Slashdot Mirror
Samsung Papyrus E-Book Reader, Coming Soon
kanewm writes with a snippet from Portable-Ebook-Reader.NET: "Samsung's new, highly portable e-book reader, dubbed 'Papyrus,' will be available in Korea in June 2009 and in the UK and North America sometime later (likely within several months)." As the site notes, though, this lacks some features of the Kindle, the obvious choice for comparison in the American market.
well, if DRM is one of those "features" it lacks, I'll consider it. Kindle 2 is nice, but its draconian DRM it is a big no no for me.
Another ebook reader.
I am not left-handed, either!
$299. Way too expensive.
Why not a cool name like ThanaTree or Necroarbortron?
I wonder what makes it more highly portable than Sony Reader (PRS 500. PRS 505, PRS 700), Kindle (1 and 2), Bookeen Cybook Gen3, The Jinke/Hanlin and quite a few others.
Well, there are quite a few readers http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_devices with much less draconian DRM or even completely without DRM:
Sony Reader PRS-700, Sony Reader PRS-505, Bokeen Cybook Gen3, IRex Digital Reader, IRex iLiad, The Jinke/Hanlin, Ganaxa GeR2, Soribook, Readius, Hanvon N510 , Hanvon N516, astak EZ Reader, Astak Mentor, the new 5" models from several manufacturers and quite a few clones and rebranded OEM versions of above mentioned devices.
Lack of data support outside the US isn't a problem. The Kindle only supports EVDO, which nobody outside the US uses anyway. And whilst there is not hardware keyboard, I'd imagine the touchscreen supports a software keyboard (otherwise the 'memo' menu button displayed rather prominently would be pretty useless). The real make-or-break factor is it's resolution. The Kindle, along with all the other e-ink readers I've seen, have had no higher a resolution than 1280x1024 (for the iRex Digital Reader costing an exorbitant £600), with 800x600 being the norm. This is unacceptably low for comfortable reading without huge fonts (and thus low word counts per page), and entirely prevents the use of grayscale images at any readable quality. Until e-ink displays can hit 1280x1024 at a reasonable price point, they're just not worth it.
... would I want to buy something the size of a netbook, for more money than a netbook, that only does 1/100th the things a netbook will do?
Thanks, but... no thanks.
Aren't they releasing this a few millennia too late?
Given the high price point and the (likely) too-restrictive DRM, I just can't see any of these devices really take off. I'm sure that, just like with music, the problem isn't the device manufacturers - it's the book publishers that are the problem. But as things stand now, there are just too many trade-offs for these to move into the mainstream. The publishers are just too concerned with trying to stuff the genii back into the bottle. Eventually someone - maybe Apple? - will come along with enough conviction (so they won't compromise) and clout (so they don't HAVE to compromise), and we'll finally get a truly revolutionary e-reader.
For the present, though it's too bad - I'd love to get e-book readers for all three of us (my wife, daughter, and myself). I'd love to quit buying paper books and a printed newspaper. For now, however, they're just too expensive and too locked down.
#DeleteChrome
(Insert Sarah Palin joke here.)
Because it has one feature that your netbook doesn't: the eInk display. This display only consumes power when the contents of the display change. The Sony ebook claims 7 thousand/i. page turns before the battery runs down. That would be very handy for long plane rides or road trips. The best netbooks run out of power in 10 hours, regardless of how quickly you read. (Which might be OK if you have access to a power outlet.) Dead tree books don't use any power at all — but that much printed matter is a pain to carry around when you're on the road.
Now, I don't have an ebook reader because $400 is to much to spend on something I'd rarely use. Part of that is because I own a tablet which is great for reading in an armchair or in bed. (And which I paid way too much for.) I'd still be tempted if I did any travelling, especially to place where I wouldn't want to risk my tablet.
