Linux dominates in Amazon Kindle competitors

John Carl Villanueva
26 February 2009, 10:00 PM


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Linux runs on the first e-book reader released this year ... and on the second ... and the third.


Just a few days ago, the first Kindle 2s started shipping from Amazon.com, making them the first e-book readers to be released to the public this year -- and you may be surprised to learn that what's inside isn't some proprietary software running on Windows CE, but rather the good old Linux kernel.

The Kindle 2 is the second version of the highly successful original Kindle eBook Reader from Amazon, which used an eInk screen capable of displaying four shades of grey at 167dpi. The original Kindle was only useful within the United States though, as it could only download eBooks via its inbuilt CDMA EV-DO mobile broadband on the Sprint network, incompatible with the  GSM/3G standards used in most other countries.

This time around, the Kindle 2 is lighter than a typical paperback at 289g, as thin as most magazines at 8.5mm, and easier on the eyes with 16 shades of grey on its display. The new Kindle 2 still uses EV-DO on Sprint, counting out other countries from using the wireless download capability, but it now also allows side-loading of content via its USB port.



Despite beating all others to the draw, Kindle 2 will not be the only e-book reader to be released this early in the year. Close on its heels is Foxit’s eSlick Reader, which is scheduled to be out in March (though initial supplies have already sold out, and a second production-run is scheduled for April.)

You may know Foxit from its excellent, free Foxit PDF Reader software, known for its snappy performance compared to Adobe Reader.

The eSlick Reader has a price tag that is much cheaper than the Kindle’s $US359 ($588) price tag. It is selling at a pre-order price of $US259 ($400), and with such a price saving, it may well capture a respectable chunk of the market despite Foxit's lower marketing power. eSlick, which has a weight of only 181g, is nearly 40 per cent lighter than Kindle 2 although it is slightly thicker at 10mm.



Both e-book readers are powered by Linux. Unless a surprise announcement is made, there will be no new e-book reader that will be running on any other operating system in 2009.

So far, the last of the new e-book readers that’s expected this year is slated to be released in the third quarter. This one will be coming from a German start-up company named txtr and will be called the txtr reader.



If plans push through for the txtr reader, it will be about as thick as Kindle 2 but slightly lighter at 261g. It will also use the same e-ink technology that drives the displays of the other two readers. And like the other two, it will also be powered by Linux.

It is only being targeted initially at the German market, so it is not expected to directly compete with either Amazon’s Kindle 2 or Foxit’s eSlick Reader. However, its inbuilt 3G/GPRS connectivity does mean it would work in many more parts of the world for wireless download than Amazon's CDMA-based Kindle 2.

It's exciting to see eBook Readers moving outside of the bounds of the United States, and also being based on free, open-source operating systems. Hopefully, the use of open-source and lower component prices such as the eInk screens will allow a migration from dead trees to portable electronic readers sooner rather than later.

Would you buy an eBook Reader in the era of the iPod Touch and netbook? Let us know what you think in the comments.

EDITOR'S NOTE: John Carl Villaneuva joins the APC team today, covering Linux exclusively. We're delighted to have him with us -- he has been blogging on Linux for some time, with a special interest in Linux in smartphones and devices, and we thought he was doing a great job. Please join us in making him very welcome!!

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Phil1 (New user):

I'm really interested in embracing e-book technology but I'm not sure if the amount and cost content available is worth the investment. Of those listed above, only Amazon has a substantial amount of ebooks, which of course is only available to the US.

27 February 2009, 4:15 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

tim2hawkes (User):

Go the linux version


27 February 2009, 7:44 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

plutonium210 (User):

$600 for a text reader ? ..... This sounds like great value for money !

27 February 2009, 8:09 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Your Average Joe (User):

Quoting plutonium210:
This sounds like great value for money !

Gee ! lucky you added the next bit, I thought you were serious ;-)

"Linux dominates in Amazon Kindle competitors" - APC

Oh No ! The revolution is starting ....................... Again !




27 February 2009, 8:14 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Me In Oz (User):

"..also being based on free, open-source operating systems. Hopefully, the use of open-source and lower component prices .." - APC

Well it sure hasn't made the price very attractive !
At about $600 it may be better value to buy a netbook (Can't believe I just said that).

I have the first Kindle 'donated' for evaluation purposes and using it in bed with a bedside lamp is quite a struggle with these old eyes of mine. Number of availible books were quite small although I like to read the classics and found many on the Guttenberg Project.

27 February 2009, 8:25 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

AtticusFinch (New user):

Quoting Me In Oz:
using it in bed with a bedside lamp is quite a struggle with these old eyes of mine.

And my eyes are not that old ;-)




27 February 2009, 8:41 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Raindog (New user):

Quoting Me In Oz:
Well it sure hasn't made the price very attractive ! At about $600 it may be better value to buy a netbook (Can't believe I just said that).

It's only logical that the initial pricing is obscene, that is pretty much par for the course for any new tech device. The early adopters and gadget freak show-offs will always pay way over the odds for any new device. With any sort of reasonable uptake it would not be unreasonable to expect pricing to fall substantially.


