Any Jan Firmware?

[erosco]

I guess there's a natural lull after the CES pace, but I'm still hoping to see a Jan firmware... and the announcements Robert was talking about last week!

[Acreo Aeneas]

Doesn't look like it. Unless Rob's announcement is a new firmware. Whatever the announcement turns out to be, I think it'll happen next month at this rate.

[aegeus]

I am very much frustrated about the new firmwares.

I believe that we will not get any new firmware update more than one or two for our devices. The reason for this is, the e-book device technology is booming with color screens and wireless connections and touch screens etc. Therefore Jinke has to come with new devices which support these new features in order to compete in the market, which I believe is a hard and expensive job to do. They have put their employees and experts on the new models that will attract the customers.

So, to use some of this valuable expert time without employing new people to an older model, which works at 70 to 80% is a big waste of time and energy. I think Jinke will not give us more support for this device and will drive us to the new models to make more money, which will have many of the features we request. Otherwise, there are dozens of good advices in these forums under many topics and I am sure RobertB has taken note of them carefully. So the company knows exactly what the customer wants. But they will not do it. That's why we'll have to few new firmwares from now on.

If only we had some talented geeks or "hackers" to play with this device and bring us custom firmwares.

Regards.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by aegeus

I am very much frustrated about the new firmwares.

I believe that we will not get any new firmware update more than one or two for our devices. The reason for this is, the e-book device technology is booming with color screens and wireless connections and touch screens etc. Therefore Jinke has to come with new devices which support these new features in order to compete in the market, which I believe is a hard and expensive job to do. They have put their employees and experts on the new models that will attract the customers.

So, to use some of this valuable expert time without employing new people to an older model, which works at 70 to 80% is a big waste of time and energy. I think Jinke will not give us more support for this device and will drive us to the new models to make more money, which will have many of the features we request. Otherwise, there are dozens of good advices in these forums under many topics and I am sure RobertB has taken note of them carefully. So the company knows exactly what the customer wants. But they will not do it. That's why we'll have to few new firmwares from now on.

If only we had some talented geeks or "hackers" to play with this device and bring us custom firmwares.

Regards.

I talked to Jinke at CES and there is no indication that they are abandoning either the V3 or the V5. Just because you don't get a firmware update every month does not mean they have abandoned you. You get frustrated pretty easy.

Dale

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by aegeus

I am very much frustrated about the new firmwares.

I believe that we will not get any new firmware update more than one or two for our devices. The reason for this is, the e-book device technology is booming with color screens and wireless connections and touch screens etc. Therefore Jinke has to come with new devices which support these new features in order to compete in the market, which I believe is a hard and expensive job to do. They have put their employees and experts on the new models that will attract the customers. Regards.

When/if they make the decision to do this, they should release the source so we can maintain it ourselves.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by aegeus

I am very much frustrated about the new firmwares.

I believe that we will not get any new firmware update more than one or two for our devices. The reason for this is, the e-book device technology is booming with color screens and wireless connections and touch screens etc. Therefore Jinke has to come with new devices which support these new features in order to compete in the market, which I believe is a hard and expensive job to do. They have put their employees and experts on the new models that will attract the customers.

So, to use some of this valuable expert time without employing new people to an older model, which works at 70 to 80% is a big waste of time and energy. I think Jinke will not give us more support for this device and will drive us to the new models to make more money, which will have many of the features we request. Otherwise, there are dozens of good advices in these forums under many topics and I am sure RobertB has taken note of them carefully. So the company knows exactly what the customer wants. But they will not do it. That's why we'll have to few new firmwares from now on.

If only we had some talented geeks or "hackers" to play with this device and bring us custom firmwares.

Regards.

Dear All:

Jinke is still hard at work but, yes, CES slowed things down a bit.

There are more firmware upgrades in the hopper; and zero indication anything is being put off. You have to remember that firmware upgrades are not supposed to me monthly. They come when enough changes have been engineered. I know they are working on the dictionary and that is not so easy to do right.

You are getting frustrated, my friend, over them missing a schedule that was never scheduled. They come out when they are ready. We have just been fortunate to have them about once a month in the past.

There is no falling off for the desire to make better!

[Acreo Aeneas]

Rob and others have it down. FW upgrades really don't have a set schedule for release. The updates I feel are regular enough as is. Too many, too often just leads to more confusion, more work, and too many small changes.

[Javed]

Originally Posted by Robertb

You are getting frustrated, my friend, over them missing a schedule that was never scheduled. They come out when they are ready. We have just been fortunate to have them about once a month in the past.!

Yes, Astak have never said we will get a firmware update every month. I support Robert's statement on this. They just come when they are ready to be released and this is quite reasonable and understandable. Personally, I would rather a good result than a rushed and buggy result. Sometimes good things take time!

Originally Posted by Robertb

I know they are working on the dictionary and that is not so easy to do right.

This is excellent news that this is in development, thank you!

[aegeus]

Thanks for the answer and comments.

I would be very happy to be wrong on this subject and I hope your thoughts are correct. Because I feel like we have bought a very basic device for an e-book reader; the technology in this field is rapidly developing and our devices will be very old just a few months later; without new firmwares it's obvious that we'll have difficulties in the future especially about the drm formats.

Hoping to be wrong again

Regards.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by aegeus

Because I feel like we have bought a very basic device for an e-book reader; the technology in this field is rapidly developing and our devices will be very old just a few months later; without new firmwares it's obvious that we'll have difficulties in the future especially about the drm formats.

How would you say they are basic devices?

[aegeus]

I would say it very easily

My opinion is that although capable of handling many formats and having many features compared to it's rivals; our device does not even have a full keyboard! Just think how hard we will be using the dictionary function after it has been added to our device.

