I notice that the V9t and the previously mentioned V2t have full touchscreens. I'm hoping Jinke could fill us in on what the touchscreens will be able to do. Are they simply for navigation or will this provide us with search functionality? Would it be too much to hope for the ability to annotate or excise text as well?

No one except Jinke employees could answer that I suspect. Jinke certainly have experience with digitizers, as one of their previous models had an aux lcd with that capability. But, whether it'll have the features that the iliad has, who knows?
One thing to note though, is that irex use a 400mhz processor rather than the standard 200mhz. Doing that must of involved extra expense during the r&d phase and so they must of had a good reason for it. That might be just because their experience lay firmly with the intel chip, or that the extra features they demanded from the stylus required more cpu power.
If it is the latter, then the v9 might not have the raw power to handle annotation and the like because it only has the 200mhz samsung chip.

Yep. I was hoping maybe LVD would pop in. I believe he is with Jinke.

No one except Jinke employees could answer that I suspect. Jinke certainly have experience with digitizers, as one of their previous models had an aux lcd with that capability. But, whether it'll have the features that the iliad has, who knows?
One thing to note though, is that irex use a 400mhz processor rather than the standard 200mhz. Doing that must of involved extra expense during the r&d phase and so they must of had a good reason for it. That might be just because their experience lay firmly with the intel chip, or that the extra features they demanded from the stylus required more cpu power.
If it is the latter, then the v9 might not have the raw power to handle annotation and the like because it only has the 200mhz samsung chip.
The power of the CPU is an excellent issue. How much slower is the Samsung then the Intel? The iLiad was designed to be open and for that, I think hang a more powerful processor is a definate plus.

The first prototype V3 with the touchscreen from WaCom will be ready in September. In the same prototype will be WiFi. These options will increase device cost on 50 Usd. That is very sad.

As alternative WiFi we consider variant V3 with GSM/GPRS - the module.

One more remark. We do not see the big prospect of use of the touchscreen for electronic books at the given stage of development of these devices. The slow screen do not allow to receive expected effect.

We do not see the big prospect of use of the touchscreen for electronic books at the given stage of development of these devices. The slow screen do not allow to receive expected effect.
I understand this, but I think many people want to be able to create bookmarks or look up words. Maybe there could be another way of doing this, for example using navigation buttons to move a cursor around on the screen word by word. It would still be slow, because of the screen, but it would provide nearly the same functionality while keeping the cost low.

Yes. Without the ability to at least do a search I'm not seeing enough benefit to having a touchscreen to balance the extra expense.

I've got a V2 but unfortunately the lcd screen hasn't worked since day one.
I am desperately waiting for the V3 with wacom, because my experience with the V2 has put me into the camp of "I LOVE EINK"
I truly do love this thing it's got dozens of books on it, i find it brilliant to hold and use, and when i do go back to paper books i find them cumbersome and annoying. (especially hard backs)
But i am desperate for a small device that i can scribble meeting notes on.
And if you can add a optional portable keyboard it would make it superb.
(I like to type when i write and eventhough i have an ultra light 10" laptop the 2 hour battery and it's slghtly cumbersome nature lets it down)

The first prototype V3 with the touchscreen from WaCom will be ready in September. In the same prototype will be WiFi. These options will increase device cost on 50 Usd. That is very sad.

As alternative WiFi we consider variant V3 with GSM/GPRS - the module.

One more remark. We do not see the big prospect of use of the touchscreen for electronic books at the given stage of development of these devices. The slow screen do not allow to receive expected effect.

I noticed that altough you say "the first prototype" you seem to already know how much It will affect the final cost, are you close to mass production , I'm looking for a e-ink device for my college course wich starts next monday, so I'm a bit of a hurry and I would like to know if there's any chance I can get my hands on a touchscreen v3 in the next month and a half or should I just go with a regular reader without any touchscreen?

(although I must say a touchscreen and wifi v3 would be the perfect tool for me)

thank you for your time. I hope to be hearing from you soon.

zai jian
(an european studying zhong wen after regular classes )

Yes. Without the ability to at least do a search I'm not seeing enough benefit to having a touchscreen to balance the extra expense.

Personally me biggest reason for wanting touch screen is for page turning. this is for two reasons 1, if you read for extended periods of time your hand can get tired holding the device the same way in order to reach the page turn button and it would be nice not to be so restrictive and 2, the button itself can stick after a long period of use. I have had to buy two units because i lost the button use after a time.
Anyway, this is why i can't wait for a unit with touch screen that runs Mobipocket. Any ideas on time lines for these would be great. Living in Australia our info is always slower that the US.

Gaby

It is interesting that Jinke was talking touch screens in August of 2007. Most of the delay has been with the screen manufacturer, PVI.

The 6" EZ Reader PRO (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=310249&postcount=1193), from Jinke, will have a touchscreen and may be available in late February or early March (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=328374&highlight=Reader+Pro#post328374) (but delivery estimates are often optimistic). This is its US name, it will likely also be sold by BeBook etcetera.

alanastoz, you can use the stylus to turn pages on an iLiad, but I wouldn't consider doing it that way, as its so much easier to use the flipbar. On the HanLin V3 and clones, you can either use the 2 buttons on the left or the 9 and 0 buttons on the right to turn pages.

If your main use for a touchscreen will be to turn pages with the stylus, I think you'll find it fiddly and disappointing, especially with Mobipocket ebooks where the page numbers are only estimates.

Apart from the Sony range and Kindle, all other popular ebook readers are available to Australians.

I don't agree that "Living in Australia our info is always slower that the US." We have websites such as this giving us worldwide information.

Touch screens are not necessarily 100% good news. We know, for example, from the example of the Sony PRS-700 that - on that machine at least - adding a touch screen has significantly degraded the clarity of the display, and that there's also an issue with dust getting between the layers of the screen. Another factor to consider is that some type of touch screen (eg that used on the iPod Touch) have a reflective surface, and that can make the screen difficult to see in some lighting conditions, as well as showing up fingerprints.

I'm personally going to wait and see, and reserve judgement on whether or not adding a touch screen is an improvement.

Personally I have no interest in a touch screen at this time. Maybe one day when the tech is such that it doesn't degrade the clarity it might be ok but until then I'd much prefer to have a crisp clear screen.

Just seems like a gimmick to me that doesn't add much to to the overall experience.

Cheers,
PKFFW

I used to have an Ebookman and truley the best feature was that you could page turn with a finger anywear at the edge of the screen. This was great and not fiddly as it would be i agree with a stylus. Of course it may not work the same way. The problem I think Aussies have is the inablityto actually get your hands on one of any of the devices without buying and importing them first. if you dont like them it can be an expensive mistake (several hundred dollars). If anyone gets a hold of a touchscreen Hanlin or clone please let me know whether you can pge turn in this way. it could save me heaps of time and money.
Cheers, Gaby

IMO, Support on "touchscreen is no need for reader"

1. make it battery eater.
2. Good for note taker not reader.
3. Unconfortable for using two hands during reading.