As mentioned in the other thread, I talked to Jinke by email and asked whether they could come over here and answer some questions.

They said they'd "visit often" and answer any questions of the audience.

So go ahead and pose your questions!

I'll start:

1.) Does the V2 have a removable battery like the V8 seems to have?

2.) Is the Slave-Display readable in bright light (sunlight...)?

i also have some (v2):
1. what kind of lithium battery it uses? is it a common type that is widely available?
2. does the main screen exhibit ghosting like in Librie?
3. how fast is the screen's refresh rate?
4. how long does it take to boot the device?
5. what's the advantage of WOLF file format? how open is it?

1. Can I plug in a usb keyboard to the usb port to type? Or is the usb port just for syncing with the pc?

2. When will it be available?

3. Price?

As soon as I have confirmation that someone from Jinke will join our discussion, I am going to announce it "officially" on our frontpage.

Battery:
V2 have a removable battery like the V8, and the battery is same as the battery of Nokia 6100.
Display:
The slave display is made of FSTN, and it can be readable in bright light.
According to PVI said the display of v2 has been improved.The ghosting is also improved.
Refreshing rate of the screen is 0.9 second(from full page to new page)
Boot:
It will boot the device within 15 seconds.
Wolf format:
Wolf format is the professional format for eBook, it includes all features of publications. It benefits the DRM. In the future, it wil become a open format. At present, can download the wolfmaker from jinke's website.
usb keyboard :
The slave display can realize the keyboard function.

Thank you for joining us!
we really appreciate having someone "official" here to help us figure out the details of the new reader devices.

hello maple!
thanks for the reply!
...
...
wow....


v2 boot in 15 seconds! :O
better screen! :O
easily replacable battery! :O

i'm liking it even more :D

Is there a search function?

How sophisticated is it? (E.g., can I search for all paragraphs containing two specified words?)

How fast is it? (How many mb per minute?)

Will the Wolf conversion tools be available for other ( Mac/Linux) platforms ?

other than that my only questions would be regrding release date and availability.

Do you have retail agreements in other countries. (UK) specifically.

can v2 be used as handphones or something in the future? (maybe to download contents from the gsm/cdma/etc network?)

better start from the beginning....theres a guy from librie yahoo group who said that he will demonstrate hanlin reader in paris.

he said that the sim card slot is for "drm, at this time, but I believe
it will be connected to mobile phone infrastructures
in the future."

Can maple please confirm this?

thank you :) this is very interesting

Search function
It can search books, and the text search function will be added later.
The search function is similar as the notebook under windows system.
V8: 10M per minute

Wolf conversion platform only is available for windows OS.
The V2 is co-developed with some European partners. The sample of V2 will be available in June.

Wi-Fi card and CDMA card with CF interface will be applied in the next generation of V2.

and may i know when will this "next generation" appear?

The development of next generation of V2 will be finished by the end of 2006.

Hi Maple,

Can I verify if the V2 or V8 will support external USB keyboard?

usb keyboard :
The slave display can realize the keyboard function.
Your earlier reply indicates that the slave display allows text input, but did not give a Yes/No answer to it.

Can you confirm if the V2 or V8 supports or do not support external USB keyboard?

Many thanks! :)

The current V2 and V8 do not support external USB keyboard.
But the next generation of V2(maybe it is called V20) can provide USB host and CFII slots. I think it can connect external USB keyboard.

Hi Maple,

Thanks for answering questions here!

I'm curious about the eventual release of the V2 (version 1). You said earlier that samples will be available in June. When can we expect the full release?

When the product is released, will you be selling it to customers in the US directly, or through other retailers? I hope we don't have to wait for a US company to pick up your product line; I want to buy one right away! :-)

Thanks!

Wolf conversion platform only is available for windows OS.


What does this mean for potential Mac/Linux users? Are there plans in the works for the "V20" to extend compatibility to Mac/Linux?

that reminds me....
when will v2 be available in China?
what about Indonesia?

Hi Maple,

Thanks as well for the reply on the USB support! :)

I would also like to find out about availability:
1. Will it be available to other countries besides US via online purchase?
2. Will it be available to other countries via retail lines?

In particular, I'm concerned about availability in Singapore. :) Thanks for your time and replies.

Hi maple,

does the PDF viewer have a zoom function? So is it possible to zoom into large PDF-files like newspapers?

maikandre

To Snappy, Luag: The sample of V2 will be available in June.
European market: releasing date will be Q3 of 2006. (The business of V2 in Europe is under discussion.)
Chinese market: releasing date will be Q4 of 2006.(For the target market V8 is Chinese market, V2 will be the next choice of Chinese market.)
Other Asian countries: If Jinke find the business partners, they will think to release the product there. As far as I know, they’re discussing the business with a company in Singapore, but the releasing date has not decided.

To Bingle: And now Jinke are discussing the business with some European and American companies in the cooperation of OEM, ODM and localization.

To canadaman: Jinke will think about make the Wolf conversion platform is available for other OS, but when it will be available, still no news about that.
Hanlin eBook Synchronization Software V 1.00
http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/English/downloadcenter/index.asp

To maikandre: Performance: V2 has multi-level zoom function

I'm almost thinking about getting 2 ebook devices... :rolleyes5
An Hanlin V8 for travel-purposes...small, light, with hardcover and (in comparison to irex at least) cheap. The Formats it supports should be enough for me.
HTML and .txt is enough for my uses at the moment. Books in .lit format can be converted and that just about sums up what you can get as ebook at the moment (well...there is still PDF, but the V8 can handle that as far as I know).