Don't get me wrong; I love my device and use it a lot; but it doesn't make me forget it's lacking parts. I am pretty sure next time this year we will be talking about color screens, touch screens, full keyboards, connection types of the device (wi-fi, gsm etc.) integration with bookstores etc. I believe that this development speed in e-book readers is very rapid, compared to similar products (like for example mp3 players)

I believe that our devices are first and good premature examples of e-book readers. If we can not get more firmware updates and new features till next year; our device will look like a gray screen calculator compared to upcoming new products. I just don't want to have an outdated reader next year, which is a short period I think for this product.

There's still a lot to add to our device which can easily be seen from the suggestions and I know that I shouldn't be eager to get a new firmware each month; however I just don't want to stay with an "damped" device.

Regards.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

How would you say they are basic devices?

I agree with (mostly) basic device, which is exactly what I wanted

It does not surf the Web.
It does not play Games.
It does not make Phone calls.
It does not take pictures.
It does not double as a Remote for my Home Theatre
It does not serve as an emergency flashlight (torch)

It just allows document reading (visual and voice)

(OK,... and simple tune/audio book playing)
If I had wanted the other stuff in an all-in-one, I would have bought a Tablet PC

[Acreo Aeneas]

These devices are mainly used for reading. If I wanted to surf the web, make a phone call, and do all these other things, there are a number of convergent devices out there (like the iPhone/iPod Touch) that I could buy into.

As far as aegeus's concern for DRM, don't be. The industry is already learning its lesson about DRM. We'll soon only have to deal with it on some titles and probably only be for ePUBs/ADEs.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by aegeus

I would say it very easily

My opinion is that although capable of handling many formats and having many features compared to it's rivals; our device does not even have a full keyboard! Just think how hard we will be using the dictionary function after it has been added to our device.

Don't get me wrong; I love my device and use it a lot; but it doesn't make me forget it's lacking parts. I am pretty sure next time this year we will be talking about color screens, touch screens, full keyboards, connection types of the device (wi-fi, gsm etc.) integration with bookstores etc. I believe that this development speed in e-book readers is very rapid, compared to similar products (like for example mp3 players)

I believe that our devices are first and good premature examples of e-book readers. If we can not get more firmware updates and new features till next year; our device will look like a gray screen calculator compared to upcoming new products. I just don't want to have an outdated reader next year, which is a short period I think for this product.

There's still a lot to add to our device which can easily be seen from the suggestions and I know that I shouldn't be eager to get a new firmware each month; however I just don't want to stay with an "damped" device.

Regards.

Dear Aegeus:

I agree with you that the industry is growing and new things will come. However, from my eye on the industry, what will come will cost a lot of bucks.

First off, Touchscreen can raise the price by $80-$90. AND... many touchscreens (witness the new Sony PRS-900BC at $549) are NOT at all clear (you lose about 35% in resolution clarity. New crystal clear touchscreens are coming... but not quite yet.

Color E-Ink screens are still Q2 or Q3 of this year and so far the color I have seen is nothing to rave about. Plus, eBooks are in black and white for almost all of them.

Wi-Fi is great and Astak will soon have this... but it can add $20.
3G can be a nightmare. The module alone costs about $85 and that is without the plan.

NONE of these are Firmware Upgrades. They mean buying a new device IF you want to get that.

I do not think of the Pocket PRO as at all "basic". Lacking 3g and color screens and touchscreen can be just fine. At $199, the Pocket PRO is a bargain. Like I illustrated with the Sony PRS-900BC... it costs $549. Are you dying to pay that for a device that has a sealed-in battery?

I guess it is a matter of semantics: but I never look at the Pocket PRO as a "basic" in any way. Will the Pocket PRO go away in popularity because of new devices. I strongly doubt it. The vast majority of people want an eBook Reader for less than $230... and they hope that will drop. I think you will see the Pocket PRO as exceedingly ideal for eBook Reading for a number of years!

[basschick]

i bought myself a dedicated ebook reader BECAUSE it was simple, didn't hurt my eyes like other kinds of screens, and kept my house from filling even further with books. i have no interest in color, bells and whistles, wireless (i could have bought a kindle - i didn't), and i don't want a touch screen. i absolutely don't and didn't want any of that on my readers, and a lot of people who own and use ebook readers feel the same. we may buy a colorful toy like the ipad, but for a lot of us, it won't be used as a reader.

i bought my husband a pocket pro because it is simple, which means focused on reading, and because i like the features and the reader. to me, that's as good as it gets. let our other computers, cell phones, etc, provide the rest, but ebook readers are the best to me when it comes to actually reading.

btw, i think it was well over a year between firmware updates at bookeen - i'd say astak is doing much better than that.

Originally Posted by aegeus

I am very much frustrated about the new firmwares.

I believe that we will not get any new firmware update more than one or two for our devices. The reason for this is, the e-book device technology is booming with color screens and wireless connections and touch screens etc. Therefore Jinke has to come with new devices which support these new features in order to compete in the market, which I believe is a hard and expensive job to do. They have put their employees and experts on the new models that will attract the customers.

So, to use some of this valuable expert time without employing new people to an older model, which works at 70 to 80% is a big waste of time and energy. I think Jinke will not give us more support for this device and will drive us to the new models to make more money, which will have many of the features we request. Otherwise, there are dozens of good advices in these forums under many topics and I am sure RobertB has taken note of them carefully. So the company knows exactly what the customer wants. But they will not do it. That's why we'll have to few new firmwares from now on.

If only we had some talented geeks or "hackers" to play with this device and bring us custom firmwares.

Regards.