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CommanderROR · 06-21-2006, 09:32 AM

I'll try to explain from the facts that I know:

The V8 is a rather weak device when it comes to hardware specs. It was made with only book-usage in mind. It has a proprietary OS and little room for additional software. There is no SDK at the moment, however, informed sources (TaKir and LVD) told me that there might be a SDK for the V8 soon.
The V8 was made for the Chinese market only, thus making it ill-suited for non-chinese countries due to different page-layout, formatting and fonts.
Some Russian (Ukraine?) folks have secured the rights for marketing the V8 in their region with an adapted Software, better suited for cyrillic fonts and also better suited for european layout. This is a work in Progress.

The V2 is a higher-specced device with many of the same features as the V8, but with a faster processor, more RAM, more ROM and a LINUX OS. It is targeted at the European/American market. However, the V2 is still not quite done. The Hardware with some kind of (possibly) unfinished Linux OS is supposed to start shipping to selected Distribution Partners around the world by the end of June (=pretty soon). Jinke says this is "guaranteed". Let's hope so. The local partners will then start to adapt the device for the market it is supposed to sell in. Jinke is apparently also looking into contracts with publishers. The V2 could be a really good device, it's open Linux OS should make it easier for folks to develop software for it and the included SDK should also help a lot there.
The price for the V2 is targeted at 349$, a reasonable price. We don't know however, how much the "distributors" around the world are actually going to charge. Also, the timeframe for the adaptation of the V2 for the different EU and US markets are not really forseeable and the quality of the OS and the SDK are not really guaranteed. LVD has already questioned the capability of the Chinese Linux Programmers.

I can't say more or be more precise.

If the V8 progresses far enough software-wise to display english/german? text without problems, then it'll be enough for people seeking a device that is easy, fast and has lots of battery life.
If you need direct PDF support, Linux Os for your own apps and want to have more "reserve" power, then it might be a good idea to wait for the V2 or the Iliad (depending on how well those two devices work when finished).

btw, the Hanlin V8 can display more than 8000 pages per battery load (says Jinke), uses a Standard-cellphones battery (Nokia 6110 or something) and (according to TaKir) doesn't even haven an off/on switch because it doesn't need one (I'm not sure, but I believe it doesn't need a lot of time to boot either...LVD or TaKir could answer that one).

06-21-2006, 09:32 AM	#3
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	I'll try to explain from the facts that I know: The V8 is a rather weak device when it comes to hardware specs. It was made with only book-usage in mind. It has a proprietary OS and little room for additional software. There is no SDK at the moment, however, informed sources (TaKir and LVD) told me that there might be a SDK for the V8 soon. The V8 was made for the Chinese market only, thus making it ill-suited for non-chinese countries due to different page-layout, formatting and fonts. Some Russian (Ukraine?) folks have secured the rights for marketing the V8 in their region with an adapted Software, better suited for cyrillic fonts and also better suited for european layout. This is a work in Progress. The V2 is a higher-specced device with many of the same features as the V8, but with a faster processor, more RAM, more ROM and a LINUX OS. It is targeted at the European/American market. However, the V2 is still not quite done. The Hardware with some kind of (possibly) unfinished Linux OS is supposed to start shipping to selected Distribution Partners around the world by the end of June (=pretty soon). Jinke says this is "guaranteed". Let's hope so. The local partners will then start to adapt the device for the market it is supposed to sell in. Jinke is apparently also looking into contracts with publishers. The V2 could be a really good device, it's open Linux OS should make it easier for folks to develop software for it and the included SDK should also help a lot there. The price for the V2 is targeted at 349$, a reasonable price. We don't know however, how much the "distributors" around the world are actually going to charge. Also, the timeframe for the adaptation of the V2 for the different EU and US markets are not really forseeable and the quality of the OS and the SDK are not really guaranteed. LVD has already questioned the capability of the Chinese Linux Programmers. I can't say more or be more precise. If the V8 progresses far enough software-wise to display english/german? text without problems, then it'll be enough for people seeking a device that is easy, fast and has lots of battery life. If you need direct PDF support, Linux Os for your own apps and want to have more "reserve" power, then it might be a good idea to wait for the V2 or the Iliad (depending on how well those two devices work when finished). btw, the Hanlin V8 can display more than 8000 pages per battery load (says Jinke), uses a Standard-cellphones battery (Nokia 6110 or something) and (according to TaKir) doesn't even haven an off/on switch because it doesn't need one (I'm not sure, but I believe it doesn't need a lot of time to boot either...LVD or TaKir could answer that one).