Astak web updated with details...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I also think eReader is a really bad idea on a device with a 6" or larger screen. The problem is the way eReader eBooks are formatted. Again we are trying to fit old technology onto new technology. eReader is formatted for small palm type screens. That may work fine there, but not on a decent sized screen. Can you imagine reading a book with line separators for each paragraph and no indents? That looks awful on my computer screen. And it will not look any better on a 6" or 9.7" screen.

But is that something that's inherent in the format, or just something that people do because the book is being formatted for a small screen?

Many commercial MobiPocket books (eg the Baen ones) have a blank line between paragraphs, rather than indenting the first line of a paragraph. Although I prefer to have indents myself (and all the Mobi books I create myself using indents) I'm not going to lose sleep over the fact that a book using blank lines between the paragraphs. It's not a big deal (for me).

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by HarryT

uBook is (as I've said before) my all-time favourite reading software too, but the fact that a machine runs CE doesn't necessarily mean it'll run. CE is a "modular" o/s and it depends how much of it they use. The standard Windows UI probably won't work too well on an eInk screen, so they could ditch the GUI altogether and use some sort of menu-based "shell", in which case GUI-based apps aren't going to run on it.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Yep, I was just considering CE a good sign because it means the right kernel for uBook. I don't know if it will work on their implementation of CE, I do know it won't work on anything else they might use.

[JSWolf]

What I would like to see in these new implementations of old reading software is the ability to deal with the format such that you can remove single blank lines between paragraphs and add indents. That would mean that the eBooks would be ok for older screens and newer screens except maybe the issue of smallish pictures.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The web site does say Linux on the 5", but I don't understand why a company would sell 3 sizes with two operating systems. This looks like a support nightmare in the long term. I also assume that FictionWise can only support eReader on WinCE, and FictionWise has to be a major reseller for Astak. Linux could be right, but I would not be surprised if the 5" also ran WinCE.

The 5" reader is their own design. The two larger models are based on the Netronix/PVI OEM designs.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

If you look at the pictures in Nate's thread, one shows a file with .STK I sure hope that one of the big formats is natively supported.

Not unless Astak has made the port of eReader Pro or Mobipocket to the Astak/Netronix. Which should be the goal for Astak.

I'd love to see Astak get either Mobi or eReader Pro up and running on these.

Derek

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The web site does say Linux on the 5", but I don't understand why a company would sell 3 sizes with two operating systems. This looks like a support nightmare in the long term. I also assume that FictionWise can only support eReader on WinCE, and FictionWise has to be a major reseller for Astak. Linux could be right, but I would not be surprised if the 5" also ran WinCE.

Wallcraft,

Netronix offers the EB-2xx and EB-3xx series with WinCE 5.0. They offer the EB-100 in Linux 2.6. (The EB-100 is the older version of the EB-2xx and does not offer touchscreen, bluetooth or wifi support, but still has a 6" display.) As far as I can tell, Netronix has chosen to not offer Linux on their upgraded hardware. It could be that the 5" version is "older"???

(And I see from a 'just-prior' post that the 5" is an in-house design from Astak. Silly me )

As for Fictionwise being a "major seller" through eReader, remember that Fictionwise also sells Mobipocket, as does Mobipocket.com, BooksOnBoard and others. And there are Mobipocket versions out there for WinCE 5.0 already, so a port of Mobi wouldn't probably be that hard, on a technical level. But we also must keep in mind that to offer Mobi, Astak must guarantee "exclusivity" of DRM'd format support as well as have both Mobipocket AND Amazon approve of the request. I hardly think Amazon wants to allow competition to its Kindle.

Derek

[eimert]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Yep, I was just considering CE a good sign because it means the right kernel for uBook. I don't know if it will work on their implementation of CE, I do know it won't work on anything else they might use.

There is a CE version of µbook - shouldn't that work?

Klaus

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by eimert

There is a CE version of µbook - shouldn't that work?

Klaus

But is the CE version for the PXA2xx family or the ARM9xx family of chips?

Derek

[pathfinderca]

Originally Posted by John H

Astak revealed all three readers on their homepage!
See http://www.astak.com/e-book.html.

Their 9" is only $350. Is that believable? That's like half the price for irex. With the money I want to buy the irex, I can buy three sizes of Astak. What do I need so many for?
Now the question is Should I wait or should I not.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by pathfinderca

Their 9" is only $350. Is that believable? That's like half the price for irex. With the money I want to buy the irex, I can buy three sizes of Astak. What do I need so many for?
Now the question is Should I wait or should I not.

If you want a decent PDF reader, I'd say wait. Hopefully the 9.7" models will be available by the end of summer or early fall - although I'm just expressing my desire here.

I'm gonna buy one when it comes out.

Derek

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

But is the CE version for the PXA2xx family or the ARM9xx family of chips?

Derek

I'm pretty sure it's CPU independent. I have it running on a StrongARM chip.

[pathfinderca]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

If you want a decent PDF reader, I'd say wait. Hopefully the 9.7" models will be available by the end of summer or early fall - although I'm just expressing my desire here.

I'm gonna buy one when it comes out.

Derek

I'll probably wait to. If not, I'll buy an irex.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by pathfinderca

Their 9" is only $350. Is that believable? That's like half the price for irex. With the money I want to buy the irex, I can buy three sizes of Astak. What do I need so many for?
Now the question is Should I wait or should I not.

If you can wait, it will be till the end of the year. I think they are saying October.

BOb

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

As for Fictionwise being a "major seller" through eReader, remember that Fictionwise also sells Mobipocket, as does Mobipocket.com, BooksOnBoard and others.

Yes, but they almost certainly make more money per ebook from the eReader version. This is one reason why FictionWise should be interested in aggressively selling E-Ink devices with eReader support.

[Jack B Nimble]

Originally Posted by eimert

There is a CE version of µbook - shouldn't that work?

Klaus

Is there just a CE version? All of the versions I see, except the full Windows version, seem to be for a specific platform of CE (PocketPC, Windows Mobile, etc.). Those platforms are specific builds of WinCE (see here for a good explanation). If µbook is designed for those platforms, a WinCE machine may not have some of the tools or libraries the software requires and expects.

It's been some time since I used any WinCE products (I had a couple of HPC machines), but I do remember that even when you had the right processor and the right version of WinCE, the actual platform could cause compatibility issues.

Jack