The Pocketbook InkPad 3 will be available for international sales later this week. This device features a 7.8 inch E Ink Carta display with a resolution of 1872×1404 and 300 PPI. It will have a front-lit display and the same RGB color system to make the screen warm or cool depending on the time of day or your personal needs.
Underneath the hood is a 1GHZ dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage. There is a MicroSD port to enhance the storage up to 32 GB. This device does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack or a speaker, but Pocketbook has pioneered the concept of an audio dongle that plugs into the Micro USB port and has an audio output. This allows you to listen to audiobooks, music or podcasts. The InkPad 3 also has a text to speech engine, so you can initiate this function and have your ebooks read aloud. The default is English, but there are 15 language packs to download from the main Pocketbook website.
Despite the large sized screen it only weighs 210 g and the dimensions are 195 x 136.5 mm and is only only 8 mm thin. On the front, there are ergonomic paging buttons, which may be used most conveniently together with the touchscreen of the device. Due to the inbuilt g-sensor the user can read in portrait and landscape mode. It has a 1900 mAh battery, which should provide about 3 weeks of constant reading before you have to recharge.
The price will be between $220 to $239 euros, depending on country. It will be available through the Pocketbook website or any of their official retail partners.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.