Archive for Reviews
Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight Nighttime Reading Tests
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Welcome to another Good e-Reader Exclusive Video Review! Today we check out the brand new Barnes and Noble Simple Touch Reader with Glowlight and conduct a battery of nighttime reading tests!
The Nook Glowlight is the first e-ink reader in the world to utilize LED lights built into the bezel to give you the ability to read in the dark. How does this compare to book lights which have been on the market for a number of years? We compare the Nook Glowlight with the standard LED Book Light. We also compare it to the brand new Solar Focus Kindle case with built in Book Light. Finally, we check out how it rates against the Nook Tablet and iPad 3 for reading at night!
We really put this device through all the paces comparing it to most 3rd party accessories that would give your normal e-reader the ability to read at night. Many people buy tablets because they also allow you to read without depending on having a lamp on or external lights. If you are thinking of buying an e-reader or tablet to read at night, this is the best test to help you make the decision.
Barnes and Noble Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight Review
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The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight is a new breed of e-reader that allows you to read in the dark. It maintains the same e-ink display found in previous models of the Nook Simple Touch, which makes it very easy on the eyes during long reading sessions. Unlike LCD screens, it does not burn your eyes when you are reading in the dark. Is this new form of e-reader just a gimmick or does it raise the bar?
Hardware
The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight features a six inch e-ink pearl display. The resolution of 800 x 600 is comparable with most other e-readers on the market, like the Kindle Touch and the Nook Simple Touch released last year. Underneath the hood is a 800 Mhz processor with 2 GB of internal memory. If you need more space to store your books and other media you can expand it up to 32 GB via the Micro SD Card. Most of your daily functions tend to zip along fairly fine with the processor and 256 MB of RAM.
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is a full touchscreen e-reader that is one of the most responsive devices on the market. It features an infrared display that is on the side of the bezel. This allows for pin-point accuracy in terms of interacting with the menus and keyboard.
The big draw on this new e-reader is the Glow function that allows you to read in the dark. Instead of having the light appear from underneath the screen like most tablets on the market, it emits from the same area as the IR display. There are a total of eight LED lights that are spread around the bezel that provide a fair amount of light. In some cases, because they are spread out, I found that some lines of text are darker than others. The glow feature is not always on by default, but you have to hold down the N button for around two seconds to turn on the light. In the settings menu there is an option to change the different levels of luminosity.
Honestly, the glow feature is one of the best new technological advances to hit the e-reader scene in a long time. If you wanted to read your ebook reader in the dark you would have to purchase a bulky aftermarket light or a case with a built in light. This drastically increases the cost and often becomes bulky and cumbersome.
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is noticeably thicker than a Kindle Touch, at 0.47 inches (11.9mm) to the Kindle’s 0.40 inches (10.1mm). It’s a little lighter than the Kindle or the Nook Simple Touch, weighing just shy of 7 ounces. I think its rather impressive that they managed to actually shave off a bit of weight while adding a new light display. In terms of battery life you can get over 1 month with the GlowLight functionality on, based on a half hour of daily reading time, or over 2 months with GlowLight off, based on a half hour of daily reading time. One of the cool things with this model is Barnes and Noble is actually including an AC adapter right in the box. The previous models only had a USB cable to charge your unit on your PC.
Like most other e-readers on the market, this has a dedicated Wi-Fi interact connection. You can easily connect up to your own local network and download new content from the B&N online store. You can also take your e-reader into any Barnes and Noble store location and read books. Many online stores only allow you a small sample of the book if you are downloading it online. When you are actually in a physical store location, you can read the book in its entirety as long as you stay in the store. When you leave, the book simply disappears from your library, but at least you can try before you buy. This is one of the cool aspects of running a physical retail store; they can do little things like this that make a world of difference.
I would take the Nook with Glow over the Kindle Touch any day of the week. The physical page turn buttons really give it the edge because they are slim and optimized for right or left handed people. It may not have all the extra features like “Send to Kindle” or “Instapaper,” but I find on a hardware level it is lighter and gives you a better e-reading experience than any other device currently on the market.
Software
The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight is running Google Android 2.1 as the main operating system. Every single e-reader that the company has ever produced runs this OS, which allows more speed and flexibility then the standard Linux OS that almost all other e-readers on the market use.
Barnes and Noble really makes their e-ink based devices a social reading experience. They have various programs like Nook Friends, LENDME, and social media integration. This is a total advantage, because you can borrow an ebook for up to two weeks from your friend and even browse their entire reading list to see what books they are reading. If you don’t really know anyone that uses the Nook and want to borrow books for free, you can visit various ebook lending sites like Lendingbook. You can also share select passages and quotes via Twitter and Facebook, once you connect your accounts.
Barnes and Noble provides a wide and expansive ecosystem for you to buy and read books. The store is built right into the e-reader and is organized in a very intuitive fashion. It is optimized for swipes and gestures and all of the text is large enough that you won’t often click on something you didn’t intend. The store is divided into many sections with popular categories like the New York Times Best Sellers, Editors Picks, and various genres/sub-genres. You can also download plenty of newspapers from various publishers, such as the New York Times and many local papers. Currently they have over one million books that are both paid or free.
I really like the responsiveness of the Nook Simple Touch with Glow! Navigating menus and settings are super fast and there is little wait time for menus to load. Books tend to open very fast and page turn speeds are out of this world.
e-Reading Experience
There are only a few book formats that the Nook is compatible with, such as EPUB and Adobe PDF. EPUB is really the internet standard for electronic books, and allows you tremendous flexibility in changing the fonts, line spacing, and margins. When you buy the Nook you are not just limited to buying books from Barnes and Noble, but you have the freedom to buy from wherever you want. When you purchase a book from another store, you simply need to download Adobe Digital Editions to transfer it over to your device. The only store you cannot do business with is Amazon, because they use their own proprietary format.
More libraries are starting to use the Overdrive system to facilitate the lending of digital books. This allows you to use your Nook to borrow books from your public library. The only thing you need is a library card and a 4 digit pin number. Check with your local library branch to make sure you can borrow books from them.
