Readers get first glimpse of purpose-built e-book

By CHRIS BARTON IT editor

Business Distributors is bringing the first purpose-built e-book to New Zealand in February with the introduction of three models of Franklin's eBookman.

Ranging in price from $449 to $649, the three handheld devices feature a larger screen than most Microsoft-based Pocket PCs or Palm's "palmtop" devices.

The Business Herald got a sneak preview of an eBookman 901 loaded with a Sherlock Holmes and Tom Sawyer collection. The shipping version will also include a Merriam-Webster dictionary. With eight megabytes (8Mb) of memory, the twin AAA battery-powered device can hold 10 400-page novels.

The text of the novels was clear and sharp and could be set to different sizes. But reading on screen took getting used to - mainly because it didn't feel or look like a book.

Although two of the models are back lit, the liquid-crystal display screen still suffers from reflection and the greenish background hue just doesn't compare with a white page and black text for ease of use. But the controls were intuitive - a small wheel that could be pressed with the thumb to turn the page. Or simply tap the touch screen on the vertical scroll bar with the stylus.

The eBookman also has an audiobook facility, allowing users to listen to talking books from Audible (www.audible.com) via earphones. But at 15 minutes per megabyte, users will need to make use of the multimedia card slot which can take a 64Mb card. E-books will also be sold pre-loaded on these cards.

The device doubles as a music player - taking MP3 tracks but converting them to a different format. Other applications include a voice memo recorder, personal information manager, calculator and handwriting recognition software from Advanced Recognition Technologies.

With all of the above, it's hard not to see the eBookman as just another handheld computer like the Pocket PC or Palm - both of which allow for e-book reading through their own reader software. The eBookman, however, has its own operating system, which is downloaded via the user's PC from Franklin's website (www.franklin.com) and then synchronised with the eBookman via an attached cradle.

It's via the same path - the eBookman attached to a PC attached to the internet - that the device will get most of its electronic books.

At present, the books are read using Franklin's own reader software, which has built-in copyright protection and which handles text, Palm Doc and HTML (hypertext markup language).

At the time of shipping the device will also have Microsoft Reader and conversion software will be available to read Adobe's PDF (portable document format).

Like other e-books, Franklin's device will struggle with user confusion over multiple e-book formats, a lack of content and slow adoption of the technology.

Franklin claims 12,000 e-book titles will be available at launch. But Jupiter Media Metrix says fewer than 50,000 e-book hardware devices are at present being used in the United States.

Even as prices for the devices decline, Jupiter forecasts that the US e-book audience will number just 1.9 million by the end of 2005.

One of the problems is the lack of a single software standard or hardware platform on which all e-books can be read. Microsoft, Adobe and Palm each offer competing software, and not all e-books are available in each format.

Providing a range of readers and conversion software, as the eBookman does, is one way - albeit clumsy - to deal with the problem.

It's early days for content, too - with a relatively small number of titles available electronically. And in many cases new-release e-book prices are only a little cheaper than the paper form.