On 1/11/2014 8:43 AM, Ori Idan wrote:
Not true at all. e-Ink continues to be developed and now is much
quicker then it used to be. Many vendors are developing new e-ink
platforms.
I can reveal that I am working with one company on a better version of
their system that will be sold in Israel when it is done. It is based
on Android, will be able to read mostly EPUB but also PDF.
That, IMHO is going to be a tough sell. If you search for Android on
Zap, reduce the list to tablets and then under 1000 NIS, you get 135
different ones for sale, several under 300 NIS. Not surprising, the
under 300 NIS tablets were sold under another name by Wal-Mart in the US
last fall on the run up to Christmas for $59.
Since a generic Android tablet can read many formats of eBooks,
including ones with DRM, just an ePub reader is again, IMHO a hard sell.
BTW, when I wrote about PDF files, I was writing about SCANNED images
encapsulated in a PDF file. In order to read them, you need a wide range
of grey scale or color, and the ability to slide sideways, up or down,
and zoom. I was not writing about text files.
I don't know what happened to the eVrit, an Israeli version of a Chinese
ebook reader that had its own customized software which included Hebrew
fonts and DRM from NDS for Steimatzky. Last I looked, it had morphed
into an iOS App, I don't know if it made it to Android, and if books
are still sold for it.
It will be interesting to me to see how much it does sell for and what
realistic battery life is.
The same company is also developing a cellular phone with eInk touch
display.
Interesting, Nokia's "dumb phone" with an eInk display bombed in India,
which may have been the only place they sold it. Again, price and
battery life will mater. Though an interesting niche would be a cheap
cellphone with a 7 inch display and full Android, or as they are called
a phablet.
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson 4X1GM/N3OWJ
Jerusalem Israel.
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