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greenwavelet · 09-01-2014, 10:05 AM

It's too much of a coincidence that all the 8" readers (i86, Bookeen Ocean, PocketBook InkPad, Texet TB-418FL -- I've seen no mention of it since April, so doesn't look like it ever sold outside Russian) keep getting delayed repeatedly...

Earlier this year, I was thinking of buying the Icarus 8; there were very few places that actually had it in stock, and the Icarus site didn't mention it in the Products section, although the support docs were available. I wrote them, and they replied they had discontinued it because of not having a backlight (at the time, it had been on the market less than 6 months), but will have a new model with backlight in 2015. (IIRC, some previous Icarus models were rebadged Onyxes, which is why this is relevant). A couple of weeks days later, the Icarus was no longer available at any store I checked in Europe.

I'm starting to think that all these vendors don't see enough demand for 8" devices, for whatever reason, so they keep postponing.

I don't see another reason for all the delays -- readers are fairly simple devices, both HW- and software-wise, and apart from the screen, the components are all well established and not top-of-the-line; there have been very few really new features since the original Kindle popularized the category, so designing a new one is mostly iteration on previous products.

This is a shame, since I really want an 8" reader -- it needn't be much larger than my current 6" Kindle Keyboard -- which would be my ideal form factor for reading fiction. I very strongly prefer e-ink / equivalent display tech to LCDs (I also live in a very sunny locale, so LCDs are simply not legible outside), but if a decent 8" isn't actually being sold very soon, I'll probably give up and buy one of the very many inexpensive android tablets instead...

09-01-2014, 10:05 AM	#79
greenwavelet Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 196 Join Date: Jun 2014 Device: Acer Iconia A1 830, Kindle Kybd	I'm seeing a pattern It's too much of a coincidence that all the 8" readers (i86, Bookeen Ocean, PocketBook InkPad, Texet TB-418FL -- I've seen no mention of it since April, so doesn't look like it ever sold outside Russian) keep getting delayed repeatedly... Earlier this year, I was thinking of buying the Icarus 8; there were very few places that actually had it in stock, and the Icarus site didn't mention it in the Products section, although the support docs were available. I wrote them, and they replied they had discontinued it because of not having a backlight (at the time, it had been on the market less than 6 months), but will have a new model with backlight in 2015. (IIRC, some previous Icarus models were rebadged Onyxes, which is why this is relevant). A couple of weeks days later, the Icarus was no longer available at any store I checked in Europe. I'm starting to think that all these vendors don't see enough demand for 8" devices, for whatever reason, so they keep postponing. I don't see another reason for all the delays -- readers are fairly simple devices, both HW- and software-wise, and apart from the screen, the components are all well established and not top-of-the-line; there have been very few really new features since the original Kindle popularized the category, so designing a new one is mostly iteration on previous products. This is a shame, since I really want an 8" reader -- it needn't be much larger than my current 6" Kindle Keyboard -- which would be my ideal form factor for reading fiction. I very strongly prefer e-ink / equivalent display tech to LCDs (I also live in a very sunny locale, so LCDs are simply not legible outside), but if a decent 8" isn't actually being sold very soon, I'll probably give up and buy one of the very many inexpensive android tablets instead...