5 ms·

IMO, the software will be the most important part of the device, not necessarily the screen. What makes the Remarkable great is that it's functionality (while

IMO, the software will be the most important part of the device, not necessarily the screen. What makes the Remarkable great is that it's functionality (while limited) makes for an excellent experience. Any more details on what apps will be built in and designed for the device? (not just 3rd party Android apps that will feel like any other tablet). Also - I would order this immediately to support more e-ink devices, but the display is too small for me - at least 13" to display full page documents.

boochiboo12 2y ago
we've built our own PDF parser / renderer, so we have a pretty good beta PDF reader app we're building next up would be epub reader / support and then building our own notetaker & typewriter app (though google docs, lex.page, IA writer are pretty good) and many more services and apps, like actually finally good handwriting recognition
- goatking 2y ago
  Why PDF first? Isn't reading Ebooks (in ebook format) the main use case for such devices?
  - KeplerBoy 2y ago
    Once you're approaching regular paper size, PDF is king. There are just so, so many documents out there which were laid out with A4 paper in mind, which can't really be converted to any other format with reasonable effort. Just think of every research paper published ever. People who are primarily reading books aren't really in the market for this kind of device. You can read books just fine on any old kindle and it's far more comfortable on a smaller, lighter device.
  - turtlebits 2y ago
    Likely to focus on use cases for their display tech. Ebooks are already solved and faster refresh won't meaningfully improve the experience over other devices.
- amelius 2y ago
  Why not use existing libraries, like Poppler?
  - liamkearney 2y ago
    Agreed. This screams scope creep. "We've built our own renderer" would make sense to me, perhaps specific handling is needed for the device's display. However rolling a parser does not without further context, it screams: "I want to encounter some dumb non-specification stuff and crash for no reason"
- BaculumMeumEst 2y ago
  Is there an SDK or open source libraries that you've developed for the device that developers could leverage? It seems that you will support the android app store, but will there be a separate Sol:OS store for more tailored apps?
- rattray 2y ago
  Is the kindle app not supported?
  - jasonlotito 2y ago
    Is Kindle on Android? Yes. These are the apps they are specifically building. But all Android apps are availabe for it as well.
    - rattray 2y ago
      I mean, did they specifically check that the Kindle app works well on their OS.
msephton 2y ago
Obsidian already announced an update to support it. - https://twitter.com/kepano/status/1793691977642561952 https://twitter.com/kepano/status/1793691977642561952 - https://www.threads.net/@kepano/post/C7UeqwtvHJe https://www.threads.net/@kepano/post/C7UeqwtvHJe
CodeWriter23 2y ago
I had a remarkable for like a day before I retuned it. Couldn’t write-to-text into a PDF. Could type into a PDF or could write-to-text in their writing app. But not in a PDF. It was also intolerably slow.
eli 2y ago
Aren't there already Android tablets with eink screens?
- CrazyStat 2y ago
  Yes. I have a Boox, and I’m quite happy with it. I don’t use many android apps, but the killer app for me (why I got it over a Remarkable or Kindle Scribe) is being able to run a Zotero-compatible app (Zoo for Zotero) with bidirectional sync for reading and marking up PDFs.
- jsheard 2y ago
  There are but OP doesn't appear to be using e-ink, it's much too fast to be that. I would guess it's an unorthodox form of LCD display.
  - CrazyStat 2y ago
    It’s reflective LCD (RLCD).
    - jsheard 2y ago
      But with a backlight, which is novel I think?
      - terramex 2y ago
        Reflective LCD with backlight is called "transflective LCD" and they have been in use for years: https://newhavendisplay.com/blog/transmissive-vs-reflective-vs-transflective-displays/ https://newhavendisplay.com/blog/transmissive-vs-reflective-...
    - eli 2y ago
      Ohh neat. Like the Playdate
      - nicksergeant 2y ago
smusamashah 2y ago
KOReader is great for Eink devices. I used it both on my Remarkable and Kindle. It's made for paper like displays. It already has an android version.
- jcul 2y ago
  Yeah it's so good. I used it on my really old kindle paperwhite and now my kobo Clara, which I've had for years.

boochiboo12 2y ago

we've built our own PDF parser / renderer, so we have a pretty good beta PDF reader app we're building next up would be epub reader / support and then building our own notetaker & typewriter app (though google docs, lex.page, IA writer are pretty good) and many more services and apps, like actually finally good handwriting recognition

goatking 2y ago
Why PDF first? Isn't reading Ebooks (in ebook format) the main use case for such devices?
- KeplerBoy 2y ago
  Once you're approaching regular paper size, PDF is king. There are just so, so many documents out there which were laid out with A4 paper in mind, which can't really be converted to any other format with reasonable effort. Just think of every research paper published ever. People who are primarily reading books aren't really in the market for this kind of device. You can read books just fine on any old kindle and it's far more comfortable on a smaller, lighter device.
- turtlebits 2y ago
  Likely to focus on use cases for their display tech. Ebooks are already solved and faster refresh won't meaningfully improve the experience over other devices.
amelius 2y ago
Why not use existing libraries, like Poppler?
- liamkearney 2y ago
  Agreed. This screams scope creep. "We've built our own renderer" would make sense to me, perhaps specific handling is needed for the device's display. However rolling a parser does not without further context, it screams: "I want to encounter some dumb non-specification stuff and crash for no reason"
BaculumMeumEst 2y ago
Is there an SDK or open source libraries that you've developed for the device that developers could leverage? It seems that you will support the android app store, but will there be a separate Sol:OS store for more tailored apps?
rattray 2y ago
Is the kindle app not supported?
- jasonlotito 2y ago
  Is Kindle on Android? Yes. These are the apps they are specifically building. But all Android apps are availabe for it as well.
  - rattray 2y ago
    I mean, did they specifically check that the Kindle app works well on their OS.

msephton 2y ago

Obsidian already announced an update to support it. - https://twitter.com/kepano/status/1793691977642561952 https://twitter.com/kepano/status/1793691977642561952 - https://www.threads.net/@kepano/post/C7UeqwtvHJe https://www.threads.net/@kepano/post/C7UeqwtvHJe

CodeWriter23 2y ago

I had a remarkable for like a day before I retuned it. Couldn’t write-to-text into a PDF. Could type into a PDF or could write-to-text in their writing app. But not in a PDF. It was also intolerably slow.

eli 2y ago

Aren't there already Android tablets with eink screens?

CrazyStat 2y ago
Yes. I have a Boox, and I’m quite happy with it. I don’t use many android apps, but the killer app for me (why I got it over a Remarkable or Kindle Scribe) is being able to run a Zotero-compatible app (Zoo for Zotero) with bidirectional sync for reading and marking up PDFs.
jsheard 2y ago
There are but OP doesn't appear to be using e-ink, it's much too fast to be that. I would guess it's an unorthodox form of LCD display.
- CrazyStat 2y ago
  It’s reflective LCD (RLCD).
  - jsheard 2y ago
    But with a backlight, which is novel I think?
    - terramex 2y ago
      Reflective LCD with backlight is called "transflective LCD" and they have been in use for years: https://newhavendisplay.com/blog/transmissive-vs-reflective-vs-transflective-displays/ https://newhavendisplay.com/blog/transmissive-vs-reflective-...
  - eli 2y ago
    Ohh neat. Like the Playdate
    - nicksergeant 2y ago

smusamashah 2y ago

KOReader is great for Eink devices. I used it both on my Remarkable and Kindle. It's made for paper like displays. It already has an android version.

jcul 2y ago
Yeah it's so good. I used it on my really old kindle paperwhite and now my kobo Clara, which I've had for years.