Sony reveals prototype 13.3-inch e-ink slate with stylus

[din155]

I hope Sony comes out with this product. That way they can set the path for others just like first sony ereaders .

[KayLee]

finally a screen big enough for Manga & Comic Books, can't wait to see it in action!

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Anyone willing to cough up what this is going to cost is desperate for something decent for the set of PDFs they want to read and already has one or more current readers that do fine with reflowable formats and are easier to hold, use, and carry around.

I agree, reflowable formats are not an issue.

What is an issue is that a high pixel density LCD screen can easily be paired with Wacom or similar stylus tech to create a hellishly capable competitor for this market segment. At 250+ DPI, an iPad 3 screen size is sufficient to deal with PDF's.

If I am not mistaken, the target price of this device has to be less than half of the price for cheapest iPad 3 (or similar Android tablet that will exist by that time) to be commercially viable.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by ApK

I didn't see this mentioned in the OP link. You sure this device sports a flexible screen?

Yes, I have created a wiki page for this product. https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony_E_Ink_slate

Dale

[David Munch]

Some hands on experience with video, at an education expo in Japan.

[Tom Swift]

For educational use, it needs the ability to block games being added to the device. I am a teacher at a school that introduced tablets and it is a never-ending problem.

[Lbooker]

Originally Posted by David Munch

Some hands on experience with video, at an education expo in Japan.

This prototype is very convincing. I want it today !
Especially if the contrast is at least as good as Pearl, and if it sports a front light.

[Kumabjorn]

If you know anyone that goes to Waseda University, Ritsumeikan University or Hosei University, you should be able to get s first hand report.

[Dulin's Books]

[Dulin's Books]

you can see how light(358 grams or 12.5 ounces according to vid) it is when they are handling it. very nice.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

you can see how light(358 grams or 12.5 ounces according to vid) it is when they are handling it. very nice.

Heck, unless spun like a Frisbee, the thing would probably float down if dropped. :-)

[ottdmk]

Not to mention that an all-plastic device like this is probably orders of magnitude tougher then a device with glass.

[Dan23]

It looks good from the video. The page turn speed seems a little slower than we are used to on current eink devices, but still a useable speed.

I noticed the guy making massive swipes to turn the page - any thoughts on whether tap to turn will be possible for this? Are there hardware limitations on how they are implementing touch with fingers (vs pen) on this device?

[Dulin's Books]

the page turn will be an indication of the beta state of the firmware. there will be alot of debug code etc that will slow things down that would not be in the final device.

[BoldlyDubious]

This looks like a very promising device. I think that there are markets (academia at the very least) where LCD competition would not be a real issue. Reading comfort is much greater with e-ink, and that's really important when you frequently have hours-long reading sessions.

However, there is one key feature that (in my opinion) can make or break the success of this product in such contexts. Namely, the ability to quickly and easily jump between different documents and/or between different pages of the same document. It would be great to be able to:
a) keep more than one document open at the same time (i.e., as tabs);
b) jump among the open documents instantly, i.e. by clicking on the relevant tab;
c) let more than one page of the same document be open at the same time (as different tabs) thus enabling quick jumping between pages, for instance to go back to a table or formula.