Android App why kobo does not develop eink reader?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by invention13

No, you don't.
You can do it with wireless, or even bluetooth (if you wanted to). Probably 90% of the books I put on it with calibre are done using their content server. What would be even better with calibre would be pushing the books to the reader through a wireless connection. From a distance/bandwidth/power consumption point of view, bluetooth might actually be a good way to go.

Th problem with that logic is that it is one thing to say "this is an alternative option, and I prefer using it"; it is another thing entirely to say "let's force everyone else to use this, since it's what I prefer".

Sideloading books through USB-attached storage is pretty simple and reliable. There are no hard dependencies on using a calibre content server either, which is a good thing because can you just imagine how many people would go absolutely positively ballistic if it were required?

I'm not saying do away with the port, just reduce the dependence on actually plugging it in.
The point is, kobo had a good idea putting the usb port behind a sealed trap door. It keep moisture and crap out of it. From a reliability point of view, it is a good idea to have the insides sealed.

But if you aren't getting rid of the port, then why bother adding extra cost to the device for no net gain?

Getting rid of the port from a reliability and streamlining perspective does indeed make a lot of sense, but if you aren't getting rid of it...

"Reducing the dependency" doesn't IMHO make things less likely to go wrong. I assume the cap is being used whenever you aren't plugging it in, and lessening the numerical count of times when you plug it in is not going to make it fundamentally more reliable.





Wireless USB would theoretically solve all these problems. From a user perspective, nothing changes except that you don't need a physical connection. Pretty similar to wireless induction when you think about it.

Using both technologies together offers the opportunity to strip out the actual USB port itself, which is a tempting target. Merely offering an extra way to charge -- I cannot see that argument as very convincing.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by invention13

What would be even better with calibre would be pushing the books to the reader through a wireless connection.

That can be done right now, if not out of the box. KoReader (which runs on all Kobos and is a pretty easy install) supports the Calibre wireless device. I played with it recently, and it works well.

[charlie - uk]

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.

In fact the Onyx Boox T68, sitting in front of me, has the same Hi-Res screen as the Aura HD, it runs Android & Google Play & is a well built e-reader, easily customised which, I'm using right now.

I'm just waiting for my Onyx Boox I86 HD ML Plus, Android e-reader which has a Hi-Res 8 Inch screen + 1Mb memory, you need to take a closer look at whats out there, because what you want already exists...

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by charlie - uk

In fact the Onyx Boox T68, sitting in front of me, has the same Hi-Res screen as the Aura HD, it runs Android & Google Play & is a well built e-reader, easily customised which, I'm using right now.

I'm just waiting for my Onyx Boox I86 HD ML Plus, Android e-reader which has a Hi-Res 8 Inch screen + 1Mb memory, you need to take a closer look at whats out there, because what you want already exists...

Charlie, thank you to consider what I said!

let's drill down your affirmations.

first and more important :OnyxBoox T68 and Aura HD have the same Hi screen for you, but..
this reliable review clearly shows another reality, could you say that the review is wrong? the two screens look really different in this video the Kobo like a real paper, the onyx as a yellow 300 years old paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdjYRAy5YvE

second: it runs google play on default? I told you the reasons why I would like
to pay even more and have a device that work immediately when I switch on the first time the device without installing any firmware or workaround

third: I do not know the Onyx Boox I86 HD ML Plus but I guess you mean 1 GB and not 1 Mb and the 250 dpi look quite near to the Kobo HD but far from the 300 dpi the best readers currently have it

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by trocchietto

third: I do not know the Onyx Boox I86 HD ML Plus but I guess you mean 1 GB and not 1 Mb and the 250 dpi look quite near to the Kobo HD but far from the 300 dpi the best readers currently have it

Check the Kobo Glo HD/Kindle Voyage/Paperwhite (2015) vs. the Kobo H2O/Aura HD for example. The 6 inch screen ereaders have 300 dpi. The 6.8 inch screen ereaders have 265 dpi. Oddly, this works out to virtually identical pixel counts and screen resolution. Much like HD televisions using 1920x1080 resolution despite widely differing dpi (not considering the QHD models here). The Onyx Boox I86 HD ML/Plus has a 8" screen so that 250 dpi translates to a 1600x1200 screen resolution. Just a bit ahead of the Glo HD/Voyage/PaperWhite (2015) at 1448x1072/1430x1080/1440x1080. Note there is some question about some of the Voyage/PW 2015 resolutions since I have seen both 1430x1080 and 1440x1080 listed.

Would you prefer watching your favourite 1920x1080 video source on my Nexus 7 (2013) at 323 dpi or the XYL's Nexus 6 at 493 dpi instead of a 60" HD television at a measly 37 dpi?

As for purchasing the Onyx Boox I86 HD ML/Plus?

Pro: The Onyx Boox I86 has a 1GHz processor, 4GB of internal memory and supports up to a 32GB external uSD card. It has hardware forward/back buttons.

Neutral: Operating system is Android 4.0.4.

Con: the Onyx Boox has an eInk Pearl screen so not up to the contrast/speed of the newer Carta screens. Reviewers have commented on lacking dictionary support. Several reviewers have commented on a short battery life especially when using WiFi and/or Bluetooth. Also, you have the issue for those of us who are worried about such things that it comes with Android 4.0.4 and very likely will have no upgrade path so the security issues are not going to be fixed. And lastly, the Plus version with the front light is even costlier.

