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There are entire sections on this forum dedicated to the Kindle and the Sony Reader (and some other devices as well). Does that mean Mobileread is an agent for those devices? Of course not.
There really was one Astak thread (this one) but with the flurry of excitement around the release of the Pocket Pro has increased activity and discussion of the company's products. Since there is no dedicated forum for discussion of the device, it might seem as though there is a lot of discussion in the News forum. Well, I guess there is. I would imagine the "announcements" threads were to bring attention to news that might be of interest to Mobilereaders who don't follow the big monster thread.
I have no affiliation with Astak. My current ebook reading device is a Cybook Gen3, which I've had since January 2008, and which I like very much. However, I'm ready for something new and a little more portable, and I decided when the news came out that Hanlin was releasing the V3 that if Astak offered a rebranding, I would buy one. Why? Because the format support is so broad (I have lots of ebooks from the "old days" when pdb and lit were the only games in town); because it's a U.S. company and I live in the U.S., which just seemed logical; because when Robert announced they would be selling the Pocket Pro and I asked for a blue one, all of a sudden a blue one was added to the list. Where the heck else does that happen? Do you think Jeff Bezos would give me a blue Kindle? As I said, I was pretty sure I was already going to order one. That the color selection was crowdsourced just adds to the appeal for me. It was a great example of the personal touch that having a representative of the company available here brings to the device, which I've observed in this thread since the EZReader Basic came out. If Astak had decided against carrying the V3, I probably would have bought the BeBook, but I do prefer working with a company that is at least on the same continent as I am.
Don't get me wrong--I think each person needs to pick the device that is best for him or herself, and for many, many people the Kindle or Sony Reader are the best device. I've recommended them to people based on what they want to do with an ebook reader. My co-worker bought Kindles for herself and her husband based on my recommendation. They don't re-read books, so a proprietary format doesn't matter; they don't like to deal with the computer transfer; and the husband at least likes to download the Wall Street Journal. I had no hesitation in recommending the Kindle. It's perfect for them. I like something different. From reading about the Hanlin device and keeping an eye on this thread for the past few months, I think I'll really like the Pocket Pro, and I can't wait to get it. I'm sorry if my excitement, and my co-posters on this thread, offended you somehow. I personally think it's a shame that some of the less-well-known devices aren't better known so that people buying a device can make a really informed decision.
And yeah, Robert's a PR guy. I should think that would be fairly obvious. Also that any reasonable adult can take it into consideration when reading his posts.
I'll leave it to others on this forum who no doubt will be able to answer your questions about the firmware--but I think the firmware for the various Hanlin rebrands are pretty swappable. OpenInkpot seems to be pretty popular with the hackers around here. I don't know if the Epson controller will have an impact on that, however; I simply don't know enough about it.
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