Foxit eSlick to support eReader?

[Lemurion]

According to Teleread it appears the Foxit eSlick may bring eReader support to Eink. If that's the case I think I've got a new preferred Eink device.

Here's hoping for an official announcement soon.

[Nate the great]

Yes, they are looking at it. I've been told they are waiting on Fictionwise to provide the source code so it can be ported.

It won't be on the first firmware release. At this point it's really just a desire to support eReader.

[wallcraft]

The EZ Reader may soon come with eReader as well, see Wait only a little longer. The MOBI support will have to be dropped for this to happen though.

[S.Canton]

That would be pretty damn handy. I'm quite impressed with what I've seen of the eSlick as well.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by S.Canton

That would be pretty damn handy. I'm quite impressed with what I've seen of the eSlick as well.

The ESlick is one of my top two contenders when I have to make a choice. Since I want copious backups of every ebook I own, (due to having lost an entire physical book collection, I'm extremely backup conscious), downloading books to my hard drive and them transferring them to my future device is a no-brainer for me. I like the versatility of formats that the ESlick supports as well....and the price point certainly does not hurt matters.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The EZ Reader may soon come with eReader as well, see Wait only a little longer. The MOBI support will have to be dropped for this to happen though.

Let's hope that doesn't happen. Mobi has enormous benefits over eReader, both in terms of the number of eBook stores selling it, and "technically" in terms of what the format can do. eReader's underlying "markup language" is totally "non-standard" and extremely primitive.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Let's hope that doesn't happen. Mobi has enormous benefits over eReader, both in terms of the number of eBook stores selling it, and "technically" in terms of what the format can do. eReader's underlying "markup language" is totally "non-standard" and extremely primitive.

If MobiPocket insists on exclusitivity it has to be dropped to be able to support ePub. Dropping it from readers will stimulate the development of new formats so it seems to be a good thing to do. And FBReader or other readers will be there to support the MobiPocket format without DRM.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Let's hope that doesn't happen. Mobi has enormous benefits over eReader, both in terms of the number of eBook stores selling it, and "technically" in terms of what the format can do. eReader's underlying "markup language" is totally "non-standard" and extremely primitive.

Yes, but FictionWise has described a path to ePub which MobiPocket has not done. The best solution would be an EZ Reader with MOBI and eReader and ePub (whch would require MobiPocket to scrap its exclusivity requirement), second best would be two sets of interchangeable firmware (MOBI or eReader), worse case would be eReader only. Even the worse case would expand the choices a potential buyer has. It would perhaps only be the best choice of EInk devices for those with large existing eReader libraries, but this is an untapped section of the market.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Let's hope that doesn't happen. Mobi has enormous benefits over eReader, both in terms of the number of eBook stores selling it, and "technically" in terms of what the format can do. eReader's underlying "markup language" is totally "non-standard" and extremely primitive.

And eReader provides enormous benefits over Mobi in terms of how the DRM scheme works. Mobi's requirement of exclusivity is also a big negative.

The format may be superior (although eReader works better on my current device than Mobipocket) but I think other factors make eReader attractive.