For reading at home and in "controllable environments" I'd like something like the Iliad...bigger screen, better screen (at least if you compare them from the pictures, the Iliad seems to be the "whitest" of the new epaper displays...maybe because the frame is black and not white like the Hanlin's?) and nice features like drawing and taking notes (you can take notes with the handlin too, but I'm not sure how well that works with the slave-display...the little review vids that are floating about don't really go into detail about the slave display...or rather..they just don't show it in action...so no idea....).

The problem is...with those 2 devices I've still got unsolved issues.
First and biggest one is: I can get alarge number of free and commercial books, but if I want to get the newest Terry Pratchett or Robert Jordan, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde or something like that (I think you get the pictures...) I'm probably buggered...best choice there would probably be the sony...but that is one device that is seriously under-featured and over-priced. Of course you don't really need a touchscreen, a calender function, notes, etc...but the Hanlin V8 is cheaper than the Sony will be (as far as we can tell) and has these features...so...well...no deal. :scholar:
The other thing is, that to get a Hanlin device, I'd have to order it from China. No problemo, but first of all i can't even find an "online shop" or anything, then I'd probably have to pay almost as much transport-cost than I'd pay for the device, then customs and import VAT...and probably end up paying well over 300Euro for a device that i'm actually considering since it's the cheapest and weakest (processor and OS wise) device on the market. This is just weird...call that globalization? And what if there is some damage during transport or the device is Dead on Arrival? No end of trouble I'd guess...
:uhoh2:
Well...enough ranting...I'm not sure anymore where I wanted to go with this post...maybe it'll come back to me later and I'll let you know... :bulb2:

Oh by the way...I've taken another look a the V8 manual...not a bad device at all features-wise...I wonder how that 48Mhz processor manages to handle that so well...and what is going to be so different in V2 that it needs 4 times as much processing power...does Linux eat so many resources?

I just downloaded the Wolf-Reader and creator software for pc...the creator works ok for me, but I could not try the book because the Viewer software always pops up an error

"I can't load the resource DLL"

No idea which DLL, it does not say.
i installed, restarted windows and everything, but to no avail...can you sehd some light on this maple? maybe tell me which DLL this could be?
Thanks.

hm...is there any way i can get a sample of v2? ^^;

i am really interested

and i personally think Jinke should release v2 faster...imo releasing v2 late (q3-q4) could make it lose some momentum.
(Sony: q2, iRex: q2)

sorry for posting in here yet again...
Do we have any members from China in here (apart from maple of course)?
Because it would be fairly cool to have someone there who can talk about streetprice in China and maybe do a little review...anyone?

I've got collegues here at the university who hail from China originally...but I'm not so sure whether I'd be able to ask them to "jet over to their original home and pick up a gadget for me..."
^^

I'd love to hear more about the Jinke models, too. The iRex is too bloated for me, plus I cannot afford the $600+ price tag right now.

I could afford it...although it'd eat away most of this month's earnings...but i'd be a bit afraid of taking such an expensive device with me wherever I go...which is an elementary part of books in my opinion...
However..i'm having problems with the wolf-software....wolf printer aborts at 99% and wolf viewer does not work...so maybe that could be a problem.
My windows is not in an optimal state at the moment...so that could be part of the reason.

To CommanderROR

The current version of Wolf printer can't support the PC with 64 bits CPU.
Jinke’s staff are making the improvement of the software, they will release the new version soon.

hi maple, im a little bit confused

Here's Jinke's previous answer to ComanderROR (in other thread):
<Here is their reply:
Thank you for your message.We'd like to answer your questions firstly.
What can you do with the Slave display?
A: The slave display is used for the interactive functions, such as keyboard, search, PDA etc.
Will your device accept Sony Connect-Store Books?
A: No
When will you start selling the V2 in China and when in Germany? Who will distribute the Hanlin V2 in Germany?
A: V2 will be sold in China in June. And the date of releasing in Germany will depend on the situation of our discussion with local agents. Now we’re discussing the business.
The picture of V8 on our Chinese website are all real.And we’ll post the “real life” picture of V8 on our English website soon, thank you for your advice.

and you said "samples" will be available in June....so my question is: are those "samples" for sale?

i sent an email to my uncle in xiamen about hanlin, and he just replied that he couldnt find the device on the electronic market...where can he ask about the device in xiamen?

really cool idea Luag...man I like you... :cool:

I can't answer your question...but maybe your uncle could check the chinese Jinke homepage for the list of "agents" or whatever.
it should be there...but I can't look of course because all i get when I look at the chinese page is question marks and other typo-garbage...and if I didn't get that I'd have alot of pretty chinese symbols and would understand just as much...or little.

But maybe he could try that.

Hi Luag,
Maybe the following link can help your uncle to find the shops.
http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/service/gdsc.asp

alright, i just sent him another email...thank a lot maple :)

but maybe you skipped my previous question for clarification.

again, thanks

Wow maple, its available in Taiwan too? I could have someone bring it in if the Singapore dealer cannot do so soon enough. Any chance a sample can be acquired in Taiwan in the near future?

One more question on the OS:
If I get it from Taiwan, will it contain English or Chinese menus or can I select the language of the menu itself? For the desktop software, can I download the English version later on if needed? Thanks!

well, according to the screenshots from v8's manual pdf, english is available in the language selection menu.

