There was a ton of innovation within the e-reader enviornment in 2017. The second era Kindle Oasis got here out and was the primary e-reader that had the Audible bookstore and Bluetooth to hear with wi-fi audio system. The Outstanding got here out and outlined digital notice taking and the startup was so profitable that it spawned a really aggressive house the place many individuals had been vying to your wallets and a focus. The Aura One Restricted Version was launched and since no Kobo has an SD card anymore, a 32GB mannequin that featured a brand new fast web page flip system was very compelling. This yr, we have now taken a step again.
This yr we have now seen a variety of e-readers which have already debut or that shall be launched in a while. The Onyx Boox Be aware S is now out there and as a substitute of utilizing a ten.3 inch display they determined to make use of a 9.7 one and halve the battery life, RAM and inside storage, it’s not promoting nicely. Sony launched their 10.3 inch model of the Digital Paper, however thus far it has been actually underwhelming by way of efficiency. I had excessive hopes for the Clara HD, I assumed it might need a 5 inch display and be low cost sufficient to be an impulse purchase at Walmart, however it was merely one other six inch e-reader with a Comfortlight and price over $100. I assumed Kobo on the very least ought to leverage the audiobook retailer they opened final yr and permit individuals to purchase and hearken to audiobooks on a Kobo e-reader, however they didn’t do it. I assume it’s simpler to only do the identical factor yr after yr and never innovate.
The one attention-grabbing factor that may happen this yr is the brand new Kindle Paperwhite 4 that may have a coloration temperature lighting system and Bluetooth for audiobooks. Storytel goes to launch their first e-reader that’s tied to their limitless audiobook and book subscription service, it is advisable to be subscribed to even use the e-reader, not modern, however attention-grabbing sufficient.
Through the early years of the e-reader revolution E Ink was saying new display tech yearly. There have been so many firms concerned within the house and everybody was making some huge cash. Ebooks instantly turned an enormous factor and publishers had been seeing double digit development each single quarter. Round 2013-2014 nearly each epaper competitor was out of enterprise or simply making prototype shows, such because the Japan Show 500 PPI display. E-Reader firms like iRex, Cooler Reader, Entourage, Hanvon, Kyobo, Power Sistem and dozens of others both went bankrupt or exited the house fully. There may be solely lower than ten firms on the earth making e-readers and making a residing from it. There was no new E Ink show in 5 years and the one new processor to make e-readers quicker is the IMX7 twin core, however there may be one single e-reader utilizing it because it first was introduced in 2015, the Oasis. No person else desires to take the danger of utilizing it and paying excessive growth charges to include all the brand new options into their working system, its simpler simply to do the identical factor yearly.
Right this moment on the present Michael talks about all the above and the way the smartphone and pill house aren’t precisely transferring ahead, however they don’t seem to be taking a step again in design and innovation.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the previous fifteen years. Newspapers and web sites such because the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Publish and the New York Instances have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