If you are the type of person that downloads a ton of books from the internet or dives into the shady underworld to get your content, this e-reader is for you. You can download any book in EPUB format and then use a 3rd party program like Calibre to manage your library. I really like Calibre because it allows you greater control to edit your books. When you download books online, often the title of the book or author’s name is misspelled or the file has the book title, authors name, and series all in the title. With Calibre you can change all of this information and even change the cover art if you want. If you don’t want to use any third party programs, you can simply use Windows Explorer to copy the books into your books or documents folder.
The Nook line of e-readers allows you more flexibility than most other devices on the market to tailor your reading experience the way you want it. There are over eight different fonts you can choose from when you are reading a book. The default options are Caecillia, Malabar, Amasis, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Trebuchet, and a few others. You also have seven different options to physically change the size of the font. This is very useful to optimize the size of the font based on your own personal needs. There are also plenty of options to change your line spacing, margins, or abide by the publisher’s defaults.
Nighttime Reading
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is designed to be read under any circumstance and its priority is reading at night. We ran a battery of tests to compare it against LCD tablets like the iPad 3 and Nook Tablet. We also compared it to the new SolarFocus case with built in LED light and the official Barnes and Noble Booklight.
When you have a dedicated e-reader like the Kindle Touch, or even the 1st generation Barnes and Noble Simple Touch Reader, the only way to read in the dark is with a booklight. We found from our tests that these lights only illuminate the top half of the screen and in many cases give you a LED glare on the screen. In testing the Nook Glowlight against various booklights the new Barnes and Noble e-reader simply blew them all away. If you have a normal e-reader and decide to invest in a booklight, the costs dramatically increase.
LCD based tablets like the iPad 3 and Nook tablet are designed to read in low-light conditions and have many options to change the brightness of the screen. In many cases they also have nighttime reading mode that will change the background to black and the text to white. This is supposed to prevent headaches and not burn your eyes during long reading sessions. There is obviously a fundamental difference between e-ink technology, which mimics real paper, and an LCD screen. In most of our tests the LCD screens performed fairly well at night but lacked outdoors in the sun. The Nook Simple Touch was the clear winner in terms of being a pure e-reader both indoors and outdoors.
Our Thoughts
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight really raises the bar on e-reading in 2012. It is the only device on the market that allows you to read comfortably in low-light conditions. Personally I do most of my reading at night when I am going to sleep. In the past, I needed the lamp to be on and be positioned in such as way that the e-reader was facing the light source so I can read without any shadows. When you have a family or are sleeping with a significant other this could cause drama with them wanting the light off. You could obviously bypass this by purchasing a book light or a case with a built in light. I was never a fan of these because it took away from the essence of an e-reader, in that they are supposed very light and portable.
One of my main concerns with this new lighting system is what happens if one of the LED lights burns out? I have yet to find any kind of replacement lights on the market and B&N has been fairly mum on the matter. It also goes without saying that Barnes and Noble does not actively sell their e-readers or tablets outside the USA. If you live in Canada, Australia, Europe, or anywhere else your best option is the premier e-reader store Shop e-Readers, that has plenty in stock.
In the end, this is a great e-reader for the price and the only one with a built in light. It really allows you to read anywhere and anytime. Unlike an LCD tablet, it will not burn your eyes and is the closest experience you will get to reading a real book. Digital content is also way cheaper than buying the physical book. Often a new release in hardcover format will cost $25 to $45, while the ebook often costs $9.99. Any book you buy from Barnes and Noble can be read on their official apps for iOS, Android, and many other operating systems.
Pros
The ability to read in the dark
Expansive ecosystem of books and newspapers
Lots of options to change your reading experience
Fairly affordable
Cons
Most B&N stores are completely out of stock
No internet browser via the Search Menu
Rating 9.5/10
PressReader on the New iPad – Retina Display 3.1 Review
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PressReader is well known for providing over 2100 different newspapers from all over the world and is one of the leading content delivery systems. The company has just released version 3.1 for the new iPad, to give you retina quality images and text.
If you have never heard of PressReader before, they are a one of the leading newspaper companies on the internet. They are a subsidiary of Newspaper Direct, which is based in Richmond, BC. They have apps for Android, iOS, Blackberry, and a slew of others. They tend to play nice with almost every platform, which is great for people who upgrade to new devices often. They have a solid subscription plan for a paper for around $0.99 and a pay as you go for $29.99, which gives you access to all of their publications.
This video documents some of our experiences with the latest build. I show three different publications to give you a sense of what to expect. Images look crisp and text looks really great. One of the downsides is that sometimes images and text need a few seconds to buffer to give you the highest quality content. This is a problem with the buffer/refresh issues that have plagued a number of apps. Zinio seemed to have solved it with their magazines, which are very image heavy. Hopefully, Press Reader will amend this small issue. Otherwise, this is a very solid upgrade that really delivers quality newspapers not found in any other ecosystem on iOS.
How to Install Android Apps and English Firmware on Kyobo Mirasol e-Reader
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The Kyobo Mirasol e-reader is one of the first digital readers in the world that uses the new color e-paper by Mirasol. It is only available in South Korea and many people are buying them on eBay or other markets and getting them shipped to Europe or North America. One of the drawbacks is that the default firmware comes shipped only in Korean and people are finding it next to impossible to install 3rd party applications on it.
We are lucky enough to get our hands on the firmware that was sent to us in our tester unit that gives you a fully English GUI and gives you root access for your Kyobo. This will allow you to install apps from the Amazon App Store and give you a ton of default e-reading applications.
The first thing you want to do is download the firmware to your PC from HERE. Next you want to copy the file you downloaded directly to your SD Card. You don’t want to UNZIP it or anything like that. Once it’s on your SD Card, go to Setting > Privacy > software update >update.
It should reboot your Kyobo e-Reader and you should have full root and super user access to the device. It will not augment the default menus or animations found on the device and instead will give you a full menu at the bottom of the screen that will show your carasal of installed applications. I recommend getting all of your android apps from our own app store HERE.
Hands on Review of Marvel AR for iPad with X-Men VS. The Avengers
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Marvel AR is an augmented reality application that was only released a few days ago and gives you a number of cool options found in new comics. The only comic utilizing the technology is the X-Men VS. The Avengers which was just released today!
