ECTACO jetBook is an electronic-book

E-book

An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...

 reader developed by Ectaco

Ectaco

ECTACO Inc. is a US-based developer and manufacturer of hardware and software products for speech recognition and electronic translation. They also make JetBook eBook readers....

, based on a Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 platform. The device was announced in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in October 2008. The modell has a continuation: ECTACO jetBook Lite

ECTACO jetBook Lite

The ECTACO jetBook Lite is an e-book reader developed by Ectaco, based on a Linux platform. It was announced in the United States in January 2010...

.

Specifications

• Size: 153 x 109 x 10mm, 6" x 4.2 x 0.4".
• Weight: 7.5oz, 215gr
• Display: 5" (105mm x 80mm) Reflective LCD 16 level grayscale (no backlight) 640 x 480 VGA, 160 ppi.
• Language: Support for e-Book contents in most European and Asian languages
• Bookmarks and auto page turn functionality
• Fonts: Adjustable font type and size - 2 built in fonts (Arial and Verdana) in 6 available sizes from 12 pt to 32 pt, page justification or left side alignment
• Screen rotation: support for both portrait & landscape modes
• Built-in English <-> Russian, English <-> Polish,English <-> Spanish, English <-> German and English explanatory dictionaries
• Built-in MP3
  MP3
  MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
  
   player that supports background playback
• The ECTACO jetBook e-Book Reader supports TXT
  TXT
  TXT or txt may refer to:* SMS language or txt, an Internet slang language commonly used on short message service phones* .txt, a filename extension for text files* Text messaging on a phone using letters and symbols....
  
  , PDF, FB2, ePUB
  EPUB
  EPUB is a free and open e-book standard by the International Digital Publishing Forum...
  
  , MOBI/PRC, RTF
  RTF
  RTF may stand for:* Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, France's national public broadcasting organization between 1949 and 1964* Reader talks first, in RFID, the situation where the interrogator or reader initiates the session with the RFID tag...
  
  , HTML
  HTML
  HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
  
   file formats
• DRM
  Digital rights management
  Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
  
   formats: Adobe PDF
• image formats: GIF
  GIF
  The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
  
  , BMP, PNG and JPEG
  JPEG
  In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
  
   file formats
• Memory: 128M (112M available for books)
• SD card slot - 2 GB max.
• Internal Li-ion polymer battery - up to 22 hours
• Colors: Burgundy, Gray, White, Black.
• Pre-loaded with Fodor's Travel Guide and CIA World Factbook. A separate version includes a Bible
  Bible
  The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
  
   in English, Polish, or Russian, .

Features

T9 Text Input

jetBook uses the advanced T9

T9

The term T9 may refer to:* T9 , a predictive text input technology for mobile phones* LSWR T9 class, a British locomotive class* Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9, a digital cameraand also:* Tech N9ne, a hip hop artist from Kansas City...

 text input method that refers back to its pre-installed dictionaries to complete words as you type them (similar to the alphanumeric keypad on cell phones).

On Device File Manger

The on device file manager allows you to move, rename and delete files. You can also create and delete folders. See folder system below.

Folder System

The Jetbook has a full support for user defined nested folders with the built in file manager or when connected to a PC. The folders displayed on the device mirror the folder structure on the device and the memory card. The folders on the card are combined with the folders on the device. The Jetbooks uses a file naming convention of Author_Name#Title_of_Book.txt in order to list/sort the books by either author or title.

PDF Viewer

The PDF viewer was Foxit

Foxit

Foxit Corporation is a California headquartered software corporation with offices in United States, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Founded in 2001 and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Foxit believes in innovative, standards-based technology and unrivaled customer support, with a deep...

 PDF reader. It includes Zoom and Pan/Scroll support. Zoom a portion of the document is allowed. The PDF reader does not support reflow.
In the latest firmware with DRM support was Foxit reader replaced by Contains Reader Mobile 9.1.1 from Adobe Systems that supports text reflow.

Dictionary Support

The dictionaries are in multiple languages and some can be used for translation.

Software

There are rumors on internet forums that jetBook device is build around Linux kernel. Manufacturer doesn't highlight this fact and it doesn't offer source codes covered by GPL licence. Firmware updates distributed are encrypted so it is not easy to prove what is the engine of jetBook devices.

Modification

The basic model has a contiunuation: ECTACO jetBook Lite

ECTACO jetBook Lite

The ECTACO jetBook Lite is an e-book reader developed by Ectaco, based on a Linux platform. It was announced in the United States in January 2010...

. Main technical differences include:

• the Lite version runs on regular 4xAA batteries which increases the weight to 8.8oz, or 250gm;
• audio files are not supported

New model was introduced in August 2010: ECTACO jetBook Mini. Main technical differences include:

• size close to 5" LCD display; weight 5.8oz
• runs on regular 4xAAA batteries, up to 90 hours runtime on Lithium batteries (and 1 year standby)
• only 3 buttons
• device supports clock and date functions
• audio files are not supported

External links

Official jetBook website

Company's website