TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Archive for the ‘FBReader’ Category

By David Rothman

Nate and Ficbot have had a debate going on cheapie e-book hardware. I’ll take Ficbot’s side—she bought her Eee PC for much more than e-booking alone, a good example of how people’s needs will vary.

Still, props to Nate for reconsidering his comments on FB’s personal situation and also for mentioning the “HP 320LX. You can find it on Ebay. You can find it for less than $60 including shipping. I have one. It supports DRMed Mobipocket and Ereader, as well as PDF, HTML, RTF, TXT. Plus, it comes with pocket versions of Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint.”

OK, here’s a question, now that Nate’s laudably broached the issue of super-cheap readers. Used, just what e-book-capable gizmo would you recommend to a budget-strapped soul with less than US$100 to spend? Or even just $50? Cover both price levels if you can, as well as special user needs that you can think of. If nothing else, consider that the user probably want to transfer books from a main PC to the econo-reader.

A few possibilities: The eBookwise, the Gemstar REB 1200 and used PDAs

At least at the under-$100 level, I’d go for a used eBookwise machine if I could find one under that price on eBay. When I looked just now I couldn’t. The eBookwise can at least read DRMed best-sellers that are available in the appropriate format from the EBW store. I’d also consider a used Gemstar REB 1200 if I didn’t have to worry about reading “protected” e-books.

If I needed to deal with DRM-infested books—and let’s hope that Draconian “protection” soon joins eight-track cassettes in Tech Heaven, or Hell—I’d try to look for a used PDA with 320-by-320 resolution or better and the ability to run Mobipocket or eReader/Palm. Maybe I’d have to settle for 160-by-160. But wait! Here’s a Sony Peg-NV70 PDA going for just $80 as a Buy It Now on eBay. Res is 320 x 480, according to specs on Amazon. If you go a bit above $100, you can snag a linux-powered Nokia 770 for $115 and enjoy a super-sharp screen bigger than the usual PDA’s. What’s more, the Nokia can download e-books directly. Too bad there’s no software out there for it to read DRM-shackled books.

Take it from there, gang. What would be your own recs, including in the less-than-$50 level, where I haven’t named any possibilities? Meanwhile we’ll hope that OLPC or someone else can come up with a laptop selling for less than $100 new, which I think is inevitable, but let’s worry about the here and now.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

By David Rothman

The Asus Eee PC 900 is to reach retailers’ shelves in the U.S. on May 12.

With an 8.9 inch screen and 1024 by 600 res, the new Asus could be a more promising bet for e-bookers than the current Eee PC 701. The latter’s screen is just seven inches and the res is less.

No, I’m not saying that the 900, selling for $549 and up, would be the ideal gizmo for e-reading. But if you need a general-purpose laptop anyway, it might be something to consider. Trusted Reviews, source of the Asus-related images, gives the 900 a glowing write-up, and if the 900 is like the 701, it will include FBReader, which can read the the IDPF’s ePub format. Also, touchpad’s two-finger scrolling capability might be of interest.

Possibly a still better alternative: The HP Mini, selling  in various flavors for $499+ with its own 8.9 inch screen and 1280 by 768 resolution. Like the 701, it offers both linux and Windows options.

Detail: I suspect that the image below doesn’t do full justice to the clarify of the 900’s screen. If nothing else, however, it suggests that the 900 could be better than the 701 for Web browsing, because of an improved aspect ratio. “The 1,024 wide screen makes the Eee PC 900 a joy to use,” says Trusted Reviews, “especially if you spend a lot of your time in a browser window.”

Popularity: 4% [?]

By David Rothman

Imagine e-books readable on billions of cellphones—the topic of a TeleBlog post yesterday.

Well, this vision has moved a bit closer to reality with the release of the first beta version of FBReaderJ, the FBReader java version. FBReader is of interest since it’s free and can display e-books using the IDPF’s .epub standard, which could make e-books much easier to enjoy for the masses, including customers of Penguin UK very soon. This open source app can also handle a bunch of other formats.

Source downloads

Currently FBReaderJ works just on Android Emulator, reports Nikolay Pultsin, FBR’s developer in a note to an FBR mailing list, “but you can download sources and build a package for desktop computers.

“This version is still in beta stage, some FBReader features are still not implemented. We plan to improve FBReaderJ to implement all the features of original FBReader. We also plan to release a version for J2ME devices (e.g., for Symbian phones) [link added].

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Popularity: 4% [?]

By David Rothman

A blog devoted to the IDPF’s .epub format has started up—this on top of word that Penguin U.K. will offer .epub books to consumers. The full name is ePub Books: Information & Resources on the IDPF ePub Standard.

I don’t know who’s behind the blog—any connections with the IDPF or companies belonging to the organization?—but it’s nice to see this new interest. Hey, Mr./Ms. ePub, let us know if you can. Catch up with me via e-mail if nothing else, so that perhaps we can team up on some matters. Meanwhile the TeleBlog will continue its .epub coverage and provide a forum for those with suggestions for standard setters. The best suggestions, sure enough, often begin as criticisms, and we don’t want punches pulled.