Marvel AR was a new project shown at the South by Southwest conference a few weeks ago. Since then many comic book fiends have been drooling at the prospect of new digital functionality that came from the print editions of comics. Marvel AR is a free download from the Apple App Store and really shines with the new Avengers VS. X-Men comic book that was just released today.
I found in this comic book that around six different pages had the AR functionality. It included the cover art, which gave you an introspective on the events leading up to this comic. Other important factors included artists and editors actually appearing on the screen and setting up the entire storyline. Marvel AR also features biographies on some of the key players like Hope and the Phoenix. Finally, you get a chance to check out the entire art process that went into a few pages. You see the line art and all the stages involved to the final art piece that you see in the comic.
The AR experience is a bit buggy and hopefully should be refined in the coming weeks. You really have to hunt around for that sweet spot in order for it to work. You also have to hold the iPad very high up so the entire page is captured on the screen and if you move the camera’s field of vision, the animations spot playing.
Acer Iconia A100 Review
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We just got our hands on the Acer Iconia A100 that we originally saw at Computex in Taiwan last year. I admit we are a bit late to the game with this edition but it has recently came down in price and we needed an Android development tablet. It is a solid mid-range offering that gives you a taste of Google Honeycomb, with ICS promised in April. How does it stack up against other seven inch tablets, and is it a good e-reader?
Hardware
The Acer Iconia A100 features a seven inch multi-touch display with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. It has a Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHZ processor underneath the hood, along with 512 MB of RAM. It has 8 GB of internal memory but you can jack it up to 32 GB via the Micro SD.
I found this device to be the perfect blend of effienctcy and hardware. Programs and apps load up fairly quickly and streaming audio/video run with no stuttering at all. I found its more robust in handling a pure Android experience then many other tablets costing $100 more.
The bottom of the device features two stereo speakers and they actually do a really good job at handling audio. I would honestly say it blows the iPad 3 and Nook Tablet out of the water in a great audio experience. One of the factors that kicks it up a notch is the Dolby Audio baked right into the firmware. In between the speakers lurks a HDMI port, docking port, charging and Micro USB. On the right hand side is a SIM and Micro SD that is covered up by a plastic flap to prevent dirt and dust from getting in there. Its a small thing protecting this sort of thing and many companies don’t even bother, but its the little things that count. Above that is two audio toggles and an orientation lock. On the top of the device is your power button and there is nothing on the left hand side. On the back of the Iconia A100 is a 5 MP camera with LED Flash and on the front is a 2 MP camera used for video chatting. There is also a small microphone that picks everything up fairly well.
I found battery life to not be the best with about 6 to 8 hours of constant use. Of course the more video intensive things you are doing it will degrade further. One of my beefs is with tablets that need to be manually plugged into the wall and cannot charge with the USB adapter.
In the end, even though this tablet came out in Q4 of last year it still stacks up well against most other tablets and Android e-readers on the market. I would recommend this more then the Kobo Vox, Pandigital Novel, Micro Cruz and many other tablets that cost $200 or less.
Software
The Acer Iconia runs Google Android 3.2 and will be rolling on a Google 4.0 update by April 2012. One of my concerns with Honeycomb in general is that you cannot save apps to your Micro SD card and must use your internal device memory.
One of the elements that makes this a good buy is that it has the full Google Play Market. You can easily download eBooks, Videos, Audio and Android Apps and be notified when there is updates available. Around 70% of all tablets on the market do not have access to the Google Play Market, which really limits the number of apps you can download. Sure devices like the Kobo Vox has Getjar and the Skypad Alpha 2 has 1Mobile, nothing compares to the Google edition.
Acer has bundled its own category applications on the Iconia A100, and makes the organization of apps a little bit easier. It has an e-Reading, Games, Social and Games Manager. This is a nifty little GUI system that allows you to have a dedicated mini-portal where you can make shortcuts to all of your applications.
There is also a number of pre-loaded apps that are akin to bloatware but should serve specific customers well. It has Documents to Go, Media Server, Aupeo and also a Tegra 2 App Store. Most of the games and apps available in that store are geared towards higher end processors and HD graphics.
As an e-Reader
If you want to utilize this device as an e-reader you are in luck because the Google Play Market gives you an endless wellspring of apps to choose from. You can go with Kindle, Sony, Nook or Kobo for the mainstream stores that have a great reader app and all the books you can shake a stick at. If you want to load your own in you can get Moon+ or Aldiko.
Basically the Iconia A100 does not really do many native formats when it comes to books but is wholly dependent on what kind of reading app you lose. I found no problem with plugging the Iconia into my PC and transferring over a bunch of books via USB.
One of the things a full color tablet does very well is being able to read comic books. Obviously this does not have the crazy resolution the iPad 3 has with HD editions of comics, but this does the job better then most. You can get Darkhorse, Marvel, DC or Comixology to read and buy all of your content. If you want to load your own stuff in I recommend Droid Comic Viewer to read your CBZ and CBR files.
Finally, it handles PDFS fairly well with a number of mainstream options to choose from. Scrolling, zooming and everything else really gives you the customization that you want. This is one of the reasons why many people who need to read complex technical documents often go with a tablet to read them instead of a dedicated e-ink based e-reader. e-Readers sadly just don’t handle PDF’s that well. Many don’t let you reflow text or give you the zooming options and in most cases if they do, its woefully slow.
The Acer Iconia A100, is very pocket friendly which makes it as an e-reader a viable alternative to the other budget ones on the market. It fits in your pocket or bag very easy and does not weigh that much.
Our Thoughts
The Acer Iconia A100 might be overshadowed by the A200 that just came out but you should be able to pick it up for around $249.99. That costs about as a Nook Tablet and a little bit more expensive then the Kobo Vox, Pandigital Novels and many other mid-range tablets. Many people end up going for the cheapest options out there but I would caution against many of those devices and pick up the Iconia.
Price aside, it really handles multitasking, video, audio and reading quite well. The Google Play market is not really found on many competitiing devices and should be worth the extra few dollars. There is tons of content and programs easily downloaded for free and there is also a number of deals of the day. You can buy books, movies and apps for .25 or less.
