Comments on: iLiad news video from Holland–complete with the mandatory Luddite ending

By: jsilence

jsilence — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 08:59:15 +0000

I wonder how long it takes for someone to come up with a transcoding proxy that will transcode webpages to pdf and push them to the iLiad via WiFi allowing user to surf the web. Slow, yes, but not unthinkable.
This proxy could prefetch links and maybe pre-render the pages. Throw in Privoxy to cut out the crap and add a CSS enhancer to optimize for the A5 sized screen.

/me wishes someone dropped an iLiad on me

-jsl

By: Branko Collin

Branko Collin — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 23:54:56 +0000

BTW, the Irex people had not had a spare moment to watch this video segment, and the fact that somebody had dropped the Iliad was news to them.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 23:46:51 +0000

I already mentioned this in the first installment of your review but I figured it couldn’t hurt to repeat it here.

Given that the iliad uses open source software, I would be interested to know the degree to which it is customizable by the user. Allowing users to edit and add to the Iliad’s operating software would be a huge advantage in my opinion. The open source software community is capable in some truely impressive things.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 04:56:16 +0000

really interested in how well it handles large document sizes. I have scans of ancient volumes in pdf (or in the more compact djvu, which I will have to convert to pdf), but either way, scanned volumes can be as large as 50mb for the file itself, as well as heavy on memory for processing, decompression and display.

By: researcher

researcher — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 02:48:36 +0000

I’m a researcher at a university and regularly read academic papers which are typically published in PDF format (downloadable from the homepage of authors or from conference web sites). How suitable is the iLiad to reading PDF documents designed for *printing* at 300dpi at letter size? These papers tend to have figures, both in vector format (e.g., gnuplot figures) and in bitmap format, with the latter usually embedded at 300dpi.

By: Music lover

Music lover — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 20:43:03 +0000

Hello, my word is more about the music, not text. As the iRex technologies claim (in PDF brochure), there is an ability to read or recognize MP3 files inside this special device. If so, what is the use of the display itself and headphone jack – can it be used as a music player, would be interesting, is the sound quality quite good to listen to it instead of iPod or other similar stuff? Is the sound at least stereo (not mono as it appeared on some Nokia phone models).

Waiting for the review and a real “in depth” analysis of the Iliad.

By: Shondark

Shondark — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:22:27 +0000

Hi I would want to know if the device can disable the touch screen to improve the battery life when you are only reading a book.

And the use of dictionaries and translators in the device could be an interesting question.

I was thinking also in using the Iliad to print documents fast and without needing to pass the docs to a computer and printing after tthat. It’s possible to plug the device directly to a printer via USB and print the docs?

And what kind of battery will use the Iliad?

By: Roland Rohde

Roland Rohde — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:29:08 +0000

I just remembered another one…
How does the dictionary in the Iliad work? Can you use “lookup” like in Ms-Reader or Mobipocket Reader? would be cool to know whether a english-german dictionary could be used foe example…you see a word you don’t understand, tap it on the screen, select “look up” and then it shows a popup with the translation…works like a charm on PocketPc…

By: poor little talker

poor little talker — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:58:54 +0000

Hi! I have the following questions for Branko:

Which use will the Wifi connection get exactly? Meaning, that I might browse my PC files from the Iliad, or maybe surf the web (with limitations I guess..) Maybe it will only connect to some iRex-propietary servers for subscription only content. What if,say, a PDF contains hyperlinks – will they work, provided they point to supported content types (i.e. another PDF)?
This is quite obscure for me now and I think it’s a big point to clear, since a wifi connection could mean almost anything but the closed, propietary software on the iLiad may severely limit its use.

How easy will it be to write on it with the stylus? I am concerned that the low refresh ratio of the screen would make the lines you draw lag behind the pen if you move your hand only a bit quickly.
Thanks a lot in advance Branko

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 06:02:01 +0000

I’m interested in using the Iliad to store reference texts. Given my priciple areas of interest (math/physics) it would need to be able to handle mathematical notation without difficulty. Do you know how well the iliad reproduces webpages such as those found at http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/ and/or http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ ?

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:54:17 +0000

I am very interested in this device. But of the utmost importance to me is to be allowed to transfer my own content to it. Business people must be able to keep backups of their files on another device such as a pc and in a format that is compatible on both. Devices wear out or break down or accidently get dropped and the risk of losing years of work when that happens (as it most assuredly will) is not something I would contemplate. Book publishers say the ebook reader market has so far failed to appeal to consumers but I believe the reason for ebook readers not selling in great numbers is because of their closed formats and draconian DRM measures. If they could get this right so that they appeal to customers then I believe they will attract a vast market like the mp3 player.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:11:29 +0000

Hey, Branko, what you just wrote on the branch-out could be an interesting item. Meanwhlle thanks for the correction. I’ve changed the headline.

By: Branko Collin

Branko Collin — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:55:58 +0000

BTW, it is not a TV News segment, unless you count every video clip as “TV”; national newspaper De Volkskrant (the left-leaning national high-brow newspaper) is branching out into areas such as blogging and video reporting, and this is apparently part of the latter experiment.

By: Roland Rohde

Roland Rohde — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 22:35:31 +0000

I’m interested in the ruggedness of the device, the screen protection (pouch, bag, frontcover, whatever) and the actual battery life when used as a Reader, no Wlan and other stuff used. Battery life in page-turns would be cool…but I don’t expect that…^^
It can be a bit tedious I imagine…