ECTACO's Jetbook Ebook Reader

ECTACO, Inc., a New York based company, has just announced its new ebook called Jetbook reader yesterday, to compete with the recent Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader. Slightly smaller and lighter than those two, Jetbook turns away from the increasingly-established e-ink display technology: it uses a high resolution monochrome TFT display for its 5" display screen. This approach is yet to be tested as either a step forward or backward in ereader display technology. E-ink display has been the trend for other ebook reades especially due to its superior paper-like qualities and without any backlight which makes it readable under sunlight. E-ink technology also saves tremendous amount of energy as electricity is not required to hold text and images on screen.


As their selling points, Jetbook features extensive bilingual dictionaries between English, Russian, and Polish, a dedicated monolingual English dictionary, and supports ebook contents in multiple other languages. These are made handy from ECTACO's experiences in developing handheld dictionaries, translation software and language management technologies. Other useful features include built-in MP3 player, bookmarks, automatic page-turning, screen rotation into landscape or portrait modes, and screen viewability up to 180°. Information on its battery capacity and memory/storage size is not yet known.

Judging from the image, the hottest feature on Jetbook must be its stunningly red color (that is if you like red). If this is what you fancy, it's available for $349.95, or £209.95 in UK.

Jetbook Product Specification:

• Display: 5" high-resolution monochrome TFT display
• Language support: Extensive bilingual Russian <-> English, Polish <-> English, and English monolingual dictionaries pre-loaded, with support for ebook contents in Russian, Polish, English, and Spanish.
• Features: Automatic page-turning, bookmarking, nearly 180° text viewability, adjustoble font and size, screen view in either portrait or landscape modes, built-in MP3 player.
• Memory: Additional storage from SD card slot.
• Battery: Internal Li-ion polymer battery.

[via Jetbook, ECTACO, DCEMU, and Gearlog]

Seiko Epson's Awesome Prototype eReader

Seiko Epson from Japan has a new prototype of a new ereader with an outstanding resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels covering a 6.7" display screen (making a dpi of about 230). That's crisp! It's about 3 times more resolved that a standard LCD screen. Standard ebook readers have dots-per-inch of around 170ish. The size is 120 x 180 m, about the B6 paper size.

Judging from the photo, the text is even crystal-clear looking from an extremely steep angle (you can make out clearly the graphs and text). There isn't much glare on the screen too at this angle. Imagine reading them at a normal angle. All seems good with this prototype now, except that you can't miss the fact that it's real sharp - at all sides, and thin too. This can be either both a good thing or a bad thing. It may look sleek, but the pointy end can be a bit uncomfortable.

Info on the detailed specs is limited as this is just a prototype. But the available specs tells us that this is pretty amazing. Take into consideration that this is just a prototype and the commercial ones will only get better.

• Overall size: 7.1" x 4.7" x 0.1" (extremely thin compared to other dedicated ebook devices)
• Display: 6.7" screen, 1200 x 1600 pixel resolutions, E-ink technology couple with proprietary TFT design.
• Weight: 57 g
• Contrast ratio: 8:1
• Reflectivity: 43%
• Refreshing time: 0.7 s
• Battery life: 1400 page turns (this prototype uses only a single cell battery)

[via Gizmodo , Technabob , and MobileRead ]

E-paper Technology and Its Global Impact

Here's a video on YouTube that captures all that's interesting and good to know about e-paper technology and how it has/will impact the world at a global scale. Granted that the vid plays quite fast to really absorb everything and that the screen quality isn't really great (need an extra 30% squinting to barely see the text), it's actually quite a good introduction to know about the e-paper, the technology that helps grow the e-readers into what they are today.

Just a quick re-cap of what e-paper is:

E-paper is a display screen that reads like a paper. Consist of two technologies:

• Electrophoretic/Electrochromic Display Technology
• Organic Light-Emiting Diode (OLED)

This technology allows text to hold on screen without using power and backlight.

Users' Reviews on Amazon Kindle eReader: Pros & Cons

Here's a point-based list of the PROS and CONS I've gathered from reading dozens of reviews from real users of Kindle in forums and commentary sections in top sites such as Amazon.com. The list is based on real reviews, so it doesn't include the already-known or selling-point features that are frequently advertised. The reviews reflect more on their personal experiences using the Kindle and can help people make better decision whether to buy it or not.

