Slashdot Mirror
Sony To Launch E Ink-based eBook In April
Holly Gates writes "Sony will launch an ebook based on E Ink technology in Japan in late April. The screen is about as big as half a paperback book and has a spatial resolution of ~170ppi. The device includes various edictionaries and audio playback functionality. I am a hardware engineer for E Ink by the way, but I figured slashdotters might be interested." An anonymous reader notes that it is supposed to "display over 10,000 pages on a single set of batteries."
You don't have to read fast, because the display doesn't disappear when you turn the device off. The energy is only expended in changing pixel states.
The whole point is that this is closer to a printer that rearranges its "toner" on the page.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
E ink involves tiny spheres with magnetically charged particles inside that are either black or white. See here.
"It is a solemn thought: dead, the noblest man's meat is inferior to pork."
None of the press releases are saying it, but:
All three of the Impress Watch articles say it will cost around 40,000 yen - approximately $400 USD. And this is just for the reader, subscribing to the e-book service costs $5-10/month. They do, however, have the option of just purchasing single books for 350 yen, about $3.25.
PC Watch article
K-Tai Watch article
Internet Watch article
There are also MANY more pictures of the device available at the above URLs. There's even some showing a manga on the screen of the thing, for those of you interested in that sort of thing.
I do have a few pictures posted in my article as well, but it's really nothing you couldn't have found yourself.
My Franklin "ebookman" has two great features that make it better than regular books:
- I can hold it in one hand
- I can read it in a dark room
which means that when the little one refused to sleep at two in the morning, I can carry her around my (dark) house and read a book. Can't do THAT with any kind of regular book -- they don't have lights, and they can't be read in one hand.
OTOH
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While not 'EInk', here's a couple of others that will hopefully make it to our market soon They also use energy only when turning pages:
I emailed these people and was informed this Chinese Ebook would be available on Amazon in Q2 of this year.
This Panasonic Sigmabook ebook was just launched in Japan and hopefully will make it here soon.
Who would fardles bear
To grunt and sweat under a weary life --
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of.
A fardle is a bundle carried on one's back...a backpack.
And they all said that making engineers take liberal arts classes was a waste of time!
-h-
This is precisely why I am not interested in eBook readers. Not only do you end up with a single purpose device, but you probably get stuck with DRM and Windows-only software as well.
Personally, I have switched almost 100% to reading on my Visor Handspring (the B&W Clie my last job provided was better, but the Visor is good enough). I only purchase material that is available in open formats (fictionwise.com and baen.com are good sources). Throw in stuff from Project Gutenberg and I have read nearly 100 ebooks to date (and for less than $100 too).
The benefits of using a PDA are various. I can read in the dark, I always have my reading material with me, and I can read "discreetly." More importantly, 10 years from now I will still have access to all of these books in electronic format. I like reading on my Visor so much that I won't read a new author unless I can get his or her work in an open ebook format first.
The energy efficiency of a light bulb is pretty poor but they could build in (or have a clip-on) white LED book light
My daughter has one - one of her Christmas presents last year. $15 at Costco. Runs for months on a couple of AAA batteries, and she uses it for several hours every night. Nice bright white light from a couple of tiny LEDs.
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig