Android App why kobo does not develop eink reader?

[trocchietto]

I do not understand the strategy of Kobo, basically people that have an android eink can buy kobobooks. but still all the android eink readers eat quotes to kobo. A lot of people want to have freedom to use android for the huge customization choices you can have with apps, but still most of them miss the beautiful design, resolution, materials and screen that only kobo and amazon can offer. Why Kobo wait that hackers made it dual boot, when could bring its great readers directly on android eink? the pdf app is far to be perfect, and lacks dozens of features, android can use, the same for the normal ereader that is cool but still there is a huge quote of market that prefer third part software and decide to buy chinese eink readers.
thanks

[trocchietto]

UPDATE:
please RAKUTEN, mr. Mikitani, worshipped KOBO, you have 5.3 billion of revenue, hire some sw engineers and
MAKE KOBO as Samsung for Android telephones, before other will do it.

At the moment android ereaders are clunky, bad pdf basic readers, poor quality materials, lights not always good, bad customer service, how Kobo cannot see the huge market offered by having a good factory apps , the own system but be open to android???
just imagine how many customer from the android subforum would salivate to have it a kobo glo with android 4, native inside instead to switch the device, using the genial hack that still unfortunately is limited to old android versions.( android 4 is the minum I expect to pay for more than 80 bucks.
it is in my opinion just a marketing no sense sticking with inbuilt features, amazon offers good reader, reviews, an amazing highlight user experience, but Kobo should in my opnion focus on two points: give justice to their sony kinda acquisition using at least ALL the dictionary inbuilted in the marvellous Sony T1/2/3/prs650 and second tackle Amazon with intelligence offering ...something... like an excellent operative system+ google play!!!

if the mktg manager, COO, CFO, CTO,CEO decide to approve these two points, do you bet 1 dollar that they are going to gain billions fidelizing milion of new customers to their ereaders, and ebooks? just a bet in a democratic forum!

EDIT: again, why focusing in doing new hardware models... if there are huge basic flaws like these https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ht=trocchietto, how it is possible to sell product if there is need to give more experience to the user THOUSANDS TIMES MORE than definition(on eink reader?) and lights or water protection? I do not know what marketing survey you see it, but all the people that are interested on android devices look at much more functionalities than be allured by eink pearl, carta or nnxnn DPI definitions, i mean we are speaking of black and white devices, not televisions!!!

all in all please use the original sony dictionaries, plus improve the system, as per the link i posted above, and add google play, people will love kobobooks even more if they can download some pdf from the web as well! Readers are crazy onnivors folks that would appreciate a device that has all the functionality read from the first switch on instead to order devices in china and find every kind of hacking turnaround to make it google play working as it happening now. If i were a student I would buy one of these chinese T62+, but I have a really limited leisure time to try and see if things work spending hours to make a system working.Samsung, apple, google.. and even amazon use this strategy...
really simple: i did not buy kobo glo HD, great device but zero dictionary in English -Dutch bidirectional, no ability to install apps. You know I have a sony PRS T2 and with a script made on the forum I can move all the notations on Mantano, considering you did not make possible to import the annotations( otherwise several T2/3 users would have bought as well) at least make me possible to not lose them using Mantano. Please invest in SW engineers or causally release a workaround to make an hacker use android 4!

[Gabriel.Voyager]

Originally Posted by trocchietto

UPDATE:
really simple: i did not buy kobo glo HD, great device but zero dictionary in English -Dutch bidirectional, no ability to install apps. You know I have a sony PRS T2 and with a script made on the forum I can move all the notations on Mantano, considering you did not make possible to import the annotations( otherwise several T2/3 users would have bought as well) at least make me possible to not lose them using Mantano. Please invest in SW engineers or causally release a workaround to make an hacker use android 4!

why do you have to install apps in a ebook reader?! will you play Magic 2015 on your Kobo?

For the annotation:

[FeatureSettings]
ExportHighlights=true

voilà

Just remember that the Kobo ebook readers are... ebook readers, not tablet, if i want to have android and play store and install app i buy a tablet, if i want to read a digital book under the sun in the same way i read a paper book, i use my Kobo.

[Desdinova]

I agree with post #3

As an e-reader, the Kobo series basically adhere to what they commonly call the 'Unix' ideal as per commands. Do one thing, and do it well.

Adding apps and the like make it much more a jack of all trades. I have a tablet, and a Kobo. I read books on the e-reader. I don't want apps, Play Store, VLC, Solitaire etc on my e-reader.


I want a good e-reading experience.

Changing the Kobo to app loading and the likes will take away from that.

For a start, it'll kill battery life. it'll introduce added instability as every new process you introduce to the system offer a small but finite chance of a crash.

The beauty of the e-reader is that its designed to do one task, and do it well.

[murg]

trocchietto doesn't want an ereader that will run apps, he/she wants an eInk Android tablet.

The sad fact is that there is very little demand for an eInk tablet. Some exist (or sort of exist, a la Earl), but eInk is mostly good for static applications, and a tablet is not a a static application.

In addition, the automatic translation of colour apps to the black & white eInk will probably not be an especially nice fit.

If there were an huge demand for eInk tablets, someone would be making them. And other people would be buying them.

Kobo is a book store. They are not really a hardware manufacturer. They are definitely not a hardware designer, as the design is done by a third party.

I'm sure that eInk tablets will show up, there is a small level of demand, especially for odd niches.

[eschwartz]

I don't think we will see e-ink tablets until we have color e-ink -- which will offer the possibility of a mainline replacement for LCD.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I don't think we will see e-ink tablets until we have color e-ink -- which will offer the possibility of a mainline replacement for LCD.

I can't see eink or equivalent low power display replacing LCD displays until they get a lot faster. Sadly, I see the price for increased speed as increased power consumption which would tend to negate the one big advantage of an eink display.

[eschwartz]

The other big advantage is visibility in bright conditions.

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by Gabriel.Voyager

why do you have to install apps in a ebook reader?! will you play Magic 2015 on your Kobo?

For the annotation:

[FeatureSettings]
ExportHighlights=true

voilà

Just remember that the Kobo ebook readers are... ebook readers, not tablet, if i want to have android and play store and install app i buy a tablet, if i want to read a digital book under the sun in the same way i read a paper book, i use my Kobo.

Ciao Gabriel thank you for the attention,


I do not want a tablet(also if unavoidable it is where eink readers are going as trend), but at least a decent ereading experience, that with regret I do not have coming down to highlight management and dictionaries.

Android/IOS small developers apps update their programs almost on monthly basis, KOBO and KINDLE not! An ereader should offer me at least all the features Sony was offering since 8 years ago, in fact for instance 8 years ago I was having already on Sony prs650 really valuable licensed dictionaries Oxford American, Oxford English, Dutch VanDale etc, today... not! And this is just as example. LEt alone if I speak to you how is disappointing the impossibility to use a...dictionary... on PDF on H20 kobo for that price! Instead of the water protection stick with the basis KOBO!!!


First of all for the annotations, according to Kobo Inc there is not way to import the thousands of notes I have on Sony and to be honest they could at least give a script,please see number 11 on this link! They even suggest me to write again my notes from scratch...
https://nl.kobo.com/sony

Second Kobo GLO HD is a great hardware device no doubt about that, great power, amazing design, quality materials, amazing screen... but does not offer me all the BASIC features I need as normal no fiction reader!

like in the below already mentioned link
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ht=trocchietto

that is why i need more apps, not for playing around( also if i would love play chess and have an open android system, considering tha bad tablet battery) but to insure some basic eread features I just do not have with Kobo and Amazon.



Please Kobo become the new Samsung, before others, you are 80% hardware, 20% software, this is wrong! Bookworms see substance, they go deep, analyze and want nice reading experience, and Android is just hot, an added value feature really valuable even if not linked( but not sure) with ereaders

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by Desdinova

For a start, it'll kill battery life. it'll introduce added instability as every new process you introduce to the system offer a small but finite chance of a crash.

The beauty of the e-reader is that its designed to do one task, and do it well.

Good point, but first of all as I showed they are far to be focused on sw in my opnion, (see pdf experience, and dictionaries for instance), and second the eink battery lasts ages, if you then open a lot of app that do not optimize the android cycle is your fault. Android 4 stock optimize really well the battery, and as you say regarding doing well one task, if you have good inbuilt dictionaries you do not need to look up in internet using wifi all the time, but opening only to do small things, the problem is that Kobo and Amazon want maybe benefit from Big Data but this is a personal opinion.

