Kobo H2O Specs released

[Barty]

I hope their epub renderer is improved because their kobo app has a habit of showing one or two paragraphs and leaving rest of screen blank to continue on next page.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Anthem

Man... $179.99 is serious money for an e-reader that is essentially only really different in being larger than the average e-reader and waterproof.

When I had my Kobo... it would have been very hard to justify purchasing this in addition to that. I'm thinking that the waterproof-ness of it and the larger size are added benefits, but otherwise this would probably replace your current e-reader for most practical purposes.

Why don't you think the higher resolution is an added benefit?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Yes it was introduced at $169, so the H20 is only $10 more. Both of them are PREMIUM readers. Premium can indicate several things, including price. But if one compares it to a "cheaper" reader such as the Kindle Paperwhite, not only is the PW smaller, with lower resolution, it is only $40 cheaper (w/o adds). I don't think $40 is a huge amount to pay for what you are getting with the Aura H20.

The PW also does not have an SD card reader.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by jersysman

I believe that is the same price as the Aura HD was retailed for, so the price isn't really that much of a shocker.

The price is not shocking. Just hefty.

Originally Posted by booklover6

Plus the Carta infrared screen. I can't wait to see comparisons between the HD and the H20.

I haven't used an infrared type touch device in forever.

Originally Posted by j.p.s.

Why don't you think the higher resolution is an added benefit?

I think the added resolution is a benefit, but the benefits of added resolution on e-ink screens have not been nearly as stark to me as those on an LCD screen, from generation to generation.

Just anecdotal, though.

[exachillus]

Why on earth no Ereader manufacturer puts password protection and better privacy/security features in these devices is beyond me ;(

We carry a lot of books and other materials in these devices (like phones/tablets). It is like giving your library key to unknown entities if someone gets a hold of your device.

Please assume this for a second, you are reading politically sensitive books and you might have more of those on your device. The cops somehow get a hold of your ereader since they might claim that an ereader does not need a search warrant and not protected (unlike your library in your own house). Once they tagged you as politically not acceptable you might be harassed in many ways. Obviously this is no issue if all you do is to read romance and bland fiction on these devices.

I wont buy any more ereader until I see one that implements proper security. Personally buying an ereader that has Android Os is a better idea if you care about some of these things.

On the other hand this looks like a nice device. I would have upgraded my HD if it had security measures without a second thought. I hope that Kobo reads my comment.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Interesting using that page to compare the HD with the H2O one of the differences is they claim "EPUB3" as a supported format - one wonders what that means in practice.

Only that some marketing person thought it should be there. Both devices will use the same firmware and will support the types of books. And the firmware has supported epub3 for about two years.

[latepaul]

Well yes - I assumed the difference would be in the software and certainly I know that 3.7 will run on the HD - installed it on mine last night. I guess I assumed that that meant it had some extra features in rendering EPUB3 - but with the test books I tried it wasn't any different to 3.5.

Mind that was just a quick test.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by exachillus

Why on earth no Ereader manufacturer puts password protection and better privacy/security features in these devices is beyond me ;(

That's not true for all. I've read that Kobo doesn't have this feature but as someone who has used both a Kindle and a Nook, I can say they both allow password protection similar to an Android device. I always put passwords on my devices. Sorry for the thread drift.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by exachillus

Why on earth no Ereader manufacturer puts password protection and better privacy/security features in these devices is beyond me ;(

We carry a lot of books and other materials in these devices (like phones/tablets). It is like giving your library key to unknown entities if someone gets a hold of your device.

Please assume this for a second, you are reading politically sensitive books and you might have more of those on your device. The cops somehow get a hold of your ereader since they might claim that an ereader does not need a search warrant and not protected (unlike your library in your own house). Once they tagged you as politically not acceptable you might be harassed in many ways. Obviously this is no issue if all you do is to read romance and bland fiction on these devices.

I wont buy any more ereader until I see one that implements proper security. Personally buying an ereader that has Android Os is a better idea if you care about some of these things.

On the other hand this looks like a nice device. I would have upgraded my HD if it had security measures without a second thought. I hope that Kobo reads my comment.

WOW! What an imagination you have.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by exachillus

Personally buying an ereader that has Android Os is a better idea if you care about some of these things.

Well, things like tablets have excellent security. iOS, Android, and Fire OS (Amazon) all have good security features such as encryption, password protection, device tracking/remote wipe features, etc.

If you live in a politically charged environment (and there are MANY of those at the moment), I don't see why your primary e-reading device shouldn't be a tablet.

[soulfuldog]

Apologies for continuing the thread drift..... I don't use the Device Lock/Passcode options on my ereaders (but I mainly just read fiction, bland or otherwise), but I am aware that even my 4-year old Sony has a lock option if required.

[eschwartz]

Password protection, besides for being offered, is also meaningless if you are worried about political persecution over your reading habits, you need file/disk encryption.

I cannot see Amazon/B&N/Kobo/Sony/anyone caring about going that far. Tablets are an obvious better choice due to the wealth of options available. Ereaders are not The Land of Choices...

And I do hope you perform full-disk encryption on your computer as well.

Keep in mind that there are many ways for obtaining the preserved decryption keys if you aren't careful, no matter what the device. They may simply hold you down and take off with your device, then extract the keys from the RAM.

Really, this stuff is just way too much work to be worth the time on devices marketed for casual users not specific to politically charged environments. It will not happen, and I will completely fail to be surprised at that.

https://hurricanelabs.com/blog/attac...cryption-blog/
http://www.cnet.com/news/disk-encryp...esearch-finds/
http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...not-enough.htm

[JSWolf]

This being afraid of what you have on your device to read is just silly.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This being afraid of what you have on your device to read is just silly.

Thank you Mr. Sensitivity. In some places in the world you can be arrested and maybe even killed based on what you have on your ereader. We should be grateful we don't live there, not scornful of their problems.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by exachillus

Why on earth no Ereader manufacturer puts password protection and better privacy/security features in these devices is beyond me ;(

We carry a lot of books and other materials in these devices (like phones/tablets). It is like giving your library key to unknown entities if someone gets a hold of your device.

Please assume this for a second, you are reading politically sensitive books and you might have more of those on your device. The cops somehow get a hold of your ereader since they might claim that an ereader does not need a search warrant and not protected (unlike your library in your own house). Once they tagged you as politically not acceptable you might be harassed in many ways. Obviously this is no issue if all you do is to read romance and bland fiction on these devices.

I wont buy any more ereader until I see one that implements proper security. Personally buying an ereader that has Android Os is a better idea if you care about some of these things.

On the other hand this looks like a nice device. I would have upgraded my HD if it had security measures without a second thought. I hope that Kobo reads my comment.

Actually though I can't answer for other e-readers the Kindle does have a password feature. I myself use a passcode on my PaperWhite. It's numerical and even if you just use 4 #'s there are a good many combo's on a number pad that has 1-9 plus 0 on it so that it would take anyone some time to work out what combo was being used.