Onyx Boox Kepler series

[Hrafn]

I'm also entitled to quote from Onyx-Boox's early draft Manual for the Kepler series (which is what I was doing above), which is (AFAIK) the only explicit description of the differences between the Kepler Pro and the (proposed, but never released) Kepler and Kepler Lite.

I was not expressing a personal opinion, I was stating the manufacturer's definitions. I am not denying that there are multiple models that are variants of the Kepler Pro, I am simply stating that they are not variants of the Kepler, as Onyx-Boox defined these terms.

The Russian site appears to omit mention of BT, even for models with BT that they offer the standard model for (e.g. the Max), as well as their variant models. Whilst it is possible that they are having O-B produce special BT-less versions of all these, it seems more likely that the omission simply exists in the Russian site's specifications lists. As I have said before, retailers often get specs lists wrong.

[stangri]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

I'm also entitled to quote from Onyx-Boox's early draft Manual for the Kepler series

By all means, please do. I'm still waiting for the link.

[Mage3]

According to the comments from the official dealer's forum:
-Monte Cristo doesn't have bluetooth support and audio output (mini jack) is also missing.
-Soon-to-be-released Monte Cristo 2 will get bluetooth, Snow Field (technology resembling EInk Regal), but not the audio output.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by stangri

By all means, please do. I'm still waiting for the link.

I posted it on this thread several months ago:

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Kepler manual, including info on non-Pro versions

Here.

One odd thing is that it's copyright 2013.

It lists additional info (on p60) about the three versions:

• Kepler Pro: FSL 6 Cortex-A9 1G Hz; LPDDR2 1G; Android 4.0; 1448x1072
• Kepler: RK 3026 Dual cortex A9, 1.2G; DDR3 512MB; Android 4.2.2; 1448x1072
• Kepler Lite: RK 3026 Dual cortex A9 , 1.2G; DDR3 512MB; Android 4.2.2; 1024x758

(It also confirms that only the Pro has page-turn buttons.)
...

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by Mage3

According to the comments from the official dealer's forum:
-Monte Cristo doesn't have bluetooth support and audio output (mini jack) is also missing.
-Soon-to-be-released Monte Cristo 2 will get bluetooth, Snow Field (technology resembling EInk Regal), but not the audio output.

The base Kepler Pro doesn't have an audio jack either (which was one of the reasons people were originally interested in how functional BT was on it -- to see if BT wireless headphones/speakers would work).

It's been a while since I've heard Regal mentioned -- looking it up again, it seems to have something to do with better partial refreshes (most useful when you're doing things like web-browsing, scrolling, etc <-- [scratch that -- I was getting Regal & A2 mixed up]).

ADDENDUM: I'm not seeing any mention of Snow Field outside Russian forums. Incidentally, is this the "official dealer's forum" you were referring to? If so, I'm not sure how genuinely 'official' it is.

ADDENDUM2:

Who knows what is SNOW Field?

This is analogue of Regal, although not 100%, but the essence and purpose are the same. Onyx does not have the right to use the Regal trademark and therefore came up with its own name. Nobody uses it anymore. This function will be present in devices that will be sold in other countries of the world, not only in Russia.

-- Onyx Russia here.

So it seems that Snow Field is largely (though "not 100%") a rebranding of Regal -- which, as they note, is also present in non-Russian readers (I think all current-generation Carta screens may have Regal).

[Mage3]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

The base Kepler Pro doesn't have an audio jack either

oh, I've missed that out, thanks for mentioning that!

Originally Posted by Hrafn

It's been a while since I've heard Regal mentioned

I haven't seen Onyx International mentioning what has changed when they upgraded their current ereaders from e.g. Carta2 to Carta2+. However the Russian distributor shares some information as they market the "+" models as brand new devices. Regal was considered a part of the Carta technology before. However it turned out that Regal had been developer and worked only for the Freescale platform. Onyx International has come long way in trying to make something similar for their Rockchip platform. Now you can find the "Snow Field" option in Neo Reader 2 and in OReader application - but only for the new models with "Carta+" sticker on the packaging (pic). With this option there's no need for full screen refresh any more - as there's no ghosting in these two reading apps.

TBH I have no idea what naming policy will be used in the American market and if the devices being sold now have Snow Field support...

