Kindle Scribe

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

From frequently asked questions, apparently note taking will not work with magazines, newspapers, or manga. Do these use a special file type that restricts this? Is it normal for these types of devices not to work with magazines/newspapers, etc.?

Currently e-ink Kindles use the old MOBI format for periodicals and newspapers. It is possible that they do not intend to change that and that handwritten annotations require a newer file format.

Not at all definitive, but so far I have seen signs of handwritten sticky note support only for KFX format. And full handwritten annotation support has only be shown for PDF as far as I can tell.

[Xev_01]

I suppose this is a direct competitor for the reMarkable 2. It's certainly a niche market. I know that the analysts at Amazon have a better idea of what will sell than I do, but I'm surprised that this seems to be what they're releasing instead of a new Oasis.

On the other hand, I do suppose that largely ereader innovation has reached a point where the only big changes to be made (colour eink not being in a 'premium' state yet) are to the primary device function, rather than to the device's functionality.

That is to say...

Maybe I'm truly out of touch, but I just don't see an eink digital notepad being the more profitable over a USB-C port on a device with buttons. And I don't even like buttons!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Xev_01

I suppose this is a direct competitor for the reMarkable 2.

It's remarkable that Kobo's Elipsa doesn't even get mentioned in major reviews of the Scribe. Kobo beat Kindle to market by more than a year with its very similar device, yet big name reviews say exactly as quoted above and don't even mention the Elipsa. I wonder why?

[Xev_01]

Well, I'm no Big Name Reviewer, but I do know that Google AdSense only shows me ads for the reMarkable- so I didn't even know that the Elipsa was an eink notepad.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Xev_01

Well, I'm no Big Name Reviewer, but I do know that Google AdSense only shows me ads for the reMarkable- so I didn't even know that the Elipsa was an eink notepad.

The Elipsa and the Scribe are VERY similar - the Elipsa a little bigger, the Scribe with better screen resolution. All the hoopla about the Scribe suggests Amazon's breaking new ground, rather than catching up with a competitor. Bezos bucks at work, I guess.

[Xev_01]

I definitely agree there. They're not being as innovative as their marketing wants us to think; these products are already out there.

[innocenat]

reMarkable 2 was heavily advertise as it's all VC money

Most people here probably know Kobo Elipsa because, well, we followed Kobo development.

But there are tons of other device out there with similar form factor and functionalities. Some of which was release several years ago. IMO, reMarkable 2 isn't even near the top in this market.

[Quoth]

The reMarkable 2 is a slightly faster CPU than original reMarkable and almost identical FW/SW/GUI, except less ergonomic as front is slippier glass and the page turn & home buttons are gone. Still miserable amount of Flash, and only one file at time USB transfer via networking via a Web Browser. Worst file transfer & annotation support of any tablet, phone or eink reader I've owned. Probably every other 10.3" or similar size eink is better. It wasn't innovative or first. Plenty of better choice. I'd not have bought it only it was 1/2 price. It's only a hard to communicate with PDF reader and sketching app. No onboard text or handwriting recognition at all. Only the defunct Sony Digital paper is harder to work with without the Sony host program. It seems like a poor copy of the Sony PDF only Digital Paper eink rather than a real ereader with annotation and notes. The note taking is no different to any sketch program or app with a Wacom tablet, which I had on PC in late 1990s!
I have a Lenovo laptop with touchscreen/wacom that turns into a tablet and it's older. The Elipsa I have is hugely better (32G vs 6G storage too). The Boox sounds better. Amazon's Scribe and Hauweis offerings will be better.

The one innovation with the Scribe is the 300 dpi @ 10.2" as all the competition is lower resolution. There is nothing else new about the Scribe. I expect Pocketbook, Boox, Onyx, Kobo etc will soon have the same eink panel unless it really is an Amazon panel (I doubt it).

[tomsem]

Interview with Kevin Keith, VP of Amazon Devices

http://thekindlechronicles.com/tkc-698-kevin-keith

I'd have to listen to it again but I think he said the Kindle apps would be able to access the documents you create on Scribe (as well as being able to view annotations).

[Quoth]

Unless annotation per book is easily exported to Mac, Windows & Linux, it's worthless for proofing.
I've also nearly zero interest of sync/seeing annotations between devices, which can actually be done with many devices of there is no DRM, but not between makes.

It's pretty trivial for Amazon to make Scribe content sync to THEIR apps. It's getting that info outside Amazon is the important bit.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Unless annotation per book is easily exported to Mac, Windows & Linux, it's worthless for proofing.
I've also nearly zero interest of sync/seeing annotations between devices, which can actually be done with many devices of there is no DRM, but not between makes.

It's pretty trivial for Amazon to make Scribe content sync to THEIR apps. It's getting that info outside Amazon is the important bit.

I believe he said that you can use the platform-specific Sharing feature from the Kindle app to get stuff to third party apps (Len asked him about Evernote specifically).

Again this is for user-created content (checklists, free form notes, etc.). There's no DRM involved.

For annotations for ebooks and personal documents, I assume the usual Export feature will work.

I'm still not clear on how it works with Word documents. But integration is probably pretty good, as they were using it internally and with beta customers.

But none of these 'undistracted writing' features are of interest to me. My handwriting skills have atrophied to a considerable extent.

Len is really into this sort of thing, and has both Remarkable tablets, Kobo Elipsa, iPads, and Rocketbook. I expect he'll have a roundup soon after he gets one.

[Dan23]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Interview with Kevin Keith, VP of Amazon Devices

http://thekindlechronicles.com/tkc-698-kevin-keith

I'd have to listen to it again but I think he said the Kindle apps would be able to access the documents you create on Scribe (as well as being able to view annotations).

He mentioned the premium pen had a customizable button whose function could be selected in settings. It would be awesome if it could turn pages, though no idea how this would work in a pen without a battery.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Dan23

He mentioned the premium pen had a customizable button whose function could be selected in settings. It would be awesome if it could turn pages, though no idea how this would work in a pen without a battery.

I think it is just to toggle the action (change line thickness etc.) so you don't need to go into menu to do it.

And I'll just keep saying it: Amazon, let us connect a physical keyboard! (please)

[NiLuJe]

Originally Posted by Dan23

It would be awesome if it could turn pages, though no idea how this would work in a pen without a battery.

It already doesn't work like you think it would in a pen *with* a battery, so, I wouldn't hold my breath .

[LDB]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I wonder if it will have 5 items per screen in list view so as to match other kindles.

That would be a no sale. Hopefully they aren't that stupid.