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Cybook Gen3 still set to ship late this month: uBook dropped, new software, IDPF standard ahead
September 8, 2007 | 10:38 am
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By David Rothman
Here’s a quick e-mail interview with Laurent Picard at Bookeen, the company behind the Cybook, an E Ink version of which is on the way.
Latest news on shipping date: “Though there is a small delay at the factory, we still expect to ship the Cybook at the end of September.”
Software for the Cybook complying with the IDPF .epub standard: “We have projects in the pipeline but it is too early to talk about them. The .epub format should facilitate digital content creation from publishers and help the whole industry.”
Whether µBook will be on the Gen3—and what will be: “We stopped manufacturing the previous Cybook in 2006—we have developed brand-new rendering and e-book processing modules. What is new is that they are now fully cross-platform, whereas our previous developments only targeted Windows and Windows CE. We now have a very strong and conformant e-book software base, and you will be able to have a glimpse of it on the new Cybook. Consequently, the Cybook Gen3 does not include µBook because we now have a unified software architecture. We as always intend to support as many formats as possible and will release firmware upgrades for formats we are not able to provide in the first release.”
Related: Gen3 specs, Cybook samples on the way to NAEB/Baen Team, and French publisher’s take on the Cybook Gen3 (French and Google-translated English). Cost of the Gen3 is expected to be $350 and up.
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Comments:
I hope Cybook can keep under $350 and possibly lower. Otherwise, it will make more sense to wait a month and pay the extra $50 for the wifi-equipped Kindle device (if it is indeed wifi and not EVDO). For me, notetaking is worth $50.
Frankly, I’m going to buy one Mobipocket device, and unless Cybook can demonstrate important advantages over the Kindle, I’ll wait for the kindle. In this market, timing and price is everything.
I don’t know..if it looks anything like the mockup that’s been floating around the Internet, the Kindle’s notetaking abilities might be far from compelling.
Wonder how this will stack up against the upcoming Sony PRS-505. The new Sony Reader apparently uses the Viziplex display, has double the internal memory and comes in silver or blue.
Also, any idea if iLiad will start using Viziplex? I read somewhere that e-ink is stopping production of the older display, and therefore everyone will be forced to migrate to the new technology (maybe that is the only reason for Sony to update its reader!).