If you love ePub and hate eBabel and DRM, then the txtr e-reader could be for you
LuYu, a TeleRead community member, wanted a bunch of TeleRead folks to build a truly open e-reader. I was flattered but not so gung ho because of the technical and financial challenges involved.
As we learned from NAEB’s difficulties, it’s tough even to get a buying club started witout resources.
But over in Germany, Joscha Bach, a TeleRead community member, just might be able to help make LuYu and other TeleRead folks very happy—with the txtr E Ink reader, which Joscha and his colleagues have just demoed.
You can read the specs in detail—this baby uses a six-inch Vizplex E Ink display with 600-by-800 res and has an accelerometer—but here’s an overview in the txtr people’s own words:
–"High-res eInk display, looking like printed paper even in bright sunlight.
–"Advanced power management technology for a battery life that is measured in weeks rather than hours.
–"Responsive and friendly user interface for easy navigation of large amounts of text.
–"Built-in 3G/GPRS connectivity for true mobility
–"Bluetooth and USB port for local connectivity
–"Designed for tight integration with txtr.com.
–"On-device bookstore.
–"Broad document support: PDF, HTML, Office, ePub and more
–"Open software architecture: Developer API and support for on-device 3rd party applications."
What do you think of the textr’s ergonomics, at least as far as we can speculate from the above photo? Any constructive feedback for Joscha in this and other respects?
Third quarter release planned
Release is planned for the third quarter of 2009, and Joscha tells me that textr will focus on its local markets first. He does not know what the price will be. And apparently you may not be able, at least not at first, to shop for books with the device itself. But Joscha tells me, "That’s the plan." Meanwhile you’ll enjoy ePub support, as well as the company’s preference for publishers using watermarking in place of DRM. Result? You’ll be able to own your books for real. While the textr may have some DRM capabilities, it will be only to allow readers choice.
I’d heartily encourage publishing people, such as Sara Lloyd and other innovative folks at Pan Macmillan, to get behind Joscha’s project. He isn’t in New York or London, and he isn’t doing the "I’m a writer, and so I must be trustworthy" routine that someone at Scroll Motion did, while letting certain reporters think the company’s DRM-infested Iceberg reader was the only serious alternative for commercial books on the iPhone. But long term, a readercentric approach like the textr device’s could be much, much better for e-books both in literary and business terms. Let e-books be a trustworthy medium.
Encouragingly, Joscha tells me that "it is important to offer a complete chain of services from the authors to the readers. One that works independently from Amazon. And a lot of publishers that feel throttled by Amazon’s semi-monopoly feels so, too. We get a lot of support, backpatting and good vibes from them."
Ifs, of course—but let’s cut textr some slack
A big difference exists between a prototype and a production-stage machine with major financing and distribution arrangements, but as I recall Michael Dell started his business in his dorm room, so don’t dismiss the textr as just a pipe dream—not when Joscha and colleagues have so spent so much time on both the technology and philosophy behind the machine.
For other perspectives, see comments by our friends at MobileRead (Wizpac textr reader announced—Kindle killer?) and CrunchGear (Txtr reader: Vaporware ebook reader for all), and meanwhile I’ll share a note that Joscha sent me about Textr’s efforts. Meanwhile I’ll reproduce the greater part of a note that that Joscha sent with further details.
We have some very experienced hardware designers, with expertise in the development of mobile phones and PDAs, some great design people and a bunch of skilled programmers. We have started with first developments in 2004, by dissecting Sony’s Librié and learning a lot from its hardware and software. And we were convinced by the overall concept of eInk. (I am reading a lot on eInk ever since.)
We have some very experienced hardware designers, with expertise in the development of mobile phones and PDAs, some great design people and a bunch of skilled programmers. We have started with first developments in 2004, by dissecting Sony’s Librié and learning a lot from its hardware and software. And we were convinced by the overall concept of eInk. (I am reading a lot on eInk ever since.)
We took our experiences and the available hardware, and tried to make the best eReader that we think possible at the moment. To get better power management and control over the display interface, and to keep the hardware cost under control, we designed the hardware from scratch, around the latest epson display controller and an ARM processor. We threw in an acceleration sensor to automatically align the display with landscape and portrait modus. The device is symmetrical, so you can use it with both hands. At the moment, larger eInk displays are only available with glass coating, and during our tests we found that this is not so good for longevity, when the devices are carried in student bags. So, for the time being, we stick with the small 6 inch display, but of course we will not stop there.
The device runs on a highly customized Linux operating system, with almost negligible boot-up times. We tried using a touch screen like Sony did in the PRS 700, but we were very unhappy with what it did to the contrast of the eInk display. So instead, we have developed a capacitive touch slider that is situated at the border, right next to the interface. We have found this to be very practical.
We believe in open document formats and encourage watermarking instead of "hard" DRM. Watermarking has no drawback for the customer, but provides an incentive not to copy the document for strangers. You can still read your watermarked documents on any software reader, backup and archive it and so on - you are not bound to a specific device or software. On the other hand, strong DRM cripples documents so hard that every honest customer will understandably consider getting a pirated version instead. We will support ePUB, PDF, HTML, TXT, RTF and possibly some other formats, too. We also believe in open hardware. We will provide an SDK and encourage our users to write their own applications for the device.
The reader will be integrated with our online document platform (txtr.com). We offer mobile data connections (like the Kindle Whispernet, which is not available in Europe). Unlike Amazon, we do not just provide a shop, but include free online document management and sharing.
We have demoed the hardware prototypes at a convention in December. We expect to release the first edition of our eReader in the third quarter of 2009!
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