Did B&N Pass On the 6.8" E-ink Screen That Kobo Snapped Up? 132
Nate the greatest writes "Rumor has it that the new high resolution E-ink screen on the Kobo Aura HD was originally intended for another ereader maker. Inside sources have told me that B&N had first claim on the initial production run of 300,000 6.8' screens, only B&N decided to pass. If this rumor is true then this was the screen that B&N would have used on their new ereader this year. Can you imagine what a Nook Glow HD would have been like? I think it would be the next best thing to a 7" Android tablet with an E-ink screen. It's a shame we might never see it." While flying cars are still on my wishlist, daylight readable screens for more portable devices are even higher up the list.
Re:Still lacking (Score:5, Insightful)
Wish I had mod-points. This is so completely true, and combine it with the fact that they all come with vendor lock in, and it's even worse.
I have a Nook simple touch, and really want to move to a front lit e-ink reader. Problem is the nook glow is the least tempting of the front lit e-readers to me. That said, I feel locked in due to the number of books already in the B&N cloud. Yes I know I can download, strip DRM, side-load, but bleh, I don't consider that a real solution.
Some day maybe we can buy e-books instead of rent them from a couple of disjointed retailers. Then I could buy a new e-reader every year based on whoever built the best one!
Re:Still lacking (Score:5, Insightful)
Contrast this with Kobo and B&N. Their hardware looks and feels great.
Agreed. The Nook Touch is brilliant ergonomically. People constantly ask me about it; when they hold it, they love the rounded, rubbery texture. Thing's durable as hell, too; it's survived 2 years of being in a bag with all sorts of other crap (note, the glow models are NOT durable, any screen marks show up as brighter specks. They require a screen cover!)
The problem, though, is that their stores are smaller and have worse prices, and no syncing for side loading (and less easy to accomplish, as well).
Sorry, what? I plug in my B&N Nook Touch, internal and external storage volumes mount, and I copy over an epub. Unmount, and presto, it's there.
Root either the Nook or the Kindle and you can use whatever reading software you want. The only negative I see with the Kobo is that it doesn't run Android, and thus you don't get access to all the wonderful goodies you can install - however, it's reportedly very easy to hack as a linux system.