Move Over Kindle, Open Source eBook Reader is Here
Open Source efforts on hardware front are now in nowadays, whether it is opening up of CPU ISA like RISC-V, OpenPower or Open Source Mobile like PinePone or Librem and even a smartwatch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . So why not eBook Reader with ePaper display and everything? We now have that too.
Enter Open Book… no seriously, that is the name of the product and is very apt. This is primarily aimed at Market populated by Amazon Kindle, Nook and some cheaper brands like Kobo. All have proprietary ecosystem is closed and locked hardware, OS which has no open source alternative and purchase can be done through a specific market place only.
Open Book changes all this with open hardware, software that the user can happily modify and load books from any source. This is developed by one-man army, Joey Castillo. However, the downside is that as of this stage, this is very much a DIY system. You must have a bit of knowledge of electronics and a soldering iron.
This is so hackable, that Joey was able to use TensorFlow lite to add voice command in the system which lets you turn the pages on voice command.
Here are the specifications:
- 4.2 inch, 400 x 300 pixel ePaper display
- SAMD51 ARM Cortex-M4 32-bit processor
- 7 buttons for navigation (directional pad, select button and page turn buttons)
- status LED lights
- A microSD card reader
- Headphone jack
So yeah, not powerful hardware in any sense, but it does its job as an eBook reader. However, since this is an open project, everything is avaiable on JOey’s Github page.
Those who like this project and want to support the developer can do so by donating through Joey’s Pateron page.
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