Seriously, E-book is about the stupidest invention I can think of. How about a device that I can use to read the thousands of .pdf files I have. There is no use waiting for all of the academic papers in the world to be re-done in some e-book format. How about all the pdf versions of books available through torrent that I shouldn't have to fire up my laptop to read? I know there are technical problems involved with pdf, but it can't be that hard. I would guess that the first effective .pdf document display device would catch on like a new ipod. DRM? Fuck 'em, everybody can afford a scanner.
no wireless support?
nothing more than a very expansive piece of junk
Such a device does exist, it's called an ebook reader :D
Costs just a little less than a kindle 2, less memory, no keyboard, smaller screen, fewer features. No idea how many book titles will be available for it.
It does have a calculator though.
Makes me want to run out and get one to replace my kindle 2.
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
sorry, but im not interested unless its A4...
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Thanks for the clarification, you must be a genius. Why is .pdf support "experimental" and shitty even on Kindle2? Why do you need wireless to send a file to Amazon to convert a file and send it to your device? Lets get real. If a decent reader device existed, every grad student in the country would want one.
I won't buy an ebook reader until they have most of the things I want. Wifi access to shares on the local network - I often read on the couch; a comic reader program, because I do like my Deadpool; a colour screen, obviously, because reading coloured comics in black and white is not cool; SD or MicroSD storage would be nice too. A couple of nice but non-compulsory features for me would be a themeable and customizable UI, and a touch screen that I can write on.
For all that, the price would have to be at or below $250 AU - Rough completely uneducated guess (I'm not even sure what the exchange rate is right now), that's about $320 US at the moment.
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
Um exactly. I see WAAAAY ore Sony 505's in people's hands than the Kindle. Target had a sale on them a few weeks back and they were $249.95.
I have seen 1 kindle in the wild, and at least 30 Sony readers. What I like is that I can carry years worth of my favorite magazines and every technical manual with me. My buddy bough a Sony reader for his garage after I showed him where to get all his motorcycle assembly and repair manuals in pdf form online. He said that the silicone covers for the unit keep grease and oil off them very well.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
it seems to have nothing on it but this crappy one paragraph "article"?
PDF support on the Sony PRS-505 is good enough for scientific papers. I use it all of the time for the files that OUP and PLoS churn out. Although using Calibre to automatically convert the HTML version is often a win, when the HTML is available.
Its called a Sony eReader (the PRS 505 is the nicest IMO).
Read PDF files natively - no conversion required. Battery life is 7500 page turns (4 weeks for me), and it supports SD and Sony Stick Pro cards.
My one reader has about 3,000 docs - including several academic papers on it. The samsung release isn't anything dramatic - just samsungs competitive offering.
Does this mean it lacks wifi too?
At this price, $299 US, it will only be $60 less than the Kindle2, without wireless capabilities. That seems like a pretty bad deal in my opinion. Sorry, not a kindle killer in my opinion.
I love my new iRex DR1000S. Great for reading technical manuals and books. Great for PDF books which you can *ahem* get off the web. Still a few software bugs, but that is improving. And yes it runs Linux and is mostly open source.
My uncle uses a Sony reader for the same thing, except he runs a small car repair shop, and uses it for all the repair manuals he's bought over the 2 decades he had been doing it.
"I'm a well-wisher, in that I don't wish you any specific harm."
Many of those have DRM that is just as bad. I know the Sony readers have it from personal experience, and the Sony store sucks a heck of a lot more than Amazon. Of course, they all read a variety of free formats without DRM as well, as do all the readers I know about. The problem is not that the readers handle DRM, its that online stores are selling books in a variety of incompatible and restrictive formats. The Sony store sells books that are DRMed with a format only readable on the Sony e-book readers. The Amazon store only sells books readable on the Kindle. As an owner of the Sony e-book reader, I cannot buy e-books from Amazon. With a Kindle, I could not buy books from Sony. This fractures the market and turns e-books from "any book ever written (within reason)" to "any book your manufacturer bothered signing a contract with". This fractures the market and destroys much of the usefulness of an e-book reader. The sole reason I recommend the Kindle to people is because the Amazon store seems to have the best selection, I dislike some of the features of the actual reader itself (i.e. I don't see downloading books over a cell phone as a feature, since you have to pay for it with higher priced books and a short battery life if you forget to turn wireless off).
