BOOK SA – News

Alert! In a first for South Africa (correction: actually, it’s a semi-first; the Elonex eBook Reader has been in SA for about the same time), a local company has imported a large volume of ebook readers and is selling them on home soil, directly to consumers.

eSlick.co.za, which is owned by Oasis Computer Products and Services, is the local retailer for, yes, you guessed it, the Foxit eSlick Reader, a black-and-white device similar in shape and size to the Amazon Kindle that can display PDFs, text files, and, crucially, books formatted in ePub – which is the format that Sony’s Reader and Apple’s iPad support, meaning there are plenty of books out there to get and read right now, and there will be more to come. (The eSlick is in fact manufactured by the same company that builds the Kindle, so the hardware has a number of similar features.)

The devices are shipped from Johannesburg to other major centres overnight; you might have to wait a second day if you live outside a big city. BOOK SA spoke to a company representative, who said that they’ve been importing the eSlick into South Africa for about three months on a test basis, but have “committed to quite a large quota for the next quarter”. They plan to sell the e-reader through local tech stores like Incredible Connection and hope to crack the bookshop chains as well.

eSlick.co.za sells its device for R2996, which includes a cover and shipping; compare with Amazon.com’s $330 (approx R2500, not including cover, but including shipping) for the Kindle, which has a wireless delivery feature that the eSlick lacks (and arrives in SA up to two weeks after the order is placed). Foxit operates eSlickbooks.com, an online bookstore for its reader that frankly doesn’t compare with Amazon.com – but which might be developed into something bigger and brighter over time.

Here are more on features, specs and pricing from a recent eSlick.co.za newsletter:

It’s the slickest eBook reader on the market. It weighs just 180 grams (that’s less than a Mills and Boon paperback) and is only 9.2mm thick – So it fits easily into a handbag, briefcase or jacket pocket.

Click here to see more pics of the eSlick

Why is the eSlick better than reading on a Smart phone or a notebook?

3 Reasons:

1. Screen - The eSlick doesn’t have a LCD screen like these devices. It utilizes revolutionary electronic-paper display technology that provides a sharp, black-and-white screen that looks and reads just like it would on real paper. You can read text just as easily in bright sunlight as you would in your own living room! The text is crisp and easy to read and the eSlick screen does not have the angle-of-view issue like LCD screens do. And because there is no back light you can read comfortably for as long as you like without any eye strain.

2. Battery Life - The electronic ink screen needs no power to maintain a page display and only uses power when an image is changed. A single battery charge provides up to 8,000 pages of continuous reading. (That’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” 61 times before a recharge is required!) It charges via USB port or external power supply (supplied). (The eSlick can be fully recharged in only three to four hours.)

3. Easy Reading - While in ” reflow” mode, the text is automatically reorganized to fit the screen size and you can also control the font size via the menu enabling the best reading experience. The zooming feature allows you to magnify the page size from 50% to 400%. The screen is the size of a typical paper back (188mm x 118mm), so its easy and comfortable to hold in one hand.

Click here to see the detailed Technical Specs

What is an eBook ?

An e-book is simply a document that can be read on a computer or other device, rather than on the printed page. They come in a number of different formats, ranging from the well known PDF format to proprietary formats that can only be read by specific software. Most of the publishing world is standardizing on ePub, which is like PDF but allows the text to be positioned by the reader depending on where and how it is being displayed.

The rules about how any particular e-book can be used are set by the publisher and can vary greatly from title to title. Publishers are concerned about piracy and some e-books are controlled by software that prevents users from moving their e-books from one device to another or even printing it out. This is called Digital Rights Management software – or DRM for short.

Where do I get eBooks?

You can download literally hundreds of thousands of eBooks for free from the Internet. Just Google “free ebooks” or visit our website for some links to other sites. (We also include more than 100 ebooks with the eSlick)

You can also make your own PDFs from your documents, proposals, contracts, manuals etc. (anything you can print) with your own PDF creation software. (When you buy an eSlick you get Foxit Software’s award winning PDF Creation software included)

You can also buy any books you get in books stores in electronic format – They are cheaper than the paper versions and you get delivery instantly, day or night – (because its all electronic) – no shipping charges either!

Visit www.eslickbooks.com to see our book store. (Foxit Software, the manufacturers of the eSlick, together with Barnes and Noble – America’s no.1 book store, have ensured that you can get any book you want at super low prices. – And we’re speaking to more book shops and publishers as well)

How many books can I store on my eSlick?

The eSlick comes with 512MB on board and a 2GB SD card. That’s 7441 copies of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. (Which is a 344kB file) (In paper this would weigh 2500 Kgs)

You can also use your own SD cards, making the number of books you can carry limitless.

How do I get one?

Simply reply to this email, call us on 011-784 9167, or place the order on our website.

You can pay via EFT or Credit Card and we can have your eSlick delivered to your door the very next day.

We also have a 30 day money back guarantee - so you have nothing to lose!

We are running a Valentine’s day promotion till this Friday only:

eSlick eBook Reader (with 1 year warranty)	R 2430.70
Synthetic Leather Cover (optional, but recommended)	R 140.35
Overnight Shipping to anywhere in South Africa	R 57.02
Subtotal	R 2628.07
14% VAT	R 367.93
TOTAL Including VAT and delivery to your door.	R 2996.00

eSlick.co.za told BOOK SA that they’re looking for resellers to help get the reader into more places around South Africa. If you’re interested in keeping eSlick stock, write to sales@eslick.co.za.

Meanwhile, how does Foxit’s device stack up against the competition? Here’s one user’s (largely positive) experience straight out of the box:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiEWol9ZgN0[/youtube]

• Not playing? Watch on YouTube

Gizmodo calls the device sleek on design but skimpy on connectivity, while Engadget says it’s less pretty than the Sony Reader but more flexible [content-wise] than the Kindle. If you’re a customer of eSlick.co.za, we’d like to hear from you – post your review of the device as a comment below!