E-book Reader Matrix
From MobileRead
Much of the renewed enthusiasm for e-books comes from a new generation of e-book reader devices because they use the E Ink technology which has been eagerly awaited, and the feature sets are much richer than devices could offer in the past. This new display technology has the distinct advantage of only using power for page turns, not to maintain a page display. But most importantly, it provides a crisp, clear image on a larger display screen that rivals print seen in paper books.
[edit] Devices
Most of the attention is focused on the Sony Portable Reader, two devices from Jinke Electronics (HanLin eBook V2/V8 and the new eBook V3), and the "high-end" iRex iLiad e-book reader, which are all presented here.
There is also a new EInk device from Korea. It is designed to read Korean, Japanese, traditional Mandarin, English, and possibly Russian. The company that created it specializes in EInk technology and the device is an outgrowth of their technology as well as providing a device for non-romanized languages.
Newly added is the Amazon Kindle, specs were released on November 19, 2007 and ships on November 21, 2007. Jinke Electronics has pre-announced several new models including the eBook V9 with 9.7" display. Netronix (Astak) will also introduce a 9.7" device, the EB-300. There will be 5" and 6" versions too, and these run WinCE which opens up the possibility of running the many existing e-book reader software packages for WinCE. The Polymer Vision Readius is also WinCE-based, but it is cell phone sized with a rollup QVGA screen.
The STAReBOOK and Bookeen have the same basic hardware, but different software. Netronix will also introduce a basic reader, the EB-100, using the same hardware.
There are other e-book reader devices available that are not proprietary and are much cheaper. Check out the EBookwise device here: EBookwise-1150 (LCD screen)
Cell phones make good eBook readers. You can get free packaged books from http://www.booksinmyphone.com.
There is some technical information and another matrix comparing reader devices here:
Perhaps you are also interested in browsing the Internet: Web Tablets
[edit] Matrix (E Ink devices)
| Brandname | HanLin eBook | Sony Portable Reader | iRex iLiad | Amazon Kindle | STAReBOOK | Bookeen | Polymer Vision | Astak Mentor | ||
| Model | V2 | V3 | PRS-500 | PRS-505 | ER-0100 | D00111 | STK-101 | Cybook Gen3 | Readius | EB-300 |
| Manufacturer | Jinke Electronics | Sony | iRex Technologies | Hon Hai Precision Industries / Lab126 | eREAD | eREAD | Polymer Vision | Netronix | ||
| Picture |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Dimensions | 194 x 133.6 x 13.4mm (7.6" x 5.3" x .5") | 184 x 120.5 x 9.9mm | 175.6 x 123.6 x 13.8mm (6.9" x 4.9" x .5") | 175 x 122 x 8mm (6.9" x 4.8" x .3") | 216 x 155 x 16mm (8.5" x 6.1" x .6") | 190 x 134 x 18mm (7.5" x 4.9" x .7") | 188 x 118 x 8.5mm (7.4" x 4.6" x .3") | 188 x 118 x 8.5 mm (7.4" x 4.7" x .3") | 57 x 21 x 15 mm (closed) 160 x 115 x 21 mm (open) | 255 x 195 x 14mm (10.0" x 7.7" x .5") |
| Screen Technology | E Ink | E Ink / Vizplex available | E Ink | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink | E Ink Vizplex | E Ink | E Ink Vizplex | Rollable organic thin film transistor backplane with electrophoric frontplane | E Ink Vizplex |
| Primary Display | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 8 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | (122mm by 163mm) 8.1-inch XGA 1024x768 16 grey scales, 158ppi | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | (90mm by 120mm) 6-inch SVGA 800x600 4 grey scales, 166.7 ppi | 5-inch QVGA 320x240 16 gray levels | (142m by 205mm) 9.7-inch 1200x825 4 grey scales, 170 ppi |
| Secondary Display | 254x96 LCD FSTN | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | vertical cursor bar | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Touch Screen | yes, only for secondary display | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | yes (WaCom Pen) | keyboard | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | yes (finger or stylus) |
| Full-screen Refresh Rate | 0.9s | 0.9s | 1.0s (0.5s in 2 gray scales mode) | 1.0s (0.5s in 2 gray scales mode) | 0.95s | ? | 0.9s | ? | ? | ? |
| Power | Li-ion 760mAh | Li-ion 950mAh (Nokia Phone battery) | Li-ion | Li-ion | Li-ion 1100mAh; 2nd Edition ~20% larger | Li-ion 1530mAh | Li-ion 800mAh | Li-Polymer 1000mAh | ? | Li-Ion 2100 mAh |
| Battery Life | 10'000 pages | 9'000 pages | 7'500 pages | 7'500 pages | claimed 15hrs with larger battery | with EVDO: "one day", without: "a week or more" | 8'000-10'000 pages | 8'000 pages | "30 hours" | 5'000 pages |
| Weight | 300g (10.6oz) | 200g | 250g (8.8oz) | 9oz. without soft cover | 388g (13.7oz) | 289g (10.2oz) | 176g (6.2oz) | 174g (6.13oz) lightest e-ink reader | 115g (4.1oz) | ? |
| OS | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux 2.6.10 | Linux | Linux | WinCE | WinCE |
