Foxit eSlick reflow

[MenotMX80]

This is a question about text formats. Will new ebook formats be supported through firmware updates or updated models will need to be purchased? If its the first option, is there a website with a timeline on the expected times when different ebook formats will be supported?

[foxitsoftware]

Yes, more formats will be supported. We will have a large announcement on our home page or you can do a news search. Office formats will be supported, but maybe later this year or next year.

[kdskw]

Is this really a standard pdf file or optimized in some way?

I would buy it if there wasn't this blinking when you turn a page, this is annoying.

[foxitsoftware]

It is a standard pdf file.

[AtropoTronchesi]

I really want one of those devices..

just a couple of questions, maybe someone could help me.

Is there a functionality that permit to jump (for example) from chapt. 2 to chapt. 5? If you have to read a 1000+ pages book, could be useful. Also, scientific text or text with a lot of schemes and table, could be viewed decently, even if it's in pdf format?

thanks!

[foxitsoftware]

If the chapters are separate bookmarks, you can jump between them. Yes, many people read scientific or mathematic textbooks on it. You have different zooming options and also it works well in landscape mode.

[bensy010]

can you search within a txt/pdf for words?

can you save bookmarks?

I really want this device. (feel like giving one away?)

[foxitsoftware]

There is no search functionality or bookmarks. We are working on that for future firmware.

[talcaforever]

looks like you are reflowing a simply .txt file or whatever, not a pdf one.

show us off how it would be with images and graphics embedded in a pdf file.

thanks in advance!

[fabiobcm]

A pen to do selected marks on the text is missing.

[acarpetbagger]

I have a deposit on one of these right now and look forward to receiving it. Two things are important to me 1: is that color inversion when switching pages unavoidable? I have eye problems specifically related to viewing color inversions on LCD panels. 2: Cyrillic? Pa ruuskie?

[idslite]

eSlick does look slick, but I'm waiting for an ebook reader that has an LED back-light and maybe even a touch screen (ex: iPhone/Palm Pre) multi-touch like device. Sure you could use the iPhone, but the screen is too small even for my eyes. Plus the prices are ridiculous on these devices.

[wanchope1980]

Back-light hurts your eyes. And the e-ink tech is all about no back-light, thus gives you a paper like reading experience.

[idslite]

Hurts your eyes? How so? You look at a monitor for most of the day (at least I do), and that doesn't bother me. Same with a cell phone. Either way, it'd be nice to not have to turn on a night light for an electronic device.

[wanchope1980]

It hurts your eyes coz human eyes, after thousands years of evolution, are made to look at(read) reflected lights. But reading on an LCD or CRT is looking directly at a light source. Like when you stare at a light bulb. I do sit in front of monitors all day. It gives me enough eye strain. Your not feeling it might be worse, coz your eyes deteriorate without your noticing it.

I didn't really know the diff. till I first saw an e-ink screeen. Why not go to a store around and check it out.

[evanlack]

the cybook gen3 offers support for *.pdb, *.html, *.prc, and images (*.jpg, *.png, *gif)

they both physically looks the same, so i presume same manufacturer as hanlin reader and others, but why don't eslick support these formats natively as others?

[naterd00d]

have you improved the reflow formatting? there are still empty pages and large gaps that occur when a pdf is loaded onto another reader, such as the sony reader

[foxitsoftware]

The reflow is constantly being worked on to provide the best user experience. There will not be empty pages or large gaps.

[shegax03]

Now does the Netronix EB-600(what this device really is) do this on it's own? Or are you adding that feature yourself?At CES 2009 ASTAK released their own using the EB-600, can you tell me the proposed difference between it and yours?

[foxitsoftware]

Netronix does not use Foxit for PDF viewing.

[WisdomThroughLogic]

You're right but the Jetbook does. How will the software you provided with the jetbook, differ from this one here?

[borisR12]

Looks great. Does it support Cyrillic txt?