Hardware wise the device is really sexy and has a firm, high quality aesthetic to it. The audio is awesome with the Dolby firmware found right on the device and it is VERY responsive to handling anything you can throw at it.
PROS
Solid Audio
Does not stutter on Movies and Audio Playbook
Battery Life is consistent with the average
Google Play Market
Cons
Honeycomb is fairly dated by now
Inability to save apps to Micro SD
Resolution is sub-average
Price is still a bit high
Rating 8.5/10
Amazon Kindle Fire and New Apple iPad Reading Comparison
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Welcome to another Good e-Reader Exclusive Video! We have been pumping out videos like mad lately. The Apple iPad has sold close to a million units in the last three days and many people are wondering how it functions as an e-reader device. We pit two of the top selling devices against each other to see which one warrants our seal of approval. Of course we are checking out the Amazon Kindle Fire, which is the top selling Android Tablet, and the iPad 3rd generation.
Amazon and Apple have two very extensive ecosystems and bear a number of similarities with each other. The two companies are very particular about what apps are accepted into their own app stores, which puts an emphasis on quality. If you love reading, both of these devices provide unique experiences with magazines, comics, eBooks, and other types of media. If you are thinking about getting either one of these to read, you want to check out this video to see what one is right for you.
Ectaco Jetbook Color Full Hands on Review
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The Ectaco Jetbook Color is the first e-Reader in the world to use color e-Ink! This gives you a full color display to view a wide array of content and lets you experience e-paper like you never have before. How does this new technology developed by e-Ink Holdings stack up in a battery of real world tests? Is it truly the next step in evolution of e-Readers? We dive into the issue and find out all of the answers.
Hardware
The Ectaco Jetbook Color is a 9.7 inch e-ink Triton Display with a resolution of 1600×1200 Pixels. It truly gives you a vivid color e-paper that mimics real paper and really is a paradigm shift in the way people will experience reading on an e-Reader. If you have had the Amazon Kindle Touch, Kobo Touch, or Nook Simple Touch, you know from experience that it really does not strain your eyes during long reading sessions. The problem with devices such as the Apple iPad and other LCD based tablets is because of the bright backlit screen is not comfortable for long reading experiences and is more geared towards casual endeavors.
There is some controversy right now on the resolution of the Jetbook Color and it actually gives you a different experience depending on what kind of book, magazine, newspaper, or PDF file you are looking at. When you are using the color aspect of the device, it gives you 800×600 pixels. The reason for this is because of the RGB color filter they use to overlay the display. Each color pixel is formed with 4 dots which means it is halved from the initial 1600×1200. Keep in mind when you are reading a normal e-Book with no color displayed on the screen you will get a massive improvement on the text based experience. This really utilizes the 9.7 inch screen when you are reading technical documents or just a good eBook.
Diving underneath the hood is a Freescale i.MX508 800MHz with ARM Cortex A8 CPU processor. Unfortunately, this processor is woefully underpowered for what this device is intended to do. Navigating menus, turning page pages, or launching programs demands an exercise in patience. There is a solid 4 GB of internal memory, but with all of the student programs bundled on the device you have around 2 GB to work with, which is more than adequate. If you demand more space for your music, books, and other content you can expand it via Micro SD up to 32 GB.
Battery life with this device is fairly good with it lasting almost 10,000 page turns or about 2 months. With a recent firmware update it has the ability to use the WIFI browser and buy books, but there is no internet browser to actually surf the internet. We were promised by Ectaco that they would allow this functionality in a future firmware update.
The main aspect of interaction with the Jetbook Color is the Stylus Pen that comes bundled with it. It actually has a slot it fits into at the top of the unit so you don’t run the risk of misplacing it. On the bottom of the device is two stereo speakers that give you fairly reasonable sound quality. Music, Vocal Dictation, and more is possible with the built in microphone. There is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack so you won’t have to disturb people with your tunes or lecture notes. There is also a manual switch that you can use to turn the WIFI on or off, this might help save on battery life. Finally, there is a removable protective casing for the Mini USB, Micro SD, and full USB 2.0 port. The top of the unit and sides don’t really have anything of note, but most of the action occurs on the front of the unit. There is a settings, home, and back buttons and two manual page turns.
Hardware wise this machine feels fairly high quality but suffers from unresponsive behavior. This is mainly due to the slow 800 MHZ processor and the 256 MB of Ram. There is simply not enough power to really make this device as responsive as the kind you find in six inch e-readers. Certainly the Kindle Touch and Simple Touch Reader don’t suffer from much lag at all in almost everything you do.
Software
The Jetbook Color is mainly billed as an educational e-reader and they have attained certification in both Russia and the USA to give deals to educational institutions. It is built on a custom Linux interface and Ectaco makes different modules that you can install on the devices. Everything from 50 different dictionaries to more student apps are available to purchase.
This is one of the first e-readers in the world that is not aimed at the average consumer because of the fickle nature of the Western European and North American Markets. Everyone wants a device that costs less then $200 and it makes it hard for smaller companies to compete in the market. Ectaco decided to make a full color device that made textbooks and classroom work relevant on an e-reader instead of a tablet.
There are four main categories aimed directly at students and provide a number of very specific programs aimed at K12 schools. You have Classroom and Homework, Oxford Reading Support, Language and Games, and Science and Math. Each one of these genres has about six to twelve different applications that should greatly assist people. You have everything from SAT Preparation courses to an interactive periodic tablet of the elements.
Many of the programs bundled on the JB Color have audio elements that will give you an audio definition of a specific word in the dictionary or an eBook you are reading. They even have translations to help you learn new languages such as Spanish, French, Russian, and many more! This should provide a boon for people who might say a word the wrong way because people are used to pronouncing things phonetically. The audio aspect really helps people ensure they way they speak is proper.
You can really tell Jetbook put a ton of effort into developing custom content for an e-reader and no other device on the market comes close in bringing a truly unique student experience to an e-ink based e-reader.