I second that



I always wanted to try that phrase...^^

I wanted to try the Wolf software on my PC before making a decision about the Hanlin e-ink reader. I downloaded this but could not use it because I kept getting "I can't load the resource DLL" error message, I emailed Jinke and I got a reply from someone named "May" asking me to send screen images of the errors. I did this and a couple of days later received another email from "May" to say their technical people had updated their software so It should now work.

However, I downloaded the software again, only to find it was exactly the same as before. It would not work. I had downloaded the software applicable to the "V2 and V8" which you would think was correct. However, I went back to the Jinke site and downloaded the wolf reader applicable to their products S6 and S2+! ( V3.56) and tried this. Lo and behold - it installed and worked perfectly!
I made a few books using the Wolf Maker from HTML and RTF files and then checked them out in the WolF Reader.
I was shocked at how bad they were. All bold and Italics are lost. Centering is retained. But the worst thing is that punctuation is all over the place. Full stops (periods) are often on the next line instead of remaining with the last word of a sentence. The same with some apostrophes. For instance - a word such as "he'd" (short for he had) appeared as "he' ..... with the d on the next line.
It got worse...... the last word on a page was often (not always) repeated again at the top of the next page!
It got even worse when I noticed that not only single words were being repeated on the next page...... but whole groups of words were being repeated.
And even more disheartening..... when I realised that some sentences just didn't seem to make sense..... I checked them out and found that whole words were being missed out altogether.
I don't know if this is being caused by the software not being compatible with WindowsXP or whether their understanding of the English language is lacking.
Whatever, I will not be purchasing this device until I hear some very good hands on reviews about it.

Wow...thats quite disheartening.
My guess is if it wasnt caused by software incompatability...it might be because the software is optimized for chinese characters?

I dont think the S6 and S2+ was ever meant for english market.
(this might be the cause)

Have you tried to install both software, and run the Wolf Maker for v2/v8? or is this exactly what you did? ^^;

Thank you for posting, Sylvia :)

edited.

Hi Moonraker
I’m sure the software can work well now. You can try it again.
http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/English/downloadcenter/index.asp

And I also get the info from Jinke, the current software for V2/V8 is originated from the Chinese Version, they just change the Chinese menu into English menu, it is optimized for Chinese characters. The purpose of the current English version is only for overseas consumers to know the software. And they’re doing the localization work now, and expected to be finished within one to two months. After that, it will display very pretty 4-level grey English fonts (including bold, italic etc.)

Hi Snappy,
V8 can support English and Chinese. At present, there are no agents of V8 in Taiwan.

Hi Luag,
About your previous question, according to Jinke’s market plan, V8 focuses on Chinese market; maybe the releasing date of V2 in Chinese market will be changed. Jinke is discussing the business cooperation with some overseas companies. They will offer the sample of V2 in June.

my uncle just contacted me...and he said he couldnt find any agent in Xiamen, Fujian on the website you gave us. He pointed out he could see agents on smaller cities though, which is odd in my opinion ^^;

and maple, can you please clarify what you mean by samples? is it press / beta tester exclusive?

Thank you Maple for replying to my message. I followed the link you kindly provided and downloaded the new software applicable to the V2 and V8.

This installed ok apart from two error messages telling me that "Locked File Detected"
(msvcp60.dll and mfc42.dll) I clicked on "Ignore" for both of these and the installation completed. After the obligatory rebooting of the machine I was ready to start some testing.

Opening the Wolf Maker, I first selected an .RTF file filled in a couple of details and selected "Make". The book making procedure completed successfully in a few seconds.

I then opened the Wolf Viewer to inspect the .wol book I had just made. The Wolf Viewer has a different appearance to the Wolf Reader that I had previously installed.
The Wolf Reader looked like a digital image of the Hanlin Ebook Reader (very nice) but the Wolf Viewer is just another ordinary grey Windows programme.

I understand what you say about the Viewer being optimized for the Chinese language and very pleased to hear that work is now ongoing to accommodate English.

I was pleased to see that the problem of words at the bottom of one page being repeated again at the top of the next page had disappeared.
I was also pleased to see that paragraph indents were retained.

However, the code for the text formatting needs a great deal of improvement before it will be acceptable to the book-reading community.
Centering is not centred – it is very much off-centre.
No bold and no italics.
Font size is not adjustable. You can only make the font appear to be larger by making the viewing area larger. (Big Book icon).
Em dashes are not represented accurately. An ordinary hyphen is displayed instead. Hyphens should only be used to join compound words together. They should not be used to indicate a sudden change in thought or pause.
Some punctuation is still being separated from the word it belongs to. It seems strange to see question marks ? and speech marks " and apostrophes ' etc. appearing on their own on the next line.
The copyright sign © (Alt + 0169) is not recognised and shows as a ?
The text frequently appears outside of the viewing area — either to the left or below the bottom of the supposed ebook reading area.
Some words are still missing from sentences.

I am now going to do more tests on XHTML and HTML.

Has anyone else tried the Wolf Software? If so, I should be pleased to hear their comments.

Some more tests I have done on .txt, .html and .xhtml

Plain text:
This showed the least amount of errors. English speech mark and capital I ('I) displayed as a Chinese character consistently throughout the book.
Some punctuation still adrift that shouldn't be.
I found no split words or paragraphs during my spot-check.

HTML:
Chinese symbols appearing in place of words containing accents. i.e. bébé

Words split over two lines which should not be. i.e. "You dumb dolt" displayed as
"You dumb dol
t"
Em dashes displaying as Chinese symbols.
Spacing errors particulary just before left speech marks. i.e. Karen said,"the sooner you and Fred… (i.e. no space between the comma and the ")

XHTML:
Chinese symbols appearing in the middle of English words.
Some punctuation adrift.
Chapter headings not displayed above first paragraph but appearing on first line i.e.

