Cybook Gen3 adds PDF support, gets delayed 'till October

Those of you itching to get your hands on Bookeen's Cybook Gen3 e-book reader will have to make do with your current paper-based reading materials for a little while longer, as the company's announced that the E Ink-based device now won't be shipping until sometime in October, and not September as previously announced. On the upside, it's also announced the that device will now boast PDF support straight of the box, something that had previously planned as a future upgrade. What's more, while you can't get your hands on one just yet, the folks at Bookeen apparently have a few engineering samples in their possession, which they've thankfully used to produce a quick demo video. Check it out after the break.

[Thanks, Kris]

[Timothy Dixon @ Sep 27th 2007 2:45PM]

price?

[Nikoooo @ Sep 27th 2007 4:00PM]

350$ as said (in french) in the video interview of the 2 CEOs...

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Sep 27th 2007 11:42PM]

Traditional books are cheaper and do not require special readers or batteries. It can last for centuries with out needing a recharge. Gutenberg for the win!

[L. Cyphre @ Sep 28th 2007 8:03AM]

@ I LOVE THE CAPSLOCK...
Yeah! You can also lug your entire library with you if you go on trips, move to another city as a student...
Oh wait, you can't.

Also, books take up loads of space and most cheap modern paperbacks tend to fall apart within a few
years. At least the ones I buy do :/

[Rainier @ Sep 27th 2007 2:49PM]

Something about the screen in that pic reminds me of Etch-A-Sketch. But that's just me.

[Dan @ Sep 27th 2007 2:48PM]

PDF support is great, but if this is also going to have a 6" screen like Sony.... skiiiiip.

I have to look up the specs.

[Crayola @ Sep 27th 2007 2:49PM]

Tsk Tsk Tsk... This is so passe... Cholesteric display anyone?

[Dan @ Sep 27th 2007 2:52PM]

Sorry for double post as I found the specs:

6" E Ink® Vizplex screen
[4.8"x3.6"- 122mmx91mm]
600x800 pixels, 166 dpi
B&W, 4 gray-scale
Daylight readable
No backlight
Portrait and landscape mode

Don't bother with PDF support. In essence, PDF is a lousy format for eBook readers because reflow sucks. Taking a format that is sometimes A4/Letter and condensing it to 6" is just not pleasant.

[oGMo @ Sep 27th 2007 4:02PM]

I'm happy with something that will fully display 80-column plain text: I want an ebook for gamefaqs so I don't have to run over to the computer or keep a laptop on the coffee table. Carrying around references would also be nice.

Which brings me to the big problem: do these ebook readers have a real Search function? The #1 use for ereaders is for reference material, and the #1 reason for electronic versions is searchability. Without that... $300+ is a *lot* to spend...

[fischju @ Sep 27th 2007 3:03PM]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/26/cybook-gen3-e-book-reader-enters-production-coming-in-september/

$350 according to that

[Bizam! @ Sep 27th 2007 3:38PM]

This thing is so powerful that it actually floods the room with light when you flip pages...nice!

[Wwhat @ Sep 27th 2007 3:46PM]

Epaper doesn't have light, I don't quite get that flashing in the vid.
I must say I'd hate to read a book and have that effect that's shown every time I turn a page, most distracting and annoying., would kill the concept for me, and I've seen ebook readers that don't do that so I wonder what the deal is, is that just the camera trying to AGC/whitebalance? or them editing it?

[Wwhat @ Sep 27th 2007 3:54PM]

Guess the screenblanking thing is there in all ebooks, a commenter on that site says sony's ebook does it too, but you soon get used to it and don't notice.
I still assume that vid exaggerates it because I saw, as I said, a vid where you didn't notice it like you do in the vid of his product, it just blinked not 'flash'

[oGMo @ Sep 27th 2007 3:59PM]

Flashing is from crappy camera (or crappy camera configuration). The page inverts when it turns (I don't know if this is optional or not), so the dark ratio of the image changes momentarily and the camera tries to compensate (wrongly). So you see a flash.

[Eli L @ Sep 27th 2007 4:03PM]

The flashing of the film is due to the camera compensating for underexposure when the screen turns dark. And the flashing of the ebook is due to the inherent nature of eink. Is there any eink product that doesn't have that flashing? Even the sony ebook reader has that when the pages change. It's kind of like resetting the screen and then redrawing it.

[EdZ @ Sep 27th 2007 4:17PM]

Nope, that's just the camera auto-adjsting as the page changes. The e-ink screen rapidly changes from predominantly white (reflective)) to black and then back again. There is no backlight, the display is entirely passive.

[John P. @ Sep 27th 2007 7:10PM]

I have a Motofone F3, and the screen does this blanking as well. Basically, in order to change the content on the screen, the particles need to be in a "known" state. I'd imagine it is too much to selectively flip the "pixels" back to white where necessary, and selectively flip the "pixels" back to black where necessary - it is probably more efficient to clear the whole screen, and start with a blank slate. Additionally, on the Motofone, you can barely see where the segments begin and start, because the segments are plates behind the "paper". So I imagine even if you targeted a "pixel," it might not clear it 100% like desired.

[Boro @ Sep 28th 2007 4:42AM]

Love the "French Classical Book" part ... by Charles Dickens :)