How would you update the Jetbook?

[bill_mchale]

I am just curious... The Jetbook has been out for a while now so I rather think that its successor is probably somewhere in the product development cycle (assuming of course that Ectaco hasn't decided to get out the ebook reader market place). So if you were designing a Jetbook 2.0 what would you do to make it better?

--
Bill

[LuBiB]

interesting topic Bill. let's see what i would add:

- option to take out the rechargeable battery (even though it's easy to do on the jetbook now)

- added color/accent features (thanks to kralik i think we all know how to paint our jetBooks now lol)

- expanded dictionary (its great now, but more words with more definitions should really help us all)

- higher expandable external memory (2GB now is great for the avid reader who loves to take his book collection everywhere he goes, but imagine 32GB - i can have every library on the East Coast!)

- maybe DRM support (i know *none of us strip DRM's* but this added support would be nice)

Those are my main points. Anyone else?

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by LuBiB

- higher expandable external memory (2GB now is great for the avid reader who loves to take his book collection everywhere he goes, but imagine 32GB - i can have every library on the East Coast!)

Word from two forum members here is that SDHC is now supported up to 32GB.

[artifact]

Word from two forum members here is that SDHC is now supported up to 32GB.

Tangent...
I've got a 4 gig in mine since .g came out so there are three of us at least. So far it s good except it seems hyper sensitive -- I was reading while charging and it kept thinking the card had to be refreshed (It seems fine with the little cover closed.)

Anyway back to the question asked:

* Another vote for DRM.... yeah, its evil. But its a feature the jetBook lacks that every other reader has. With Sony's new Overdrive library pitch there could be extra incentive even on the 'free' book side.
* Bigger on/off button or maybe a switch.
* Ratings for read books
* Ability to delete folders
* I don't need the dictionary or MP3s or pictures so would personally toss those.
* More font gradients zooming. 16 is a bit big, 12 is too small.
* True Type font support.
* PDF reflow.. wrapping. Any format, actually (though I suppose it'd mess up poetry.)
* A bigger screen (but still cheap price) for reading oversized, graphics heavy computer books.
* Better Mac support -- the USB cable locks every time so I have to use a card reader, plus it won't unmount disks... they constantly re-add themselves.
* RTF (I believe that is the format) page smartly compute for the page button without needing the arrows to advance the rest of the display.
* Arrow down properly compute how far to advance. (May be a bug, though. I noticed it with G that arrow down carries an extra sentence or two at the top of the screen.)
* Wireless download from my NAS/Desktop
* Desktop Software -- sync the read list and above ratings to some sort of tracking system. Could also store book-connected notes, etc.
* Touch screen for highlighting and pen-based note taking
* Color! Its LCD, why can't they make it color -- get the PixelQi screen.
* A little checklist so I can go through those 'books you must read in your lifetime' lists and check them off.

[bill_mchale]

Now that this has gotten started, I will add my own thoughts

1. lets have two versions, the 5" screen version and then maybe an 8" screen version. I would keep the LCD since there is a segment of the market that seems to definitely prefer it to eInk.

2. I would get rid of the left side bar that you can currently use to turn pages. I find it is generally too awkward to use when I am holding it one handed and without it, you could perhaps adapt the left hand side with somesort of handhold.

3. Better PDF support. I don't just want reflow (which after all is only supported if the actual PDF supports it), but also faster page turns. Page turns on regular files are instant, on PDFs they take a second... not usually a big deal, but, hey, this is a wish list .

4. Replaceable battery.

The thought about using a PixelQi screen has occurred to me as well. It would allow for color use.. but is color available without a backlight?

--
Bill

[LuBiB]

hey bill, from what i understand in order to have a color LCD, there has to be a backlight. It takes an inordinate amount of transistors which consume much more energy so your battery will drain faster.

but here's a cool article on Color LCD's

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/lcd5.htm

[Journier]

I would like DRM support, PDF reflow, and the ability to delete folders.

[Kralik]

Faster processor, more firmware options.

[Ron46]

Artifact,

You CAN delete folders. I've moved most of my books to the SD card and deleted device folders- it runs better with more device room for tasks rather than using it for a books database (I think so anyway). Just don't delete the TOP level folders- "Books" "Pictures". If you can get 10,000 books on a 2G SD card, why clutter up the small device memory with books? After rearranging files, I do a device reset and have had NO problems.

Anyway- desired features:

1. Adjustable margins (without having to use pdf files)
2. Adjustable line spacing (leading) with single spaced being single, not 1.5x or 2x.
3. Ability to puchase a high end dictionary (from Ectaco or from an ebook store) and have the look-up function selectively link to IT rather than to Ectaco's VERY limited English dictionary.

[smithno]

I'd like to see a serif font.

[Jack Tingle]

Only two things:
1) Hyperlinks
2) Support for more/user-added fonts
I'd actively resist/sell it on ebay if the following were added:
1) Substantial DRM support (it often screws up other things)
2) Color (no, no, no, it screws up the good daylight readability)
3) Touchscreen (see Color above)

Happy New Year,
Jack Tingle

[Ron46]

Right. No color and NO touchscreen. It was the bane of my Palm III. The glare that comes off a touchscreen is a barrier region glare (between the top sheet and the actual screen) that cannot be filtered out with external polarizers. What is so hard about arrowing over to a selection instead of having a touch screen?

There is one touch screen technology that uses no top sheet but an X Y axis beam interruption, but I don't know if it has been developed for handheld devices. It would probably be a battery killer.

[gr8npwrfl]

This is new transflective daylight display technology and no it does not have to be backlit to have color. I have a 4 inch color transflective lcd on my bench right now. The brighter the light the better it looks. I am getting a sample of one that has low power led backlighting that only adds about 8 to 10% more power consumption. The larger concern is the CPU does not have color support right now.

The app note even shows a photo detector circuit to automatically turn on the backlight in low light conditions

[Jack Tingle]

Originally Posted by gr8npwrfl

...I have a 4 inch color transflective lcd on my bench right now. The brighter the light the better it looks. ... The app note even shows a photo detector circuit to automatically turn on the backlight in low light conditions

All features of the ca. 1999 Compaq iPAQ 3000 series PDA. It was better than nothing, but it really wasn't good enough. My current PDA has a similar display. I don't use it in sunlight if I can help it. Just not good enough.

That technology has been around the barn and no one bought it as a sunlight readable disply. At best, it's a display that doesn't turn completely useless in the sun.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[gr8npwrfl]

The display I have is better the brighter the light is. Very very readable in full direct sunlight