iRex update

The white paperlook is very beautifull on this photo. Former pictures of the iRex show more of what we have to expect in reality? Maybe its the dark gray rim.

A bit from the Dutch article that I originally got this story from:

“[The iRex] is not intended for websurfing, but web content can be transferred. The strenght of the device is the coupling of content that automatically appears in the reader via wifi hotspots or a USB cable. In the morning the device will be filled with several news-papers that one is subscribed to, but also one’s own documents, drawings and notes, etc.

Sounds pretty much the way I use my Palm Pilot: use Plucker or AvantGo or what have you to slurp the latest news into the reader, then read on the way to work.

It is not strange that they’re (allegedly) using wifi for this, as wifi is almost as ubiquitous as USB these days, at least where I am. It has the added benefit that newspapers can transmit their copy via wifi at airports and train stations, so that your news is guaranteed fresh.

What is odd that once you have wifi on board, you couldn’t use it to browse the web.

“The target audience is formed by travellers, lawyers, doctors, etc., but also libraries.”

This suggests to me that this is not going to be the cheap reader we’ve been waiting for.

But (as I think) David noted elsewhere, with Samsung making its own (very cheap) epaper, and all the basic technology already available, it probably won’t take more than a couple of years before these appear too. Also there are LCD technologies that require very little power, as used in the Kolin reader. E-ink’s white may look sexier than SSCT’s green, but there will be people who take anything that works and that they can afford.

The best thing that can happen in the immediate future is that the iRex and Jinke developers have tried and managed to avoid the mistakes that Sony made.

I’ve been finding that RSS readers for offline content is a big selling point for my portable device. this might not be a feature that could come with the early irex products, but later releases (or software updates) could add this feature easily to existing users.

Well, now that i think about it, maybe not. Ebooks have typically been binary files. Still it would be nice if there were some syndication feature for free content.

A very nice design, especially in its simplicity, and the screen specs look promising. I have been eagerly anticipating the HanLin V8 since I first read about it here, but I must admit the iRex has given me pause. The potential roadblock could be the price, especially when considering iRex’s intended market.

For sure, I’ll be waiting to read more about the iRex before committing to a purchase.

One more thing:

I wondered why, using an E-Ink display (which only uses battery power to change the image), battery life was determined by length of time used and not by number of page refreshes. Then I read at MobileRead that the entire screen is touch sensitive. That would explain the drain on the battery. Very nice design, indeed.

jared said:
> I have been eagerly anticipating the HanLin V8
> since I first read about it here, but I must admit
> the iRex has given me pause.

except wait until you read the press release and see the
mock-up photos for the “next” machine to be announced,
jared, because that one will _really_ knock your socks off!

seriously, folks, the time to start “eagerly anticipating”
a machine is when it debuts at the big computer shows
in late spring and early summer, with a manufacturer who
says “we have geared up production capacity already and
are now buying media-time for a fall marketing campaign
to make this a must-have for the year-end gifting season”.

-bowerbird

bowerbird, please refrain from being snarky or condescending, which really has no place in discussions about technology.

I think you will remember from Branko’s earlier post that iRex was looking at a release in early 2006 of this product. Even while considering a purchase of the HanLin V8 – which has yet to make its bow – I had envisioned a better E-Ink based book reader that would include some sort of wireless capability and would support both SD and CF memory cards. iRex has said their product would include such features, as well as an improved display (at least, in spec). In fact, I was talking to my wife (several nights before reading about the iRex reader) about an ideal eBook reader that is similar to the iRex in many ways.

I also don’t think the world of eBook technology is at the point where DAP player or gaming tech is at, with eBook companies trying to “trump” other company’s products with early announcements. I haven’t read any announcements of production and sale for the HanLin V8 from any source other than their website, but they indicate they will have a product available for purchase some time around the end of this year. I imagine that the same is likely true for iRex when they announce a product being available in early 2006.

jared, i’m not being “snarky or condescending”,
and you shouldn’t misinterpret what i just said
in those terms. it’s not fair to the readers here.

i’ve been an e-book advocate for _decades_,
and i’ve seen the damage that is done by vapor.

and e-ink has been one of the very worst offenders!
it’s been “a few years” away from “widespread use”
for about 5 years now. and it still is, to this very day.

even when an e-ink e-book readermachine _did_
come to market — in japan — most people found it
to be unacceptably bad in its actual usability.

(not to mention it was crippled by corporate greed,
which is the same fate that fell to earlier machines,
like the rocketbook. got a cure for that problem?
yeah, i thought not.)

so i ask you this: do we want to keep telling people
“e-books aren’t here yet, but they will be very soon”
when that only makes them wait for something that
might well disappoint them, because it doesn’t live up
to the glittering hype that we have been feeding them?

i think instead we should say, “here are the tools that
you have _right_now_, so start using ’em _right_now_,
because they’re actually pretty good _right_now_,
and we’ll go to work on improving them _right_now_.”

> I also don’t think the world of eBook technology is
> at the point where DAP player or gaming tech is at,
> with eBook companies trying to “trump” other company’s
> products with early announcements.

it went past that point a long, long, long time ago.

then again, you probably don’t remember when
adobe bought out early competitors to acrobat,
and then promptly buried them.

or when gemstar henry tried to corner the market
with an early run-around through the patent office.

and those were real companies with real money
behind them. the complaint here is about vapor.

and perhaps i should have said it more directly:
the world of e-books is a chicken/egg type thing;
unless/until a company is committed to making
_lots_and_lots_ of reader-units at a _low_price_
(i’m talking in numbers running into the millions),
they won’t solve the underlying catch-22. so it
doesn’t matter if a machine is released in 2006,
or 2007, or 2008, if it doesn’t achieve critical mass.

-bowerbird