| Boot Time | 15s | 18s | ~1:25 for full boot, ~4s for return from suspend | n.a. | 44s (with software v2.8) | ? | 15s | 20s | ? | ? |
| SDK | yes | yes | an SDK is reportedly planned, plan to open specs for BBeB | an SDK is reportedly planned, plan to open specs for BBeB | yes; many Linux apps have been ported | ? | n.a. | ? | ? | ? |
| CPU | Samsung Arm 9 200MHz | Samsung Arm 9 200MHz | FreeScale Dragonball, MC9328MXL (ARM920T core, 200MHz) | FreeScale i.MXL (formerly Motorola DragonBall), MC9328MXLVP20 | Intel X-Scale 400MHz | Intel PXA250 400 MHz | Samsung Arm 250MHz (S3C2410A core) | Samsung® S3C2410 ARM920T 200MHz | ARM 11 400MHz | Samsung S3C2443 400MHz |
| Memory | 64MB Ram + 64MB Flash, 512MB SD Card included | 512MB, Internal 2M NOR Flash, 512MB SD Card included | 64MB Ram, 2MB(NOR) + 128MB(NAND) Flash (91.9MB user accessible) | n.a. | 64MB Ram + 128MB free Flash | 256MB Flash (180MB user accessible) | 64MB Ram | 16MB Ram, 8MB Rom + 64MB Flash | 128MB Ram + 256MB Internal | 64MB Ram + 512MB NAND Flash |
| Expansion Slots | SD/MMC | SD/MMC | SD/MMC, Memory Stick | SD, Memory Stick Pro Duo | MMC, CF Type II, USB Memory | SD | SD/MMC | SD | High Capacity Micro SD | SD |
| Other Interfaces | USB 1.1, headphone | USB 1.1, headphone | USB 1.1, headphone | USB 2.0, headphone | USB 1.1, headphone, WiFi 802.11b, 10/100 LAN | USB 2.0, headphone, EVDO/CDMA | USB 2.0, headphone, mono speaker | USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo | USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, GSM/GPRS/ EDGE tri-band | 2 x USB 2.0 (one charging), headphone, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11g, SD3G |
| Supported Formats | PDF, RTF, DOC, HTML, TXT, FB2 (XML), CHM, WOLF, RAR, ZIP, JPG, MP3 | PDF, RTF, DOC, HTML, TXT, FB2 (XML), CHM, WOLF, RAR, ZIP, JPG, MP3, DJVU and others | BBeB, PDF, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, ACC7 | BBeB, PDF, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, ACC7 | PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC/MOBI, DJVU (via FBReader: fb2, CHM, Plucker, zTxt, TCR, RTF, OEB, EPUB) | AZW, PRC/MOBI (non DRM), MP3, TXT | STK, MP3 | OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF (non DRM), PRC/MOBI, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3 | TXT, HTML, PDF | eReader, PDF, HTML/CHM, TXT, RTF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, AAC |
| Supported DRM Formats | Wolf DRM | Wolf, and reported contract for future MobiPocket support | Sony only DRM | MobiPocket | AZW (Kindle only) | .stk? | MobiPocket | ? | eReader | |
| Search functionality / Dictionary lookup | ? | ? | ? | ? | using touchscreen | using keyboard | ? | Dictionary lookup (using menus) | ? | ? |
| Note taking / highlighting / underlining | ? | ? | ? | ? | using touchscreen | using keyboard | ? | bookmarks menu | ? | ? |
| Software | WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer | WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer | PC Management Software called eLibrary (formerly The Connect Software, or "ConnSoft") (Note: files can be read on the Reader without use of the software by way of SD Card or MemoryStick) | iLiad Companion Software & Mobipocket Java Reader; Linux: FBReader, Gargoyle | ? | eREAD Editor | Bookeen® Multi-format eBook reader | ? | ? | |
| Services | iStation, ReadMan | iStation, ReadMan | Sony CONNECT | Sony CONNECT | iRex Technologies Delivery Service (iDS) | Amazon Kindle Whispernet | Isoshu | ? | ? | |
| Content Partners | ? | ? | Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins | De Tijd, IFRA, Les Echos, NRC Handelsblad, MobiPocket | Amazon | Isoshu | MobiPocket, Ubibooks, Cluster21, All major publishers | ? | FictionWise | |
| Price | US$349 | US$329 Promotion 2007-12-15 to 2008-01-15 V3+1GB SD card (US$299) | US$299.99 | US$699 | US$399.00 | US$420 | US$350/€ | ? | US$299-$349 | |
| Release Date | Q2 2006 | Q3 2007 | 2 October, 2007 | Q3 2006; 2nd Edition Q3 2007 | Ordering began 11/19/07 | 11/2006 | Ordering began 28 Oct, 2007 | ? | Sept 2008 | |
| Misc Info | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2000; up to now total sales is over 150k units; V8 is similar to V2; V9 will have 9.7" screen | Company has been selling e-book devices since 2003; up to now total sales is over 5k units | Company was established in 2001 as a Royal Philips Electronics spin-off; 2nd Edition iLiad is minor upgrade with larger battery | Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers. | eREAD is a new Taiwanese company (also available in: China and New Zealand). Claims to have won over Sony in size | Sold directly by Bookeen and via wholesalers; 3rd generation Cybook (1st with E Ink) | Device also functions as a phone and has SMS capabilities | There will be 5" and 6" versions, with optional WiFi and touchscreen. Same hardware may be available from other resellers. | ||
