AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT! A CHINESE LANGUAGE eREADER.

The Chinese company Aigo have produced an eReader that is aimed at the Chinese market, which if it takes off will be selling in HUGE numbers - there are after all 1.3 billion people in the PRC, not to mention all the Chinese in the diaspora all over the world who would probably welcome an eReader that supports Chinese characters.

THE AIGO EB 6031 - EXCITING NAME, ISNT IT?

SCREEN:

It has a 6" e-Ink display, so conforms well with the world standard for screens in this respect (Other Chinese eReaders seem to favour LCD screens, sadly).  I can find very little information on this eReader on the net just now, but I imagine more will appear in time, so I can revisit this eReader later.

MEMORY:

It has 2GB of on-board memory, which is ample for a huge collection of books, so no problems there, even though it doesn't have the possibility of using memory cards of any sort.

WiFi SUPPORT:

Simple, it doesn't have it, which is curious, as other Chinese eReader manufacturers are selling machines that can use the Chinese 3G network to download books, so I have no doubt that Aigo will add this to later models before long.  One thing that the Chinese know about is how the markets work, and  they hate missing any tricks!   They have 5000 years of practice after all.

NAVIGATION:

As you can see in the picture, this eReader comes complete with no end of buttons all over it, sadly I have no information about what they all do (Duh!), but obviously they have decided to give it every conceivable navigation possibility, especially for the left handed among us obviously.  Is this a subtle political comment?

SUPPORTED FORMATS:

Apparently it supports all the standard eBook formats, so our Chinese brothers and sisters will be able to access Chinese books on all the better online book sites, especially ones such as Gutenberg, who have Chinese texts available.

COST:

I only have information about the price in China just now, which is about 2500 RMB, which at current exchange rates equals about 360 USD, so it is not cheap, but equally not too expensive, and from my experience in China, no one will pay that price for it.... they all bargain like mad things.

Sadly this Blog cant be seen in China, as the government there blocks all Blog Spot Blogs for some reason, but in a matter of weeks I shall be transferring this whole Blog to a WordPress host, which can be read in China...

iPad, FIRST MUSINGS ON THE NEWEST CREATION FROM APPLE

I have been deluged with emails (spam) about this new gizmo from  Apple and I thought perhaps I should say something about it here.

In common with most reviewers of the iPad (what does that lower case "i" stand for?), I haven't yet had the pleasure of actually holding one in my hands and putting it through its paces, so I have to rely on the acres of loving verbiage (Apple owners) and less loving verbiage (PC owners) that is spreading like some dreadful disease over the net just now.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

My first impression when I saw its specifications was that it is actually a rather wonderful machine, as it appears to have all the capabilities of a real computer, without the size and weight of even a laptop.   However, on further reading I discover that most of the computer functions -surfing and so on, are  somewhat limited in scope, or in several surprising ways absent. (no built in camera, no Flash support, no built in WiFi support, no expansion memory slots and the list goes on and on........)

WE ARE eREADERS HERE, NOT ACTUALLY NECESSARILY COMPUTER USERS.........

Anyhow, our interest here in this machine is whether or not it is a serious contender in the eReader market, and on this I am completely sure it isn't even a starter.  It is too big, you have to use the screen to turn pages, it is a normal backlit computer screen, which as we all know, isn't the same at all as electronic ink, it doesn't support the normal formats for eBooks, but merely all the normal computer formats - doc, txt, pdf and so on. 

And worst of all, its battery will only power it for about 10 hours, and you can bet that in reality it works out at much less.   Whilst this is better than a laptop, it isn't even on the same planet as any eReader currently on the market.

WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE KINDLE?

For some reason all the various comments I have read about this aspect of the iPad compare it to the Kindle, it is very odd how almost all such reviews on computer websites seem to ignore all the other serious competitors to the Kindle and talk as if the Kindle is the only eReader that needs to be taken seriously. 

Doubly odd when you consider that the Kindle locks its users into buying books from Amazon (Only reading Amazons own format), whilst the rest of the vast and growing world of eReaders mostly support multiple formats,and almost all support the ePUB format.

MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS

There is a general feeling that the large screen size and the fact that it is in colour will make the iPad an extremely good machine to read magazines and newspapers with.  I find myself in agreement with this thought, since even the kindest soul in the world can't deny that images on most eReaders are a complete disaster still.  

We are back in the early days of computers with their 16 grey tones still.   But I am sure that electronic ink will develop in a reasonable time to give us colour too.