As for the official forum, it is available only in Russian afaik: http://onyx-boox.ru/board/

Addendum:
BTW the translation in the quote of Onyx Russia is not very accurate:
instead of "Nobody uses it anymore" it should read "nobody else uses it" i.e. no other company has the right to use the Snow Field brand name.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by Mage3

However it turned out that Regal had been developer and worked only for the Freescale platform. Onyx International has come long way in trying to make something similar for their Rockchip platform.

Is the Kepler Pro (as opposed to the Monte Carlo) Freescale or Rockchip? The original specs said "FSL 6 Cortex-A9 1G Hz", the current specs only say "Cortex A9 1GHz". The Russian site states that the MC & RC are Rockchip, but that the same-generation Max and Prometheus are Freescale i.MX6.

ADDENDUM: that has in fact been answered previously on this thread:

Originally Posted by jscris

Reply from Onyx about availability in the US:
"Kepler Pro will be available in USA in July. You can check it in Amazon.com."

8/4/16:
"Kepler Pro still not release as the material delay. Kepler Pro with Freescale i.mx6 CPU + 300dpi screen + 1G RAM + 16G flash + 3000mah battery. and we're developing Android OS4.4 and plan to launch in Q3."

[Mage3]

True. I'd rather wait for the Kepler Pro to hit Amazon then.

[stangri]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

I posted it on this thread several months ago:

Per your quote Monte Cristo = Kepler (512Mb RAM, Android 4.2). So like I said there're various flavours of Kepler on the market.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by stangri

Per your quote Monte Cristo = Kepler (512Mb RAM, Android 4.2). So like I said there're various flavours of Kepler on the market.

Yes, if you wish to ignore the fact that the MC has page-turn buttons, which the Kepler explicitly didn't, and has a slower CPU than the Kepler specified (1.0 vs 1.2 GHz).

Also, calling something a variant of a never-released (or even prototype-presented) model feels anomalous. A descendant of the man who never was.

[stangri]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Yes, if you wish to ignore the fact that the MC has page-turn buttons, which the Kepler explicitly didn't, and has a slower CPU than the Kepler specified (1.0 vs 1.2 GHz).

Also, calling something a variant of a never-released (or even prototype-presented) model feels anomalous. A descendant of the man who never was.

So you choose to ignore the fact that it has different RAM, different CPU and different Android version and call it Kepler Pro just on the basis of omission of the turn buttons in the draft support document?

Like I said, you're entitled to your opinion, no need to preach it like a gospel tho.

[Mage3]

I can't find the exact forum post right now but as far as I remember the social media representative of Onyx Russia has provided a couple of comments about the buttons of Monte Cristo once:
- the distributor insisted on the requirement that Monte Cristo should come with physical turn buttons while the engineers of Onyx Int. were against adding buttons to Monte Cristo. I didn't pay much attention to that comment then since I didn't know that it could have been the major difference between Kepler and Kepler Pro.
- they did consider using the Freescale platform for Monte Cristo, but that solution is a bit more expensive for price-sensitive Russian market
- there should be some development in progress. Monte Cristo 3 might get touch-sensitive buttons instead of the mechanical ones. However there are some concerns that this solution may result in a lot of accidental page turns

[stangri]

Originally Posted by Mage3

- there should be some development in progress. Monte Cristo 3 might get touch-sensitive buttons instead of the mechanical ones. However there are some concerns that this solution may result in a lot of accidental page turns

Depends on implementation really -- I loved the touch-sensitive buttons on Kindle Voyage.

More I think of it (and struggle without it) -- the built-in BT with a clicker (or ideally a ring-shaped) BT remote would be my ideal solution for a vast majority of my reading scenarios.

[Hrafn]

I must admit I'd like to see something done about the buttons on the Kepler series. As much as I love my KP, the buttons are its biggest flaw. Their positioning can be compensated for by inverting the reader, but their placement, partially-behind the curved-back case, means frequent 'failed' presses, and not-infrequent accidental 'long' presses when I overcompensate.

I think reviews were mixed on the Voyage's buttons (I never had an opportunity to try them myself), but some refinement of this idea to get the right balance on sensitivity would be worth looking at.

[stangri]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

I think reviews were mixed on the Voyage's buttons (I never had an opportunity to try them myself), but some refinement of this idea to get the right balance on sensitivity would be worth looking at.

As far as I remember, there were at least two settings for buttons usually not found on other readers -- the pressure sensitivity and the feedback strength. Both had 3 levels so you could adjust to filter out accidental taps (level 3 required strong intentional push). Overall, I loved the Voyage hardware, but wanted an OS more open to customizations/additions.