Sony reveals prototype 13.3-inch e-ink slate with stylus

[MrPLD]

xhacker,

If it has the microUSB, and if it's capable as a host mode, then it'd be interesting to see if plugging in a USB hub would then let you plug in a keyboard. Given the underlying Linux OS it shouldn't have any troubles with that. You might need an OTG adapter cable (I've got a few here, usually you plug them in the phones to let you connect external devices).

My interest is for my wife, who has a particular vision issue which makes working on transmissive screens quite difficult ( and painful ), but eInk/passives are fine. Right now she bashes out her novels on an old IBM M keyboard, so as you can imagine dropping down to a touch-screen-keyboard wouldn't quite work out

[kaiser s]

Hi xhacker,

I'm so jealous you got your hands on a US version! Thanks for sharing your initial impressions of the device.

May I ask how you were able to purchase? From what I understand many here have trouble buying one due to Sony's limited release to the business market, mainly lawyers and bankers. I certainly hope they would sell to a med student.

[xhacker]

You know more about this than me, you might well find a method to get an external keyboard running. That would be a fun project, but I don't have time to pursue it myself sadly.

I purchased one through worldox, Sony had to give the green light. I suspect it will become easier to buy one in future as supply increases.

[kaiser s]

Thanks for the info! I've sent them an e-mail regarding my intent to purchase. I just hope it gets approved and they have enough stock on hand.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by xhacker

You know more about this than me, you might well find a method to get an external keyboard running. That would be a fun project, but I don't have time to pursue it myself sadly.

I purchased one through worldox, Sony had to give the green light. I suspect it will become easier to buy one in future as supply increases.

Did you need to provide some specific qualifications in order to purchase a single unit?

[kaiser s]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Did you need to provide some specific qualifications in order to purchase a single unit?

I just received a reply from Worldox. They will ask whether you belong to any of the industries below, and if not, to specify.

Law Firm
Legal Department
Financial Institution
Medical
Higher Education

Since they're giving the option to specify, this could very well mean they're open to selling to other industries. As of now I'm not sure whether they'll be asking for any proof on my end. I'll post an update when I get a reply.

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by xhacker

I have found myself usually just hand writing on this as it's faster and more natural.

I am very interested in this functionality (as well as reading and annotating PDFs). What can you do with the handwritten notes? How are they exported? Can they be exported?

Thanks.

[rem736]

xhacker,

i just went to the worldox website and it mentions that if you want to sync documents and notes, that worldox file cloud is required. does this mean that you can't transfer files to the unit by connecting a usb cable to your computer?

thanks for sharing this info.

[xhacker]

For annotation you have some options. You can write directly on a pdf whatever you scribble appears to display very well (you have red or blue and thin or thick pencils) on the Mac using preview and on windows with adobe reader, (they don't display on my iPhone but that's fine). You can also add a sticky note and write with the keyboard which displays fine when transferred, or add a hand written sticky note which does not display on mac or windows. The other annotation options is highlighting which works fine too.

If you don't want to annotate a pdf but write a clean document you can write a "note" which generates a blank 10 page pdf document containing whatever you scribble down, this displays fine on everything I've tried.

You can transfer files with the provided USB cable, but auto syncing wirelessly to a network drive is much nicer when you have students constantly changing files!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by xhacker

For annotation you have some options. You can write directly on a pdf whatever you scribble appears to display very well (you have red or blue and thin or thick pencils)

Red and blue? This is a black and white device, is it not? Or do you mean that you can select annotation colours which appear when you export the PDF to a colour device?

[Jmirko]

We have all been puzzled by Sony limiting sales of the DPT-S1 to certain professions and asking a very high price. I have been trying to come up with a plausible explanation for this, but not sure I succeeded:
1. They have supply constraints (e.g. E-ink cannot manufacture enough screens) and want to sell the available units to markets which are promising in the long term (e.g. law firms using the device as a work tool will probably move on to the next model instead of switching to the competition, even if it's cheaper).
2. They have some quality concerns (e.g. longevity of the Mobius screen) and want to limit their exposure to a small, controlled group of users in order to collect feedback and avoid damaging the brand on a wider scale.
3. They are simply trying to maximise their profit by keeping prices high, knowing that the competition will also have high production costs (as Sony is probably receiving royalties from E-Ink for each screen sold) and therefore high prices. (This does not explain the supply constraint though.)

To be honest, I don't think any of these are particularly plausible, except maybe 1. What do you think? Does anybody have a better explanation?

[coloraday]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Or do you mean that you can select annotation colours which appear when you export the PDF to a colour device?

Yes, that's correct.

[Kumabjorn]

They ran a substantial trial on Japanese universities in order to get feedback, so I think they have what they need. It is probably something as simple as it was developed by the Business Solutions Group and not the Consumer Electronics Group.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Jmirko

We have all been puzzled by Sony limiting sales of the DPT-S1 to certain professions and asking a very high price. I have been trying to come up with a plausible explanation for this, but not sure I succeeded:
1. They have supply constraints (e.g. E-ink cannot manufacture enough screens) and want to sell the available units to markets which are promising in the long term (e.g. law firms using the device as a work tool will probably move on to the next model instead of switching to the competition, even if it's cheaper).
2. They have some quality concerns (e.g. longevity of the Mobius screen) and want to limit their exposure to a small, controlled group of users in order to collect feedback and avoid damaging the brand on a wider scale.
3. They are simply trying to maximise their profit by keeping prices high, knowing that the competition will also have high production costs (as Sony is probably receiving royalties from E-Ink for each screen sold) and therefore high prices. (This does not explain the supply constraint though.)

To be honest, I don't think any of these are particularly plausible, except maybe 1. What do you think? Does anybody have a better explanation?

The production line may still be small and experimental, limiting the supply. I wonder if the market is too small to justify the cost of going to a larger, more efficient production line? As to keeping out of the consumer market, I vaguely recall that they had some kind of back-end server software available for distributing the edited documents, and they probably want to sell that along with the limited supply of physical devices.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by Jmirko

We have all been puzzled by Sony limiting sales of the DPT-S1 to certain professions and asking a very high price.

Also not being very responsive to individual queries about the device.

To be honest, I don't think any of these are particularly plausible, except maybe 1. What do you think? Does anybody have a better explanation?

To me it's fairly clear that they are targetting the device at businesses or educational establishments but not individual consumers. EInk devices are already competing with tablets and phones and larger devices are a niche within that. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd decided that the consumer market is just not worth going after. You can charge more selling to businesses, you avoid certain costs and you're hopefully dealing with orders of multiple units (possibly hundreds or thousands at a time).

But I could be wrong. Maybe they were just starting off with the business side until the product was proven. Given the current bigger picture at Sony though I suspect there'll be little appetite for a big consumer push either way.