Nick

After the sneaky release of the TCL NXTPAPER 10S tablet and its color screen adapted to reading, the company TCL is back with a new version with a new color screen: the TCL NXTPAPER 11.

On paper, the TCL NXTPAPER tablets have everything to convince: we have a large color screen (10 inches and more) capable of displaying both text and color while remaining pleasant for the eyes.

But in practice, we found that the result was not as good as expected when it came to reading. If the experience was correct indoors, it was quite different outdoors where the Kaleido e-ink screen technology remained superior.

Nevertheless, TCL has chosen to persevere by proposing an evolution of its technology with an improved screen called NXTPAPER 2.0 which will come to equip the Android tablet TCL NXTPAPER 11 next May for a price close to $300.

This evolution comes to correct some problems encountered with notably a reinforced luminosity which works in conjunction with a sensor of luminosity which will come to adjust the lighting according to the light conditions.

The objective is to find the best possible setting to allow reading in all conditions, which should improve the readability of the screen outdoors.

Here are the technical specifications of this TCL NXTPAPER 11 tablet:

• NXTPAPER 2.0 screen of 10.95 inches with a resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels
• Lighting
• Tactile (with pen support on more than 400 pressure levels)
• MediaTek Helio P60T processor
• 4 GB of RAM
• 128 GB of storage
• Speakers
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Wifi 5
• Micro
• 8000 mAh battery
• USB-C
• Support for micro-SD cards
• Cameras (front and rear) of 8 MP
• Android 13
• Dimensions of 163.3 mm x 6.9mm
• Weight: 462 grams

We are therefore facing a real Android tablet (version 13) that will allow the addition of entertainment and reading applications, such as Kindle, Kobo or Pocketbook.

However, we do not know much about the performance of this new color screen. And, as is often the case with this kind of technological iteration, there shouldn’t be much difference with the previous version.

What will be interesting to see is the difference in color rendering between this TCL NXTPAPER tablet, the Readmoo MooInk Plus 2C and the Pocketbook Viva. Two color e-reader avaible in 2023.

Indeed, these three machines are equipped with a different color screen:

• TCL NXTPAPER 11: color screen NXTPAPER
• Readmoo MooInk Plus 2C: E Ink Kaleido 3 screen
• Pocketbook Viva: E Ink Gallery 3 screen

The match is likely to be close and it is likely that once again the E Ink Kaleido 3 or Gallery 3 screen technology will come out on top in this comparison.

The TCL NXTPAPER 11 tablet is expected to be available in May in Asia and possibly in USA and Europe for a price of around $300 (probably slightly less).

Last update : 2023/03/03

While going back to the Pocketbook adventure, I came across some old models that were very interesting for their time. Here is a selection of e-reader models that had a short career and that have been sometimes forgotten.

Pocketbook Mini e-reader

Kobo had released a small format reader with a 5 inch screen, but the last one to be widely available was the Pocketbook Mini which was still available in 2013.

It had a small 5-inch screen and a small format for a price that was really affordable at the time of about $70.

Its small case made it easy to slip it in your pocket and carry it everywhere.

It was the only small e-reader with the Kobo Mini and the last one in this format to have been widely marketed in the world.

Pocketbook Color Lux e-reader

In 2013, Pocketbook marketed one of the first color readers with the Pocketbook Color Lux.

With its 8-inch e-ink screen capable of displaying 4096 different colors, it prefigured the more recent current e-readers based on a new generation of more powerful color screens.

It was a small success and many readers swore by this model since it was the only one to display colors for years.

Today, Pocketbook continues on this path and the Pocketbook Viva is the most recent evolution of this model.

Pocketbook Aqua e-reader

In 2014, Pocketbook launched the first waterproof e-reader with the Pocketbook Aqua.

With its 6-inch e-ink screen it was thus largely ahead of its time with its IP57 certification that made it resistant to water splashes and dust.

This feature has since been taken up by many brands who now all offer a waterproof model to allow reading in a bath, in the snow, by a pool or on the beach without fear for its reader.

A Pocketbook Aqua 2 reader has also been realsed.

Pocketbook Ultra e-reader

The Pocketbook Ultra was a very disconcerting e-reader.

It is a 6-inch e-reader with features that were way ahead of its time when it was released in 2015.

Thus, it was one of the first models to offer a screen with an embryonic blue light filter. At the time of the test, I was totally baffled by the yellowish lighting of this e-reader.

It should be noted that other manufacturers, such as Kindle, were pushing e-readers with ever-increasing contrast with machines like the Kindle Paperwhite that offered a more flattering display rendering with blacker text on an ever brighter screen.

The flaw of the Pocketbook Ultra was to impose this blue light filter without any adjustment.

But more than that, the Pocketbook Ultra offered another feature that was as original as it was revolutionary: a camera with a character recognition function.

In other words, it was possible to take a picture of a page of a paper book and have a digital transcription using an OCR tool.

Unfortunately, in practice the result was not up to expectations…

Current lineup of Pocketbook e-readers

You can see the current Pocketbook e-readers available on this page if you want to know wich is the best to buy.

Digital reading opens interesting perspectives for people with disabilities, especially for the visually impaired. We are going to see which reading devices and software solutions for visually impaired people exist on the market.

If you have a visual acuity lower than 3/10, you are considered as a visually impaired person by the WHO.

Reading text can therefore become very difficult. But, it is not impossible thanks to some technologies of which reading devices are part.

In this article we will also talk about reading solutions for visually impaired people or for people with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).

Before going into details, I would like to specify that I am neither visually impaired nor blind. The information you will find on this page is therefore to be taken for what it is: information.

The e-reader to enlarge the characters

First of all, we have to start by talking about e-readers.

These reading devices are financially accessible and allow the reading of digital books.