You might want to read more on Kindle's specs and features first if you're not familiar with it.

It can be really exhausting to go through all those users' comments to build up some facts before buying (or not) the Kindle. It's even incredible that, having read all those reviews, you'd be surprise that less than 50% are the real points that you'd want to know - some reviews even overlap each other. I hope having them listed here in this point-form would reduce your excruciatingly long hours of review-readings and fact-findings effort.

The biggest selling point compared to other e-readers is the Kindle's wireless feature which makes browsing and buying ebooks extremely easy and fast.

Pros:

• Fast wireless downloading - Contents take only a few seconds to download, even an entire ebook. Users can browse through titles and read the summary or a few reviews easily before purchasing them.
  
• Massive amount of content - Kindle is connected to the Amazon's massive bookstore with subscription to a large number of newspapers, magazines, popular blogs, and the web through a free wireless service. Almost all of the previous ebook devices require connection with a PC to download ebook materials.
• Ebooks are cheaper - Most of the ebooks are retailed at $9.99, more than half the price of the real books. Subscriptions to magazines and blogs doesn't cost much too.
• Better than Palm-type eReaders - Many people who read ebooks from Palm feel that the Kindle is so much better than the Palm: Kindle's screen is larger and not backlit (and therefore readable under sunlight).
• Legible fonts - Kindle's fonts are extremely legible and superior compared to Sony Reader's fonts, its closest rival.
• Free content delivery - Delivery and conversion (into Kindle-friendly format) of content is 100% free. You will be charged 10 cents for each converted materials if they're sent directly to your Kindle, but it won't cost anything if those materials are sent to your Kindle email which can then be downloaded into your Kindle through a PC-USB connection.
• Everything in a light device - It's extremely great that you could carry with you contents equivalent to 100s of pounds of real books. You can choose and read what you want easily, anywhere and anytime, without the burden of carrying loads of books. (This is needless to say, really!)
• Readable - Kindle can be hold one-handed because of its easy thumb-paging, have crisp text, changeable font size (which is great if one wants to read larger fonts in some situation, say, on a treadmill).
• Ask anything to Kindle NowNow - You can ask any questions through Kindle NowNow feature. Kindle will send you back a few answers. Based on reviews, their answers are good and right. So, this in a way is a faster way of researching things, faster than even Googling them.
• Play music while reading - Kindle plays MP3s, which is a nice feature to have when reading (this is becoming a default feature in handheld devices nowadays, but it's good to put it down anyway).

Cons:

• Wireless in US only - Wireless connection is only available in the US. You can still download ebooks through a PC connection after receiving them through email, but wireless subscriptions are out abroad.
• Poor design - The design is not as sleek and technologically elegant as one would want, say, when compared to Apple's products. (Maybe something that they'd want to consider for the next Kindle...)
• Ordering is too easy - The one-click ordering feature is too frighteningly easy if the owner loses the Kindle. Somebody else can just use the Kindle to order ebooks until the owner shuts down the account. (It would be good to add password to Kindle for security).
• Accidental page-turning - Page-changing buttons were designed to make it easy to turn pages that it's equally easy for to hit the back-page or next-page buttons by accident. It needs practice to get used to it.
• Expensive - It's about $400. It's pricy, especially for a first generation of product which would definitely need much touch-ups and tweakings here and there. Think of it as a BETA version. Hopefully the market will drive the price down in the future.
• Doesn't read PDF - Eventhough it can be converted freely or at a cheap price if sent directly, it marks a point down to those who wants to review some PDF documents on the fly, say, while travelling.
• All contents are DRMed - DRM = Digital Rights Management, a tool to control and limit the usage of digital media. Contents bought for one's Kindle can't be shared with others. Some contents may even have a 'life', meaning that it has an expiry date after which you can't read it anymore.
• Lack of alternative ebook market - For example, it'd be nice to have a 'used' markets for ebooks for cheaper contents.
• Books are still priceless - Books still have their own appeal, e.g: cheap, long-lasting, durable, sellable as usedbooks, not DRMed, and [insert anything lovable about books that you can think of here].
  