Most people will purchase the Jetbook Color for the ability to use it in their home and not even use the student elements and this is something the company is betting on.
e-Reading and eBook Experience
The Jetbook Color recognizes a wide array of formats that will allow people to load in their own books they either purchased from other online stores or have downloaded from the internet. It will read ePub, Mobi, PRC, PDB, RTF, TXT, HTML, PDF, FB2 formats and is fully compatible with Adobe Digital Editions.
Reading a Book on the Jetbook Color gives you the best experience out of all of the current generation 9.7 inch e-readers. The resolution of 1600×1200 is unmatched by any other device and provides tremendously crisp fonts when you are reading a normal book.
Where this device really shines is on comic books! Personally I love Marvel and Indie comics and buy a bunch online. The Jetbook Color really gives you the type of digital paper experience that is much akin to reading the real thing. The large 9.7 screen is basically the same size as your average comic book so there is hardly any degradation factors in the overall quality.
Newspapers and technical documents also really shine and give you options to reflow the text and zoom in on specific aspects. You can make highlights and annotations with the stylus if you want to keep track of your work. One of the great features is the ability to save your notes as independent files and then export them onto your Micro SD card.
The one drawback of the Jetbook Color as an e-reader is that there is no way to really augment the text, line spaces, or margins. You have a basic zoom option found in the settings to tailor the book or other item you are reading for optimal performance. It seems when you read the average eBook you don’t really have to do much to conform the text properly. You might want to make the font a little bigger, but there are no options to physically change the font to, for example, Ariel or Times New Roman.
PDF Viewing gives you a few new elements such as REFLOW and Zoom to help make whatever document you are reading a little bit better. I found most PDFs loaded properly right from the get-go, but comic books always warranted fiddling around with the settings to nail the sweet spot.
The only big drawback with the Jetbook Color is that you are relegated to the portrait only viewpoint. There is NO way currently to switch it to landscape mode, although it is always possible to do this with future firmware updates. The Kindle DX was much the same technology wise but had the software to make it display
Our Thoughts
The Jetbook Color is a quantum leap in e-Ink based technology in consumer electronics. It really is a game changer to display super high quality e-paper experience while giving you the option for vivid colors.
My main concern with this device is the hardware really hinders the ability for this to catch on with your average user. I found while reading a simple PDF it took a few seconds to turn the page, often ten seconds. The more extensive and graphic intensive a document was the longer it took to open the settings and make changes. It suffers greatly by the hardware that is underneath the hood and that fact alone will turn many people off.
The Jetbook Color is great in practice while you are reading but suffers from execution. The software is amazing and the student learning software is the best in the business. Reading comics and books on such a large screen is something I have been waiting for a long time. If the processor was doubled and had 1 GB of RAM, this would be the ultimate device.
In the end, the Jetbook Color has to really be seen to be appreciated. It is currently the best 9 inch e-reader on the market and destroys its competition, such as the Amazon Kindle DX and Pocketbook 912. The fact it displays full color e-ink will resonate well with people who can afford to pay the $500.00 it costs to purchase one.
I recommend this item to anyone that is a professional and needs a device for technical documentation and who is sick of all the tablets out there and wants a device they will have to charge maybe 5 times a year. I also recommend it to K12 students as a way to cut down on the weight of your backpack and load in your own books. Finally, anyone that wants to read comics should buy this device. It may not read CBZ and CBR formats but PDF viewing is not shabby at all and there are lots of free converter programs out there.
Rating: 7.5/10
New Apple iPad and iPad 1 eReading Comparison
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Welcome to another Good e-Reader Exclusive Video Comparison! Today we check out the Kindle Reading experience on the first generation iPad and the new Apple iPad! We check out features and what you can expect out of both models.
Hands on Review of the Apple iPad 3
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The Apple iPad 3 was just released and we got our hands on it the day it came out! The new device is billed mainly as a high definition retina screen that should take movies, apps, and gaming to another level. How does it really stack up on its own with the content currently available, and how does it compare to the first iteration of the Apple iPad? Is it a complete paradigm shift in terms of tablet computing or should you adopt a wait and see approach?
Hardware
The 3rd generation iPad features the same 9.7 inch screen that has been indicitive to all previous released models. The big change is the elevated “retina” display technology that gives you a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels! This really is a huge advantage in pixel density not found in any other device currently on the market. It is further enhanced by a new quad-core graphics processor that allows games, apps, and other content to render faster than ever before.
Underneath the hood is a new Apple A5 dual-core processor running at around 1 GHZ, coupled with 1 GB of RAM. These two main factors really add to the overall performance. Apps and games loaded quicker on this model than any previous editions of the iPad, which is a relief for people with little to no patience.
If you love video chat or shooting video, you are in for a treat with Apple’s new iSight technology found on the back of the iPad. It has a 5 MP camera that shoots 30 frames per second in full 1080p video capture. The one drawback on shooting video is the lack of a LED flash that makes recording in low-light conditions difficult. The front facing camera is a woeful .3 MP that might be passable for Skype video conferencing or taking advantage of Facetime.
Apple has maintained keeping the design of the iPad fairly consistent with the second generation edition that was released last year. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack, single speaker on the bottom, and Apple’s own proprietary charging and docking connector. On the side is a volume up and down button and a mute/orientation lock. On the top is a simple power/standby button. Nothing really game changing.
One of the big selling factors on this 3rd generation device is the ability to opt in for a more expensive 4G/LTE edition. Some users have commented that they are getting almost 24 MBS on the Verizon network. We decided to just get the simple WIFI version because at Good e-Reader we travel a fair bit and I found that the second and first generation models would not connect well to international cellular networks.
Internal memory is another factor that may influence what model you go with. There is no expandable memory via SD or Micro SD, so you have to make sure that you buy the model that has enough memory for your everyday needs. You can get 16, 32, or 64 GB models that really influence the cost. The average person really only needs the lower end 16 GB and WiFi for your day to day life.
Battery life seems to get about 6 to 8 hours depending on what you are doing. If you are watching movies and playing lots of games, you will drain your battery quicker than if you are just reading a book. Apple does not seem to ever make any headway in extending the life of your device or even offering any kind of options for aftermarket accessories.