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by murg

trocchietto doesn't want an ereader that will run apps, he/she wants an eInk Android tablet.

The sad fact is that there is very little demand for an eInk tablet. Some exist (or sort of exist, a la Earl), but eInk is mostly good for static applications, and a tablet is not a a static application.

In addition, the automatic translation of colour apps to the black & white eInk will probably not be an especially nice fit.

If there were an huge demand for eInk tablets, someone would be making them. And other people would be buying them.

Kobo is a book store. They are not really a hardware manufacturer. They are definitely not a hardware designer, as the design is done by a third party.

I'm sure that eInk tablets will show up, there is a small level of demand, especially for odd niches.

reasonable, i agree with you except with the most important point: i would not mind an eink tablet, also if I bet yotaphone 4 and iphone 7 will be kinda of similar due to battery issues of lcd screens but..... I want just a decent ereader experience: highlights management (with and without cloud) and bidirectional dictionaries should be at least decent. They can use third party people but they need to fidelize users, as the concurrent amazon and the android devices with other formats have an high market quote they need to offer me the best pdf experience, where instead the kindle that in theory is made to fidelize kindle customers offer a better PDF experience than the terrible inbuilt PDF kobo viewer

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I can't see eink or equivalent low power display replacing LCD displays until they get a lot faster. Sadly, I see the price for increased speed as increased power consumption which would tend to negate the one big advantage of an eink display.

true-ish but lcd/eink devices can accelerate a lot that trend.
imagine an iphone 5 inches quite readable outside with an integrated cover eink..as the yotaphone

[AnemicOak]

If you want an eInk device that runs Android there are already a few out there (Boyue & Onyx Boox both have some), no need for it to come from Kobo.

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

If you want an eInk device that runs Android there are already a few out there (Boyue & Onyx Boox both have some), no need for it to come from Kobo.

Dear AnemicOak,
sorry to be contrarian with everyone, but I do not agree with you.
It is true that I can take Bouye or EnergyPro+ but

they are tacky in my opinion compared to the marvellous Kobo Glo HD, their processor is not the same, so the screen, and with Boyue + you have to install the google play store with hacks, in the case of Onyx I do not have a good resolution and also not a Carta screen but pearl.

What I want is only 1 thing: a good reader experience for a an exigent user like me. At the moment Android goes near to that as you can combine different software depending by my needs( as still i miss the definitive software, kindle, mantano pro and moon+reader pro are the nearest to my ideal one) but... as I am really busy man, i cannot spend hours to return back a product that does not have the quality advertised, cancel chinese apps, find workarounds to install the software, risk to brick devices, dealing with inexisting customer services etc. And also I want a beautiful design an excellent screen, in one phrase :
a Kobo that has (even an hacked) dual boot with android 4 or android standalone operative system.

[Desdinova]

Originally Posted by trocchietto

Dear AnemicOak,
sorry to be contrarian with everyone, but I do not agree with you.
It is true that I can take Bouye or EnergyPro+ but

they are tacky in my opinion compared to the marvellous Kobo Glo HD, their processor is not the same, so the screen, and with Boyue + you have to install the google play store with hacks, in the case of Onyx I do not have a good resolution and also not a Carta screen but pearl.

What I want is only 1 thing: a good reader experience for a an exigent user like me. At the moment Android goes near to that as you can combine different software depending by my needs( as still i miss the definitive software, kindle, mantano pro and moon+reader pro are the nearest to my ideal one) but... as I am really busy man, i cannot spend hours to return back a product that does not have the quality advertised, cancel chinese apps, find workarounds to install the software, risk to brick devices, dealing with inexisting customer services etc. And also I want a beautiful design an excellent screen, in one phrase :
a Kobo that has (even an hacked) dual boot with android 4 or android standalone operative system.

But you are in no way a standard e-reader user.

E-readers don't need apps, or app installs. You'll end up with a cross between a tablet and an e-reader with all the disadvantages of both and none of the advantages.

Poor battery life because of extra apps and system resources for example.