In my opinion, their interest lies in two main things:

• You can buy and download books easily without having to move and the ebook is often cheaper than its paper version
• You can adjust the display on the screen to make the characters appear in a large font

The cheapest e-readers are equipped with a 6-inch touch screen.

The new Kindle is a good place to start, as it has an additional lighting feature that improves contrast and readability on the reader.

But, for a visually impaired person, I suggest using a reader with a screen of at least 8 inches.

Using the right font on e-reader

Some fonts used by default on ebooks and e-readers are not necessarily suitable for reading for visually impaired people.

One solution is to add fonts that are better designed for displaying text.

Here is a selection provided by a visually impaired reader that should help you better discern the characters on your e-reader:

• APhont (download)
• Luciole (download) : this is the best
• Atkinson (download)

Next, you will need to load this new font on your e-reader.

Text-to-speech on e-readers

On Pocketbook e-readers, and some Android readers, you can plug in headphones via a 3.5 mm jack or use headphones or a speaker with a Bluetooth connection.

Then, it is possible to activate the text-to-speech function. The reader will read the text of the ebook in a somewhat robotic way.

If we are still far from the diction of a human, it allows to have easily an audio version of a book not available in "audio book".

We also have access to various sound settings such as the choice between the voice of a man or a woman, the selection of the reading speed and the adjustment of the sound volume.

The audio book

The audio book is obviously a solution for visually impaired or blind people.

If the catalog is still far from being vast, the offer is increasing more and more because audio books are in fashion!

The number one service in reading remains that of Audible which offers a free trial book for any registration.

But you can find many free audio books on the Internet (click here to read the article).

The tablet: not recommended

I want to write a little word about tablets. Indeed, we can think that the idea is good since they are now a fairly large screen.

However, they suffer from a major flaw for people with vision problems: the blue light generated by the screens is too important.

I therefore advise against reading on a tablet, smartphone or computer screen.

It is good to note that the e-readers with lighting also generates blue light but in lesser quantities.

Note that there is software on tablets to reduce blue light. However, these are not always effective and they make reading more difficult because the screen becomes less contrasted.

Text-to-speech software

More and more smartphone applications offer a text-to-speech application.

Because, if it is better not to read on the screen of the smartphone (or a tablet), nothing prevents it from being used to access the text-to-speech function.

The list of applications that offer this function is long, but be aware that it is available in the "Google Books" application, installed by default with most Android smartphones.

This feature has appeared on other devices such as the Alexa personal assistant and its Echo devices that will text to speech on your Kindle books.

The Braille reader

Finally, there is a last device called Canute 360, which is a Braille reader capable of displaying 360 characters.

For the moment, the reader is not available for everyone because it is still a test.

Its commercialization being imminent, it could offer a very interesting solution for people who want to read Braille ebooks.

Conclusion: the best e-readers for the visually impaired

Today, digital technology offers more reading solutions for visually impaired people. But it is still not enough.

Indeed, accessibility is both difficult and easy to implement in digital devices.

We have seen in this article that software and reading devices allow to do text-to-speech. So we wonder why all ebook reading systems are not equipped with it!

I will show you where you can find manga and how you can download them and read them on your Kindle e-readers.

First of all, the reading of digital manga is exploding in the world. It is particularly noticeable in Japan where there are more readers of digital manga than paper ones.

But, I think that the "manga ebook" has also the possibility to develop widely outside Japan.

Indeed, because of the absence of color, digital manga weighs less to store than other comics. Moreover, as they are already published in a small format in paper version, e-readers with a screen with a high resolution are at ease for their display (even in 6 inches).

If we add to this the available 7 and 8 inch e-readers and low cost touch tablets, we can think that manga can make a nice digital place in our reading devices.

The problem now is that we don’t necessarily have digital versions of all the manga that are released…

The Kindle Library

At Amazon, there is a comic book section that allows you to see, on a case-by-case basis, if the volume you are looking for is available on the Kindle e-reader (or the reading application on tablet, smartphone or PC/Mac).

For popular series like Naruto, the digital version costs $4.99 compared to $6 for the paper version. So that’s a nice savings of almost $2 per episode.

What is not bad is that you can search directly and only in the mangas that are available in digital using the search engine of your Kindle e-reader (or on Amazon).

So you can find a lot of things, even if everything is not yet present. I also noticed that recent releases tend to come out in digital too.

So, reissues like GUNNM, have their digital version.

Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited

With Amazon, you can subscribe to a service like Prime or Kindle Unlimited.

Kindle Unlimited offer the larger choice but you’ll have to pay a small fee each mounth to access the books and the mangas available.

If you have an Amazon Prime membership, you can access to a catalogue of free ebooks and mangas and the Prime Reading (read this article to know more about it) section of the Kindle Library on your Kindle e-reader. (no extra fee if you already a Prime customer)

Transfer PDF, CBR and CBZ files to your Kindle e-reader

If you’re interested in digital comics, you’ve probably come across files in slightly exotic formats like CBR or CBZ. Here’s how to convert them to PDF.

> Note : there is a full tutorial on the website to help you read CBR et CBA on Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite (click here).

The CBR or CBZ format requires the use of special software to read them.

Fortunately, thanks to Calibre you can transform these files into PDF files that are easier to use on your different devices: e-readers, tablets, smartphones, PC and Mac.

The advantage of using Calibre to do the conversion is that it offers optimizations regarding the images, in order to display the comics more clearly on a reader (with a black and white screen). But, you can also use another software to do the conversion.

The first thing to do is to install Calibre if you don’t have it on your computer yet. You can go to this site to download it: https://calibre-ebook.com/fr/download

Now you have to import your CBR or CBZ file into Calibre.

You can now transfer PDF, CBR and CBZ to your Kindle device.

If you wan to choose the right e-reader for reading manga you can read this article.