Here is a new way to find news, photos, videos and review about the Cybook and Bookeen:
Bookeenvibes
We will insert more articles and specialise the tabs to provide you a better view on our ebook reader and its Universe. Share with us your url, just keep in mind that the place need to stay clean.
Have a good e-reading
Bookeen’s team
From the Bookeen website you can now order leather cover for your Cybook Gen3.
The Old Brown version has been discontinued. Those new covers, inspired from customers feedback, are easier to handle. From now, you are able to choose among 4 colors of leather cover plus the one that is now join to the Deluxe Pack.
Let’s see what we got:
Black PU – Red Leather – Brown Leather – Shiny Leather – Camel Leather
Bookeen est présent au salon du Livre de Paris. Notre stand A067 se situe dans l’espace « Lectures de demain » dédié au livre numérique. Nous serons très heureux de vous recevoir et de vous présenter le Cybook Gen3 en “live”. Le Cybook Gen3 sera en démonstration et en vente sur le salon dans la limite des stocks disponibles. Voici quelques liens très utiles pour faciliter votre visite :
- un plan du salon, pour retrouver notre stand,
- les coordonnées exactes du salon du Livre dans Paris,
- les différents moyens de transport pour y accéder,
- notre fiche exposant sur le site du salon.
Bookeen is present at the Paris Book Fair in France from March 14th to 19th. Our booth A067 takes place in the “Lectures de demain” (“Tomorrow’s reading”) zone. We will be very happy to meet you there and show you the Cybook Gen3. The Cybook Gen3 will be showcased and for sale on the show within the limits of available stocks. Here are some very useful links to facilitate your visit:
- A plan of the show, to find our stand,
- The exact coordinates of the Paris Book Fair,
- Different means of transportation to get there,
- Our detailed exhibitor file on the show website.
First of all, with almost one month late, best wishes 2008 to all of you.
This year 2007 has been tremendous for Bookeen. Against all odds, we have released our Cybook Gen3 almost on time and the device has met a smashing success. As already announced several times before, we have been overwhelmed by the demand and we all thank you for this success. The first reactions of our customers and professionals have been great obtaining a 9 out of 10 from TrustedReviews with a nice “Of all the dedicated eBook readers I’ve seen this is definitely the best”.
We have also noted all the remarks of our first customers : folder support, delete key, better sound interface and our dev team is already working on them. Please note that, even if we are not very responsive, we always read all your emails and take in account your feedback.
Since our creation in 2003, Bookeen has always tried to keep in touch with its customers and to offer a reactive and efficient customer support. Concerning this part of our job, we clearly have not met our quality imperatives for the Cybook Gen3 release. We are now making all the necessary decisions to have a customer support department running properly.
In parrallel of our online store, a reseller network has grown much faster than expected and right now almost 11 stores (both web and brick and mortar) are selling the Cybook Gen3. This network is increasing every week and we invite everyone interested by selling the Cybook to get in touch with us.
We have also been part of several great initiatives like the NAEB buyer’s club and the Cluster21 publisher pack. I will describe these two initiatives in future posts.
We will definitely be more active on this blog and give you fresh news about Bookeen and Cybook Gen3 in the next few days.
Thanks again.
Regards,
Michael
PS: The Cybook is currently in stock. Shipments have restarted, the current average delay between order and shipment is 5 business days
Gigi loves book and she has a Cybook gen3. Following our precedent post, here is the second part of the previous review by Gigi from eBooks About Everything.
“All in all – this has been a good experience and I am a happy customer. Sure there are a few changes and/or improvements I would like to see, but they are relatively minor and do not impact my overall satisfaction. Good job, Bookeen! ”
If you look for another point of view, another review on Mobileread by Barcey who have made a comparison between a Cybook and a PDA.
“Buy it you won’t regret it. You know you want it.”
And also another review on Mobileread too by Bob_ninja with many pictures and many test on different kind of ebook files.
“In summary this device met all my expectations and exceeded others. I would gladly recommend it to others. I am looking forward to software updates to clean up the minor issues I found.”
Regards,
Bookeen team
Gigi from eBooks About Everything has received its Cybook Gen3 and has decided to share her first impressions on her blog. So if you want to know her thoughts about the Cybook Gen3 follow the link.
Most of the first Cybook users did notice that the Cybook Gen3 user’s guide was not in the Cybook as described in the Quick Start Guide.
With some days late, here is the Mobipocket version of the Cybook Gen3 user’s guide.
Download the eBook file here.
For those who have a Cybook:
- Switch on your Cybook.
- Connect your Cybook Gen3 to your computer using your USB cable.
- Let the device mount as an external mass storage device.
- Drag and drop the file in the eBooks folder..
- Unplug the Cybook.
- On the Cybook, choose the user’s guide and press the OK button.
- Read.
For those who have not yet a Cybook, download the file and double-click on it. If Mobipocket is installed on your computer, you can read it. For the others install Mobipocket first(*).
(*) Only available on PC
The Mobipocket team has just released a new beta version of the Mobipocket desktop reader for XP and Vista. This new version supports the Cybook Gen3.