Of course, there are stores out there that sell books in a non-DRM format. Baen was one of the first publisher to do this and I have bought a lot of books from them. However, they are a small fraction of the books published today (3ish new books a month, all sci-fi or fantasy) and the same seems to hold true for the other stores I've found. Fictionwise seems to come up in conversation a lot, but only some of its books are DRM-free, and the 6 times so far I've gone looking for a specific book from them, they've had it only in DRM encumbered format. And since Sony doesn't want to release its DRM scheme, none of their DRM formats will work with my reader. I just added up my order history for Baen, and I've spent $936 on their e-books over the past 3 years. I'm more than willing to pay for books, but there are a lot of e-books out there where people simply refuse to take my money.
The alternative to all of this, of course, is to pirate books. This is generally a pain in the ass and can result in some poor quality books, but there is a lot more available this way than there is from legitimate non-DRMed books. I haven't found a specific site that works well for downloading books. Many of the major torrent sites have large collections of books available for download, but they can be pretty spotty and the quality is... variable. There will often be issues with the lines being too long for the reader, and wrapping in weird ways or with extra spaces between lines. There are some that are perfectly fine, but it is often a crap shoot. On the other hand, the first time I got frustrated with Fictonwise's DRM only books, I found a collection of sci-fi and fantasy that was 9 gigs. A good portion of that was scans of graphic novels, but you can fit a mind-blowing amount of text into even a small part of a 9 gig compressed file. Once I downloaded that, my first stop for new books is Baen, and the second stop is my hard drive. Its rare that I bother looking for anything else now. I still check for some new releases on various websites, but more often than not I'm disappointed in the results. I'm not going to pay $18 for a book that has been out in paperback for 6 months. And that was just the one book lately that _was_ available.
Though I may have got off track a bit, I think the real problem here is not that readers can handle DRM, its that online stores are fucked up. I could easily have spent an extra $1k on books if they were available in a format that works in my e-book reader. The fact that publishers won't allow those formats is the problem, not the fact that a specific reader has DRM for file format Y, but not Z. They're just asking everyone who doesn't have their specific e-book reader to pirate the books, instead of selling good quality versions for sale with reasonable fees and an easy to use system to download what you want when you want it.
Honestly, who needs wireless on an eBook reader?
As long as it's got a memory card slot and/or a USB port that's really all it needs. A keyboard is also another thing that's pretty much useless on a book reader. With a touch screen, the thing should pretty much just have a power button and no more.
If the screen is ok, the DRM isn't there, and I can get one for way less than $299, I'm there. Once something like this can go for $100, or even $150, I'm all over it.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Have a look at the iRex Digital Reader. A4 size, supports PDF.
I'm a kindle 2 owner. I looked at the touch-screen on a Sony device, and I didn't like it. The screen had more glare, and I didn't find it to be a suitable replacement for the keyboard. I suspect this device will have the same shortcomings.
The "article," scant on details, suggests that this device is more "portable." Since it lacks wireless, which makes it infinitely less portable than the kindle, I can only assume that it weighs less. At 10 ounces or so, weight isn't much of an issue, in my mind. That said, I think competition is good. But it would have to include many new, important features to offset the lack of wireless and keyboard. Calendar, notes and contact features are nice, but after having used an e-reader for two months, the slow refresh rate on these would make them a poor replacement for a PDA. I think Samsung has to do better than this to enter the market.
The most known one isn't always the best one. Others http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebook_reader (and just FYI, they support pdf etc nicely)
I am studying math, and a while ago realized I have *lots* of free textbooks, lectures, tutorials, all in pdf format and I would *love* to carry them with me. In addition, I got quite a few documents in djvu format, which is more compact that pdf. A perfect situation for ebook reader except none of them apparently deals with either format natively. So I have to convert every pdf file I have to whatever format those ebook readers are used, and for djvu, I have to convert djvu to pdf and then to the native format. Seems like getting inexpensive tablet PC might be a better idea.
We've seen some keen devices, like the Kindle, hampered by their crappy software.
Likewise, the Sony Reader... I have one, and for the $50 it cost me as part of a credit card signup gimmick, I love it. But before I can spend a few hundred bucks on another similar item, it has GOT to be easier to use. Sony's desktop software is poor, and converting other formats for the device is a pain in the rear.