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

I think this machine will very rapidly become as important as the iPod and iPhone have become, as it obviously has a large range of perfectly sensible uses for a lot of us, but I agree wholeheartedly with those reviewers who say "Hold tight, wait for the second or third version of the iPad before buying, as by then probably the missers in the current version will have been corrected".   But I don't think it will ever be a serious contender in the eReader market, as it simply isn't an eReader in the general sense of that word, nor can it become one without undergoing a complete redesign.

APPLE'S WEB PAGE FOR THE iPAD:

SHARE WITH  US:

If you have managed to actually play with one of these new toys, or have feelings about it, preferably in the context of eReaders, I would be very happy to hear them.   Simply put your thoughts into a comment box, and we can all share them with you.

BOOKEEN OPUS eREADER - REVIEW

Click on image to enlarge it

This latest eReader from the French company who were among the first to produce an eReader lives up to their reputation for innovation and style (they are French after all!!!) and glories in the name of  Bookeen Opus.

This new eReader has been received with generally positive reactions from users and other reviewers and appears to be a solid and worthy successor of earlier models from this company I am happy to be able to report.

FORMATS:

As with most good eReaders this newest one supports all the normal formats,  so you can buy books from hundreds of online eBook shops and happily read them with this eReader.  I shall give the technical specifications at the end of this post, as always.

SIMPLICITY AND PRICE:

This is a very basic eReader, so it will not appeal to those of you who need all manner of special functions obviously, but for people who simply want to be able to carry a lot of books around with them and read them in comfort, then this is a very interesting machine.  And as an added attraction the price is also perfectly reasonable and in line with other eReaders of similar specs at around 250 US Dollars

EXTRAS:

Going a bit against the trend, they haven't included WiFi support to download books or given it a touch screen and keyboard, thus you cant make notations or in any other way do much more than simply read your books.  But, transferring your downloaded books from your computer to this eReader is a very simple matter,  via the USB cable.  The same method is used for charging the battery, which is amazingly efficient by the way - you can go on reading for about 8000 page turns, which makes it a bit like a small moped rather than a Harley Davidson motorbike... very efficient fuel use thus.

COMPANY BLOG:

As you will see, if you visit their blog, which is in English and French they are continuously busy with updates for the operating system, increasing the possibilities at your finger tips.  This is an approach I appreciate a lot, not only is it fun to know that, for example you can read comics on it, but that they have taken the trouble to keep in touch with their customers in this way, as well as a free newsletter that one can subscribe to in order to keep completely up to date with developments.

MEMORY:

As is now almost standard on eReaders, it has the normal compliment of memory expansion slots, to enable you to use memory cards, so that if you wish, you can carry thousands of books around with you at all times, though to be honest, I have never really understood why anyone would want to carry so many books around with them. I find having 70 or so books in mine more than enough, and regularly clear them off my eReader and store them on my computer.... but we all have our needs and having the possibility to carry a complete library around is obviously important to lots of people.

SIZE AND WEIGHT:

The size and weight of this one is something that has attracted a lot of very positive comment out there, most people feel that it is an ideal compromise in those respects, and love it for them, also attracting positive comments is the relative simplicity of navigating around your library in this eReader.

It is simply a very good and user friendly eReader, well supported by a lively and friendly company, no more and no less.

Now for all the technical stuff and contact links to them.

PRICE:

Around 250 US Dollars. 

CONTACT THEM:
Bookeen Blog:
Company website:
Bookeen eBook Store

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Dimensions

Height 151 mm - 6"
Length 108 mm - 4.2"
Width 10mm - 0.4"
Weight 150 g - 5.3 oz

Electronics

Samsung ARM, 400 MHz

Memory

• RAM : 32 MBStorage 
• (NAND): 1 GB
• Storage card : Micro SD

User interface

G-sensor for motion detection :
automatic screen orientation

Keys

• On/Off
• Reset
• 5-way navigation
• Menu button
• Back button
• Page forward/page backward

Display

• E-Ink screen 5" (3" x 4" - 76mm x 101mm)Resolution 600 x 800 - 200 dpi 
• Black & White 4 levels grey-scale
• Daylight readable
• Portrait and landscape mode
• Memory interfaces

• Micro SD slot
• Mini USB slave

Power

Rechargeable and replaceable Internal Battery LI-Polymer (1000mAh), 8 000 page flips - 2 weeks battery life

Software Suite

• OS : Linux 2.6
• Adobe® ePUB/PDF Reader
• Multi-format reader
  HTML, TXT, JPG, GIF, PNG
• Bouton Retour
• Folder support
• USB driver

SHARE WITH US:
If you have one of these eReaders, and have any comments about it that you would like to share with the rest of us, please send them to me, and I shall post them.  As always I shall credit you with the post, of course!