Do you know of any other pros and cons I should add in this list, not overlapping with the ones up there? Or maybe that some of the above contradicts your own experience using Kindle?

iLiad 2nd Ed. eBook Reader

The iLiad 2nd Edition ebook reader was released in September 2007 by the iRex Technologies, a spinoff off Philips based in Netherlands (the 1st Edition came out in mid 2006). The 2nd Edition was valued at a retail price of $699. The price is considerably more expensive thanks to its larger size and added fucntionalities like the touch sensor input and writing/drawing using stylus.

The iLiad's larger-than-normal display of 8.1" diagonal has a more book-like appeal than the majority of 6" display ereaders, for example when reading textbooks. Writing and sketching (plus text annotations) are integrated into the iLiad via Wacom Penabled technology.

iLiad 2nd Edition Product Specification:

• Size: 6.1" x 8.5" x 0.6".
• Weight: 389 g.
• Display: 8.1" diagonal electronic paper, 768 x 1024 pixel resolution at 160 dpi, 16 grayscale-level.
• Input: Wacom Slim Pen Stylus, integrated Wacom Penabled touch sensor board.
• Processor: Intel 400 MHz XScale processor.
• Memory: 64MB RAM, 256MB internal memory storage (128MB for user content).
• Connectivity: 802.11B/G WiFi, optional external 10/100MB Ethernet networking.
• Sound: 3.5mm stereo headphone mini-jack.
• File formats supported : PRC (Mobipocket), PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP PNG.
• Language Supported: Dutch, English, German, French and Simplified Chinese.

Hanlin eReader V3

Hanlin eReader V3 was released in August 2007 by a Chinese company, Jinke Electronics Co., LTD. The improved product (from Hanlin eReader V2) was retailed at $299. Key features include the 6" E-ink Vizplex display technology readable both indoor and outdoor with the support of more than a dozen languages. The battery lasts for about 9000 pageturns. Ebooks are downloaded through a PC/laptop connection via USB cable.

Hanlin eReader V3 Product Specification:

• Size: 7.2" x 4.7" x 0.4".
• Weight: 210 g.
• Display: 6" E-ink Vizplex display technology, 600 x 800 pixel resolution, 4 levels of grayscale.
• Operating System: Linux.
• CPU: Samsung Arm9 200Mhz.
• Memory: 32MB SDRAM, Internal 2M NOR FLASH, SD card expandable up to 4GB.
• Ebook Format: PDF, DOC, WOLF, HTML, TXT, CHM, FB2, Djvu.
• Image Format: PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, JPG.
• Sound Format: MP3.
• Connection: USB 1.1 Port, 3.5mm stereo audio jack for earphone.
• Language Support: English, Chinese, Russian, Ukraine, Turkish, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Bulgarian, Estonian, and Polish.

Youtube has a vid on Hanlin V3's review - very detailed and informative.

Archives

March

• 25.03.2008: ECTACO's Jetbook Ebook Reader.
  
• 19.03.2008: Seiko Epson's Awesome Prototype eReader.
  
• 16.03.2008: E-paper Technology and Its Global Impact.
  
• 16.03.2008: Users' Reviews on Amazon Kindle eReader: Pros & Cons.
  
• 13.03.2008: iLiad 2nd Ed. eBook Reader.
  
• 13.03.2008: Hanlin eReader V3.
  
• 12.03.2008: Multi-Touch Screen for an Ereader?
  
• 12.03.2008: Netronix EB300 Ebook Reader.
  
• 12.03.2008: Netronix EB100 Ebook Reader.
  
• 12.03.2008: A Quick Reference for Ebook-Related Terminologies.
  
• 07.03.2008: Livre: A New Ebook Reader?
• 07.03.2008: Sony Reader PRS-505 Ebook Reader.
• 07.03.2008: Bookeen Cybook Ebook Reader.
• 06.03.2008: Polymer Vision's Readius Ebook Reader.
• 06.03.2008: Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader.
• 06.03.2008: List of All eBook Readers.