Readius Hands-on Video

[Nate the great]

Our good friends over at JKOnTheRun know someone who is attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Their podcasting-partner-in-crime, Matt Miller took the time to post a video on Youtube.

It's not the best quality camera work, but it's good enough.



Thanks, guys.
http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkonther...on-with-r.html

[CTH]

I can't really see the point to have it as a mobilephone... perhaps to get mobilephone resellers to sell it...
I think it don't look promising with the edge where it bends... but all ebook is good ebook right

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by CTH

I can't really see the point to have it as a mobilephone... perhaps to get mobilephone resellers to sell it...
I think it don't look promising with the edge where it bends... but all ebook is good ebook right

Yeah that's the plan. Instead of buying an expensive device, you'll pay a monthly subscription.

[Adam B.]

Is anyone else impressed with how fast the screen refreshes? Maybe it's because I haven't seen a Vizplex screen in person, but that seems really quick.

[anotherchance]

Originally Posted by Adam B.

Is anyone else impressed with how fast the screen refreshes? Maybe it's because I haven't seen a Vizplex screen in person, but that seems really quick.

Well, it is a smaller screen than the Reader, Kindle or Cybook, so I guess there's less to refresh.

[marcel]

You also might check out this dutch episode about electronic books, featuring the Iliad and the Readius:

http://www.bright.tv/series/de-ban-v...g-aflevering-3

The fun starts at 12 min 45 for the Iliad and 16 min 10 for the Readius. Bonus: a tour of the production facilities for the Readius.

[msundman]

Originally Posted by Adam B.

Is anyone else impressed with how fast the screen refreshes? Maybe it's because I haven't seen a Vizplex screen in person, but that seems really quick.

Huh? It takes more than 2000 ms after the key press before it shows the next screen. That's completely unacceptable IMO. It feels like after pressing the key you have time to go and boil an egg before the next screen is displayed. It's like some kHz range computer from the 1960s. Yet I bet they have a 100+ MHz CPU and a dedicated display controller with DMA. I just don't understand how they manage to make it so incredibly slow.

And why oh why don't they include a small light in those devices with non-illuminating displays? People obviously want that, and it'd be really easy and cheap to add it. Just a small flip-up thingy. And it'd be so immensely useful in many situations. Seems like a no-brainer.

[CommanderROR]

@msudnman

You have to see the difference between the actual screen refresh and the time it takes to load the stuff it's supposed to display. The actual refresh here is quite fast, that is the screen and controller in caction. The information being displayed might indeed make it a bit slow, but we don't know anything about the OS, the files that are loaded, the CPU, RAM, Flash...and it might even be that the information being displayed is transferred directly from the web or something. I would not judge the device by that...

The scroll-thingy seems pretty neat, overall I must say that the control scheme does not really impress me. It seems like the interface severely limits the usefulness of the device since 4 keys at the side hardly give you a lot of input choices for entering search strings, web addresses and stuff. Also, the unfolded screen seems pretty wobbly...maybe there is a way to stiffen it, but the way it looks in the vid it is a highly unstable affair.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by anotherchance

Well, it is a smaller screen than the Reader, Kindle or Cybook, so I guess there's less to refresh.

It is not the size of the screen but the total number of pixels that established the refresh time. If e-INK is set to 1 bit more (just black and white) the refresh is quite fast. It is grayscale that takes all the time.

Dale

[kacir]

Originally Posted by msundman

Huh? It takes more than 2000 ms after the key press before it shows the next screen. That's completely unacceptable IMO. It feels like after pressing the key you have time to go and boil an egg before the next screen is displayed. It's like some kHz range computer from the 1960s. Yet I bet they have a 100+ MHz CPU and a dedicated display controller with DMA. I just don't understand how they manage to make it so incredibly slow.

OK.
Plese consider several things:

e-ink is in fact a kind of electroMECHANICAL device.
check http://www.eink.com/technology/howitworks.html
You have to actually mechaically move charged white particles.

With most of e-ink devices the emphasis is not on the computing power of processor, but on the powersaving. A typical PDA can display page in a fraction of second, yet the battery will last only a few hours of reading. With Sony Reader, for example, you get WEEKS of use.

The processor and other circuits go to the sleep mode (on all e-ink devices except the Illiad ) while you read the page.