[cespino]

Does this reflow feature work with 2-column documents, such as research papers? That would be a killer feat for me.

[scrillamaan]

++++ This would be a great feature to have.

[Ighalli]

I for one will buy this in a heart beat if they demonstrate that they can do research papers nicely.

[foxitsoftware]

Send us a file and we can test it. Send it to the support e-mail address on the website.

[Ighalli]

I just sent a research article from PLoS for the test.

[wangsj414]

Can we search words in eslick pdf files? Can we search file names saved in eslick

[foxitsoftware]

Currently, we are working on that.

[NomedSenkrad]

When in reflow mode can the text be justified? I mean is there any option for this or is in plan to make some?

[altcontrolinteractiv]

Will you ship to spain this ebook reader?

[shegax03]

Ok so have you tested a "large PDF File yet?" I'd hate to have to split a pdf just to read a scanned book. Some of the PDFs I have ar aroun 65 to 70mb each.

[molotof666]

any plan to ship to the middle east ? (lebanon espacially )? and does it support arabic language ?

[foxitsoftware]

No plans to ship there yet. Can you send us a file so we can test? Send it to the support e-mail from the Foxit website.

[noeldc]

Will you ship this to Japan too?

Also, does it support CJK txt files, or only PDFs with embeded CJK fonts?

[foxitsoftware]

We plan to ship to Japan and yes it will support CJK in text and pdf.

[l0sts0ng]

Will we see a durability testing video? Like dropping it off the table, putting a glass of water on it, perhaps getting it wet then drying it off and turning on... letting a dog attack it. :)

As a book replacement these are all things it could go through

[foxitsoftware]

Probably not, but an interesting point.

[l0sts0ng]

Anyway I'm sure someone will post one as soon as it goes on sale. All portables are put to this test in youtube videos

[Saifiros]

I've not read explicitly that the new quality screen is plastic backed and will feature the new Epson controller. So, will it contain the plastic-substrate screen (rather than glass) and the Epson controller? (there are a lot of signs in the videos, but it could be your own controller or software implementation)

[foxitsoftware]

It is not plastic backed and does not use the new Epson controller.

[interman999]

It would be much better if you could substitute narration for the background music. I have no idea what features you are demonstrating on the video.

Your first video seems to show that reflow does not work and side-to-side scrolling is needed.

[foxitsoftware]

Thanks for the tips. We'll do narration in future videos.

The first video doesn't show reflow. It shows zooming and landscape mode which is a different function than reflow. It doesn't mean reflow doesn't work, we just didn't show it in the first video.

[lefinna]

I'm interested in this product but there isn't much info in Foxit Website , so i come here,

few questions want to ask:

1. if i zoom in a pdf or txt file , do words be adjusted & fit in window width or do i have to keep scroll left & right to read the whole doc?

2. does it come with a pen to do command or it's only operated via 2 buttons shown in video?

3. Does it have extra LED light source if i read in dim environment?

4. What other languages do it support?

Thanks for help.

[lefinna]

5. Is it chargeable via USB or only charged by AC source?

[foxitsoftware]

4)What language are you interested in? It supports Eastern Asian languages.

5) It can be charged by AC or USB.

[foxitsoftware]

1) TXT files can be viewed at different font sizes. PDF files can be reflowed so that you can change the size of the text and not have to move right and left, just up and down. But you can also do normal zooming of a PDF if you have an image.

2) No, it doesn't have any pen input. We are working on a high end eSlick that may have this soon. There are 4 button commands with an OK button on the front.

3) No LED light, but we are working on finding a good clip LED light we can recommend or sell.

[csq812]

$230 is still too expensive for an ebook reader. But then again Amazon Kindle is $359 (originally $400). Better buy a netbook instead.

Ideal price for a ebook reader device should not exceed $150. Is eSlick $230 because it can also play music?

If people have plenty of money to splash, better get an iPhone instead.

[foxitsoftware]

It is not $230 because it supports MP3.

