Palma 2 Released

[twowheels]

Surprised that I’m not finding this already posted:

https://shop.boox.com/products/palma2

[twowheels]

Unfortunately only 1200, would like to see 1300. No need for the fingerprint sensor for me. Black case might be popular for some.

[Gormagon]

That device, as well as the Note Air4 C, is dead on arrival as far as the OS (Android 13) is concerned. Seriously, Boox? Android 13 at the end of 2024? Interestingly, Bigme was able to offer an e-ink device with at least Android 14, which shows at least it would've been possible to offer a more recent Android version.

[Aleron Ives]

It's no more DOA than any other Boox device. Onyx is always behind, because Boox devices use old SOCs that are tied to old Android versions. Onyx has been using Android 12 until now, so the Palma 2 will be one of the first devices to ship with Android 13. Android 14 won't come until the end of next year.

[Renate]

Huh? Why the fandom of ever newer Android versions? What feature are you pining for that is not in your current Onyx device?

I'd be hard pressed to say how Android 14 is better than Android 10.

As far as I'm concerned the modularlization of the OS has not brought the end user any benefit. The size of the OS grows exponentially. We have a myriad of kernel modules, 32 and 64 bit libs, logical partitions, apex modules. The update procedure is much more complicated and prone to failure.

A dozen years ago when I started on ereaders (with Android 2.1) my wish list was for better eink, a flush screen, frontlight, Bluetooth. We have that. Gestures instead of Navigation Bar? Ok.

I'm no stick in the mud. My ereader is a Go6 that is rooted (without Magisk) and modified to get rid of the Onyx warts. Getting rid of them is more important than getting some feature in Android 14. Your values may be (probably are) different.

The Palma 2 may be Android 13 but it still hasn't got GPS.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by twowheels

Unfortunately only 1200, would like to see 1300. No need for the fingerprint sensor for me. Black case might be popular for some.

But with the upgraded CPU, you get Android 13 instead of Android 11.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Renate

Huh? Why the fandom of ever newer Android versions? What feature are you pining for that is not in your current Onyx device?

I'd be hard pressed to say how Android 14 is better than Android 10.

As far as I'm concerned the modularlization of the OS has not brought the end user any benefit. The size of the OS grows exponentially. We have a myriad of kernel modules, 32 and 64 bit libs, logical partitions, apex modules. The update procedure is much more complicated and prone to failure.

A dozen years ago when I started on ereaders (with Android 2.1) my wish list was for better eink, a flush screen, frontlight, Bluetooth. We have that. Gestures instead of Navigation Bar? Ok.

I'm no stick in the mud. My ereader is a Go6 that is rooted (without Magisk) and modified to get rid of the Onyx warts. Getting rid of them is more important than getting some feature in Android 14. Your values may be (probably are) different.

The Palma 2 may be Android 13 but it still hasn't got GPS.

Android 14 is better then 10 because you get to use apps that won't work on 10 but will on 11-14.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Android 14 is better then 10 because you get to use apps that won't work on 10 but will on 11-14.

I write my apps for compatibility. Most of them still work on Android 7 without sacrificing anything. Is there a cabal of satanic software companies that are pushing incompatibility? Even if your wonderful app must use the latest API why not accomodate some lower Android versions?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Renate

I write my apps for compatibility. Most of them still work on Android 7 without sacrificing anything. Is there a cabal of satanic software companies that are pushing incompatibility? Even if your wonderful app must use the latest API why not accomodate some lower Android versions?

One reason is the author doesn't have an older Android version and cannot write it to work on anything older then what the author has.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One reason is the author doesn't have an older Android version and cannot write it to work on anything older then what the author has.

Few mainstream apps are written by one person. We used to do compatibility of our mainstream app by calling everybody in the office (including non-programmers) to download the latest version of our app on whatever personal device they used and perform some tasks. We even had "fake" credit cards so that they could do purchases. (The credit card numbers were just numbers that could be flagged by our servers so that the purchase would go through but nothing would be shipped.)

Google has tons of device farms where you can check compatibility on every version and manufacturer under the sun with automated testing and screen grabs.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Gormagon

That device, as well as the Note Air4 C, is dead on arrival as far as the OS (Android 13) is concerned. Seriously, Boox? Android 13 at the end of 2024? Interestingly, Bigme was able to offer an e-ink device with at least Android 14, which shows at least it would've been possible to offer a more recent Android version.

Bigme uses other SOCs

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Android 14 is better then 10 because you get to use apps that won't work on 10 but will on 11-14.

The applications that are useful for this run from Android 7 onwards - anything higher is only partially suitable for EInk.
And the next highest Android version of interest for EInk devices is 12, because of the movable split screen separation - but this is only of marginal interest for the Palma

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Renate

The Palma 2 may be Android 13 but it still hasn't got GPS.

That's exactly why I bought the Bigme HiBreak b/w - and use it without a SIM card

[Renate]

I modified a B&N Glow3 with a GPS module. The main problem was that the module was crap and couldn't capture a satellite if it fell on it. Also, my custom app really relied on color to identify features. But it was an interesting experiment.

The app always shows an "egocentric" view of the world with you in the center. A bit unconventional, but it always showed distance and bearing to "home". Also, with a fixed position it was possible to put the sun on the map. The sun bearing was calculated off lat/long/time and was accurate. This allowed you to orient the map more accurately than with the built-in magnetometer.

[Gormagon]

Renate wrote:

Why the fandom of ever newer Android versions?

It has nothing to do with fandom. The device isn't cheap, so why should one be satisfied with an old OS which was released over 2 years ago in the August of 2022?

I write my apps for compatibility

Great. But then I don't use your apps on my devices plus I may want to install newer apps that require a more recent Android version in the future. Of course I will still be able to use the apps that are working right now on an old Android in the future if I don't update them. But that may mean security risks and less features.

Unfortunately Boox don't offer any upgrade of the Android versions on their devices. Since we are not talking of devices up to 150 Euro I really see the old Android versions as huge disadvantage.