http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/ Engadget Comments for Foxit takes on the eBook world with low(er) cost eSlick http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
It's being sold by a software company whose products almost entirely consist of programs to handle PDF files in various ways. ;)]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 2:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
-s-
]]>Dec 19th 2008 3:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
Oh yeah, and no updater service like adobe. Only thing worse than Adobe updater is Java blech.]]>Dec 19th 2008 9:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
Its a rip off!]]>Dec 19th 2008 4:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
The figure isn't like a mean time between failure or anything like that.]]>Dec 19th 2008 8:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 20th 2008 5:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
1) color screen
2) CBR/CBZ file compatibility (or at least in-machine PDF conversion)

and I'll buy one. Will keep turning my laptop 90 degrees until then.]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
Which makes sense, based on who's making it.]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/ PDF conversion

And yes for $230 I'm too lazy to convert it on my laptop :p]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://comicrack.cyolito.com/

It can batch convert a whole directory full of CBR/CBZ files into PDF. It takes no time at all!

Yes a color screen would be nice... But color e-paper does not exist yet.


This device is closer to what I am looking for. It as few "Extra" features, and is NOT tied to any service! It supports TXT and PDF, and comes with the software you need to convert other file formats to PDF.]]>Dec 19th 2008 2:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 2:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 3:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 3:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 8:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
D.]]>Dec 19th 2008 2:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
[quote]However, at least in its initial version, the eSlick won't have wireless connectivity, so you won't be able to sync newspapers or blogs unless you convert them first on a PC (using included PDF conversion software, which Foxit is better known for) and copy them over manually.[/quote]]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
Question answered.]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Please be more specific cos this the first time that I actually considered in buying one of those eReaders..."

I think they should restate this to something like 8000 screens. Depending on the material, there's no way a book or magazine "page" is going to equal a ebook "page". If you need to scroll around or zoom in or out, that's going to require a screen refresh which is going to be considered a "page view". What I'd like to do is be able to take PDF versions of books and view them on the road. Which ebook reader will currently allow be to do this with the least amount of hassles (reformatting, reprocessing, dealing with formatting issues, etc?) Obviously I could take a Netbook and view these files, but you're only going to get around 3 hours (or 6 hours with an extended battery) of usability using that route (and similarly for the iPhone/PPC approach.) The main reason you want an ebook is for the epaper no-power, persistent imaging technology.


]]>Jan 5th 2009 5:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 1:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/please?
K. Thanks.]]>Dec 19th 2008 1:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 2:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 2:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 3:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
I'm sure that the tiny electricity used (say a book is 400 pages, you can supposedly read 20 books on one charge) will be much less damaging to the environment.

HOWEVER the big damage to the environment will come from making the thing in the first place. Apart from the plastic shell, it'll obviously contain plenty of electronics made from toxic chemicals, rare metals etc. So even if I'm right about the per-book damage being much less, it would probably take (total guess) hundreds or thousands of books to make up for the resources used in building the device...

If you really care about the environment, borrow books from a local library (which you of course travel to on foot or bike). Actually, I genuinely do this :) But, I'm definitely in the market for an ebook reader, at least once they come up with one that looks nice, works well on Mac and with home wi-fi, and isn't too proprietary. Better-contrast screens would also be nice. Right now Sony's reader (505 or whatever) looks like the best, if they'd just add wi-fi and/or Mac support....

As for this... I mean damn, if Kindle hadn't already redefined 'ugly' - by Kindle standards this is a real looker - wouldn't we all be laughing this one out of town? It's pretty horrific. I guess it would be ok if you painted over both logos...]]>Dec 19th 2008 9:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 2:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
-s-
]]>Dec 19th 2008 3:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
But the MP3 feature is a very good idea, Audio book support as well as ebook. I wonder if the MP3 function is good though, It would need minimum resume play (to pick up where you left off last session) and fast forward/rewind.

If they can deliver then there a market just waiting to pounce.]]>Dec 19th 2008 3:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/(see http://bookeen.com/ebook/ebook-reading-device.aspx).

The screen/hardware supplier is probably the same (see pictures and features clicking on above link), software makes the difference and the difference is huge.
The eSlick put all its eggs in the PDF format basket and this is definitively not a good choice. PDF format is made to forward and print documents not to read them on such a small screen device. You have to constantly zoom in and out and scroll the document to read it.

There are much better softwares around, like Mobipocket (owned by Amazon), which allows you to re-size fonts for a better reading experience on a 6 inch screen. You just have to turn the page once you have complete the page reading.





]]>Dec 19th 2008 3:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 3:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/While Foxit and the Sony ereader can display content from PDFs directly. They do have to convert the fixed layout PDF to a reflowable format internally. That process takes time and considerable processor cycles and eats batteries. That process has to happen each time the document is opened. The Kindle can also display content from PDFs, but the conversion to reflowable format happens once before the document gets to the Kindle. This can be done automatically with Amazon's conversion to Kindle service or you can do it yourself with Mobipocket software. Neither process is ideal and is forced by the limits of the PDF format. ]]>Dec 20th 2008 12:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 3:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Jan 2nd 2009 1:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
-s-
]]>Dec 19th 2008 3:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
At last, someone in the e-reader industry is got some business sense. Perhaps the rest will now follow.]]>Dec 19th 2008 3:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 4:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 20th 2008 4:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 22nd 2008 4:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
If it's not made for selling books, it really needs to be the 8.5x11 in format, preferably dual-screen: it'll save reams and reams of office paper this way (I get sick each time I think of how many journal articles we print each day - and significant amount is a repeat-printing because we don't bother looking for the older printout in our gigantic file drawers).]]>Dec 19th 2008 5:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
I didnt understand this longevity part... How come just 8000 turns ? You meaning turning on and off or page turns ?
Please be more specific cos this the first time that I actually considered in buying one of those eReaders...
]]>Dec 19th 2008 6:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/Dec 19th 2008 6:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/foxit-takes-on-the-ebook-world-with-low-er-cost-eslick/
Well there is good news and bad news on battery life. In the real world, 8000 turns basically means you can read an entire book on a single charge. In comparison, if you have a heavy day of reading on a PDA-type (lcd) device you will run out of juice during the day and definitely won't be able to finish the book.

However, the 8000 page turns is a manufacturer's rating and like many such figures it overstates the number for various reasons.
1) e-ink typically takes two "page-turns" to turn a page. When you turn a page it first flashes/refreshes the screen to wipe out the old text, and then it writes the new screen. This flashing refresh can be turned off, but (if you look closely) you will see some specs from the previous page if it is off. It appears that the 8000 rating is done with the flashing refresh off.

2) In theory, the device only needs power for a page turn, because the screen only needs power when it refreshes. This is because the e-ink screen only needs power to 'paint' the image. Once it is displayed no power is needed. In reality, however, the processor may still be running and it may still need power.

3) Depending on font-size and the comparable book size don't assume that one e-ink page is equal to one paper page. This is a real problem for those looking to read pdf's on a six inch device if those pdf's are static images (ie non-reflowable). It's really not reasonable to do.

Bottom line is that the battery life is great, and if you recharge it daily or even every other day you will be in great shape -- much better than with competing technologies. But, don't assume it lets you see 8000 pages.]]>Dec 19th 2008 10:52AM