e-Reader know-how has come a good distance for the reason that first Kindle hit the market in 2007. Not solely have the costs come down from over $300 to your normal six inch machine, however e-paper has been polished and extra refined. Corporations similar to Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo make investments copious quantities of cash in analysis and improvement to provide prospects the perfect studying expertise potential. However, what would represent the last word e-reader?
Good e-Reader has been reviewing devoted e-ink gadgets since 2008 and we’ve got actually seen the trade develop. The gadgets in 2014 all provide quicker web page turns and actually excessive decision to make studying way more intuitive. Now we have checked out a whole lot of various gadgets that come out over time and we actually have a way on what prospects need in an e-reader and what options everybody yearns for. As we speak, we have a look at the e-paper know-how, {hardware} and options that might seize the creativeness of hundreds of thousands of digital readers.
The Final e-reader
Six inches – The commonest display dimension of e-readers in the present day is six inches, as a result of its extra pocket pleasant and lots of shells purchased from China value has come down dramatically. Bigger e-readers are potential, however the purpose they’re so costly is as a result of the entire internals value extra because of the lack of mass manufacturing.
1430 x 1080 decision – That is presently the benchmark established by the Kindle Voyage for the very best decision on this planet. Most e-readers in the marketplace have 1024 X 758 which look fairly a bit dated by 2014-2015 requirements. The way forward for e-readers is tremendous excessive decision and not less than 300 PPI.
e-Ink Mobius – Mobius makes use of a TFT know-how that can allow the event of a lot lighter and rugged merchandise. Mobius shows can weigh lower than 50% of an equal glass primarily based TFT. That is significantly necessary for cell merchandise requiring bigger show areas, such because the Sony Digital Paper and Pocketbook CAD Flex.
Capacitive Touchscreen – Many e-readers nonetheless make use of Neonode IR touchscreen know-how which offers a diminished expertise for folks used to interacting with their smartphones and tablets. The last word e-reader would have the identical sort of capacitive contact with the display flush with the bezel. Notable e-readers which have this are the Kobo Aura and Tolinio Imaginative and prescient 2.
Entrance-Lit Show (Glowlight) – Smartphones and tablets use LCD display know-how which have the sunshine emitting from behind the display into your eyes. A brand new examine from the Lighting Analysis Heart at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute exhibits {that a} two-hour publicity to digital gadgets with self-luminous “backlit” shows causes melatonin suppression, which could result in delayed bedtimes, particularly in teenagers. Entrance-Lit shows have 4-6 LED lights that mission mild evenly throughout the display, not into your eyes. The third era lighting system has been very polished and refined.
Versatile rubber housing – Solely the Pocketbook CAD and Wexler Flex One have versatile rubber housing and it permits it to be extra sturdy for transportation and each day use.
Hybrid Magnesium Alloy – The Kindle Voyage has this new know-how on the again , it prevents finger oil from staining it.
1.2 GHZ Duel Core processor – In order for a extra optimized expertise when opening books, accessing menu options and operating apps, a twin core processor is a should.
1 GB of RAM – Lots of the hottest e-readers on the market solely have 128 or 512 MB of RAM. Having extra RAM would step up the efficiency and permit for bigger buffering system for multitasking.
SD card – Many e-readers nowadays forgo the SD card as a way to promote their very own cloud providers. SD Playing cards are actually necessary since you don’t must depend on WIFI to obtain content material.
Audio – e-Reader firms nowadays have all deserted audio as a way to present the bottom value machine potential. The last word e-reader would have stereo audio system, ideally Dolby Audio and a 3.55 mm headphone jack. This may permit customers to hearken to music and audiobooks.
Microphone – This may permit folks to work together with the e-reader and provides voice command prompts. It might additionally permit folks to make use of the audio chat characteristic present in apps like Skype or Whatsapp Messenger.
Ivonna Textual content to Speech – One of many massive the reason why faculties haven’t embraced e-readers in a giant manner is due to the dearth of accessibility for people who find themselves visually disabled. The Ivonna system would permit each single facet of the interface to have audio. Disabled folks would be capable to say “Open Audio Participant” and “Play Audiobook X”. In the event that they don’t have any audiobooks they might merely purchase e-Books through audio command prompts after which have the books learn to them.
Digital camera that takes footage in e-ink – The Pocketbook Extremely is the one e-reader on this planet with a in-built digicam. It has in-built OCR software program to have the ability to scan books or simply snap selfies. Sadly, while you take footage and export them to your laptop, they don’t seem to be in excessive decision greyscale e-ink, however full coloration. The last word e-reader would take footage and export them in black and white.
Duel Band WIFI – Wi-fi web entry has by no means actually modified in e-reader know-how and smartphones/tablets have all embraced duel band WIFI. This permits for content material to be downloaded quicker, similar to bigger dictionaries or apps.
3G/4G Micro SIM – Amazon is the one firm left that also offers knowledge entry, so prospects should purchase eBooks whereas outdoors a WIFI zone. Being able to purchase your individual low-cost knowledge plan by way of your native supplier wouldn’t restrict you anymore and you should buy content material on trip, on the cabin or seashore. It might actually permit for extra impulse buys and offload the price of the info to the shopper.
Intensive Dictionary Help – Many e-readers ship with a single dictionary, relying on the area you reside in. The last word e-reader would have the entire main European and Asian languages out there to obtain.
Expanded Font Help – Many e-readers solely ship with six totally different font sorts and 12 variations of dimension. I believe its necessary to have a decrease collection of fonts, to not confuse your common consumer however borrow a web page out of Kobos playbook by permitting customers to load in their very own fonts they purchase or obtain on-line. Studying a newspaper is way simpler in Instances New Roman, than generic font #8.
Android OS – The largest pattern of 2014 has been the shift from Linux primarily based working programs for e-readers to Android. Icarus, Onyx and Pocketbook have been the one firms laughing fashionable gadgets with a vanilla model of Android. This is essential, because it doesn’t lock customers down into anyone particular ecosystem, however as a substitute provides them freedom.
Bluetooth and GPS – There should not many e-readers in any respect on this planet which have GPS and Bluetooth know-how, however they need to. This may permit customers to switch books from their laptop to their e-reader with out having to plug it into their PC. It might additionally permit folks to plug in exterior audio system, like a Beats Tablet or keyboard. As well as the GPS facet would permit folks to make use of new know-how to stop theft.
Anti-Theft Software program – Benefiting from the GPS know-how within the final e-reader a easy app, similar to “Discover my e-Reader” would permit folks to trace down their machine in the event that they misplaced or misplaced it. It might additionally be capable to remotely wipe all private data if it have been to be stolen, limiting the probabilities of id theft
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the previous fifteen years. Newspapers and web sites such because the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Put up and the New York Instances have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