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eBOOK READER DISCOUNTER - AN ONLINE SHOP THAT WILL DELIVER eREADERS TO THE WHOLE WORLD

In my wanderings I have come across an on-line shop that is happy to send eReaders to anywhere in the world.  Always an interesting plus point in my experience.

This site, based in Amsterdam, but with contact addresses in various other European countries and the US too, offers a wide range of eReader models for immediate shipping to anywhere in the world and their charges for shipping the eReaders are very reasonable too.

I shall put the various models and their links later in this small post, so you can get directly to the page there that relates to the model you are interested in.

ACCESSORIES

Apart from the actual eReaders, they also stock an enormous range of accessories for the various eReaders, so you can happily deck your eReader out with covers, lights and probably even water proof covers that would enable you to read whilst scuba diving..... anything is possible after all!

PAYMENT

Payment couldn't be easier here as they seem to accept just about every payment method one can imagine, about the only form of payment they wont accept would be sending a small boy there with your money stuck on a split stick... come to think of it, they would probably cope with that too, with the utmost urbanity.

NAVIGATING THE SITE
 

Click on image to enlarge it

As you can probably see,navigation is simple on this site as well, not something that can be said of all such places, here there are clear links to every product they have, and it all looks friendly and approachable.

Finally, a real plus point for me, is that they actually answer emails, and not with some some sort of ready made reply form, but with an actual personal email from a real person, so one knows one is actually dealing with human beings.  Such a refreshing change from the normal impersonal communications one normally gets from on-line shops.

So, that is a brief description of what these good folk have to offer us, now  follows the promised collection of links to the various parts of this excellent site.   Go there and have a happy wallow around in the store, you will surely find what you are looking for there.

LINKS:

The shop itself:

BeBook

Bookeen

Onyx

Cool-er

Hanvon

iRex

iRiver

A LIST OF ALL THE eREADERS OUT THERE THAT I CAN FIND

As there are already dozens of different eReaders being made by loads of companies, I thought perhaps a list of all of them (or at least, all that I can find) might be helpful to you.  At the very least, it will give you a good broad selection to choose from, and surely a number of them can be purchased either online or in shops wherever you happen to live in the world.

I shall list them in no particular order, give a link to the manufacturer and model (if there is an apart link to the model) of each eReader, so that you can easily surf around and get the more specific information you will need in order to make your choice.   Thus this will be a post of links, and no comments about the qualities - or otherwise - of the various eReader.

In due time I shall be contemplating all of these eReaders in some detail, and reporting on what I find, what others have thought of them and any other information that I think might be of interest to you.

Almost all of these manufacturers also supply a wide range of accessories for their eReaders, covers, reading lights, reading stands and so on, and a number of them have even gone so far as to produce their eReaders in a wide range of happy, if slightly alarmingly bright colours.  This last I suspect is aimed chiefly at the South East Asian market, as I discovered whilst living in Beijing, people there love to have their electronic things in all manner of bright colours... I was astounded to see bright pink laptops, purple DVD players and so on... the brighter the better seemed to be the rule.   Quite fun really some of them.

If you come across any models that I have missed, please do let me know, and I shall amend this list of links accordingly.

Remember when looking at the specifications of any model that interests you to pay especial attention to which formats it can read, to avoid tying yourself in to a particular internet eBook supplier.  The ePUB format is currently the one to go for, as almost every eBook shop or free eBook site supports this format, and even if you have to download your books as HTML or TXT or PDF, you can always convert them to ePUB with Calibre.   But even the wondrous Calibre cant convert to the Amazon format, for example.

So, here we go!  Simply click on any link you are interested in and you will be taken to the relevant site.

italica GmbH ereader

Condor Technology Associates  eGriver Touch

Onyx   Onyx Boox 

Sony   Reader Daily Edition PRS-900   Reader Touch Edition PRS-600  Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300   

Barnes & Noble  nook

Iriver   Story

Hanvon    N518  N526  N520

PocketBook  PocketBook 301

Bookeen    Cybook Opus  Cybook Ge

Endless ideas  BeBook

Interead  COOL-ER

Samsung  Papyrus

Amazon  Kindle DX  Kindle  Kindle 2

Foxit Software  eSlick

iRex Technologies  Digital Reader 1000

Jinke   Hanlin V3  Hanlin V5 

So there you have it, the fruits of rather a lot of surfing on my part, but I hope it will be of help to you as you attempt to find your way around the rapidly growing jungle that is the eReader world.   For my part I am still perfectly happy with my Sony PRS-505, it does everything I want it to, apart from making me a decent cup of coffee.