VI
Blah blah blah

appeared as:

VIBlah blah blah

I do have the Chinese Simplified font installed on my system. For those that do not I suspect different characters would appear — maybe the ? question mark.

I personally think that Jinke may have damaged the marketing potential of their new e-ink reader by releasing this software to the public in its unready state. I hope not, but I cannot overlook the fact that the Wolf software is unprofessional, unfinished and not befitting this wonderful new technology.

Has anyone else tried the Wolf Software? If so, I should be pleased to hear their comments.

I've tried it. When making wol-book from file (right click on file, make wolf) - everything is so, as you described ((

But there are no problems, when I print from MSWord to Hanlin printer.
Text looks like pdf - fonts, paragraphs, hyphens.

But the file size... About 3,5-7,6MB depending on font size (larger font - more pages).
My test book was 125 A4 pages (font - 10 Times New Roman) - 3,5MB, or 175 A4 pages (font - 12 Times New Roman) - 7,6MB.

Hi,

I have tried one relatively short text file (~50 kb), the software (installed without any problems on first try) did it fast to a ~80 kb Wolf file which looks just great on my screen. Very ease to maneuvre with the buttons included in the viewer. I took a snagit jpg-picture of a page as seen in the Wolf viewer and I include it here as an attachement. I really like how it looks on my screen, if only I could buy one Jinke reade I would do it :).

Liviu



[QUOTE=maple]Hi Moonraker
I’m sure the software can work well now. You can try it again.
http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/English/downloadcenter/index.asp

Moonraker: Not defending or anything, but I guess they simply had to release the software...v8 is officially released in China now. (which of course, is intended for chinese market)

Hi,

I posted the wrong picture of the Jinke reader/viewer since there are two wolf file readers that I downloaded, and it seems that the one that approximates the Jinke V2 is the Wolf viewer while earlier I used Wolf reader which approximates an earlier non e-ink Jinke reader. I include the picture of the same page from the same file (approximately since the pagination is different) with the correct viewer. The problems mentioned by other people appear here. I tried the print option too, however the resulting file while indeed does not have the chinese characters problem, does not display as nicely as this one. So ultimately I think that we really need hands on experience with the actual reader. I am still very interested in Jinke or Sony reader and I hope they become available soon.
Once again sorry for the mistake in my earlier post.

Liviu

however the resulting file while indeed does not have the chinese characters problem, does not display as nicely as this one.


My first attempt (printing from MSWord) was not good enouhg (in Wolf viewer right part of all lines was outside of a paper screen).

But when I checked print properties (in MSword) - there was pointed A4 paper. I changed it to Hanlin paper and everyting became OK. The new test book counts about 370 pages insted of 175 A4.

In the evening I can put printscreen of my testbook.

Moreover, the file size of new well-done test book redused from 7,5 mb to 4,5 mb ))

Moonraker: Not defending or anything, but I guess they simply had to release the software...v8 is officially released in China now. (which of course, is intended for chinese market)


Luag, of course you are correct. V8 software should be available to the Chinese market.
But Jinke did not have to give English access to this software for the V2. I think this was overly generous of them. I would like to see it clearly stated on their website that this software is unfinished for the English market.
I do believe that Jinke have a very good hardware product with the Hanlin e-ink reader. They sound like a nice company and I wish them well. I am seriously considering purchasing the V2 providing they can get the software in up to scratch.

Is there anyone we can contact about availability of V2 and V8 models in the US. A Major SF publisher is interested in bundling content on an e-ink hardware platform but we have been unable to get a reply from anyone about sales into the US.

Thanks

Rick

well...the v8 is for china...so you won't get that I guess...and the V2 should be out in june/july in US, so I guess you'll have to wait.

Maple here on the forums should be able to answer any qustions though...and hanlin have answered all my questions by email in a 24hour timescale...so that should work as well...
how did you try to reach tehm?

I tried the new Hanlin software...it actually works on my computer now...the printer and the reader/creator.
The problem is that the resulting text is not really usable...lines are broken strangely and stuff like that...but I guess they could fix that easily...so there is hope.

I was looking at the V8 manual on Jinke's site (link (http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/upload/download/downres00000049.pdf)) -- it's rather techy about refreshing the images on some pages for some reason, but I was able to bang on it a bit and actually read about 6 of the 14 pages.

I ran across a few interesting items in it on page 3:

The first is a mention and diagram of a "copyright card." I'm wondering what that's about. I don't suppose Maple is still monitoring this thread, but perhaps he's still out there and might explain a bit more. :)

The second is mention of the fact that you can can charge the batt in ~3 hours (unsurprising, as it's a standard cell phone battery, but good to know).

The third is that you can charge said battery from a USB connection (in addition to the standard wall-brick type charger).

That would be nice, not having to carry a charger for your e-reader if you've got your laptop along, or you're going somewhere where you'll have access to a 'puter with a USB port....

Of course, not having to charge the rascal for a week or two at a time would be best, but I'm the sort that will always carry a charger for the 'tronix I take with me on a trip of any length. Just compulsive that way, I suppose. :)

Right now I am just wondering what's happening to the status of the Hanlin reader. It seemed to have disappeared off the radar. No news or updates on its release dates. No new reviews whatsoever. hmmm anyone with updates?