Quoting Me In Oz:
and using it in bed with a bedside lamp is quite a struggle with these old eyes of mine.

Regardless of eyesight, display technology of these devices still has a long way to go before achieving the clarity and readability of a printed page.

My old eyes would always rather read a book, but as the performance of these type of devices matures, the catalogues of available material grows and the pricing becomes more realistic, then they will take off.





27 February 2009, 9:56 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

djsflynn (APC staff):

CE 'appliances' (like digital photo frames and even many mobile phones) are a perfect target for Linux, where 99% of the focus is the actual task rather than the tech (while the remaining 1% happily leaves headroom for the screwdriver set to slip into mod mode and tweak the OS every which way).

Foxit's eSlick looks sweet, as of course does the German reader (which they might want to get Kate Winslett to promo, based on her Oscar performance in The Reader – they could even rename the device as The E-reader), but unless one does a lot of travel and/or convenience reading this could be a big outlay for a relatively low-usage device.

27 February 2009, 9:04 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Raindog (New user):

Would you buy an eBook Reader in the era of the iPod Touch and netbook?

They are all very different devices. I don't think I'd like to read too much off an iPod touch, the screen is just too small for reading much off.
The netbook is probably the best compromise but compromise it is. You'd hope the readers could offer much greater battery life, better form factor, etc.

I think possibly the biggest detriment if the devices offered thus far has been the preoccupation with wireless delivery. A good part of that $600 cost would go towards the wireless connectivity. You don't need the cost and complexity of GSM or CDMA within these devices.
Most users will have PCs and data phones already so readers would be better being able to do rapid copy off PC or say iPhone.


27 February 2009, 11:11 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Why not just buy the bloody book from a bookstore? In these times, the last thing we need is cutting more jobs in the print industry. The idea that 'Print is Dead' shouldn't be one that we celebrate, but one that we should worry about.

27 February 2009, 4:56 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

GirlGeek (New user):

I would never try to read a book off any device with a screen that refreshes due to the eye strain, so no to itouch or netbook. As previously noted there is no need to download over mobile, this is gimicky and unecessarily increases the cost, it's a book, it takes days to read. Just dowload via USB from your PC. Perfect!
For those who bemoan the cost- how much does it cost to keep a room full of books in bookcases? This is your new bookcase and it goes on holidays with you - I want one and am very disappointed at the slow release outside the US.

27 February 2009, 5:35 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Raindog (New user):

Quoting GirlGeek:
For those who bemoan the cost- how much does it cost to keep a room full of books in bookcases?

That is what ultimately will tip things in favour of reader devices. It's early days, I'm sure in time display technology, battery life, and the feature set will all rationalise and improve.
As for the price, well early CD players sold for around $3000 a go, I'd expect to see similar levels of price reduction occur with these things over time.

I doubt they will ever be as good to read as a book but in time they will become so close the many other advantages will make these things very popular.


27 February 2009, 5:54 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Raindog (New user):

Quoting Hemma:
Why not just buy the bloody book from a bookstore?

There is still a good case for doing that. $600 buys a lot of easily read, no batteries required paperbacks.

The reader concept does have advantages though.
It's a lot easier to carry than a stack of paperbacks.
It's a lot easier to get upgraded revisions of your documents.
It open the possibility for micro publishing and easier availability of less mainstream reading.

On the negative side you would need a lot of electronic readers to raise a desktop monitor to the ideal height an old Windows NT system resource manual does.

Quoting Hemma:
The idea that 'Print is Dead' shouldn't be one that we celebrate

I wouldn't be to worried that these gizmos are going to eliminate print any time soon. The paper industry thought desktop PC were going to see the end of their industry, the reality was that they could produce more written nonsense than ever before and the industry profited.


27 February 2009, 5:47 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

AndyCee (New user):

http://xkcd.com/548/
Not that I have a real use for a Kindle at present.

28 February 2009, 7:06 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hyram H (New user):

Considering how much reading I do, I would choose (and did choose) an EPD reader over a netbook or laptop, for one major reason -- it is a passive display, in that it relies on reflected light (like a normal book) instead of generating light.

I didn't need wireless or fancy audio stuff, so I bought a linux based Jinke Hanlin direct from China, and I absolutely love it. The Hanlin has been rebadged and is now available in Australia as the BeBook (see http://mybebook.com/ ) for A$399. It already supports PDF and text of all kinds, even reads static HTML web pages correctly, and there is no DRM, and no drivers needed.

Thirty days on a single charge also rocks.

17 March 2009, 6:11 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

ebook.reader (New user):

I would love to see a combination of the offerings:

o non-proprietary standard
o pdf readability
o wireless connection
o large library to choose from
o easy to read

I won't buy a Kindle due to the lack of functionality with pdfs. The eSlick looks 'slick' and since it is from Foxit there should be no problem reading pdfs and the price is getting more reasonable.

22 June 2009, 11:50 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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