[Saifiros]

It's still a developing market (despite it existing for a while now) and dev. cost is high. As you mention the Kindle is very expensive, and still it was Amazon's 2008 top seller in gadgets. Thus price is not at all an issue. To top it off is the fact that Foxit is a company that specializes in PDF implementation, and one of the more nagging issues in current generation readers is unreliable PDF support.

It may very well end up as the best 6" reader, and certainly for this price. We'll see.

[csq812]

Looks like I spoke too soon. One month later, the price of eSlick has jumped to $300 from $230. Only $60 cheaper than Kindle 2.

You're right though, Saifiros. The market is definitely in the very early stages of development. Maybe we have to wait 1-2 years before a REAL ereader device is available. One that uses flexible OLED and supports full vibrant colours.

These ereader devices are a joke especially for being marketed at such ludicrous prices. Their value will be tenfold less soon enough.

[Jucaoma]

else u recomend wait a few years to buy a one better product?, nice color, no blinker, nice price, better view?

(i desire to read all things i found in internet, and pdfs, so i am lazzy to stay sit and my lcd hurt my eyes sometimes )

sorry 4 the bad english

[csq812]

The sudden colour inversion is very bad for the eyes.

[foxitsoftware]

CHM is not currently supported.

[Gypsy1966]

Ok, sorry, just went to the specs page and see it will support 4 gig SD ram card. Cool

[Gypsy1966]

I am SOOOO excited by this device.

What is the memory capacity? Will is be able to use SD ram cards?

[molotof666]

Now we are talking !

[eXpiati0n]

1. Does it support the Mac?

Really, it only needs to support writing to the thing since Mac OS X supports outputting to PDF natively from pretty much everything.

2. Are there limitations to the sizes of PDFs it can take?

Will it be able to do large textbooks with thousands of pages? Or image PDFs eg. comics/manga that are over a 100MB large?

And what about the rendering time of complex vector PDFs?

[foxitsoftware]

1. It supports Mac with USB or SD card slots.

2. I believe so, but I will double check with the developers about this.

[eXpiati0n]

Hey, any word from the Devs about the large PDFs? Thx :)

[foxitsoftware]

We are currently doing some testing. If you have a link to try a large PDF, I can test it myself.

[eXpiati0n]

sorry I can't post links in youtube :) try search for war and peace on scribd :)

For large image PDFs, I'm sure you can just print a few hundred pages of photos to PDF for a test :)

What really interests me is the reflow time for large text docs like war and peace.

[shegax03]

What is considered a "large PDF?" Megabyte Range?

[foxitsoftware]

I would think 50MB and up.

[readmonkey]

Is there a way to look up a word in a dictionary easily - there seems to be no easy way to navigate to a word?

What kind of dictionaries will be available? I'm really hoping for quality ones with cross-linking and more than just simple definitions.

Thanks.

[foxitsoftware]

Currently we don't have the ability to lookup words in a dictionary, but we are working on it.

[l0sts0ng]

Finally a reader that we can read the way we want to!

Any idea if this will be available in the whole EU?

[foxitsoftware]

We are currently working on making it available to the whole EU. We should have more details in the next week or two. You can sign up for the newsletter from the Foxit eSlick website to be updated.

[l0sts0ng]

Thanks for the reply. I'm already registered for the newsletter. Can't wait for the next update

[ilsabs]

does it support fb2 format?

[foxitsoftware]

Currently, it does not. It supports TXT, PDF, and very soon it will support eReader format. We are working to add more formats.

[dogstar13x13]

Can the eSlick reader reflow both tagged and untagged PDF documents?

[foxitsoftware]

Yes, it can reflow tagged and untagged PDF documents.

[iraems]

Nice, I'll buy one when it comes to europe. But the background music is awful...

[molotof666]

looooooool

[shegax03]

I will pre order this for sure

[Yaraher]

Seems great so far. Just preordered.