In the end, the 3rd generation iPad is fairly sweet and really sets the stage for some really good content down the road. The one thing I loved during the initial setup was the fact I did not have to use iTunes in order to sync all of my old apps and games over. I had an iPad 1 with a ton of purchased content, ebooks, apps, and games. Once I set up my region and WiFi, I did not even need iTunes at all during the setup process. iCloud really was a saving grace to put all of my content on my iPad 3 in very short order. It took about 3 hours for all my stuff to be transferred over via WiFi.
Software
The 3rd generation iPad is shipped with iOS 5.1 and gives you a number of pre-installed applications like iTunes, App Store, Camera, Maps, Contacts, and a few other features. Nothing has really changed on the default app structure from the second generation model.
The Apple App Store has a new dedicated section of apps and games that were enhanced for the new retina display. Things like Skywalk, Kindle, Daily, and other content looks a BIT better on the new display, but it is hardly game changing. We did a number of side by side comparisons with the first generation iPad and the 3rd generation. We tested HD movies, games, and apps. The one thing I noticed was that the differences were too small to really notice. The fact is, no current apps or games were built from the ground up with high resolution textures and graphics. Skywalk was the most noticeable app that really stood out, with the planet earth looking 50% better on the iPad 3 then the iPad 1. All the other games and apps had features too small to notice.
There is really nothing to really say about the App Store and iTunes. It is simply the most expansive ecosystem in the world that has almost 4 years of a development track-record and has reached over 1 billion downloads. Unlike the Android ecosystem, Apple really takes a long look at all of the content submitted for inclusion, which often makes most things look fairly polished and does not crash your system. If you love music, movies, apps, and games, this platform is for you.
The main reason is big name developers have all gotten behind this platform in order to release games. Electronic Arts, Konami, and Square often release iOS exclusive games because that is where the majority of users are and where the money is made. Android is pirated too much and most companies end up losing money when focusing on that platform exclusively. iOS is simply where the money is, which is why it’s the most successful ecosystem and platform in the world for mobile computing.
The Reading Experience
Every blog and major news source in the world will soon have their reviews up on the latest generation of the Apple iPad and at Good e-Reader we are more focused on the overall reading experience and how it performs on this latest gadget.
The big name app that was converted over a few days before the iPad 3 came out was the Amazon Kindle Reading App. Amazon remains one of the most successful book sellers in the world and their reading app is one of the best ones in the business. The recent update mirrored the GUI of their Kindle Fire reading app. You have the ability to switch between books in the cloud and books on your own device. They have a very intuitive UI that shows you the current books you have and dedicated shelves for newspapers and documentations. The text was also boosted up to perform better on the iPad 3, but really you will see it more evident on the previous generation models.
The one drawback on the Kindle App for iOS like most others offered on the App Store is the inability to actually purchase anything within the app itself. Last year Apple was in the news regarding the mandate that all in-app purchases had to be done within the iTunes platform instead of doing business directly through the company’s app that you were using. This was no problem with buying coins or add-ons in games, but really sucked for buying content in popular reading apps like Kobo, Nook, Amazon, and others. Amazon has countered this by developing the Kindle Cloud Reader that gives you the ability to use the Safari web browser to purchase books and then send them directly to your iPad. They also developed a new touchscreen friendly URL that is optimized specifically for the iOS platform and I found this better than the Cloud Reader. You can open up the link www.amazon.com/kindlestoreforipad and check out the interface for yourself on your iPad.
Most other reading applications have not been updated yet for the latest generation iPad and really other than making the text crisper, what else can they do? Kobo currently leads all the reading apps on the market with their unique social elements. They go beyond simply allowing you to share with friends specific passages or tweet the books you are reading and towards a new direction. Reading Life is a huge boost to their platform where you can earn rewards and achievements in the form of merit badges and other cool features. People in the Kobo world are fairly competitive with trying to earn as many as they can for bragging rights. The platform also has a new feature found in the Kobo Vox, called Kobo Pulse. This allows you to chat with other people who are reading the same book as you are and has options to avoid spoilers. This feature is a good indiciation to see how popular a book is by how many different people have read it or are in the process of reading.
Many different comic book companies have developed apps exclusively for the iOS platform, including Marvel, Darkhorse, Comixology, DC, and many more. They all have their own independant apps that are available for download in the iTunes store. The one drawback with this new retina display is none of the comics look any different from previous models. I really doubt all these comics will make different versions of their comics for the newest model of the iPad, and we might not see any noticeable difference on the comic book front for at least six months. The main problem facing these companies is that they have a hard enough time digitizing all of their zero day releases. Major comic book publishers have gotten into the habit of releasing the digital versions on the same day as the printed ones. The comic on the iOS platform is the same as the Android one. Do you really think these guys will boost the resolution of art on one model and then dumb it down on others? I am not so sure. All I know is right now with comics there is no difference at all.
One seldom used feature is storing your comic books in dropbox in PDF or EPUB format and then opening them up and reading them on the iPad. This allows you to basically side load in your own content without having to use any third party programs.
Many people are adverse to reading on a glaring LCD screen and night mode helps which basically puts a black background and white text. The iPad shines as a casual reading device. To read newspapers, magazines and comic books. Reading Novels on a screen like this is certainly not for everyone, but many people grow up reading stuff on PC, tablet and phone screens.
What does the future hold for reading on the 3rd generation iPad? I really think it is with enhanced ebooks, textbooks, and magazines. In the end, normal ebooks will really not benefit at all from the retina display and major comic book studios have no time to tailor content specifically for the iPad 3. With any device, people are starving for content to give you the “OH WOW” factor and I think enhanced ebooks, kids books, and books with multimedia elements are the way we will see great looking books, sooner rather then later. Companies like iStorytime have really come into their own by releasing interactive kids books exclusively for the iPad line of tablets. It’s small nimble companies like this that are in a prime position to make iPad 3 exclusives that will encourage people with this latest generation model to buy their content because there is a lack of other books customized to the platform.
