Hands on with ARINC's iLiad-based eFlyBook
By Chris Ziegler 
posted July 27th 2006 11:09AM
posted July 27th 2006 11:09AM
Speaking from a pilot's perspective, the $899 eFlyBook gives major bang for the buck for one simple reason: it eliminates reams of books and binders that all but the most casual flyboys need to have at the ready. Reams, people. To make matters worse, the documentation is subject to fairly frequent updates. The eFlyBook rocks a subscription model that automatically updates loaded charts via a link to a PC -- you get six months for free, then $249/year thereafter. ARINC's loaded a custom app onto the iLiad to manage their charts in an intelligent way, though the software was a bit flaky (read: sluggish, partially non-functional) at the time of our encounter and an update is promised in the next couple weeks.
For those of you doing some very early comparison shipping between the iLiad and Sony's oft-delayed PRS-500, ARINC has already done some of that footwork for you. In talking with their development lead, it sounds like they went with the iLiad as their OEM device primarily for two reasons: sixteen native shades of gray (versus the PRS-500's four) and built-in WiFi. Whether those factors are important to you is another matter entirely, but they're interesting points to consider nonetheless.
Now that we're finally on the cusp of widespread consumer availability, what did we think of the iLiad as a consumer device? First and foremost, enough cannot be said about the sheer beauty of the display. We would swear up and down that we were looking at a sheet of laser-printed paper behind a sheet of matte glass -- yes, it's that good. In fact, you can use a sheet of paper right now to get a very good idea of the kinds of pros and cons you'll run into. Legibility increases with good lighting and decreases (rapidly) in poor lighting. Viewing angle is virtually 180 degrees; the background is very white and the text is very black.
Working against the iLiad, however, is a laughably poor refresh rate -- yes, we know it comes with the territory for this display technology, but there are several screens in the device (when searching text, for example) where interactivity is a must. Refresh rate aside, ARINC's software was pokey at best, though that can hopefully be attributed at least in part to its beta status. We also weren't too happy with the cheesy dark grey casing, which made the $900 device look $150 at best and detracted from its stunning centerpiece. Overall, we'd say the tech shows promise, but the public at large is best off waiting for the next generation. Color e-ink isn't terribly far off, DRM wars are yet to be resolved, and we just know some of y'all are holding up for Apple to get into the game, anyway.
I am interested in the ability of a device that can hold my Approach plates without having to carry 50 pounds of paper and have the ability to electronically update the files. I like the Jeppesen approach plates but do not know if the device can handle either the Jeppesen electronic charts or if there is a way to convert the charts to PDF by printing them as pdf docs and pull them in the device. I admit, moving map's would be nice, but the panel GPS's and hand held GPS's have the moving maps and all I really need is the approach plate available for flying the approach.
I originally bought the EFlyBook and wasn't happy with it so decided to develop my own solution. It displays the same NACO charts on the IRex Iliad but is reliable, doesn't require the stylus (In case you drop it in flight), scales the charts up to fit the full width of the display so every piece of text is readable and integrates the A/FD into the airport charts. Check out the screenshots http://www.flypaperless.com/screenshots.htm
Dave Chalmers
Im really excited about the epaper tech. it looks very natural. Cant wait till it starts maturing into products
So, what my question is, if the refresh rate is bad, how does that affect the writing, can it keep up with the pen? Or can you only write at 1 inch/second.
Is it just me or is the contrast way more easy on the eyes on the iRex vs the Sony?
For comparison with the PDF they show on the screen, it is OSHKOSH / WITTMAN REGIONAL in Oshkosh, WI, US.
Airport info can be found at:
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KOSH
and a copy of the FAA PDF (linked from that page) shown on the Iliad reader above is at:
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0607/00730AD.PDF
There you go.
This is nothing new folks. Electronic Flight Bags "EFB's" as they are called are old hat and are quite more advanced than this product, at similar price points.
You can get this same prodcut with built in moving-map GPS, terrain warning, a full color screen and a very very fast interface for just over twice the cost of this one-trick-pony product.
If the eFlyBook had better performance and cost half as much, it might be worth it. No pilot will put up with sub-standard performance in the cockpit, period.
So should we wait for Apple to come with iPaper and do it properly?
The problem with these class II EFBs is that they aren't fixed. The last thing I want while I fly a plane is a tablet PC. It slides around the cockpit and in a dangerous situation becomes something flying around the cockpit ready to bash my skull in.
Sushi - should've mentioned this in the post, but ARINC actually had the eFlyBook attached to a kneeboard with velcro. Problem solved.
Chris
Good point rSm00th, but this demo isn't so much of a comparison of EFBs as it is a hands on of consumer-based e-ink+e-book technology. As the last sentance of the first paragraph says: "so if you're in the eBook market, do read on." Not, "if you are an aviator who uses EFBs and things like it.."
I think the suggestion that consumers wait for the next generation is both the best advice and the most disheartening... "I want it now!" That should be a general rule of thumb that 2nd generation technology is almost always the better choice. I just hope that 2nd gen tech for this stuff isn't too far off into the future.
The benefit of ebook devices capable of holding volumes of books would grandly important to students (when kids are now using wheel-chair-like backpacks because the amount of books they have were literally causing back problems), medical personnel, and even the layman.