My country's government dole out some funds to everyone across the country recently and it went to a new Sharp Zaurus C1000. hehe ... it would have been a Jinke Hanlin reader if it was available, but oh well ... ;)

It's doing what I want and more. I just wonder when the Hanlin will be out. There might be sufficient funds left to get the Hanlin V8 if not V2 ... :)

Maple, any ideas when it will be ready?

I was told it is a Smart Card similar to a telephone SIM Card. I have asked if it can read any ebooks that have DRM in the western world. My initial feeling is that it does not. The V2 is more open than Sony and less priced than the Iliad so would otherwise be the perfect choice - but no ebooks for an ebook reader is a serious issue. Still....I think I will buy it!

Quote fromk "May" of "Jinke"
The device has a smart card which is similar as SIM card of mobile phone.


I was looking at the V8 manual on Jinke's site (link (http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/upload/download/downres00000049.pdf)) -- it's rather techy about refreshing the images on some pages for some reason, but I was able to bang on it a bit and actually read about 6 of the 14 pages.

I ran across a few interesting items in it on page 3:

The first is a mention and diagram of a "copyright card." I'm wondering what that's about. I don't suppose Maple is still monitoring this thread, but perhaps he's still out there and might explain a bit more. :)

The second is mention of the fact that you can can charge the batt in ~3 hours (unsurprising, as it's a standard cell phone battery, but good to know).

The third is that you can charge said battery from a USB connection (in addition to the standard wall-brick type charger).

That would be nice, not having to carry a charger for your e-reader if you've got your laptop along, or you're going somewhere where you'll have access to a 'puter with a USB port....

Of course, not having to charge the rascal for a week or two at a time would be best, but I'm the sort that will always carry a charger for the 'tronix I take with me on a trip of any length. Just compulsive that way, I suppose. :)

Okay, lets say I buy a V2.

Where can I buy ebooks (latest novels etc) that will work with it?

What other uses could it really be used for that would be practical? :huh: :rolleyes5

Hi friends, long time no see. I got the news that the sample of V2 will be expected to be availalble by the end of June. And I also heard that the v8 got a good market responses. Recently, Jinke will increase the output of V8. And they're talking the business cooperation with some European companies.

Hi maple!
Nice of you to come over here and inform us. This shows us that Jinke cares about it's prospective customers...^^

Thanks.

And they're talking the business cooperation with some European companies.
Wonderful news. Please keep us updated!

Now if you could get an "early sample" of the V2 to Alexander Turcic or one of our other members, we could start making a nice comparison with Henrycat's iRex Iliad...^^

I'd be willing to shoulder that considerable burden ... for the good of the group, of course. :D

Now if you could get an "early sample" of the V2 to Alexander Turcic or one of our other members, we could start making a nice comparison with Henrycat's iRex Iliad...^^
That's actually a very good suggestion! *grin*

Hi friends, long time no see. I got the news that the sample of V2 will be expected to be availalble by the end of June. And I also heard that the v8 got a good market responses. Recently, Jinke will increase the output of V8. And they're talking the business cooperation with some European companies.

Maple, so does it mean I can order a V8 online today and have it shipped to Singapore if I want? :) Thanks for any info.

btw, the v2 and v8 only differ in OS and built-in ram right? The screen and other interfaces are identical I presume. :)

@Snappy I think it does mean that, but maybe you should send a short mail to maple (using jinke.com.cn contact source) with that question. I'm not sure whether he/she is still following this thread.

I just tried the WolfPrinter software provided on the english jinke webstie and it still does not work...damn...I'll have to use one of these because the way iRex behaved about the Iliad launch is really seriously unethical.
I'm not 100% yet, but very probably i'll get the V2...if THAT manages to launch in a reasonable timeframe...

Hi friends, long time no see. I got the news that the sample of V2 will be expected to be availalble by the end of June. And I also heard that the v8 got a good market responses. Recently, Jinke will increase the output of V8. And they're talking the business cooperation with some European companies.


Hi Maple! Good to see you again; I'm still eagerly looking forward to the V2 release in the US.

Can you tell me what it means when you say "samples"? Is that a beta test sort of thing? How soon after the samples can we expect to see models we can buy? Or is it possible to purchase or otherwise get the samples you're talking about?

Thanks!

A reply I just received from jinke after sending them a mail yesterday eveniung:

Dear Roland,

We got your messages. Thank you for your interest in our V2 product.
All the things are done according to our plan.

About business:
Jinke Company is a technical company in China; we only have marketing experience in China. And we have no branches and offices in other countries; therefore we plan to cooperate with local companies for the overseas market. In other words, we provide technology and production, and the local company is in charge of marketing and contents (titles).
The sample of V2 will be definitely released by the end of June. The business negotiation with the local company is still in the process; we haven’t signed the formal contract with them until now.

About technology:
V2 can support “natural reading”, that means, it can directly read PDF, DOC, JPG, TXT and HTML, and even CHM, RAR and GIF formats. Only copy the ebooks to the SD card through USB cable, it can read the ebooks, and do not need convert.
The system can support ROM update; the end user can update some application programs.

Thank you.

I like these guys already. Looks like I'll follow suite and purchase a V2. :) There are a couple of PDF DRM removers online now. So once you've bought you pdf from Amazon it should be possible to strip the file too..

The great thing about Jinke is, that they reply to your mails every time, quickly (24 hours) and actually answer the questions you asked (though they often forget something or misunderstand...) and are always nice and friendly and helpful.

Oh and did I mention that they will be suppyling an SDK with their device?

