided by AT&T. The new, connected COOL-ER is slated to go on sale in mid-2010, about a year after the product first came on the market.

Interead also announced a partnership with NewspaperDirect, which will provide the eReader with over 1,300 newspapers and magazines, presumably delivered wirelessly direct to the COOL-ER.

These additions will help put the COOL-ER more on a par with eReaders like the Kindle and the Nook, both priced at $259. As we mentioned in our piece on readers without wireless, Interead’s price of $249 was tempting when the Kindle was over $100 more. Once the price dropped the device became less attractive as consumers could get far more functionality for $10 extra.

There’s no word on what the price of the COOL-ER will be once it includes AT&T’s 3G. If it stays in the $250 – $300 range of the Kindle, Nook and Sony Reader Touch Edition, Interead may finally give these popular eReaders some true competition.