The electronic paper
master race
Lord_of_Life
Aug 2018
E-paper vs E-ink
E-paper mimics ink on paper, reflects light
E-ink is e-paper, needs power only for changes, also a company
Advantages
Low power consumption, state is saved, flexible
Disadvantages
Low refresh rate, ghosting, no good commercial color (yet)
Uses
- Tablet
- Reader
Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Sony,
Onyx Boox, B&N Nook, Pocketboot
- Note taking / Drawing
ReMarkable
- Wearable
Pebble, clothes, jewelry
- Other
Public services like signs, bus
numbers and timetables, XCSoar
- Possible
Parking meters, license plates
What should devices be like?
Important actors
- MobileRead forum
- NiLuJe - KindleTool, MRPI, Kindle JB
- knc1 - Kindle JB
- Ixtab - Kubrick, Kindle JB
- Twobob - KUAL, Kindle JB
- Yifan Lu - Kindle JB
- MarekGibek - Debian on Kobo
- Geekmaster - Librarian
- KOReader team
- Pebble / Rebble team
- Hardware companies
E ink, NXP, Lab126, Visionect
- Research / Academia / Journalists
Kindle
- Locked bootloader, moderate difficulty when disassembling to get serial access which you need to unbrick for example.
Different for most devices, currently only works for older firmware versions.
Downgrade the firmware to the Java days, apply Jailbreak files, update.
- Base software
MRPI - MobileRead Package Installer - KUAL app, function as the name suggest
KUAL - Kindle Unified Application Launcher - Adds neat shortcuts and menus for all your extensions. Can use gawk for speed
- Userland / Extensions / Hacks
Numerous KUAL extensions, one that prevents silent updates
KOReader - Later in the presentation
Calibre integration
Touch two opposing edges to take a screenshot
Kobo
- Unlocked bootloader, easy disassembly, jail. Custom firmware available
KoboRoot.tgz - Bundled with some hacks. Hasn't changed much
Busybox - Bundled UNIX software we use every day
- Base software
KSM - Kobo Start menu (similar to KUAL for the Kindle)
- Userland / Addons / Hacks
KOReader - Later in the presentation
Comprehensive list too long to cover
- History
- If you don't need Bluetooth, get a Kobo
KOReader
Document viewer with support for major Kindle, Kobo and Pocketbook devices, also Android support. Requires root. FOSS, LuaJIT, excellent functionality.
Multiple formats, ssh & rsync, localization and dictionaries, customizable, statistics, Evernote, Calibre, Goodreads, custom screensavers, terminal, file manager, collection manager, etc.
So fast, powerful and easy to change you can permanently live in it.
Pebble / Rebble
Released in 2013 via a Kickstarter. Ran out of money.
Acquired and assimilated by Fitbit. Now discontinued.
Longest battery on the market. Hackable in C and JS with an IDE provided. All functionality you'd expect. Medium difficulty disassembly and repair. Gadgetbridge can be used as a communication bridge, tracker and appstore.
Enter, Rebble. A team of previous employees, enthusiasts, hackers.
They provide online services, some of them behind a subscription.
The project seems to be leaning towards FOSS but is slow.
The whispered end goal seems to be to port the firmware to FreeRToS, get away from the sold patents and make new hardware.
FOSS
Every device mentioned here is locked in some way.
We always find a crack.
Kobo is more open than the others, Pebble is becoming open.
Most software we make for the devices is open.
This guy has the right idea