The problem with the DRM...I have an unusable PDF lying around on my HDD, it is a DRM file, purchase at one of the the several sitest that sell them (not Amazon) and it doesn't work anymore because I formatted my HDD and now I have no idea how to "reactivate" the PDF file.
I tried some kind of DRM remover called Advanced Password Recovery I think, but it said it didn't support this mode of protections...so you can fail at trying to "open" the PDf you own.
Maybe another program could have done the job, but so far I haven't found anything that looks promising.

Try to activate your adobe again, and redownload it from the site you originally have bought it. I have very few drm'ed adobe from a long time ago when I did not know better and when I changed my main e-mail address on which I have that stupid Net passport thingy, and activated my adobe on my tablet after that, I had the same problem of not being able to open the files. However I downloaded directly the files on the tablet and it worked with the new activation. And they still work with the old activation on my main pc...

Liviu



The problem with the DRM...I have an unusable PDF lying around on my HDD, it is a DRM file, purchase at one of the the several sitest that sell them (not Amazon) and it doesn't work anymore because I formatted my HDD and now I have no idea how to "reactivate" the PDF file.
I tried some kind of DRM remover called Advanced Password Recovery I think, but it said it didn't support this mode of protections...so you can fail at trying to "open" the PDf you own.
Maybe another program could have done the job, but so far I haven't found anything that looks promising.

I got another mail from Jinke because I had asked about the meaning of "samples".
samples are apparently not meant for users (as we had correctly assumed) but for the distributors. These can then make translations of the interface or whatever I guess.

Quote: "The sample we called is the product with the final version of hardware; and the general architecture of the software which can not be changed, only the menu and tips need do the localization work.
In principle, the sample only is provided to the parnters but not to to the customers. We promise to provide the sample in June."

So nobody can know when the device will actually go on sale here in Germany for example because they have to finish the software for this market which could be done quickly but could also take a long time.
Getting the device in august would then appear probable, thus putting the V2 on line with the Sony Reader (if the rumour is true) in the US and shortly before the Iliad in Europe (if they stick to September).

I'm getting sick of this. Call me obsessive, but I really wanted one of these devices YESTERDAY, I have gotten used to reading on my PDA now and don't want to go back to paper-boooks again for 3 months to then get back to electronic reading again...and continuing to read on my puny 320x200 (or whatever) screen is probybly not a good idea, especially if you consider how much I sometimes read...
Maybe I should simply go mad...

So nobody can know when the device will actually go on sale here in Germany

As far as I know, It wiil be possible to buy V8 in July. May be still not right in Germany, but you can order it and get it there. )) I doubt, any other device (Sony, Irex) will be available by July. (((

we're talking about the V2 model here TaKir...the V8 is not going to be available in the western world (US and Central Europe)

the V8 is not going to be available in the western world (US and Central Europe)

Oh, really? :D
I know people from Germany, US, Canada, Israel and so on, who has ordered V8, and wiil get it in a month ;) But if you pay attention only to official info, but not the facts - it's up to you ;)

interesting indeed...but somehow i'd like to get the V2 model with it's linux OS and better hardware...althoug a really cheap deal on the V8 could make me change my mind...
I'd then use the V8 as an interim device and wait for the next generation of ereaders to get one with all the features I want and some on top then..^^

i'd like to get the V2 ... ...althoug a really cheap deal on the V8 could make me change my mind...
:D

No devices - is bad
One device - no choice
More then one device - a problem of a choice...
Difficult decision ;)

make a convincing review TaKir....maybe you'll have some german customers then...^^

So nobody can know when the device will actually go on sale here in Germany for example because they have to finish the software for this market which could be done quickly but could also take a long time.
Getting the device in august would then appear probable, thus putting the V2 on line with the Sony Reader (if the rumour is true) in the US and shortly before the Iliad in Europe (if they stick to September).



What worries me about this turn of events is that it's quite possible there will be no distributors lined up for certain markets. I can imagine no company wanting to put in effort to localize a reader in order to go up against Sony and Philips in the US and Europe, for example.

It also seems to indicate that the pricing is wholesale pricing, and that distributors will then be adding a certain amount above and beyond the quoted price, making it a less attractive option :-(

I'm with you, Commander, I wanted one of these a year ago. I am standing here money in hand, waiting for someone to take it and give me a device. It's getting frustrating!

I hope somebody gets the work done before I start spending the money for something else...

The fact that the V8 is starting to appear in russia in an "adapted" version is a good sign and maybe enough to let us hope that the Hanlin V2 will actually make it to the european and US market.

Oh, really? :D
I know people from Germany, US, Canada, Israel and so on, who has ordered V8, and wiil get it in a month ;) But if you pay attention only to official info, but not the facts - it's up to you ;)

So how did they order it? I cannot seem to find any ordering info anywhere. :(

According to my experience , If you live in China, you can go to any Hanlin's agent to buy V8 directly . if no agent or oversea , send email to marketing@jinke.com.cn to order it.

ic ... sending email to them now ... *twiddle thumbs*

I was wondering if there has been a distributer lined up for the UK? Is there anyway of finding out potential distributers? If there is I would love to know so I can get my pre-order/Enquiry for pre-order for the V2 as soon as possible (The more of us that do this the more likely the device is picked up by the distributer)
Oh, and how about us Mobileread forumites arranging a pre-shipment? Since the reason I chose the V2 over the other competing devices is purely the way the company has been communicative here on these boards...thoughts...?