In the end, the “Retina” display found in the iPad 3 in terms of reading does not really deliver anything new at this time. If you are expecting a huge difference in reading magazines, newspapers, book,s and all the other reading apps at this point, you are out of luck. Not that it looks bad by any means, just nothing has been developed from the ground up in order to really make their content shine on the new platform. Companies like Zinio have been eerily quiet about their plans for doing anything that may make magazines look a ton better and there is no news in terms of the Apple Newsstand making their content optimized better.
Our Thoughts
The Apple iPad 3 really sets the stage for the future of app, game, and content development on the iOS platform. This full review was written on launch day after we had 14 hours of playing around with the new features and comparing it against the first and second iteration of the iPad tablets. Content wise, there is simply nothing written exclusively for this model that gives you the “WOW” factor. Sure, some games textures have been changed but nothing to a huge degree. Most of the apps and games features on the App Store under the new section devoted to iPad 3 are nothing to write home about.
I found some playing with this model all day long was that apps, games, and books all load way faster. The best app so far was Sky Walk, which loaded in record time and really make the planet and solar textures really stand out. This is a must download for anyone that purchases the iPad 3 and wants an educational experience.
One of the big hyping factors was the inclusion of HD movies found in the iTunes market and most videos we tested did not really give a huge difference in video quality vs. the other models of the iPad.
In the end, I really think Apple has developed a solid 3rd generation model that will allow content developers a chance to make higher quality apps and games for the ecosystem. Things like this magically don’t appear overnight and you may have to wait around six months for some very high quality games to appear. If anything, you can probably look to ID to make something really cool because they have a track record of taking things to the next level in terms of graphics and physics.
I remain very optimisic that the future of this retina display is in the hands of content creators to take the risk and make high resolution apps for this platform. Apple has sold close to a million iPad 3′s on the first day and many people who had previous models are all upgrading to the new platform. I encourage all publishing companies and indie companies alike to get high resolution content on the App Market as soon as you can to take advantage of the people starving for optimized content within the next month.
PROS
High Resolution Display
LTE/4G is FAST on North American Networks
Thin and Light
Graphics Processor and Dual-Core CPU speeds things up
Video Shooting during the day is solid
If you are upgrading from previous models you don’t even need iTunes
Cons
It gets very HOT very fast
Lack of LED Flash on Rear facing camera
No apps written from the ground up to support Retina Display
Weight is slightly higher then previous models
Most Data Plans for LTE are metered, watch how much you use
Facetime continues to be WIFI only
Video Review of the Ectaco Jetbook Color e-Reader
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Welcome to the review we have all been waiting for! We go full hands on with the first e-reader in the world to use color e-ink, which mimics real paper! It features a 9.7 inch screen with a resolution of 1600×1200 and 2 GB of internal memory. You can increase the memory via the Micro SD card to give you even more room for comics, magazines, newspapers and more!
This video review documents the entire hardware and shows you the entire unit! The main aspect we focus on during the course of this tutorial is how magazines, newspapers, comic books, game manuals all look! Colors remain crisp and vibrant and I really think this is the closest we get to full color e-paper. We also check out all the student apps that come with the unit and what you can expect.
Stay tuned for our fall written review coming next week and our next video where we compare the Jetbook Color and the new Mirasol Color e-Reader!
Hands on Review of the Sony Tablet S
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Sony released their first tablet computer a few months ago called the Sony Tablet S and since then has been one of the better portable media devices in the world. It’s sleek innovative design is a stark contrast to the myriad of cookie cutter tablets out there that all seem to resemble the same design. The one factor that sets this unit apart from the competition is the sheer amount of customized apps that come bundled with the system.
Hardware
The Sony Tablet S features a 9.4 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It uses technology called TruBlack display which provides more vibrant colors and richer tones of black. This helps particularly with video playback that does full 1080P but if you intend on copying Blu-ray movies you have to do it in the H.264 MPEG-4 format, otherwise it will stutter. Underneath the hood lurks a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. There is two different models on the market a 16 GB and 32 GB variants depending on your needs for internal memory.
The tablet visually bears a similar resemblance to the Notion Ink Adam that was released last year. It has a curved design so when you have it sitting on a flat surface the screen faces you on a curving arc. On the top of the device is a single .03 MP webcam that won’t win any awards on the resolution but is enough for basic video conferencing via SKYPE or other supported software. On the left-hand side is a 3.5 mm headphone jack and beside that dwells a MicroUSB and SD Card. The SD Card slot will allow you to store extra data on it but cannot physically transfer content from it to your unit. It has a 32 GB maximum limit on storage cards and will not read SDXC cards. I found myself merely keeping my movies and music on it because you can only read one file at a time with the native File Manager App that is bundled with it.
On the bottom of the Tablet S is the proprietary Sony Charging port and I like the design of it. Obviously the tablet comes shipped with a physical wall charger to power it up and out of the box it does not come charged. I like the way this adapter works because when you plug it in there are two plastic ports that lock it into place. This insures when you are actually using it the power adapter will not accidentally become dislodged. The right hand side features physical volume buttons and a power button. Both the left and right hand side have stereo speakers which is a boon and I loved the positioning of them.
So many tablets these days are shipped with speakers on the bottom of the device and presents many challenges when having it lay flat on its back. The Kobo Vox and Nook Tablet are two models in particular that suffer from this problem and gives you sub-par audio because it always comes across as muffled. The sound on the Tablet S is not that great to be honest, Netflix movies send to have very low volume emitting from the speakers even when the volume is cranked up. I suggest investing in a good pair of headphones if you intend on consuming media.
What I really like is the back of the device which has a cool black grip that makes holding onto it easier then most. It is much akin to the Kobo line of e-readers with the quilted back in this respect. There is also a 5 MP camera with no LED Flash to film videos or take pictures.
I really love the design of the Tablet S, it is a fresh and unique and I don’t see Apple suing them for patent infringement. If you look at most of Samsung’s tablets they all look the same and this is really what is facing the tablet industry in general. Most families of tablets like Skytex, Archos, Coby, Samsumg, LG and Motorola end up all looking the same design wise and the only differences are found underneath the hood or the occasional HDMI out. I review a ton of tablets that come out and the Sony Tablet S with its elegant form-factor looks like it costs more then it actually does.
