China-based Jinke Electronics is shipping an upgraded version of its electronic book reader that runs Linux. The Hanlin eReader V3 offers an 200MHz ARM9 processor, and a six-inch 800 x 600 display that uses E Ink's power-sipping EPD (electronic paper display) module, says Jinke.

(Click for larger view of the Hanlin eReader V3)EPD module (pictured below).

E Ink's EPD module (Click for details)

The EPD display offers four shades of gray, and radically decreases display power requirements in mobile devices, claims E Ink. The thin, lightweight display remains legible at high contrast under “any lighting condition,” says the company. Once an image has been “printed,” no power is needed to hold it, reducing energy requirements by 99 percent, compared to LCDs, for some applications, the company says.

E Ink says its electronic ink display technology has appeared in a variety of watches and other consumer electronic products from Seiko, Citizen, and Microsoft. It is also used in Sony's LibriE e-book, which is available in Japan. Linux ebook readers that use E Ink e-paper include the Readius, Amazon Kindle, Bookeen Cybook, eRead Star eBook STK-101, and the iRex iLiad.

E Ink's EPD uses static electricity to affix display particles
(Click to enlarge)

The Hanlin eReader V3's 200MHz Samsung ARM9 processor was not further identified, but may be either the Samsung s3c2410 or Samsung S3C2412 system-on-chip (SoC). The device offers 32MB SDRAM, 2MB NOR Flash, an SD slot for up to 4GB of memory expansion, and a USB port. For UI, it offers paging buttons on the left of the display, and a variety of function buttons underneath.

Specifications listed for the Hanlin eReader V3 include:

• Processor — Samsung ARM9 200Mhz
• Memory — 32MB SDRAM; 2MB NOR Flash
• Flash expansion — SD slot for up to 4GB flash
• Display — 6-inch, 800 x 600 LCD with four grayscale shades (E Ink EPD module)
• USB — 1 x USB 1.1 port
• Audio — 3.5mm stereo audio jack for earphone
• Accessories — charger, USB cable, earphone, battery, hand band
• Formats supported — PDF, DOC, WOLF, MP3, HTML, TXT, CHM, FB2, Djvu, PNG, TIF, GIF, BMP, JPG, PPT, EPUB, LIT
• Additional features — Multi-level directory management
• Power — rechargeable 950 mAh Lithium-ion battery
• Dimensions — 7.2 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches (184 x 120.5 x 9.9mm)
• Weight — 7.4 oz. (210 grams)
• Operating temperature — 32 to 104 degrees F (0 to 40 degrees C)
• Language support — English, Chinese, Russian, Ukraine, Turkish, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Bulgarian, Estonian, Polish, and more
• Operating system — Wolf Linux

Hanlin eReader V3
(Click to enlarge)

Located in Tianjin, China, the 200-employee Jinke was founded in 1985, and is a “joint-owned enterprise, which cooperates with Nankai University and the Hong Kong Proud Growth Group,” says the company. Jinke appears to be solely devoted to manufacturing e-book readers, and offers an earlier V2 version that also runs Linux, as well as a version that runs the Wolf operating system (OS). Wolf Linux appears to be Jinke's own distro, which is based in part on Wolf OS.

Availability

The Hanlin eReader V3 appears to be available now for a price of $300. More information may be found here.

 
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