Well ... after a few emails ... they got back to me with the price. The shipping is a bit hefty for EMS US$60! *gasp*

So the v8 would cost $359 /w shipping! *yikes* ... compare that with an exporter/reseller like pricejapan ships their zaurus from Japan via EMS for only Y3000 (26.4932 USD) ... is it that expensive to ship via EMS from China??

Hi,

If you get one of those can you let us know how it feels to use it. I am looking forward to try an eink but with the Sony reader delayed, I would not mind getting an Jinke if people who use it like it. This is how I got my Nokia based on good reviews from regular users (with all due respect, professional reviewers ultimately do not really care about how the "device" feels, so while you can get an idea about pro's and con's from them, I put far more credence in a regular user's experiences).

Liviu


Well ... after a few emails ... they got back to me with the price. The shipping is a bit hefty for EMS US$60! *gasp*

So the v8 would cost $359 /w shipping! *yikes* ... compare that with an exporter/reseller like pricejapan ships their zaurus from Japan via EMS for only Y3000 (26.4932 USD) ... is it that expensive to ship via EMS from China??

I'm pondering over the $359 pricetag right now ... granted its way cheaper than an iLiad ... but not that much cheaper. hmmm

dum dee dum

well, its half the price. i'd say thats alot cheaper. But its about the same as the sony will be, and that looks much better.

I don't know how to write a review of Jinke V8, but I can answer your questions about this device here.
English isn't my native language, so be indulgently ))

Is the V8 as open as the hope for the V2 is? I've decided i don't want an ebookwise 1150... but i'm burning for something... i can probably wait... but only probably.

To Xsavior:
Jinke offers sdk with V2, almost "out of box", but not with V8. Yet...

@TaKir

How well does the wolf conversion software work at the moment?
I tried it a while ago, and it just couldn't handle english text at all and the wolf printer didn't even work with my "western" version of Windows XP

Can you tell us (show us with pictures) how well it handles PDF? (these have to be converted...)

2 CommanderROR
It works quite good. I have no problems to convert doc, rtf, pdf, txt, html at my XP system.
Also Jinke reads txt, html as is, with no conversion.

For doc, rtf you can use right click at file ----> make wolf. It is faster, but uses system Jinke font. If you print from word, you can use any font installed, format as you want and so on.

Right now I've made .wol book from Jinke V8 User manual. Just opened pdf file, choosed Hanlin printer, paper properties, fit to page and printed it ))

Pdf from here
http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/upload/download/downres00000049.pdf

Here is a scan of Jinke screen with a pdf page (200 ppi).

Thanks TaKir.

I'm not sure, but I think the wolf printer/creator you used creates "pictures" of the pages?
A PDF containing lots of text would then not be reflowable...right?
The problem is, that a PDF ebook for PC could become unreadable due to small font-size if it's simply converted to "page-pictures"

Is this the case with the Wolf converter for V8?

I can also see "half-images" on the scrren of your "scan" and some very strange "grainy" resolution in the graphical elements...is this due to scanning?

I am really confused with the price now, the price of V8 is RMB 3480 ( around $430) according to a very reliable e-book seller? they also provided a very good review of V8(http://www.baizhan.com.cn/index.php?showtopic=62205). But the price showed here is $359 plus $60 shipping, maybe I should order thru e-mail instead of getting one directly from china market ?

Yes, i noticed the "ghost" images in the background also... i wonder if it's an artifact of the screen refresh taht maybe normal eyse in normal light wouldn't notice, but the scanner does? I'm hoping youwouldn't see it in normal light:)

There are some "gosts" sometimes, Sony Librie has them too.
I don't care of them. ))
When you read, you pay attention to the text, and in couple of pages you simply do not see them. It is checked by people, who tried to read from e-ink (Sony or Jinke).
There are 2 "ways" to refresh screen - slow (no "gosts" at all) and quick - sometimes "gosts" are present.

2 CommanderROR
"some very strange "grainy" resolution in the graphical elements...is this due to scanning?"

I think it is because images are 20x30 mm or smaller (print resolution) in this pdf. ))
If you print this pdf with your printer, you'll see normal text and bad-printed pictures...

Just forgot to say, it's not quite right to watch e-ink pictures (or scans) on monitors - e-ink has ~0.15 mm dot pitch and typical monitor ~0.28 mm dot pitch... You cann't compare them correct.

I am really confused with the price now, the price of V8 is RMB 3480 ( around $430) according to a very reliable e-book seller? they also provided a very good review of V8(http://www.baizhan.com.cn/index.php?showtopic=62205). But the price showed here is $359 plus $60 shipping, maybe I should order thru e-mail instead of getting one directly from china market ?

The price is $359 ($299 + $60) direct from jinke. At least that's the quote I got. Still wondering if I should get it or wait for V2. :rolleyes5

@TaKir
That would indicate that the V8 uses "old" eink panels because all the ones produced now are "ghost-free".

@Snappy that would seem to be correct since the price Jinke shows on the homepage is the same

2 CommanderROR
Jinke uses absolutely the same eink panel as in new Sony Reader.
Jinke and new Sony screens differ from old Libries' screen.

@TaKir

Does the V8 do an "invert" when it changes pictures? (screen goes completely black)

2 CommanderROR
Yes, it has inversion while changing page, but screen doesn't become absolutely black, it makes real inversion (as I can see) - white text on black background.

By the way, I made a wolf book with inverted text and background - it looks very good.

PS about pdf - the book file, picture from which I've posted here, was in 2 times smaller, than a source pdf. I think I should check my print details in Acrobat...

Here is the same pdf printed to .wolf file from Acrobat with "tile all pages" option, and in lanscape orientation.

