by HuwFulcher on 9/26/23, 8:29 PM with 47 comments
by placesalt on 9/26/23, 11:20 PM
The wiki page effectively says they are in violation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_Boox#GPL_Compliance
> As of 2022, Onyx International Inc. has declined[20] to release the source code with Linux kernel modifications licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2 in response to a written request by a user. The GPLv2 license states that if a modified version of a covered work (such as the Linux kernel) is released, the corresponding source code must also be released under GPLv2.[21]
by FirmwareBurner on 9/26/23, 10:50 PM
If I wanted to read books on a phone shaped e-reader I'd just use my phone without carrying an identically shaped device for the same purpose, and if I wanted a separate device just for reading e-books then I want that to have the aspect ration optimized for e-books, not to mention the lower price tag that regular e-readers come with not something expansive just to read books.
It just feels pointless on so many levels.
by nxobject on 9/27/23, 12:42 AM
by laserbeam on 9/27/23, 3:40 AM
To me phone is: a camera in your pocket, a wide array of chat apps for different friends and communities, a music player, a navigation device and a bunch of other similar tools. For others it's also a gaming device.
Swapping to calming eink is cool and all, but you give up a camera, you give up your fast mobile typing experience for chats, and you don't really get much back. You need a larger surface if you want to read, write or sketch comfortably.
by jauntywundrkind on 9/26/23, 11:19 PM
One things thats weird to me though... when reading my phone, I notice fairly often I'm really only looking at the top ~15%. I keep scrolling content into the same area of space, rather than viewing down.
It suggests such weird things to me. At simplest, it suggests using a device like this in landscape mode. But more, it suggests that pure consumption doesn't need a big device. Yes, we need to navigate & browse, and that takes space, but actual reading? When we and the machine are in-line, knowing what's happening, on a straight path? At that point we actually only need a very small display area to work very well.
I'm almost always glad when form factors get explored & tried. Markets are so centrist, regurgitate the already proven schemes without exploring boundaries. This is stasist & centrist, a self reinforcing cycle, and it is against my nature & what moves me, but I understand it. I salute the attempts at different. Even if, in this case, I'm not really sure what the major advantage is. Very short scanlines feels weird, feels like it means moving one's eyes quickly back and forth. But at least it's a friendly portable form factor, better than most epaper devices. I wish it well.
by RattlesnakeJake on 9/26/23, 10:24 PM
by rcarr on 9/26/23, 10:44 PM
by dallas on 9/27/23, 7:34 AM
by turnsout on 9/26/23, 10:33 PM
by solarkraft on 9/29/23, 4:25 PM
They could've made it an actual phone and I'd have considered buying it (their devices are quite easily rootable). The only competition (Hisense) is even sketchier.
This is just a weirdly shaped E-Reader, but with a camera for some reason. Crazy.
At least they're releasing something actually new again instead of the same hardware for the third time.
by daveoc64 on 9/27/23, 10:00 AM
They just have so many devices in their range.
by crawsome on 9/27/23, 1:35 AM
Phone is about same price, and higher FPS with color.
It's nice to see improvements in other spaces, but I don't need this.
by rpxio on 9/27/23, 2:50 AM
by noobermin on 9/27/23, 3:02 AM
by 28304283409234 on 9/27/23, 6:20 AM
by ryukoposting on 9/27/23, 3:38 AM
by moralestapia on 9/27/23, 12:02 AM
by filmgirlcw on 9/26/23, 11:20 PM
by charleshan on 9/26/23, 10:57 PM