New company or brand "Eereader" with "E-PAD" e-reader, but some things are amiss

[MustardOrMayo]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...android-tablet

I had discovered this by accident while searching for something else on YouTube, and wanted to post about it here. I'm guessing they do advertise on Facebook and Instagram, like with that other device by another company that was also on Kickstarter, that I can't remember the name of, but that device looked as though it was something built by Netronix (who I only really knew for building first-party devices for Good e-Reader), and was much smaller.

Prior to this, the only companies I knew about that make Android-based e-readers with third-party app support right out of the box were Onyx (BOOX), Boyue (Likebook), and Netronix (Good e-Reader).

However, one thing seemed amiss about the spec sheet, which is that there was no mention of an Android version, but I'm guessing it's 6.0, as that's what both Boox and Likebook currently ship, which I believe is due to limitations in the SoCs they use.

Another thing that seems to be amiss, is with the frontlighting. There's not much mention of that too, but I assume it to only a cool light, and not dual (cool and warm) lights like what some current BOOX and Likebook models already ship with.

[MustardOrMayo]

I just made another recent discovery:

1. While the page did not mention an Android version, it does mention the use of MediaTek Helio X20, and I did some searching online to come to the conclusion that it may ship with Android 8.1. This is just a guess, though.
2. I just saw this update video, and when they tapped to open a book, I see a "Opening book" modal that is a clear indication that it's actually using KOReader for its reader engine, unlike Likebook that I found uses FBReader for its engine, but only after digging into the APK for its home shell.

[curtw]

I'm more curious about the pricing. Even at a "kickstarter special" price at around US$500, I can't justify the cost. Are larger e-ink screens *still* so hard to make?

[MustardOrMayo]

Originally Posted by curtw

I'm more curious about the pricing. Even at a "kickstarter special" price at around US$500, I can't justify the cost. Are larger e-ink screens *still* so hard to make?

Me neither. I don't think so.

As far as I know, both Onyx and Boyue just use off-the-shelf displays from E-ink, which their factories would already be tooled for, and would cost less than getting custom display arrangements fabricated, so the e-reader OEMs can just spend more money on things like design, other hardware, materials, and software, especially considering that Android lacks official support for e-paper.

For example, just an individual E-ink ES103TC1 panel (from their store where they sell to tech startups and other companies) costs $349, OEMs most likely get them in wholesale quantities so I'll estimate their unit price to be around $320, the Likebook Mimas costs $469 (at least for the newer black edition; I'm kinda bummed that they done away with the white option, which I guess I'm now lucky to have bought), and the BOOX Note Pro costs $600 (but seems to have less hardware features than the Mimas).

[viceant]

The shipments have already started. I hope someone will upload some video review.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2614211

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[eReader fan]

On the pages states it runs android 8.1 and has 10-core cpu, also they talk about cold and warm frontlight, USB-C port and a refreshing rate while you are writing on it of 55ms on near future, but 72ms right now (anyone knows about the refresh rate of other devices?) Hell yeah! That sounds so nice to me. The onyx 10" 4core cpu which runs android 6 costs almost 700€, so 500€ for this beauty it would be a good thing.

If I hadnt spent 1000€ on the new Dasung 13'3" screen I would definitely buy it.

[viceant]

Originally Posted by eReader fan

If I hadnt spent 1000€ on the new Dasung 13'3" screen I would definitely buy it.

Well, this one is 10'3".

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[pazos]

IMHO this smells really fishy as their product is available for Worldwide Shipping (which includes US and Europe).

The main "benefit" of Onyx and Boyue is that they're China based so they can rip off the work of others without carying about Intellectual Property Thief accusations.

This product reader seems a blatant copy of KOReader (with all the good parts stripped). This says two things about the company:

- They're unable to code a proper ebook reader for android (as no real company will base its main reader on KO)
- They got more money that they can handle so they can improve a few things. I hope they hired a good lawyer and outsource decission taking. If not this will become A HUGE FAIL because how much money you have doesn't make you good at taking decissions.

Other fishy things I found: Helio processor, Yahhhhh! That's exactly a great example of a very bad decission for the first product on market. It is fine for a cheap (>100€) "Android" tablet but come on.

That is my opinion, I might be wrong, specially if they outsource decission taking and used the money to hire real pros that worked on the software and firmware. In that regard 400000€ isn't too much money *just* for that.

[viceant]

At last, they are now sending tracking numbers. It's a relief for those who paid their hardly earn money.

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[viceant]

Now the product has reached its customers and there's a subreddit forum. The company has released its first firmware update. Seems promising.

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[DaleDe]

I have added E-PAD to our wiki.

Dale

[pazos]

Thanks @viceant for the news. In fact, like @MustardOrMayo suggested, the software shipped with the reader is a blatant copy of KOReader (very old and with a lot of goodies stripped out).

I've reopened an issue https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/5075 to track the licensed material.

Users, be warned, even if you don't care about software licenses. The fact that they're used KOReader as a base shows they probably didn't hire a single engineer over the entire production process.

[viceant]

Originally Posted by pazos

The fact that they're used KOReader as a base shows they probably didn't hire a single engineer over the entire production process.

But, if they have released a firmware update to correct bugs, it means they have at least one engineer.

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[pazos]

Originally Posted by viceant

But, if they have released a firmware update to correct bugs, it means they have at least one engineer.

I'm not an engineer and have no CS background and I implemented a bunch of KO fixes & enhancements on the android port.

Plus a firmware improvement doesn't imply a improvement over the main reader program. Remember that 99% of the code is AOSP + drivers + platform support. On top of that they have a launcher, an application to take notes and a application to update the software.

I doubt they implemented any of these apps. When you contact with a manufacturer just for a few thousand units you receive support on the firmware itself (driver updates, bug fixes, support) and example code for main platform features, like wacom support.

In the best case scenario they built these 3 apps based on "sample sources" and they deliver updates themselves.

BTW, I'm not against people using this platform, but beware and do not expect the same kind of support that other vendors provide (I'm thinking about Onyx, which have, at least, somebody working on its program)

[viceant]

Originally Posted by pazos

I'm not an engineer and have no CS background and I implemented a bunch of KO fixes & enhancements on the android port.



Plus a firmware improvement doesn't imply a improvement over the main reader program. Remember that 99% of the code is AOSP + drivers + platform support. On top of that they have a launcher, an application to take notes and a application to update the software.



I doubt they implemented any of these apps. When you contact with a manufacturer just for a few thousand units you receive support on the firmware itself (driver updates, bug fixes, support) and example code for main platform features, like wacom support.



In the best case scenario they built these 3 apps based on "sample sources" and they deliver updates themselves.

I didn't know that. Thanks.

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