All I look for in an eReader is the ability to use ePUB documents and to have the basic function set needed to enable me to read my books comfortably and simply.  But there are many people who for a variety of good reasons, need all manner of other functions in their eReaders, and these requirements are rapidly being addressed by almost all the makers of eReaders.

eREADER SONY PRS-505

SONY PRS-505 eREADER

The eReader which started me on my present hobby of hunting books all over the internet is the Sony PRS-505, a very basic piece of equipment, but to be honest, having tried out more recent and complex readers I find it perfectly satisfactory if all one wishes to do is to build up one's library and to read books on it, which is really all one would normally wish to be able to do.

This is obviously not enough for the fervent margin note writers among us, but it is OK for me.

Apart from a very easy to use system for organising the books stored in it (see below for a full set of technical specifications) the only extras it has are the following:

• One can dog ear pages for later reference.
• It is possible to store and view images in it, but frankly as it is only 8 grey tones, I rather fail to see the point of this.
• MP3 files can be played, which means that audio books are possible, but I have found this uses a lot of power, so it becomes necessary to recharge the battery rather frequently.

Ease of use:

I find it incredibly easy to use in every situation I have used it in so far, ranging from sitting in a crowded Jeepney to sitting comfortably in a cafe.  it has two sets of page changing buttons, one on the side, the other below the screen, so it is possible to use either hand to change pages, which I find a very useful function.

The ability to choose three different font sizes meets my needs very well, from the relatively tiny "small" setting, to the impressively big "large" setting.  This works faultlessly and very rapidly too.  Personally I play with this setting quite a lot, depending on how much light there is, as in poor lighting situations the smallest size can be tricky to read..... But than I am ancient, so rather need this help from my trusty eReader!

I was enchanted by the way it remembers the page I was reading in any book when I switch it on again.  A simple but beautiful ability, which with "real" books I can only do by the barbaric means of the dog ear.

Mine came complete with a simple but effective cover, which I can seriously recommend for any type of eReader as they tend to get knocked around rather a lot, or at least mine does, living as it does in the bottom of my rather over full rucksack whenever I go out with it, or falling from my nerveless fingers when I go to sleep reading it.  I am vastly impressed with its general toughness, mine has tumbled to the floor next to my bed rather too often, as I am one of those happy souls who can only get to sleep by reading.  Not that I recommend this treatment, but it is good to know it can cope.

This model doesn't have any sort of built in illumination, so it is necessary to use some form of book light when reading in the darkness - this is when you realise that the underlying technology is completely different to that of a computer.  But this also means that the brighter the illumination - sunlight or whatever - which is a killer for computer screens, the better one can read this wonderful little machine.  By the way, the actual screen size seems to me to be an ideal compromise between portability and legibility.   it is approximately the same size as a smallish paperback, which seems to me to be about right.

To sum up, if you can find one of these eReaders and simply wish for a machine in which you can store books and read them, and have no need of all manner of extras (touch screens, keyboards, colour screens and so forth) then this machine will serve you very well.

SHARE WITH US:

Do you also own one of these eReaders?  If so, would you care to let us know what you think about it?  I would be very happy if you cared to write about your thoughts on this eReader in the comments section, so that the rest of us can gain from your experiences with this machine.

Technical specifications:

• Size: 175 x 122 x 8 mm (6.9" x 4.8" x 0.3")
• Weight: 250 g (9 oz)
• Display:
  
  
  
  • size: 15.5 cm (6 in) diagonal (approx 1/4 area of letter-sized page)
  • resolution: 170 dpi, 8-level gray scale
  • portrait: 90.6 x 122.4 mm (3.57" x 4.82"), 600 x 800 pixels | effective 88.2 x 115.4 mm (3.47 x 4.54 in), 584 x 754 pixels | for the Pictures application effective resolution is 600 x 766 pixels
  • minimum font size: 6 pt legible, 7 pt recommended
  
  
  
  
• Memory: 256 MB standard (200 MB Accessible), Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo 8 GB, SD card up to 2 GB (some non-SDHC 4GB cards may work), or up to 32 GB with SDHC cards and version 1.1 firmware
• Lithium-ion battery, up to 6800 "page turns" per charge
• PC interface: USB port 2.0
• Available case colors:
  
  
  
  • PRS505/LC: Dark Blue
  • PRS505/SC: Silver
  • PRS505SC/JP: Custom Skin (James Patterson Special Edition)
  • PRS505/RC: Sangria Red (introduced in August 2008)
  
  
  Image source:  Sony