Please, Samsung... Let this thing mount like a USB storage device. Teach it to understand txt, rtf, html, pdb, pdf, and maybe even chm--WITHOUT needing to do any conversion on my computer. And add in whatever DRM-infested format you want on top of it, fine... but please, make a product that's for readers and not PUBLISHERS.
(I have ancient Pocket PC ebook reading software that transparently handles displaying text in all of these formats, even inside zip files. It ain't rocket surgery.
Right now the closest thing to an uber-reader, for my needs, is this thing. Spiffy, but if someone beats them on price, I'd be there.
http://www.bookeen.com/specs/ebook-software.aspx)
This is exactly right. I've owned an eReader for about a year but have never bought a book from their store, nor am I likely to. I've found plenty to read on it, though, and Calibre will happily convert lots of different formats to the native one so that things look nice on the reader.
The cake is a pie
You actually don't need wifi to convert the file. You can convert it via a free email service and then transfer it from your computer, no wifi needed. You got me on the experimental part (it works fine, like the browser: its experimental in the same way half of Google's stuff is beta...they don't want to take responsability for it, and if it eats away in their sales they may take it away...which I realize is pretty bad), but most other ebook readers have PDF native.
Most grad student in the country didn't hold one in their hands, thats why they don't want one, IMO. I bought a kindle to my girlfriend who's currently in the US (i'm canadian, so I can't easily get one for myself), because she wanted one, but once I saw it and tried it out....wow, just wow.
Are against DRM.
Are you sure you don't want to rephrase your statement, comrade?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Nah, you must be just ignorant. The Kindle is not the only e-ink device out there: http://www.irextechnologies.com/node/186
Even their old model the iLiad, which I have, supports pdf files, but you must have missed that one.
So get an Eee PC on Ebay. I've been using my 701 for more than a year and it just keeps getting better, since it is now running Mandriva 2009.1 Spring. Here is an install guide: http://aeronetworks.ca/eeepc-mdv-howto.html
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I own five BeBooks and I love them. They read HTML, PDF, DOC, RTF, TXT, MOBI, EPUB, FB2, LIT, all without conversion. The device runs on GNU/Linux and you can even replace the factory firmware with OpenInkpot, an ebook ereader OS built by hobbyist free software programmers. BeBook is actually an OEM version of Jinke eReader V3, that is being sold in the US as EZ Reder (you can find more OEMs at the mobileread wiki).
A4 has a diagonal of about 363 mm, the largest reader currently made by irex has a viewable diagonal less than 260 mm. That's a difference of about 40%. They can probably get away with calling the unit A4-sized because the entire device, including the margins with all the controls and buttons, is about that big. But the viewable area still falls quite a bit short.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I want an ebook reader that reads pdf files generated by tex & latex. Does one exist?
I have little use for devices with horribly limited pdf conversion options, like the Kindle. I don't mind producing ebook sized pdfs for my own papers using pdflatex, but I'd like to be able to read other pdf files too.
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
For commercial content that is. There's no DRM even on the Kindle for your own content, but you are deluding yourself if you think major publishers are going to allow DRM-free e-books. If you don't want DRM, you are going to be limited to Project Gutenberg and the works of Cory Doctorow, basically.
eBook readers will take off the same time that mp3 players and smart phones did... when apple releases the 'iRead' (or whatever they call it.) I'm convinced that apples the only company out there with enough sense (and cojones) to make an eBook reader that will actually be a useful substitute for the printed word. If Apple doesn't do it, then that's just an indication that the technology isn't Quite There Yet.
Sorry, I hate to sound like a hopeless fan-boi, but after getting burned on mp3 players (that just weren't Good Enough), then on Blackberrys (that Just Weren't Quite Good Enough), and loving life with my iPod and iPhone, I'm sold.
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
I'm waiting for the one which has DON'T PANIC in big friendly letters on the front.
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
The problem with the idea of Apple walking in and taking the market is vertical integration and formats. Apple tend to like having their own proprietary formats, and hardware, and their own stores for content. So do Sony. So do Amazon.