Once pluged to your computer, the Cybook Gen3 will be automatically identified and registered as one of your reading devices. After your ebooks have been downloaded from any of the Mobipocket ebook retailers (Mobipocket, Fictionwise, etc.), your books are directly transfered to your Cybook.
Here it is:
“A couple quick qualifications before I start my review. I have never had a chance to use an eInk device for an extended period of time. I’ve played with the Sony PRS-500 in the store but that is about it. The unit I tested was an engineering sample with software version 0.98. I am a board member of NAEB (Not Another E-Book, LLC) and we are looking to distribute an eInk device.
The first thing I noticed unpacking the Cybook was how solid the unit feels. Unlike LCD devices eInk screens are all plastic. If you press in on any device with an LCD screen you will notice the screen distort, this does not happen with this reader. I’ve gone so far to pound on it, only with my fist, and seen no change. It’s taken a couple of minor spills from 4 feet or so onto both carpet and concrete with no damage. The only complaint I have is that both the USB port and the headphone jack are under a rubber cover. The headphone jack really should be exposed at all times. On that note, the headphone jack is 2.5mm, not 3.5mm.
The screen itself is excellent, if it wasn’t for the bezel you would have a complete 180° of viewing angle. As you can see from the pictures it isn’t perfectly white, the color can best be compared to newsprint. However during my usage that wasn’t an issue except in the lowest of light conditions. Just like a book, the display is 100% reflective. For this reason there is no backlight. The display at 166 dpi is as sharp as they come. The full specifications are at Bookeen (http://www.bookeen.com/specs/ebook-specs.aspx).
Software wise this unit is a mixed bag, with it still in beta, that is to be expected. However several earlier requests for features have made it into this version. Bookeen has stated that they plan on developing the software even further after release.
Moving books on and off of the device is as easy as drag and drop. Once you plug the USB cable into a computer the Cybook and an SD Card, if installed, show up as a standard USB drive. Bookeen is stating that the next version of Mobipockets reader software (http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN) will recognize and sync with the eReader. This will allow you to use that package to manage content.
The reader currently uses a flat library structure. This means that no matter what folders you separate your books into once you load them onto it they all show up in the library display. The library can display 5, 10 or 20 items on a page, although at 20 unless you know the covers they are somewhat hard to read. Currently all items are sorted by title. There are also sort by author and size options that are currently grayed out and not usable. Is this library structure going to be a problem for you? It depends on how you use the device. If you plan on keeping just your current reading list on the device and your main library is elsewhere, there isn’t a problem. However if you plan on putting your entire library on the device it will take you some scrolling to find what you want. For example, Baen’s Free Library (http://www.baen.com/) currently contains 100 books. In .PRC format the entire library only takes up 55.3 MB. Looking through 100 books is easy, but how about 1800? Currently the it handles .TXT, .PDF, .PRC (secured and unsecured) and simple .HTML formats. Support for complex HTML will be coming later release. You can also store and view pictures; it does an excellent job of grayscale converting. The current version does not include the audio player so I was not able to evaluate that.
For controls there are 7 buttons, On/Off, Music, Menu, Back, Delete, Volume +, Volume -, and a Compass. The compass is on the front of the unit and seems to be the most confusing of the controls. Everyone I gave the Cybook to thought that it was just a fancy single button instead of five. (Left, Right, Up, Down, Enter) Hopefully Bookeen will add some graphics to the unit pointing this out. The On/Off button is at the top of the unit. It requires you to press and hold in order to power on or off the reader. All the buttons have a nice crisp feel. My only complaint is that the compass is somewhat small. I have a tendency to hit both the Up and Enter keys at the same time.
Like all other eInk devices Bookeen likes to quote battery life in page turns. I find this slightly misleading. I’m sure if you sat there and just flipped pages you would get close to the 8000 claimed. It has an 800mAh Li-Polymer battery. Unlike some other consumer devices the battery is easily accessible and user replaceable. The only tool need is a miniature phillips screwdriver. It is recharged from any standard USB port. Once turned on the Cybook never fully powers down, instead it goes into a sleep mode. I feel this is a reasonable compromise between extending the battery life and response speed. In mixed use I got about 3 to 4 days between charges. Others have reported about 1 week in sleep mode. Note that this is without using the audio player. Once you start driving headphones, battery life will decrease.
Overall I have enjoyed using the Cybook. It is great being able to read my eBooks in bed without a heavy laptop or outside in the bright sunlight. It has a lot of nice software touches, like being able to adjust the font type and size on the fly. One of my co-workers loved the thought of no more reading glasses. It has an activity light in the upper right-hand corner that indicates when it is working on a command. As the screen is static this is enables you to know is it really doing something or ignoring me. Pages flips are fast, and if you accidentally hit the turn page button more then once, it will ignore the second one. I also appreciate the fact you are not locked into one store with the Cybook. Many places sell secure Mobipocket books. Even Harlequin (http://www.eharlequin.com/) recently added support for that format. That is not something we are seeing from Sony.
James B Franks
jfranks@naebllc.com”
Please note that NAEB stands for another Not Another EBook: a BAEN’s initiative.
Visit http://www.naebllc.com/
