Pocketbook has been quietly developing a new 7.8 inch e-reader and the company has told Good e-Reader that it will be released sometime this year. There are no visuals yet, but the design will differ significantly from InkPad and InkPad 2.
The Pocketbook InkPad 3 will feature 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 I am not sure yet if it will have the same RGB color system as the new Nook, Tolino EPOS or Kobo Aura One.
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.
There is no word of price or availability yet, but it will be released sometime in the next few months.
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.