Hacker News Reader

Comment by mbrock | Hacker News Reader

They also make an e-reader [1] with open source software. I'm somewhat obsessed with the idea of using it for ssh/mosh as a portable terminal. It would be very cool to hear if someone has tried this, before ordering one. I mailed some random guy at BQ and he said he never tried it, but also found it interesting. If you find it interesting too, maybe you could run down and ask around! :)

[1]: http://www.bq.com/gb/products/cervantes-2013.html

View on HN

Like this? http://i.imgur.com/2iNYCbI.png :)

(or did you mean the ereader? Not tried, sorry)

Sorry, yeah, I mean the e-reader, though the Ubuntu Phone seems awesome. :)

How is it open source? Where can I find the source? How can I build software for it, and how can I load the software onto the device?

I found this[0] but it is in Spanish, and many of the links to source don't go anywhere. It seems like they us Debian and Qt, which would be very neat.

[0]: http://www.mibqyyo.com/actualidad/2013/07/10/programa-de-des...

Here's their repo: https://github.com/bq/cervantes

That links to an English version of the page you found: http://www.mibqyyo.com/actualidad/2014/01/08/bq-ereaders-dev...

Note that I don't have the device so I don't know if this works, but if there are problems with the instructions I assume BQ would help (since the open sourceness is a selling point).

Thanks! Interesting to know. I'd love a 10" version of this device, but this is worth a look.

(I don't know but...) I like the idea of an e-ink terminal, however I fear the slow refresh rate would make editing difficult. I guess someone somewhere has tried it though...

The specs of that particular one show no bluetooth (and no OTG usb), so can't connect a keyboard.

It also has no wireless apart from wifi; and only 512MB (though that's plenty for ssh!)

Ah, I didn't realize the Micro-USB port wouldn't accept a keyboard. There are Android e-ink tablets with Bluetooth; I'll probably end up trying that.

Also, difficult schmifficult! I bet ed, the standard editor, will work just fine. Shouldn't be much worse than, say, a 300 baud terminal!

Yeah, it has to be "OTG" (on the go), aka "usb host". Seems relatively uncommon.

Beats a line printer! Can relate - I'm ecstatic that (70s era) unix utilities are blazing instant on a phone. I'm sure vim would also work on an e-reader, if you don't need to find the cursor.

I should research this. Working on e-ink/e-paper would be so much better on the eyes - and incredible battery life (they claim 2 months for the Kindle).

Well, I used Nook Simple Touch that way. Terminal were in fact sluggish, but AFAIR there was a hack to "overclock" refresh rate[0].

[0] http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/23/hack-enables-fast-refresh...

There's a terminal emulator for kindle: http://www.fabiszewski.net/kindle-terminal/

That's pretty cool! But being able to connect a physical keyboard is important to me; I want to be able to actually code/admin/email/whatever, preferrably replacing a laptop for extended periods of time. :)

Cool!has it been reviewed anywhere?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com