Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Kogan Linux e-Book Reader

Kogan 6 ebook reader with ink screenKogan have announced a $189 Kogan e-Book reader with a 6 inch e-ink screen, to be available in late August. The unit will not be tied to any particular e-book store and is claimed to support a wide range of formats. It will run Linux 2.6 on a Samsung S3C2416 (Arm 9), with 64mb RAM and 2GB flash memory. The unit has no keyboard and no touch screen, relying on a column of buttons along the right side of the screen.

I purchased a Kogan netbook and have found both the unit and Kogan after sales support to be good. The Kogan e-book reader looks a reasonable device. However, Kogan were considering a Kogan tablet computer for about $200, with a 7 inch colour touch screen, which would be a far more useful device.
Specs:
Model Number:KGNEBK6VAA
Display Size (Diagonal):6" / 15.24cm
Display type:E-ink Panel with Epson Display Controller
Display Resolution:800 x 600
Processor:Arm 9 Core (Samsung S3C2416)
Operating System:Linux 2.6
Ram:64mb DDR2
Battery:Li-ION 1700mAh
Battery Life:

10,000 screen refreshes - equivalent to 3 months usage

(Based on reading speed of 500 pages per week)

Built-in Memory:Yes, 2GB
Max Storage Capacity:32GB SDHC Memory Card (approx 100,000 ebooks)
Colours Supported:16 Level Greyscale
Ebook Formats Supported:PDF, CHM, EPUB, TXT, HTM, HTML, RTF, PDB, DJVU, DJV, IW44, IW4, FB2, OEB, PRC, MOBI, TCR, OPF
Image Formats Supported:JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, TIFF
Audio Formats Supported:MP3 (32kbps - 384 kbps)
Connectivity
3.5mm Headphone Jack:1
USB Port:1
SD Card Slot:1
Other
Language Support:English, Italian, French, Russian, Dutch, German
Page Number Indication:Yes
Font Sizes:5 Sizes available
Auto-Resume:Yes
Search:Yes (by filename)
BookmarksYes
Dimensions of Unit:H 17.6cm x W 11.8cm x D 0.96cm
Weight:228.8g

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