Sony keep trying and failing (Betamax, Minidisc). Amazon tried to corner the "print on demand" market and failed, because the industry were so furious about Amazon's abuse of power with the Booksurge fiasco that basically if Amazon hadn't backed down they have been sued or shot. Google books illegally scanned god knows how many copyright books with the intent to serve up content and charge advertising, and got sued.
So the book industry - authors and publishers - tend to see the outside corporate guys who keep trying to take over their market and steal their content as basically pirates who are one step away from being Organised Crime (if that).
So, while Amazon would certainly //like// to own the future eBook market and dictate terms to everyone else for the privilege of access to their ebook gateway, the book industry wants the Amazon/Kindle platform to go open-format and multi-vendor, or to fail. Same with the Sony format (except Sony seem to realise that they're weak, and seem to be making friendly noises about supporting whatever the industry decides on).
EPUB
I spent a few days at the London Book Fair recently, and what the publishers all seem to be pushing for is an "open" format based on XML called EPUB. They recognise that ebooks are going to become an increasingly important part of their business, and they're damned if they're going to just sign over half their future ebook income for the rest of their lives to someone like Amazon (or Sony), and be locked into a proprietary system that another company owns and controls. So they're trying to rejig their production processes around XML, with export to EPUB.
The current plan is that EPUB becomes the default format that every publishing house uses for all their new books, in parallel with their print production, and that Amazon and Sony and everyone else have to retrofit support for EPUB or leave the market. So if the industry has its way, Kindle's proprietary format should be dead except as a legacy format in a year or two, and Kindles will be reading EPUB files Real Soon Now.
PDF isn't half bad, but the publishing industry is (understandably) SO paranoid about being screwed by corporations trying to take over their market, that they won't even touch that, because that one's owned by Adobe. They've worked out that the only way to avoid getting screwed over is to adopt a single industry-wide format that nobody owns, and break the various corporations' attempts to use engineered incompatibility to divide and conquer the market.
So that's where we are now.
In that context, if Apple announced tomorrow that they were bringing out a new ebook reader that only used a proprietary Apple format, the publishing industry would look at them like they'd walked into a wedding reception, dropped their pants, and shat on the wedding cake. They saw what Apple did with iTunes, and they're damned, damned, damned if Apple are going to try to waltz in and own the new market for their content, too.
If Apple want to do an EPUB-compatible reader, then that's fine, but if they want to set up their own new incompatible corner, that's not. And if their reader is going to be playing generic content, and if their shop isn't going to have an obvious advantage over all the other EPUB outlets, then there's not as much of a chance for Apple to extract added value from the scheme, and there's not as much reason for them to get involved with a new product.
And, actually, Apple already HAVE a pocket-sized eBook platform, in the shape of the iPhone. Unless they can buy in ePaper technology in b
Eric Baird
I bought a Sony E-Reader last November. I travel a lot for work, and I thought it would be nice to take books with me on the plane. I like reading computer books, and most of them are about the size of the Chicago phone book. Carrying a 5-10lb book around in my backpack "in case" I feel like reading is not something I wanted to do. It is amazing how many computer manuals come with PDF copies of the books on CD. If I have to choose between two books, I will always go for the one with the PDF copy, even if I feel the one without it is a little better. A mediocre book I will use is much greater than a good book I won't.
As far as purchasing electronic books, I've never done it yet. I don't plan on it. I'd be telling a lie if I said I had never pirated an eBook, but in my defense 95% of them have been books that I already own. I am more likely to buy the book and then pirate the electronic format than to buy the electronic format. Call me old fashioned, but I like having the book around, even if I never need to open it. I wont buy an ebook unless the price comes down significantly from the paper version AND the DRM is removed or significantly transparent and portable.
I am a huge Discworld fan. I got hooked in the 90's after I played the Discworld PC game. I went through his books like crazy, and I now own every Discworld book. I purchased many of them from the UK when Pratchett was having difficulties with US publishers. While I support Terry Pratchett, I don't intend on repurchasing his books. I hope he can understand and forgive me for seeking alternate means of acquiring his materials. If I said I felt guilty, I would be telling a lie.
