One thing that was missing in the YotaPhone was a built-in ebook reader, which we would find fairly essential for a device that packs an e-ink display on one of its sides. The Russian company took note of that and is now offering a special version of the e-reading app called FBReader. That “special” part involves beaming the document/ebook’s contents from the main screen to the e-ink one, making for a that much better reading experience.
The mentioned application can handle a number of file formats, including Word and .rtf documents, as well as unencrypted .epub and .mobi e-book formats, while PDF support is coming in the next version (which will hopefully be released soon).
It’s not really Amazon Kindle or Google Play Books, but something like that is coming in the near future. According to Engadget, Yota Devices is “discussing potential collaboration” with Amazon in order to bring about Kindle support, though no timeline was given.
We love what Yota is doing and can’t wait to see what they have in store for next year. Meanwhile, we’ll try to get our review unit and get back to you with a full-blown review. Stay tuned…