Personally, I looked at the specs/price and I would not be adding to my ereader collection. I visualized trying to justify the $300 US ($400 Cdn.) cost to the XYL and decided the game wasn't worth the candle—check Pyrrhic victory.

[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.

my need to install apps is because the existing sw choice on inbuilt system(aka existing ereader) is quite bad in my opinion. for instance Kobo lacks an offline english dutch dictionary.. just to say an example and is highly known/sold here in the Netherlands. If a system is open as android there are more chances to have the right software, at the moment i miss too many functionality and the updates of the firmware are really low comparing the number of unity sold of devices as sony and kobo.

Also but less important I am an hard reader, but I love to play decent chess under the sun, also I need to copy and paste documents and book notes in my personal notes

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Check the Kobo Glo HD/Kindle Voyage/Paperwhite (mega cut)

no comments, your reply is bullet proofed, also i add being pearl is not a common sense accetaptable preference for a buy in 2015

[trocchietto]

Last post,
i do not see anymore the post of the girl that said Unix is making one thing and make it good, and that android is not tailored for long durability of the battery.
I say not. I know a *nix system called linux and the battery with Lubuntu o puppy linux shines, and android is based on linux. And some ereader also... it depends by the daemons, services, the ram used at startup, the way the packages are compiled to make an Unix system excellent, and I do not want to speak of BSD systems.. that offer the best security services ever created and are opensource! I use Linux sometimes( i need to do videogames to deactivate my prefrontal cortex on windows sometimes) and it does more than one think, actually also some things mac(=unix) and windows do not do, or at least not with the same efficiency in using resources... but this become offtopic, anyway as everything is file you can basically do everything with GNU Linux, god bless Linus Torvalds my hero (and all the finnic countries, especially the female population and the natural landscape there)

[charlie - uk]

I think at some point, you have to compromise. Perfection is nice but rarely achieved 100% of the time.

Do I wish there were an android 13 "" e-ink tablet running the latest version of Android with oodles of memory, an open bootloader, with the build quality of a Kindle Voyage or Kobo H2o, probably but it's never going to happen. That's just life, I don't sit here with nothing because I can't achieve perfection. :-)...

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by charlie - uk

with the build quality of a Kindle Voyage or Kobo H2o

If you read some of the other threads here, several people claim you would NEVER want a device with the build quality of a Kobo!

[charlie - uk]

I was wondering when someone was going to say that

[BryanK]

Originally Posted by charlie - uk

Do I wish there were an android 13 "" e-ink tablet running the latest version of Android with oodles of memory, an open bootloader, with the build quality of a Kindle Voyage or Kobo H2o...

Like from Netronix maybe?

Apparently they're ready to ship, they just need a partner.

[Ken Maltby]

With all the angst that cracked substrata causes Kobo, you'd think they would jump at the 6.8" version Netronix is making - as the replacement for the Aura HD & H2O models. Netronix makes their hardware anyway.

Luck;
Ken

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

With all the angst that cracked substrata causes Kobo, you'd think they would jump at the 6.8" version Netronix is making - as the replacement for the Aura HD & H2O models. Netronix makes their hardware anyway.

Is Netronix making a high-res flexible-substrate 6.8" display now?

[Anak]

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.

Originally Posted by charlie - uk

In fact the Onyx Boox T68, sitting in front of me, has the same Hi-Res screen as the Aura HD, it runs Android & Google Play & is a well built e-reader, easily customised which, I'm using right now.

I'm just waiting for my Onyx Boox I86 HD ML Plus, Android e-reader which has a Hi-Res 8 Inch screen + 1Mb memory, you need to take a closer look at whats out there, because what you want already exists...

Originally Posted by trocchietto

Charlie, thank you to consider what I said!

let's drill down your affirmations.

first and more important :OnyxBoox T68 and Aura HD have the same Hi screen for you, but..
this reliable review clearly shows another reality, could you say that the review is wrong? the two screens look really different in this video the Kobo like a real paper, the onyx as a yellow 300 years old paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdjYRAy5YvE

second: it runs google play on default? I told you the reasons why I would like
to pay even more and have a device that work immediately when I switch on the first time the device without installing any firmware or workaround

third: I do not know the Onyx Boox I86 HD ML Plus but I guess you mean 1 GB and not 1 Mb and the 250 dpi look quite near to the Kobo HD but far from the 300 dpi the best readers currently have it

You want an Android based reader for flexibility and the build quality of Kobo readers.
I understand it completely. I was also interested the T68 by OnyxBoox when in was first released but many users had problems with it and I decided not to buy it.

However, that product is offered by Netronix, the hardware manufacturer of Kobo readers and their readers can be equipped with Linux or Android.

Kobo readers are hardware wise based on/identical to the reference designs developed by Netronix. Usually only the outer design (case) is customized (branded).



If someone knows which band/reseller sells rebranded Netronix reference designs with Android on it then let me know. I will buy it. Best of both worlds. Good hardware by Netronix and software flexibility by Android OS.