If you hadn't heard,
9.7-inch e-ink displays are the new hotness, and now Netronix is getting in on the action with the EB-300. Netronix is part-owned by
PVI, a major manufacturer of e-ink displays, and they seem to be putting them to good use here. The EB-300 has a 1200 x 825, 170 dpi, 4 grayscale screen, and measures a mere 14mm (0.55-inches) thick. There's 4GB of NAND storage on board, along with 64MB of SDRAM and some SD card expansion. There's also WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity for good measure. EB-300 runs Windows CE 5.0, while little brother EB-100 runs Linux and a 6-inch 800 x 600 screen -- and loses most of the other connectivity and storage perks as well. No word on price or availability for either of these.
[Via
MobileRead]
posted Mar 11th 2008 8:22AM
The model on the left looks like a dog!
BTW @ First, you're a twat!
Congratulations, you win the admiration of the entire internet
If manf's would put some kind of built-in lighting on these, they'd sell tons more. Not to mention they are too large. There's a reason paperbacks outsell hardbacks and it's not because of price.
I need something to replace my trusty Tapwave Zodiac as a book reader. It is backlit (with easy brightness control) and small enough to fit in a shirt pocket.
Both of those traits make it perfect for reading in bed without disturbing the wife.
Erm, actually, the reason mass market paperbacks outsell hardcover books IS price.* Hence, "mass market paperback." You're honestly suggesting that SIZE is the driving factor for paperback sales? If that is so, then why has the larger trade paperback market exploded in recent years?
That said, I do agree that a 9.7" screen, with a fat, button-filled bezel, is too big. A 9" widescreen fits *perfectly* on a traditional 5x8 "book," as long as it has fewer face buttons and a thinner bezel, Apple-style. But today, the smallest 6" e-ink readers (Sony PRS-505) are still closer to a 5x8, just because they have large bezels and lots of face buttons. If any device is begging for a touchscreen, it's an e-book reader.
*Well, price, and the fact that they're usually on the market for far longer than the hardcover edition is.
Sweeeeet!
Yeah, I too can't understand why these e-ink readers can't spend a couple of pennies to include a LED light (NOT backlight) to illuminate the page and instead most do spend dollars to include useless mp3 functionality.
Anyway, these look nifty. They just have to beat the (ok, my) illusive $200/$150 dollar pricepoint.
And my holy grail^H^H^Hbook would include .chm support, too.
Read the specs, it's does support CHM files, shhesh.
Sorry...I read the article and forum posts, which only mentioned html, which isn't much of a surprise.
And even now, having read the pdf, the way it lists "html/chm" seems more to me like it deconstructs cmh files into sperate html pages, like all other devices I've seen, instead of natively supporting .chm, which I have not seen any of these devices (including all palmpilots) support.
So maybe I should have said 'native .chm support', but I assumed many others would find the mess of html pages a deconstructed .chm produces to not really be .chm support.
I think including a LED light would take up more power that would otherwise defeat the purpose of a long lasting e-ink device.
That's a kick-ass dog. I'll take two.
Yep. Except for the color, it's identical. Netronix must be the OEM for Bookeen, although the interface looks different enough making me think Bookeen developed their own software layer.
Oops. I hit the wrong reply link. That last post was actually a reply to Ritchie's post below.
The model on the right looks a hell of a lot like the CyBook Gen3 from Bookeen !!!
I wish all the "FIRST" commenters would realize how gay that is...
Does the dog come with the eBook reader? If so, I'm sold.
lol I was going to write that, but you beat me to it. So cute!
BTW anti-buttoners, I like having physical buttons, especially lots of them on an e-book device so I can navigate to anywhere in the book as easily as if it was real. I just haven't had that experience with touchscreens.
"People don't read anymore." -Steve Jobs
An attitude which has only cost you likely tens of millions of dollars on ebook sales thru iTunes+iPod. Which in turn begot my Kindle, so... thanks!
is it just me or does that dog look psycho?
I told him to keep away from the e-ink.
I think its just you, he looks like he wants to play and is alert. I have had two siberian husky dogs and still have my second one now. They are not good watch dogs usually because they are so friendly. If they are crazy its in a good playful way.
@ george
Oh yeah? Try living with two Dachshunds ...
But they still very cute ;)
@ tekdroid
u just made my day, i truly thank you...
Life is not about the amount of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away…
Really? So saying first is the same as someone who is having homosexual relations....who knew.
@ Ritchie and pip
The specs on the hardware match almost spot on, but the firmware / software must have some substantial differences. I think you are right, this must be the OEM manufacturer for Bookeen with a slightly later version.
@ m.edgar
The fact there are fewer features leads me to hope they are going to pitch this at $200, which would put it halfway between the EB-1150 and the PRS-505, a very good market position to occupy. I can see many people jumping up to $200 to get e-ink, shed weight, and increase battery life. I can also see many people dumping PRS-505 functions to drop down to $200. If they pitch at $200 I'll probably get it. Of course, it's also possible $200 only covers the eink technology without any of the other hardware. There aren't enough alternatives out yet to bring the technology license costs down effectively.
@ stromm
For $15 you can get a light that plugs into a PRS-505. I suspect using a light in the device itself might have glare / distraction issues on e-ink that you wouldn't get from LCD. I base that on the more opaque nature of the display surface. I use a HandEra 330 for the same application you cite, but obviously the readability isn't as nice.
Just received this info about availability from Netronix sales people:
...
EB300 will be ready around end Sept. This model isn't in the market yet.
Please kindly wait for a while. Thanks.
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