Although, the greatest impetus to the market will be the fact that literacy rates are dropping dramatically. Last I heard, most people don't read a book post-highschool/college.
no post highschool/college reading!?.........where do YOu live , or...who do YOU know!?...what a moronic statement
As A 7 year comercial pilot I would not purchase this to use in while flying. For pilots that fly at night the use of anything that emits white light is not good because you can not see outside after looking at the white light at night (maybe the image is reversable as where black images show up white and the background is black. If it does not emit any light at all....I wonder how it would look under a red light...since that is what most cockpits use. What I use when I fly is tablet PC and Jeppesen Software that can reverse for day and night veiwing. This software also auto updates STARS, DP's, Airport Diagrams, GPS positioning, Flight Planning and alot more. Total price for hardware and software is around 1,400.00...what kinda name is iLaid??
As a pilot who got hands-on with an iLiad at a recent pilot show, there were two shortcomings that will keep this from being a killer-app in the cockpit (okay, maybe that's not a good way to put it...). 1) No backlighting: as this review says, the readability becomes very poor as ambient lighting decreases. ARINC's answer to that point? "Use a flashlight just like you do now with paper books". 2) Refresh rate: for a key set of documents ARINC is offering (called Approach Plates) it's often necessary to glance through several versions for the same airport. The current iLiad refresh rate makes it frustratingly impossible to do that.
iLiad will sell to the early adopter crowd, but it's not quite ready to compete with the large crowd of current EFBs, especially as tablet PC and large form-factor CE device prices drop.
DAC, it emits no light at all and it under a red light It would most likely view the same as a book with text.
Also, it is not called the ilaid it is called the Iliad, more than likely named after the greek poem by Homer.
I could see this for students who are already carrying around a backback, but this thing won't fit in your pocket. For mass market appeal, it's got to fit in the pocket.
The reason I never got rid of my old Handspring Visor Edge is because PDAs had gotten fatter once they went color, I guess because of the higher battery juice needs (now I drool over the until the Q and the SGH-i320, wishing they were Palm). But I digress. The Edge sits in the pocket like it's nothing. No bulge, nice and flat. Goes with me everywhere. My library in my pocket (well, a few megabytes of it. C'mon, it was 2001). I'll buy one of these new ebook readers when it can do that, and for a reasonable price. Might as well put PIM features in it while you're at it. And uh... make it a phone and all. Convergence is, like, so five years ago. Don't gimme no single-function fossil.
Maybe there could be an e-book reader with a hard casing but a soft screen so it could fold in half. That way it could be thin and pocket sized when shut, but when you open it, you'd have plenty of screen real estate, and the sreen could be pulled flat and taut against the rigid casing. My Edge is on its last legs, so hurry the hell up people! Don't wants no crappy WM5 up in here.
I keep saying this again and again:
who needs color? This is for reading text. Who reads colored text?
I don't understand why engadget everytime brings up the "soon to arrive color e-book" as a reason to not buy a b&w one. Do they like paying extra for poor batterylife?
I wish they would continue developing this b&w device, so that eventually the price will drop down enough to become interesting to the average consumer. I buy a lot of books per year. If this device would be around 250 usd, it would actually be an alternative!
But the cynical voice tells me they will not do much more developing on this b&w device, and instead focus all their attention on producing color e-books. They do so because color is hipper and therefore better than b&w. They will fail to make it profitable, go down, and take the well performing, but unrefined b&w e-book down with them.
You're basically making the same argument out-dated technologists made in the early days of computers.
"Why would you ever need more than 20 shades of gray?"
the reason colour e-ink is in development is magazines and such where colour is a vast part of the experience.
Once colour screens appear I can see an even bigger market. Imagine having it autodownload the linked pages for the days engadget RSS feeds and presenting them in a magazine format?
Who would wanna read a copy of that in b+w/greyscale?
I have an iLiad, and basically I purchased this device to lessen the amount of documents that I carry with me. I am one of the early adaptors and as such in purchasing the device ahead of time (I received the iLiad one day after the eFlybook was released) I "signed" a waiver stating that I understood that the device software/hardware was not fully developed.
Right now people can get by not carrying lots of books/manuals with them just by loading the pdf's onto a laptop computer. The reason that I purchased this device is that everytime I want to view something on my laptop I have to pull it out, start it up, and wait for the extensive boot time, then navigate to the document, wait for the adobe acrobat/reader to start up and then view the document. Now my laptop is a little older and slower so that takes a bit more time. Additionally how long does the average battery last on a laptop? 3 hours at best maybe 4, and then your running in low power mode which makes startup even slower.
The idea about getting the iLiad was that it's boot time and viewer start time would be lower and that the battery life would be substantially greater.
To some extent this is true even at this point in time. The device firmware is still in it's infancy and iRex Technologies has been promising that things will be substantially better later in the marketing process. There are a number of people over at mobileread.com that are part of the early adaptor beta test group that have been posting their experiences. You can get a lot of insight on the iLiad there.
Overall I like the device and it is my sincere hope that the promised functionality will be realized. The iLiad has a lot of potential only if you realize what it's purpose is.
The few people that I have shown the device were overwhelmingly impressed. That surprised me.
Waiting for the next generation devices is probably a good thing to do in some aspects. The thing is that if these are not adapted to some extent R&D costs will not even be partially recouped, a further market for the device will not be developed and then there will be no 3rd generation devices.
With a bit more development I see these devices becoming a something that could possibly compete with a PDA. PDA's are great but in one aspect are just too small to read documents on. Overall I think the ereader device will still always be a niche device, it just might become a bit bigger of a niche if implemented correctly.