...wake me up when someone comes out with a color ink ereader that can also zoom and pan pdf files, I don't really care about wireless features right now.
I hope that's not a reference to the typeface it uses.
Some ebook devices do read PDF. But you're right, the e-book scene has torn itself apart with a raft of proprietary formats, proprietary readers, store lock-in, excessive DRM and other abuses. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and everyone is too selfish to come together for their own mutual self-interest.
At the very least there needs to be a single industry wide standard for delivery of books, for signing of those books, for activation of devices and so on. There also needs to be a single industry wide standard for the format of books that all devices at a minimum must support. I am surprised that publishers have let the market fracture like this. Don't they have an industry group that represents their interests? Why can't they impose and licence the standard rather than dancing to Amazon's tune? Do they really want to be slaves to Amazon? Shouldn't a publisher like O'Reilly be at the forefront of this?
The net result of a single common platform would be a veritable explosion in ebook devices. Consumers would see the funky ebook logo on their device and confidently buy into the format since they still have the freedom to buy their books from countless vendors and play them on devices of their choosing. Of course, while things continue the way they are, the whole scene will be a wasteland of failed formats, consumer disinterest and 1000lb gorillas battling it out.
This issue isn't exclusive to ebooks either. Digital video downloads are going down the same path and will suffer pretty much the same fallout. DRM is inevitable but at the very least it should be common to all devices and vendors.
I know because i have one. All my PDF's for networking, e-books, rtf and text files work that i got from Bittorrent - of course I already own the books, but having them in one location makes it easy to look krap up on the road
Using e-book will be a lot more convenient...
When is the e-prof coming out?
He had all his repair manuals from the past two decades in PDF format? Or he went online and downloaded them? (Along with several other manuals he didn't buy previously?)
I have the smaller iRex device (the iLiad) and it's quite comfortable for reading scientific papers. If you crop the empty margins on a typical paper, the text size is only slightly smaller than on a printed page. For best results, however, you want something typeset for the device, like a PDF from feedbooks. There is quite a nice LaTeX template too, so if the sources for the paper are available you can easily recompile it for the device by just adding a \usepackage line.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
For the Sony Reader, it's all about the .lit format. You can purchase books in that format from most stores, it's very easy to strip the DRM post-purchase, and the .lit converts to .lrf (via Calibre) perfectly. It's how I buy all my books these days.
No. you don't have to go through Amazon. You put things on a Kindle via USB. It mounts like a thumb drive and you just copy things over. The only need for Amazon's servers is to buy books.
Speaking as a publisher, and one of the authors who was part of the push to make the e-book mainstream back in 2000 (a push by, I might add, the major publishers), I can tell you from experience that publishers aren't trying to push any genie back into any bottle.
They do, however, tend to go with what is good business. As of February, e-books managed to get up to representing around 1.5% of the entire U.S. book market for that month - it's the highest they've ever been, and it took them over 10 years to get there...and that includes a massive push from 2000-2002 to make the things work. Yet, with the ability to read e-books on everything up to and including mobile phones, the e-book is still a niche market - therefore, it doesn't get a lot of support from publishers. They tried, and right now it's just a niche that can work as good marketing for the printed books, so it is treated that way. Newspapers, on the other hand, are close to becoming an endangered species, and have been on an increasing downwards slide for years. For them, it's go at least half-electronic, or die.
So why newspapers and not books? The simple fact is that people don't consume books the way that they consume the news, or music, or movies. It's not the DRM that would have to change in order for e-books to be anything other than a niche market - it's the way people consume books. Right now, the printed book is the perfect fit for the way books are consumed by the majority of the market. The day that changes, the way books are produced and marketed will change too.
Robert B. Marks
Author, Demonsbane in Diablo Archive
eBooks sound like great idea, and I'm sure they work wonders for some people especially the higher you go academically. However, doesn't it seem that these separate devices are soon to be pointless given the combined functionality of everything else? Like the loss of the PDA, tiny camera, mp3 player, and more all before the iphone/blackberry/smartphone genre could handle an ebook function easily. or am I wrong?
watch out for the swine flu