Astak Mentor eBook readers with WiFi and Touchscreen (read-only)

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by kacir

What is the real dpi?

According eInk's own page the 5" display is 200dpi:
http://www.eink.com/products/matrix/High_Res.html

[nekokami]

Hm. I wonder if it really is 200dpi? Or if someone in marketing did a bit of math without checking to see if there were any displays to match?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by kacir

Hello Robertb.

Today I was once again salivating and re-reading specifications for the 6" and 5" models and there is something that bothers me.

On 5" model page
http://www.astak.com/5Ebook_Reader.html
there is:
Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels, 170dpi, B&W, 4 grayscale

On the 6" model page
http://www.astak.com/6Ebook_Reader.html
I read EXACTLY the same dimensions
Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels, 170dpi, B&W, 4 grayscale


So I have started OOo Calc and I have played wit the numbers a little bit.
For the 6" display with 800x600 pixels the resolution is 166dpi, just like with all other readers.

What is unclear to me, what is the resolution or pixel size of the 5" model.
If we keep the same resolution 166dpi we get 664x498 pixels
or, if we keep pixel size 800x600 we get exactly 200dpi resolution.

So how is it with astak 5" model?
What is the real dpi?

Should be 200 ppi for the 5" and the 9.7 is much lower (about 148 I think) but it seems that it is often indicated at a higher resolution. The specs are just not accurate being copied without a brain engaged.

Dale

[wallcraft]

PVI has announced a Wacom touchscreen option (PVI adding "touch" to eink). If this is what the Astak devices will use, then (a) it needs a special stylus (no finger input) and (b) E-Ink's $3,000 6" prototype won't be generally available until June. So the initial 5" and 6" Astaks probably won't have a touchscreen. Wacom works very well on the iLiad by the way, but it does draw power.

[rainer.betrug]

Hi Robertb,
One feature which I would like to see in the 9.7" device is a good rss-feed reader with the ability to download automatically all the linked html pages. So that I can read all the news and articles, which were linked in the rss-feeds, when I am on my way to work. That would be the ultimate replacement for my newspaper.
So, if someone from Astak or Netronix reads this, please forward this request to the developers.
Best would be if the device can switch WLAN on and download all new articles to the device and switch WLAN off again every day at the programmable times.

Another question: Will there be an SDK for the device? It would be perfect if I could use Visual Studio to develop programs for the 9.7" device.

[GarryK]

Hi Rob,

What most interests me is the ability to add dictionaries....not just english, but Spanish or French, or others. It would be a fantastic way to study languages, and would appeal to many thousands of students and lifelong learners. If you have ever tried to read a novel written in an unfamiliar language and needed to use a paper dictionary to look up hundreds of words, you would do almost anything to make this task less tedious. This is definitely something that Bookeen gen3 has gotten right, and if your company could offer the same feature in a high quality, low cost book reader I suspect that your company would sell so many units that you would have to build another factory to produce them. As you are no doubt aware, MobiPocket reader has the capability to use multiple built in dictionaries, and the ability to look up a word just by clicking on and then going immediately back to the main text it is, IMO convenient and well implemented.
If your company does produce something like this, I would buy it in an instant, and jump for joy. What do other forum members think?

[GarryK]

Hi Rob,

What most interests me is the ability to add dictionaries....not just english, but Spanish or French, or others. It would be a fantastic way to study languages, and would appeal to many thousands of students and lifelong learners. If you have ever tried to read a novel written in an unfamiliar language and needed to use a paper dictionary to look up hundreds of words, you would do almost anything to make this task less tedious. This is definitely something that Bookeen gen3 has gotten right, and if your company could offer the same feature in a high quality, low cost book reader I suspect that your company would sell so many units that you would have to build another factory to produce them. As you are no doubt aware, MobiPocket reader has the capability to use multiple built in dictionaries, and the ability to look up a word just by clicking on and then going immediately back to the main text is, IMO convenient and well implemented.
If your company does produce something like this, I would buy it in an instant, and jump for joy. What do other forum members think?

