Developing a New Ebook Reader

[psmangat]

hii friends.. I am from India.. here no company is providing EInk ebook reader except kindle non touch e ink reader.. I searched a lot.. now me and my friends have decided to start e ereader company.. so i want to take inputs from you about what kind if screen should we use.. OS should be android ot linux.. screen size etc. Please give your valuable inputs.. i hope to keep it cross store and open..

[HarryT]

Don't waste your (and our) time and effort. You can't possibly compete with the big players, and you'd need massive up-front financing before you stood a chance of getting a penny back.

[psmangat]

it is not as difficult as you are taking. i just need a e ink screen, a tablets SoC and a battery.. want to make a prototype first

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by psmangat

I am from India.. here no company is providing EInk ebook reader except kindle non touch e ink reader..

They also appear to sell both the WiFi only and 3G Paperwhite's according to Amazon.in

As far as I know Kobo readers (at least some models) are also available in India.

[psmangat]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

They also appear to sell both the WiFi only and 3G Paperwhite's according to Amazon.in

As far as I know Kobo readers (at least some models) are also available in India.

but I cannot read my pdf in them isnt?

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by psmangat

I am from India.. here no company is providing EInk ebook reader except kindle non touch e ink reader.

Since neither the Kindle nor the Kobo fully support the display of all major Indic scripts, you might have a market advantage, if you manage to modify either FB Reader or Cool Reader to fully support the proper display of the most frequently read languages in India. Alternatively, also look into developing you own Qt-based app.

Once you have a working app, contact Chinese and Korean OEM eInk reader manufacturers and have one of them create a prototype version with your customized reader software on it. (Most of these readers use a Linux/Android based firmware. I.e., you could develop your reader app under Linux.)

[Mike L]

I wish you luck with this project. But for goodness sake do your market research before you go any further. Knowing what products are not available does not constitute market research. You've got to find out what the market actually wants (if anything).

And asking for opinions in this forum is not good market research. The people who hang out here are very non-typical of your potential market. They are knowledgeable and opinionated - even evangelical - and most of them already own at least a couple of devices. They are therefore in no way representative of your target market.

If you don't know how to go about doing market research, hire someone who does. This is fundamental to your success. More start-ups fail because they haven't properly researched the market than for any other reason.

Mike

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by psmangat

but I cannot read my pdf in them isnt?

You can. The primary problem is that PDF simply doesn't display well on a 6-inch screen where zooming/panning takes a whole second to advance each increment. Any e-ink device would have the second problem and no one seems to want a dedicated 10-inch ereader (the Kindle DX is the only one I can think of, which bombed) hence the first problem.

Plus what Mike said.

[leaston]

Originally Posted by Mike L

They are knowledgeable and opinionated - even evangelical

Sorry, I have to say something...This really made me chuckle. Such a nice compliment for a great bunch of people, thank you Mike