Astak revealed all three readers on their homepage!
See http://www.astak.com/e-book.html.

:)

Looks a whole lot better now that they have the devices side by side and a summary of the information.

If they can really get these things in Target and Wal-Mart like they said, as well as having Fictionwise carry the whole line, for those prices, e-books and and e-reading should be in for a big boost.

So far so good, right on schedule. I hope that Mentors will find the way to Europe, some european languages are included in support.

So far so good, right on schedule. I hope that Mentors will find the way to Europe, some european languages are included in support.

That's right. Big Flippin' Deal.

When Astak gives us real prices and a real place to *BUY* them, then I'll care. Right now, it's all fluff all the time. I want to see prices, a location to buy them and explicit views of the ebook reader software in action. At this point we don't know if it will even support anything but the very old, very obscure, very obtuse, STAReBOOK .stk format. Oh sure, there are *rumors*, but those and $5 will (barely) get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Derek

That's right. Big Flippin' Deal.

When Astak gives us real prices and a real place to *BUY* them, then I'll care. Right now, it's all fluff all the time. I want to see prices, a location to buy them and explicit views of the ebook reader software in action. At this point we don't know if it will even support anything but the very old, very obscure, very obtuse, STAReBOOK .stk format. Oh sure, there are *rumors*, but those and $5 will (barely) get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Derek

Derek, why the cynicism?:(

Granted, we've all been burned by vaporware before but they are making some pretty strong claims in a short time frame (June is just a few weeks away).

Until June comes and goes and there is no product, then I'll be cynical.

But right now, I'm too busy looking forward to an e-reader that will be less than $200 that I can pick up from my local Wal-mart or Target in a month.:2thumbsup

Derek, why the cynicism?:(

Granted, we've all been burned by vaporware before but they are making some pretty strong claims in a short time frame (June is just a few weeks away).

Until June comes and goes and there is no product, then I'll be cynical.

But right now, I'm too busy looking forward to an e-reader that will be less than $200 that I can pick up from my local Wal-mart or Target in a month.:2thumbsup

Because I'm playing with an EB-100 even as we speak - you know the same basic platform as the Astak 6", except from Netronix? And so far I've not seen anything from Astak's site to give me hope that the Astak 5/6/9.7" models will support anything but .stk ebooks.

Oh well, if Astak doesn't deliver Mobi or eReader, at least one will be able to stuff OI (OpenInkpot OS) and FBReader onto the device. (Waitaminit! Now I'm *happy*! :D :D :D)

Derek

I read in the thread they already have eReader support and Fictionwise will be carrying the whole line of devices.

I read through the whole thread because this seemed to be pretty accurate info from someone who actually works at the company.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22658&highlight=astak

Granted, there isn't a page up yet on Fictionwise, but those are some pretty big tales to be telling if they all turn out to be untrue. And a whole lot of time wasted if all just a hoax.

And how much did you pay for your EB-100? (If you don't mind me asking?)

They look really interesting, my only concern is that the 5" is Linux and while I like Linux I would really like to be able to use uBook on an Astak Mentor-- and that requires Windows.

And how much did you pay for your EB-100? (If you don't mind me asking?)

$250. Of course, it doesn't have WinCE5.0; instead it's Linux 2.6.x. And no touchscreen, bluetooth or wifi.

...Oh sure, there are *rumors*, but those and $5 will (barely) get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Derek

pure fud dude ;) ...a large plain old coffee at Starbucks is all of $1.70ish depending on where a person is...same size at MickeyD's is about $1.60...I bring my own soy milk with some stevia and can enjoy my own latte for under $2.00

Heck a full 40oz made to order French Press using ANY coffee you want is only $8.00 or so...yes they will open a full bag of beans for one french press. This makes for a nice Sunday AM spent reading the paper and not being in the house for a couple hours.

anyway, back to the main topic...sorry for meandering OT....hehehehe...I just enjoy SB's and used to be of the same understanding that everything was $5 or more...not even close to true.

If you look at the pictures in Nate's thread, one shows a file with .STK I sure hope that one of the big formats is natively supported.

They look really interesting, my only concern is that the 5" is Linux and while I like Linux I would really like to be able to use uBook on an Astak Mentor-- and that requires Windows.

uBook is (as I've said before) my all-time favourite reading software too, but the fact that a machine runs CE doesn't necessarily mean it'll run. CE is a "modular" o/s and it depends how much of it they use. The standard Windows UI probably won't work too well on an eInk screen, so they could ditch the GUI altogether and use some sort of menu-based "shell", in which case GUI-based apps aren't going to run on it.

We'll just have to wait and see.