Performance wise it does a really good job with its hardware! Videos and Audio normally are stutter free and Playstation Network games function very well considering this is not a dual core machine. You connect to all of these services via WIFI and currently there is no 3G model.
Software
The Sony Tablet S is shipped with the latest version of Google Honeycomb and the company promises a Ice Cream Sandwich update in the next few months. Now lets be clear, this is not a stock Android experience like you will see on many other tablets, Sony went the extra mile to develop all sorts of unique apps and a cool animated GUI that makes the app menu look interesting.
Most tablets out of the box when they are running Android usually use most of the stock programs and make the customer have to patronize various Android Markets in order to get media, book, file manager and other essential applications to get running properly. Sony has all of these apps right out of the box and are all optimized to be touchscreen friendly.
There are a few applications that caught my attention right away like the Music App. It gives you the ability to have your albums display as cover art laying down on a pseudo 3D surface. You can hold down on any of them and drag them around. The actual controlling of music on your timeline is brimming with options which puts the stock media player to shame.
Some other customized applications of note is the Social Feed Reader which connects with your Facebook and Twitter accounts and puts them all in one place so you don’t have to access each account individually. The video player also is well laid out and groups similar content together in a graphical directory structure similar to Windows 7.
Sony actually runs their own Android App Store that comes bundled with the Tablet S called Select App. This basically has most of your essential tablet friendly applications in all one place. Although this model does have official Google Android Market compatibility, it is still nice to browse apps that are judged to be fully compliant.
There are a few key features found on the Tablet S on a software level that really make it stand out from the rest of the Android Crowd. For one it has full DLNA capabilities and a few applications to take advantage of this. If you have a DLNA sound system or TV you can swipe upwards and transfer movies, tv shows, pictures and music to play on your television. Speaking of your TV it also functions as a universal remote control with the easiest setup ever. Really, with most physical universal remotes you have to know your exact model of TV, along with a bunch of serial numbers and remote codes. The Tablet S simply takes your TV brand and automatically syncs with it giving you full control over it within 10 seconds. If you use a receiver, cable box or any other 3rd party system to give yourself content, this also pairs with any of that. This new tablet certainly gives you tremendous practical uses other then just playing games or watching movies.
Gaming is what this device is all about with connection to the Play Station Network! Now this is not the full network you would connect via your PSP, Vita or PS3. Instead it has around 15 games that are 1st generation Playstation 1 titles. What I liked about the whole gaming process is every game uses the same GUI for your dual controllers and other buttons. If you look at iOS games there really is no standard in the way the touchscreen game experience plays out. This model on the other hand has the same controller scheme no matter what game you play. If you are not a fan of touchscreen controllers you can simply pair it with your PS3 controller and game externally. Personally, I hate touchscreen games and love connecting external gamepads or controllers to play them. Hunching over a small screen for a number of hours is not fun but sitting back and holding a controller in your hand is easy.
If you love to read, Sony has you covered with their Sony Reader App that ships with the Tablet S. You can buy and read books using their own app store but because its Android the sky is your limit for ebook reading apps like Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and many more from the Good e-Reader App Store. One of the advantages of owning an Android device is how easy it is to install 3rd party programs to deal with the stores you want and not be limited in buying or reading.
The 9.4 inch screen is perfect for comic books, manga, newspapers, magazines and complex PDF documents. For some reason a 7 inch screen never really cuts it for me and images always need to be pinched and zoomed in order to read each page. The bigger the screen the more images can be packed inside and reading image heavy content is very satisfying. I especially liked reading Comics with Droid Comic Viewer and Magazines via Zinio.
The entire software experience is unlike anything you will see on 95% of the tablets on the market. It comes shipped with Flash and every app you would need right out of the box. This is not your standard fare either, Sony invested a ton of time and money developing 50% of their own content you will find pre-loaded when you power it on for the first time. They even have their own video streaming service that allows you to watch, rent and buy TV Shows and Movies. Really, if you wanted to do exclusive business with Sony they have everything you need.
Our Thoughts
Finally a Tablet with a full QWERTY keyboard and a NUM Pad on the same screen! When we turned it on for the first time and immediately were greeted by a customized keyword when inputting our WIFI password was a thing of beauty and was indicative of things to come. A simple NUM PAD may not seem like a big deal but if you have a ton of passwords with numbers in them, you have to go through less wasted motions to type it in. This is really how the entire Sony Tablet experience plays out, attention to detail and doing subtle things differently.
If there was any true iPad competitor it would have to be the 10.1 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Sony Tablet S. The advantage Sony has is their unique UI which does not deviate from the stock Android experience most people are used to but does add a bit of animations and flair. The true beauty for novice users is that every program you want is available on it right out of the box. I can’t tell you how many low rent tablets I review and they have NOTHING on them, not even an e-reading app. They have a basic Web-kit browser and the default media player, which is hurting. It was really a great experience to crank this open and feel my love of tablets starting to surface again.
Really, if you want a great tablet for under $400 that will get the Ice Cream Sandwich treatment in a month and does everything you want, buy this.
The Pro’s
DLNA
Universal Remote
Playstation Network
Firmware compatibility for PS3 Controllers
Google Android Market Access
Tons of customized applications
Video quality is amazing
Rich Colors and get Black Contrast
Snappy and Robust
The Con’s
No Micro SD
Sound quality is poor, you need headphones
The default music player stutters if you have too many apps open
Playstation Store does not have many titles available
Universal Remote will prompt people to visit a wall of TV’s and change all the channels
Rating: 9.5/10
Hands on Video Review of the Kyobo Mirasol e-Reader
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Welcome to another Good e-Reader Exclusive Video Review! Today we take a long look at the latest generation Android e-Reader to use Mirasol’s color e-paper technology, the Kyobo.
This new e-reader has amazing resolution and is very pocket friendly with a 5.7 inch screen. In this video we show you the full experience of the device, putting it through the paces. We show you the complete internet experience and how things load and look. If you are a fan of ebooks we show you all of the built in functionality to support not only EPUB, but also PDF too. If you are into Newspapers, Magazines and Comcis, this performs rather well.