So. When you press page down button the machine has to:
- Power up the circuits
- spin up the processor
- process the page (using a deliberately slow (and thus very power eficient) processor)
- actually physically move mechanical particles that make picture


When you start actually using an e-ink device, you will very quickly to press page down when you are still reading, so the refresh occurs when you reach the bottom of the page.

And finally, take a stopwatch, open a heavy, thick, stiff, hardcover book and time how fast you can turn physical paper page. I am pretty sure you will not be able to beat the slowest e-ink device in page turning speed. Yet, I have never heard anyone complaining that it takes too long to turn a paper page.

[astra]

Originally Posted by kacir

And finally, take a stopwatch, open a heavy, thick, stiff, hardcover book and time how fast you can turn physical paper page. I am pretty sure you will not be able to beat the slowest e-ink device in page turning speed. Yet, I have never heard anyone complaining that it takes too long to turn a paper page.

Yeah. It is annoying that people are complaining about eInk speed when they never complain about paper books. I imagine some people are never satisfied.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by CTH

I can't really see the point to have it as a mobilephone...

I would LOVE to have a mobile phone that would fold in my little mobile phone pouch I am wearing on my belt that would enable me to read whenever, wherever I have a moment. Like waiting in a traffic jam, waiting in the queue somewhere, when I commute, ...
I would strongly prefer a phone with a built in 5" screen to phone with camera, quasi pda functionality and other questionable features.

Of course, for a comfortable home reading there is always Sony Reader, or Cybook.

[JSWolf]

The part I really dislike about the video is the person who says he has a Sony Reader and forgets to mention it's the 500 and it's not that fast. He should have mentioned the model since the 505 is faster then the 500.

[Utahcowboy]

I think this device is going in the wrong direction. I watched all the demo videos that I could find and on each one I found some real big downsides.

1. The screen is flimsy. One of the huge draw backs of paper is that it is flimsy. How many of you used to watch your dad sitting in his chair while he would flip and fold his paper to get it into a more sturdy position? Flexible screen - bad idea.
2. The glare. I could not believe how shiny the screen was. How is anyone supposed to enjoy a good book in any lighted environment with this device? Sunlight - there will be glare, lamp light - there will be glare, flashlight - there will be glare. And not a little bit of glare but a lot!
3. Cumbersome. Holy cow does this device look uncomfortable to hold, it's even worse than the kindle. An ebook should simulate and improve on reading an actual book, not be a huge step backwards, it also seems that you have to use both your hands to hold it, whereas all other ebooks only need one. That slider control also looks very cumbersome. If you have carpel tunnel in your wrists then stay clear from this device! Also it appears that the display can only function in landscape, which is extra bad considering that you already need both hands to use the device. So when you hold it, you will look like the resident freak on the bus, not to mention making your arms, hands and wrists very tired very fast.
4. Durability. One wrong move going through a door way or navigating your way through a crowded subway and snap! there goes your flimsy, shiny screen.
5. 320x240! Hello pixels. When other ebooks are 800x600 or more this is a real huge disappointment. I thought that technology was supposed to get better as time goes by not worse.
6. Another format. One of the videos that I watched mentioned that instead of taking advantage of the plethora of available formats they were going to introduce a new one made just for their device. There are already too many, and of course they will make this format work better with their device than any other so you will be forced to buy books from their store in their format, which also means that they will have the freedom of raising the prices to what ever they want.
6. A phone? I don't know about everyone else, but I always read books while I am talking on the phone. Not really a downer, but rather "what's the point?"
7. No touch screen. Most mobile devices and even some ebooks have touch screens and I believe that in the next few years all companies will incorporate this feature if they want to stay in business. This is also a step backward. Of course I can see their reasoning behind this because if they did incorporate a touch screen and stylus the user would press too hard and break off the screen.

Yes this ebook seams to refresh quickly, and it does support a good wireless internet connection and yes it will fit nice and snug in your pocket along with 5 or 6 other handhelds that one may have. And who knows, it may have a really good firmware with lots of tasty features, but at what cost? I am not saying that this ebook will be a big flop (although I strongly believe that it will) but I do believe that anyone who buys it will think it is cool for a few weeks and then set it aside on their desk feeling cheated and disappointed.

[archerwoo]

GOD it could be folded! amazing!!
so fast to turn pages ~