The Diptyx E-reader is basically a foldable piece of {hardware} that mimics the straightforward pleasure of tearing open a paperback. Martijn den Hoed, a Dutch developer, created this open-source gadget that matches in your purse like an outdated favourite novel, able to unfold into one thing far more private than the standard slab of glass and glow.
Den Hoed began this venture when his Kobo Clara BW died on him one too many occasions. As a substitute of spending cash on one other locked-down reader from a big firm, he determined to construct his personal. While you open the Diptyx, you’ll be greeted by two 5.83-inch black-and-white E Ink panels that span almost 9 inches, just like the unfold of a worn e book. Every display is 648 by 480 pixels, or roughly 137 pixels per inch, so the textual content is unquestionably sharp sufficient for lazy afternoons. All the factor is hinged within the center and folds all the way down to 4.7 by 5.9 by 0.6 inches, weighing 10.5 ounces.
Inside, den Hoed stored it easy and fixable. An ESP32-S3 microcontroller hums alongside at 240 MHz, with 16 megabytes of flash and eight megabytes of RAM – lots for flipping by chapters and not using a stutter. Storage is by way of a user-swappable 2-gigabyte SD card, sufficient for a private library of DRM-free EPUBs. Twin 1,500 milliamp-hour lithium-polymer batteries will maintain it going for weeks on a cost, months in standby whenever you shut it. A USB-C port handles each charging and drag-and-drop file transfers, turning the system right into a easy thumb drive when plugged in.
Den Hoed’s firmware is uncluttered. Load up your EPUBs – no accounts, no subscriptions, no nagging updates – and get began. Buttons alongside the sides for web page turns and menu hops, so no extra swipe-and-pinch frustrations of touch-only units. Modify font sizes, margins or line spacing from the onboard menu and people modifications will stick even after a full shutdown. Bits borrowed from open tasks like Atomic14’s EPUB reader present a stable base, however den Hoed personalized each line to really feel intuitive, just like the system is aware of you’re right here to learn, not tinker.
The software program is launched below the MIT licence, which implies that anybody can study on the supply, make modifications, and even add new options. That ESP32 chip has sleep mode for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so it’s fairly quiet out of the field, however if you happen to’re feeling curious, you can poke round within the code and wake ’em up – perhaps get some RSS feeds and even set it as much as learn you a bedtime story by pairing it with some wi-fi headphones. Following the crowdfunding part, outputs on {hardware} schematics, PCB layouts, and case recordsdata will probably be launched, using simply commonplace components available in most electronics shops.
Head over to Crowd Supply and take a look at the preview web page; people can enroll now for when the marketing campaign formally launches. Den Hoed has been placing this factor by its paces for weeks, smoothing out the entire last-minute points, equivalent to battery calibration and hinge smoothness.
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