Takir,

What's the second screen that allows input like?
Can you create a blank document and use handwriting to make notes?

2 THJahar:
The second screen is mostly for operating with options of a book (settings, calendar, date&time, mp3, system sound, menu language) and so on.

There is a stylus in V8, but yu can use what you want for input (pen, matches, fingers etc.)

But it also has a simple "paintbrush", so you can use handwriting to draw and make notes.

But as a beta-tester )), I use localized version of OS and software, so I still cann't save theese notes and drawings. I can only put them to the main screen. Save button doesn't work in my software version.
I have no idea, if I would be able to save them using chinese software out of a box...

Since the Chinese version has been on the market since january, I think this should work. Why it doesn't work in a localized version is unclear to me...all they do is translate the Os isn't it?

maybe nobody translated the save button yet ;)

- Translation of OS
- Changes in UI
- Changes in HTML, TXT, Wolf viewer
- New font tables..
other changes... i'm not a programmer, can be mistaken...

The price is $359 ($299 + $60) direct from jinke. At least that's the quote I got. Still wondering if I should get it or wait for V2. :rolleyes5
Thank you for your information, and one last question, how did you get the quote from jinke, just contact them by the e-mail? if the price is only $299, which is almost $130 less than the price we can get in china, I will definitely go ahead order this...

@TaKir

Could you perhaps send me a link to the software you use for converting your files to .wol? The version from the Jinke Homepage is incompatible with my windows version (XP Pro) and never completes the conversion/printing.
Also, can you tell us how you receive firmware updates and how often?
Thanks.

Oh, and is the WOLF file you get if you convert from .doc or .pdf still scaleable (zoomable) and can you show us pics of the zooming process?
I have a couple of non-reflowable old PDF e-books and they just don't work properly on my PDA PDF viewer. Henrycat's Iliad seemed to handle the example file I sent just fine, I'd love to see how it looks on the V8!

I'll put a download link up if you'd be willing to try this for me.

One thing i'm a bit worried about is the slow processor...the Sony, Iliad and V2 all have 200+ Mhz and are pretty slow sometimes when it comes to loading files (like pdf files on the iliad with 400Mhz) so I'm really wondering how that puny little calculator thingy hadles that...

Sorry for posting again...^^

I just did a quick conversion...the Hanlin V2 would be about 290€...now look how many you could buy for one Iliad...

I'm not sure...are the 60$ shipping for Germany as well? And would I have to pay Import VAT and Customs? I think computers are free, but I'm not sure...that would add 16% or more to the price, so it would be slightly less tempting...but i'm waiting what will happen with the V2 first.
I really hope I can get one of those Samples...english is good enough..i don't need a "perfect" localization...but Jinke is not too good at english if you look at the website..^^

2 CommanderROR
Now I use WOLF Printer V2.1 from here:
http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/upload/download/downres00000047.rar
I had no problems with setup.
It works like virtual (for example Acrobat) pinter. You choose paper size, hanlin printer font size 14-16 (16 for me is more comfortable) and print your doc, rtf, pdf, etc. files.

Then you will be asked for a book name, author, image for a cover and a file name.

File name can differ from book name. I use cyrillic caracters for book name and english for a file name. All process takes ~5 minutes for a standart p-book (A5, 500+pages). File size ~7mb.
For these .wol files zoom is not working yet.

If you want, you can make .wol books from html or txt files. Just choose a file, right click mouse---> make wolf. +file name, author, cover and date. This process is much faster, then printing from msword. Takes ~minute.
In these books you can use zoom (x2).

Also zoom is available in native html and txt files.

About slow processor )) I see no difference opening txt, html, (500-800kb) and wolf books (7-8mb). Jinke opens them very fast. Just press button, quickly say "one-two" - you can read your book )))

About software - I got my Jinke (end of May) with Cyrillic+English os and software pre-installed. After that I updated it two times. I get updates from a seller by mail.
It takes two minutes to update a reader.

Thank you TaKir

I tried the 2.1 printer and it always quits at 99% or something. I asked Jinke about this and they told me that this is a known problem with "western" Windows versions.

I tried the Book synchro software just now andt hat seems to work ok...but it simulates the s1 and s2 8or whatever they are called) instead of V2/V8

And I just noticed that it doesn't support PDF...so no way to convert that. It also is a bit bugy on my system, but in principle it works.

but it simulates the s1 and s2 8or whatever they are called) instead of V2/V8

It works with V2/V8 ok. Forget of S or something... :D

I'm afraid it uses very low resolution and displays little text per page...maybe there are settings to change that...I'll try...but it doesn't do pdf...

I'm afraid it uses very low resolution and displays little text per page...maybe there are settings to change that...I'll try...but it doesn't do pdf...

I make books with caracters = 16pt. Hanlin page size is ~150x200mm. Do not know why )) But everything is ok. Believe me ))
I have a photo as you asked for. It shows my Nec LCD, handy, Jinke and a p-book. (right now I have no pda to compare screens).

But this photo is 2mb - have no idea, where I can publish it... Will put here a small copy.

P-book is A5 (~44 lines with ~55 caracters in a line - 2400 caracters per page).
At Jinke I can use ~35 lines with ~60 caracters in a line - 2100 caracters per page)

When I make a book in msword, I make margins = 2-3mm. In wolf viewer it looks very different.
Just need two-three times to try different settings (fonts, margins, etc) to get a result which you will like at Jinke.

File size is ~800kb!

Thanks you TaKir...that was very helpful!