They look really interesting, my only concern is that the 5" is Linux The web site does say Linux on the 5", but I don't understand why a company would sell 3 sizes with two operating systems. This looks like a support nightmare in the long term. I also assume that FictionWise can only support eReader on WinCE, and FictionWise has to be a major reseller for Astak. Linux could be right, but I would not be surprised if the 5" also ran WinCE.

I agree that these devices might very well tank big time if they don't have some decent format support.

I also think eReader is a really bad idea on a device with a 6" or larger screen. The problem is the way eReader eBooks are formatted. Again we are trying to fit old technology onto new technology. eReader is formatted for small palm type screens. That may work fine there, but not on a decent sized screen. Can you imagine reading a book with line separators for each paragraph and no indents? That looks awful on my computer screen. And it will not look any better on a 6" or 9.7" screen.

I also think eReader is a really bad idea on a device with a 6" or larger screen. The problem is the way eReader eBooks are formatted. Again we are trying to fit old technology onto new technology. eReader is formatted for small palm type screens. That may work fine there, but not on a decent sized screen. Can you imagine reading a book with line separators for each paragraph and no indents? That looks awful on my computer screen. And it will not look any better on a 6" or 9.7" screen.

But is that something that's inherent in the format, or just something that people do because the book is being formatted for a small screen?

Many commercial MobiPocket books (eg the Baen ones) have a blank line between paragraphs, rather than indenting the first line of a paragraph. Although I prefer to have indents myself (and all the Mobi books I create myself using indents) I'm not going to lose sleep over the fact that a book using blank lines between the paragraphs. It's not a big deal (for me).

uBook is (as I've said before) my all-time favourite reading software too, but the fact that a machine runs CE doesn't necessarily mean it'll run. CE is a "modular" o/s and it depends how much of it they use. The standard Windows UI probably won't work too well on an eInk screen, so they could ditch the GUI altogether and use some sort of menu-based "shell", in which case GUI-based apps aren't going to run on it.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Yep, I was just considering CE a good sign because it means the right kernel for uBook. I don't know if it will work on their implementation of CE, I do know it won't work on anything else they might use.

What I would like to see in these new implementations of old reading software is the ability to deal with the format such that you can remove single blank lines between paragraphs and add indents. That would mean that the eBooks would be ok for older screens and newer screens except maybe the issue of smallish pictures.

The web site does say Linux on the 5", but I don't understand why a company would sell 3 sizes with two operating systems. This looks like a support nightmare in the long term. I also assume that FictionWise can only support eReader on WinCE, and FictionWise has to be a major reseller for Astak. Linux could be right, but I would not be surprised if the 5" also ran WinCE.

The 5" reader is their own design. The two larger models are based on the Netronix/PVI OEM designs.

If you look at the pictures in Nate's thread, one shows a file with .STK I sure hope that one of the big formats is natively supported.

Not unless Astak has made the port of eReader Pro or Mobipocket to the Astak/Netronix. Which should be the goal for Astak.

I'd love to see Astak get either Mobi or eReader Pro up and running on these.

Derek

The web site does say Linux on the 5", but I don't understand why a company would sell 3 sizes with two operating systems. This looks like a support nightmare in the long term. I also assume that FictionWise can only support eReader on WinCE, and FictionWise has to be a major reseller for Astak. Linux could be right, but I would not be surprised if the 5" also ran WinCE.

Wallcraft,

Netronix offers the EB-2xx and EB-3xx series with WinCE 5.0. They offer the EB-100 in Linux 2.6. (The EB-100 is the older version of the EB-2xx and does not offer touchscreen, bluetooth or wifi support, but still has a 6" display.) As far as I can tell, Netronix has chosen to not offer Linux on their upgraded hardware. It could be that the 5" version is "older"???

(And I see from a 'just-prior' post that the 5" is an in-house design from Astak. Silly me :) )

As for Fictionwise being a "major seller" through eReader, remember that Fictionwise also sells Mobipocket, as does Mobipocket.com, BooksOnBoard and others. And there are Mobipocket versions out there for WinCE 5.0 already, so a port of Mobi wouldn't probably be that hard, on a technical level. But we also must keep in mind that to offer Mobi, Astak must guarantee "exclusivity" of DRM'd format support as well as have both Mobipocket AND Amazon approve of the request. I hardly think Amazon wants to allow competition to its Kindle.

Derek

Yep, I was just considering CE a good sign because it means the right kernel for uBook. I don't know if it will work on their implementation of CE, I do know it won't work on anything else they might use.

There is a CE version of µbook - shouldn't that work?

Klaus

There is a CE version of µbook - shouldn't that work?

Klaus

But is the CE version for the PXA2xx family or the ARM9xx family of chips?

Derek

Astak revealed all three readers on their homepage!
See http://www.astak.com/e-book.html.