[Walk Broad]

Originally Posted by GarryK

Hi Rob,

What most interests me is the ability to add dictionaries....not just english, but Spanish or French, or others. It would be a fantastic way to study languages, and would appeal to many thousands of students and lifelong learners. If you have ever tried to read a novel written in an unfamiliar language and needed to use a paper dictionary to look up hundreds of words, you would do almost anything to make this task less tedious. This is definitely something that Bookeen gen3 has gotten right, and if your company could offer the same feature in a high quality, low cost book reader I suspect that your company would sell so many units that you would have to build another factory to produce them.

My two cents ....

Eh, a dictionary (or lack thereof) is NOT a major selling point for me, cost is.

If you guys can deliver your product to market on time and at (or very close to) the price you indicated, with Fictionwise support, that will be my motivation to buy, not a dictionary.

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

PVI has announced a Wacom touchscreen option (PVI adding "touch" to eink). If this is what the Astak devices will use, then (a) it needs a special stylus (no finger input) and (b) E-Ink's $3,000 6" prototype won't be generally available until June. So the initial 5" and 6" Astaks probably won't have a touchscreen. Wacom works very well on the iLiad by the way, but it does draw power.

"PVI’s new Touch EPD uses the innovative “force sensing” touch technology. In this technology, several force sensors are placed under the e-paper display. When a user touches the display, proprietary software calculates the location and intensity of the touch with input from the sensors."

From this description... taken from the press release... it doesn't sound like PVI is exploiting Wacom technology.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

PVI has announced a Wacom touchscreen option (PVI adding "touch" to eink).

Alexander Turcic has pointed out that some of us confused two touch screen announcements. PVI is using zTouch and E-Ink is using Wacom.

So, Astak (with zTouch) will be able to use stylus or finger for touch.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Alexander Turcic has pointed out that some of us confused two touch screen announcements. PVI is using zTouch and E-Ink is using Wacom.

I thought eInk and PVI were one in the same. Actually I though eInk was the brand name and PVI was the company name?

BOb

[jimmyzou]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I thought eInk and PVI were one in the same. Actually I though eInk was the brand name and PVI was the company name?

BOb

EINK is the technology owner, PVI is the Contract Manufacturer

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by jimmyzou

EINK is the technology owner, PVI is the Contract Manufacturer

Yep. And Netronix is the OEM manufacturer for several of the actual ebook readers which use the e-ink displays.

Derek

[Fitzwaryn]

If the price points you quoted are even close then I will probably buy at least 2 of each size for myself and the wife for use at home and at the office. I will also buy several as gifts for family and friends.

The Sony's and Amazon's are too expensive to make practical gifts and two expensive for multiple purchases. The price points you quote are qualitatively different from Sony and Amazon (let's not even mention some of the others) and could change the dynamics of E-Readers significantly.

[6charlong]

I’ve been lurking this thread for quite awhile because the Mentor looks fascinating, I especially like its use of eReader on an eInk display.

I’ve used eReader Pro on my PC and my Sony Clie. On the PC, eReader makes a good research tool. It’s easy to read the screen--I like to use it on the PC in two page layout--and I like the way it can quickly search a book on the PC as well as making bookmarks. I love how it lets me highlight text even in DRMed books and copy and paste the quote I need for my paper. And I love the dictionary lookup feature.

I love the eReader DRM scheme: some mobipocket DRM books I had became unreadable after a system crash because my PDA couldn’t read the Mobi books I’d restored from my backup, while the eReader books came through the crisis fine. After that I’ve made it a point to buy eReader formatted books only. I like that I can read a book I’m researching on my PC and put it on my PDA to take with me. I also like that I’ve been able to find books in eReader format that I couldn’t even get for my Sony Reader.

It seems more logical to me to use eBook Studio to build books from PG text format. I don’t know HTML and don’t plan to learn: life’s too short and you have to make choices. I like the different skins eReader allows on the PC screen and I like having a selection of fonts I can add to eReader. Admittedly, I have to pay a few dollars for eBook Studio and extra fonts also cost a few dollars, but I don’t have to use them.

Does anyone know if eReader will function the same way on the Mentor as it does on a Palm based PDA? I mean, are the functions of eReader I like a function of the software or the hardware-and-operating system? And because Astak's specs talk about four gray-scale images I'm wondering if they are using a Vistek screen or something with less contrast. eReader renders images well, but the larger ones are only visible on a larger screen (they're rendered as a thumbnail on the tiny PDA screen) and four-scale images are a little washed out on the Sony PRS500.