Next Aura HD generation?

[Anak]

Originally Posted by HYPE

I've had the chance to play with an Aura HD yesterday, and indeed, that display is the best I've ever seen! The only thing that I prefer on my Paperwhite is the user interface, which has a much nicer design in my opinion.

You meant to say: the resolution of that display is the best I've ever seen!

I'm pretty sure that the Carta screen in the latest PW is better on all aspects than the Pearl screen used in the Aura HD, the only exception is the screen resolution. But Carta screens are also available in dpi up to and greater than 300 dpi 300dpi.

But I do agree with you the resolution of Aura HD screen is unmatched.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by HYPE

I've had the chance to play with an Aura HD yesterday, and indeed, that display is the best I've ever seen! The only thing that I prefer on my Paperwhite is the user interface, which has a much nicer design in my opinion.

Not sure if the Paperwhite has a nicer user interface. I've used both Kindle and Kobo ereaders and find both have their nice features, their quirks and their misfeatures. Baby duckling syndrome?

Regards,
David

[vandafc]

Originally Posted by Anak

You meant to say: the resolution of that display is the best I've ever seen!

I'm pretty sure that the Carta screen in the latest PW is better on all aspects than the Pearl screen used in the Aura HD, the only exception is the screen resolution. But Carta screens are also available in dpi up to and greater than 300 dpi 300dpi.

But I do agree with you the resolution of Aura HD screen is unmatched.

This is true that the Aura HD is using a Pearl screen but they already implement the new Regal technology for page updates... "Regal virtually eliminates the need for a full page refresh giving the reader smoother page transitions for more focused reading."

[shalym]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Not sure if the Paperwhite has a nicer user interface. I've used both Kindle and Kobo ereaders and find both have their nice features, their quirks and their misfeatures. Baby duckling syndrome?

Regards,
David

I agree, David--I really like the interface on my AuraHD, and I'm one who always turns off book covers on my PW because I'd rather have the list of books. If only Kobo would allow me to send my books to the device as easily as I can with my Kindles, I would love it much more! Having to plug the book in to the computer really truly makes it feel like a much older device.

Shari

[trekk]

Originally Posted by vandafc

This is true that the Aura HD is using a Pearl screen but they already implement the new Regal technology for page updates... "Regal virtually eliminates the need for a full page refresh giving the reader smoother page transitions for more focused reading."

Regal technology is only implemented for the 6"-Aura, not for the Aura HD.

[Anak]

Originally Posted by shalym

I agree, David--I really like the interface on my AuraHD, and I'm one who always turns off book covers on my PW because I'd rather have the list of books. If only Kobo would allow me to send my books to the device as easily as I can with my Kindles, I would love it much more! Having to plug the book in to the computer really truly makes it feel like a much older device.

Shari

What about changing the display dimensions of the reader? Change the aspect ratio 3:4 towards a screen ratio that resembles the paper book dimensions a bit closer which varies from publisher to publisher but is in general approximately 1:1.5~1.55 for most fiction books. Educational and other books can have other dimensions.

Like:
Horizontal resolution: 1024 pixels
Vertical resolution: 1536 pixels
H:V ratio: 1:1.5 / 2:3

6" screen
Diagonal: 6 inches (15.24cm)
Display size: 3.33" × 4.99" = 16.62in² (8.45cm × 12.68cm = 107.2cm²) at 307.67 PPI, 0.0826mm dot pitch, 94663 PPI²

7" screen
Diagonal: 7 inches (17.78cm)
Display size: 3.88" × 5.82" = 22.62in² (9.86cm × 14.79cm = 145.91cm²) at 263.72 PPI, 0.0963mm dot pitch, 69548 PPI²

[ebrahimpak]

The latest screen og Aura HD looks fantastic. I think its harware is its weak point. I prefer a more rigid frame, be it plastic or metal. The good thing though about Kobo is its open operating system which allows to install almost anything on it and tamper with whatever you wish. But I cannot imagine a 6" reader. It's just too small for reading magazines and other PDFs.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by shalym

I agree, David--I really like the interface on my AuraHD, and I'm one who always turns off book covers on my PW because I'd rather have the list of books. If only Kobo would allow me to send my books to the device as easily as I can with my Kindles, I would love it much more! Having to plug the book in to the computer really truly makes it feel like a much older device.

Personally, I've used the content server in Calibre to allow me to use the web browser to download books over the home WiFi network. Outside home, I've downloaded books using the web browser from a couple of sites, gutenberg.net.au as an example. If you purchase your books from Kobo -- just like being tied into the Amazon eco-system -- you can sync your books using WiFi.

Regards,
David

[vandafc]

Originally Posted by trekk

Regal technology is only implemented for the 6"-Aura, not for the Aura HD.

oups, yes

[shalym]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Personally, I've used the content server in Calibre to allow me to use the web browser to download books over the home WiFi network. Outside home, I've downloaded books using the web browser from a couple of sites, gutenberg.net.au as an example. If you purchase your books from Kobo -- just like being tied into the Amazon eco-system -- you can sync your books using WiFi.

Regards,
David

But see, that's the thing--with Amazon, I can access my books from my reader natively, without using any horrible browser. (and in my opinion, the web browser in both my Kobo and my Kindles is horrible and pretty much unusable) I don't want to spend 10 minutes trying to open a web page on my e-ink reader. I want to be able to touch a button and connect to a list of books and download the ones I want, and only the ones I want. I want to be able to do this with books bought from anywhere, or books I've created myself, or documents/web pages that I've sent to my device to read later. I can do this with my Kindle, why can't I do it with my Kobo? In my opinion, this is really Amazon's killer feature, and it's what keeps me from getting rid of my Kindles. I had high hopes when I found out about the Pocket integration, then I realized that it only includes a very narrow definition of what is an "article" on a web site.

Shari

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by shalym

But see, that's the thing--with Amazon, I can access my books from my reader natively, without using any horrible browser. (and in my opinion, the web browser in both my Kobo and my Kindles is horrible and pretty much unusable) I don't want to spend 10 minutes trying to open a web page on my e-ink reader. I want to be able to touch a button and connect to a list of books and download the ones I want, and only the ones I want. I want to be able to do this with books bought from anywhere, or books I've created myself, or documents/web pages that I've sent to my device to read later. I can do this with my Kindle, why can't I do it with my Kobo? In my opinion, this is really Amazon's killer feature, and it's what keeps me from getting rid of my Kindles. I had high hopes when I found out about the Pocket integration, then I realized that it only includes a very narrow definition of what is an "article" on a web site.

For the most part, I keep all my edocuments on my Kobo so no need to do anything other than a quick search to locate a specific item. Currently I have a 32GB internal uSD card which is overkill since the only ebooks that live on the internal card are those that I have purchased from Kobo and a 32GB external uSD card which I use for all other documents so I don't see any reason not to keep all my edocuments onto the device. I do keep several copies of my library around (computer, local network storage and off-site backup*) so I see no real need for a cloud backup as well.

Admittedly, this does run into the issue that when I do a factory reset after too enthusiastically playing with the software, it take far too long (in my not so humble opinion) to rebuild the database.

*Offsite backup is currently a 3TB external hard drive that comes home for the weekend and taken back to work after the weekend backup of the NAS.

Regards,
David