Has Mudita considered developing a paper tablet like the Remarkable 2?
I am not sure if I am alone, but I feel like if you created something similar and created a way for the “tablet” and Pure to sync it would open the gateway for more efficient use, allow for further disconnection and also provide an excellent Ereader alternative. There are probably a ton of other benefits that escape me at the moment, but it might be worth considering.
Thank in advance for your consideration and any replies.
I am so excited for the PineNote. I am thinking that the PineNote will likely become my primary computing device and ebook reader since it’s e-Ink but a full Linux tablet as well. I will be able to tether with Mudita Pure, and use the Mudita Linux app with it. Just awesome stuff.
This is especially timely as Apple has killed off user privacy and device ownership in their ecosystem.
The PineNote looks pretty awesome ( thanks for the link @anon50734617 ) and I love me some opensource, but I read very large pdf’s and have been looking at these two for my reading, note taking and related tasks.
Okay, so I was thinking about something like an e-book reader or note-taking device. The e-reader market is bigger than the offline feature-phone one. Thus I think that a device like this from Mudita could be more profitable and would help Mudita with financing along with the Mudita Space suite.
I made a sketch for such a device (more info below):
It is an approx. A5 sized e-ink tablet - great size for reading books. The name could be Mudita Inspiration - a device that makes you think (feel free to change that name though!). Main features are:
e-reading capabilities
note-taking (could sync with Mudita Notes using a cable with the ability to draw into them - maybe even direct Pure-Inspiration sync?)
a magnetically attached pencil (a passive one, without a battery)
NO Wi-Fi or any kind of wireless connection
a nice monochrome e-ink display with touch
removable back cover with easy access to the battery and internal components for repairs
open-source Mudita OS
a warmer-colored glowlight
A unique feature is the design of this device, consisting of two parts: the main, light gray colored part around the screen and on the back made from plastic. The second part is located on the left side of the device, and is made of bamboo. I really love the nice warm feel of this material instead of, for example aluminum, and it gives a bit of color to the tablet, too. The upper part of the pencil is also bamboo - it could be removable and used as a storage for pen tips. If bamboo was too difficult to source ethically, a great alternative would be any kind of lighter-colored wood.
EMR stylus instead of capacitive one on a tablet with a matte screen and a flush bezel. If I could draft, take notes and read textbooks (it’d have to have some sort of adobe digital editions to be of any use to me) I’d pre order one right now. My partner was mentioning how he wants a e-ink tablet that would sync to his computer and allow him to do programming assignments sitting outside. Bluetooth so you could pair a keyboard and mouse, and USB C to tether to a computer to act as a monitor. Volia - that would replace my computer for 80% of my tasks. We experimented with programming in monochrome and it’s not too difficult, at least with python and C++.
I think this is a great idea. The Remarkable 2 looks great for display but is glitchy. It’s like writing on paper. The supernote, also with an e-ink display works great but feels like writing on glass too much. Mudita would fit great into the market if they could make a tablet for writing with a similar screen to remarkable that feels like paper (minimalist) and had an easy to use interface.
Overall, some good features would be:
The feel of writing on paper like with the remarkable
Having the kindle app be downloadable so ebooks can be read on the device, like the supernote has
Front light with warm light only or the option to turn off (similar to the kindle without the white light) to continue to avoid blue light
If you don’t want to go the android route, developing a OS with pen input is a big task. Just look at Remarkable and the years of development and software updates required to get them to where they are now.
Hardware development for a tablet is on a different level, compared to the Pure.
It’s a niche market and I doubt there is enough interest to justify another premium e-ink tablet at this point.
Everyone seems to be waiting at the Sony Dpt color, Android based 10.3” tablet with the next gen color e-ink screen with lower latency. It was announced in february but has not been released yet. I’m not entirely sure it will be either, the market is just too small.
The Bigme b1 pro plus use the same color panel.
So, I think the most reasonable option, is to go to a oem manufacturer and use an existing product. Then scale down an Android version, disable google services and other spyware, and add a mudita layer on top.
Developing better pen input routines is probably needed.