:)
Their 9" is only $350. Is that believable? That's like half the price for irex. With the money I want to buy the irex, I can buy three sizes of Astak. What do I need so many for?
Now the question is Should I wait or should I not.

Their 9" is only $350. Is that believable? That's like half the price for irex. With the money I want to buy the irex, I can buy three sizes of Astak. What do I need so many for?
Now the question is Should I wait or should I not.

If you want a decent PDF reader, I'd say wait. Hopefully the 9.7" models will be available by the end of summer or early fall - although I'm just expressing my desire here. :)

I'm gonna buy one when it comes out.

Derek

But is the CE version for the PXA2xx family or the ARM9xx family of chips?

Derek

I'm pretty sure it's CPU independent. I have it running on a StrongARM chip.

If you want a decent PDF reader, I'd say wait. Hopefully the 9.7" models will be available by the end of summer or early fall - although I'm just expressing my desire here. :)

I'm gonna buy one when it comes out.

Derek

I'll probably wait to. If not, I'll buy an irex.

Their 9" is only $350. Is that believable? That's like half the price for irex. With the money I want to buy the irex, I can buy three sizes of Astak. What do I need so many for?
Now the question is Should I wait or should I not.

If you can wait, it will be till the end of the year. I think they are saying October.

BOb

As for Fictionwise being a "major seller" through eReader, remember that Fictionwise also sells Mobipocket, as does Mobipocket.com, BooksOnBoard and others. Yes, but they almost certainly make more money per ebook from the eReader version. This is one reason why FictionWise should be interested in aggressively selling E-Ink devices with eReader support.

There is a CE version of µbook - shouldn't that work?

Klaus

Is there just a CE version? All of the versions I see, except the full Windows version, seem to be for a specific platform of CE (PocketPC, Windows Mobile, etc.). Those platforms are specific builds of WinCE (see here (http://mikedimmick.blogspot.com/2004/06/are-pocket-pc-and-windows-ce-same.html) for a good explanation). If µbook is designed for those platforms, a WinCE machine may not have some of the tools or libraries the software requires and expects.

It's been some time since I used any WinCE products (I had a couple of HPC machines), but I do remember that even when you had the right processor and the right version of WinCE, the actual platform could cause compatibility issues.

Jack

I agree that these devices might very well tank big time if they don't have some decent format support.

I also think eReader is a really bad idea on a device with a 6" or larger screen. The problem is the way eReader eBooks are formatted. Again we are trying to fit old technology onto new technology. eReader is formatted for small palm type screens. That may work fine there, but not on a decent sized screen. Can you imagine reading a book with line separators for each paragraph and no indents? That looks awful on my computer screen. And it will not look any better on a 6" or 9.7" screen.

Hmmm, it might just be because I got so very used to reading eReader books on my pda but I have some books on my Cybook formatted with double paragraph breaks and no indents. I find I quite like them as long as I go one font size smaller than I do on 'regular' books.

What I've taken to doing for eBooks I reformat is to use no margin, no footers or headers, 10 point as the base font size and a narrower word spacing. This gives me a good amount of lines/words per-line on the screen.

Is there just a CE version? All of the versions I see, except the full Windows version, seem to be for a specific platform of CE (PocketPC, Windows Mobile, etc.). Those platforms are specific builds of WinCE (see here (http://mikedimmick.blogspot.com/2004/06/are-pocket-pc-and-windows-ce-same.html) for a good explanation). If µbook is designed for those platforms, a WinCE machine may not have some of the tools or libraries the software requires and expects.

It's been some time since I used any WinCE products (I had a couple of HPC machines), but I do remember that even when you had the right processor and the right version of WinCE, the actual platform could cause compatibility issues.

Jack

Yes, there is a WinCE version. I'm using it.

I also think eReader is a really bad idea on a device with a 6" or larger screen. The problem is the way eReader eBooks are formatted. Again we are trying to fit old technology onto new technology. eReader is formatted for small palm type screens. That may work fine there, but not on a decent sized screen. Can you imagine reading a book with line separators for each paragraph and no indents? That looks awful on my computer screen. And it will not look any better on a 6" or 9.7" screen.

I know this thread hasn't been touched in a few weeks, but I wasn't home to respond to this comment when I first saw it, and I kept forgetting which thread this was part of.

Anyway, while blank lines would not bother me much (I stare at docs all day formatted that way), the paragraph formatting is handled by the software. The blank lines are used on small screens but, on the mac for instance, the paragraphs are displayed with an indented first line and no extra spacing in between. I am attaching an example.

By the way, the font, justification, line spacing, window size, margin sizes, and one- or two-page view are customizable. I did switch to a plain color scheme for the example.

Jack