Needed: Creation and reader apps

Now, if we can get developers of creation tools and reader apps to start doing what they do best. For the moment, however, the open source FBReader, although not perfect, is just fine for enjoying .epub books from our friends at Feedbooks.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

By David Rothman

No, I doubt you’d buy an HP Mini if e-reading is all you want to do with it. But E would be a nice bonus if you’re after an affordable and practical laptop—at least judging from hands-on just out at jkOnTheRun, complete with a video.

Screen res is 1280×768 for the $749 deluxe version with an 8.9-inch screen, a 120GB hard drive, a bigger, easier-to-use keyboard than rivals, WiFi, a 1.6Ghz Via chip, Vista and 2GB of RAM, which, as I myself can confirm, is enough to do justice even to this infamous OS. Weight is barely more than 2.5 pounds, and JK praises the Mini’s ruggedness.

Promising screen specs

If the screen’s the same on the $499 machine, which includes linux and just a 1G of memory but as big a hard drive as the deluxe version, then you just might get a great little laptop that also doubled as a nice little e-reader. But screens are a subjective matter—see a different perspective, also with a video link, at TabletPCReview, where at least one of the reviewers had some glare problems and related headaches but still liked the screen overall. Not having beheld the Mini in person, I’ll reserve judgment. Another catch would be lining up the right software if you wanted to read DRM-infested books. But perhaps Wine could be your salvation.

“The high resolution display coupled with an absolutely awesome keyboard make the Mini a real trooper for field work,” jkOnTheRun tells us.  “This review has been written on the Mini if that helps clarify it a bit.” The keyboard is 92-percent scale, and JK  likes the trackpad, too. Hmm. I hope that before JK sends the Mini back, he can give FBReader, Mobipocket and other e-readers a spin, read for at least several hours and also share his take on on the glare issue.

Battery life: “HP provided me with both a 3-cell battery and the extended 6-cell battery so I’ve been able to use both in my evaluation. Battery life has been pretty much what I expected with the 3-cell battery giving me about 2.5 hours under power saving settings and the 6-cell about 4.5 - 5 hours.”

The market: As suggested by a news release, HP is aiming for the schools. Here’s yet another XO competitor. The full model name is HP 2133 Mini-Note PC.

Other coverage of the Mini: Techmeme roundup…and an updated Techmeme version…pus an eSchool News report.

Popularity: 6% [?]

By David Rothman

How do you best work with .epub  if you’re a publisher—such as Hachette, which is relying on the IPDF’s e-book standard as its exclusive distribution format?

Do .epub right, and readers normally will be able to read your books on anything from a little cellphone screen to 32-inch monitor. The May 14 IDPF conference will include .epub info from Hachette’s Neil de Young and others.

Meanwhile, Adobe has just released an .epub best practices guide, downloadable here in yes, .epub. Even nongeeks might take a look.

Your thoughts on the guide

What do you think, gang?  Just what are the pros and cons of the guide? Is it impartial—well, allowing for the fact that it’s really for users of Adobe InDesign CS3 software? One handy tip is that you can create a book cover with an SVG image and take advantage of SVG’s scalability. Adobe Digital Editions (old screenshot) and FBReader and OpenBerg are among the apps you can use to read the .epub format, and I suspect a lot more will be on the way in time. The TeleBlog has been the leading independent voice on the Net on behalf of .epub, given our antipathy toward the Tower of eBabel, although the format is still in development and has its flaws such as lack of a shared annotations standard.

Also of interest:

–An .epub checker to see if you’ve produced true .epub. Other companies besides Adobe, such as ETI, participated in the checker’s development.

–Digital Editions 1.5 Beta 2 reader. It offers “new content portability capability, Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) support, and other new features.” Adobe warns of DRM-related incompatibilities. But of course. Isn’t “protection” a joy for consumers?

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Popularity: 4% [?]

By David Rothman

The e-book-friendly OLPC XO-1, which costs $400 under the now-expired Give One Get One program—one for you, one for a child in a developing country—is going for as little as $249 and shipping on eBay. Use the search terms OLPC and XO laptop separately.

A big negative is that many and perhaps most of the XOs on eBay are from speculators. Boycott ‘em!

But the $249 XO apparently was from a legitimate buyer whose daughter “lost interest after a couple of days and no longer uses it.” I believe the story; the buyer misplaced the box.

What a shame to let an XO go to waste! So pay the $249 or whatever from a nonspeculator, and then you can still donate the $151, for example—the difference from the $400—to OLPC in the usual old-fashioned way.

$250 XOs common in another six months, probably

Alas, prices well above $300 are more the norm, but in another six months, $250 or even much less could be typical. You should buy the XO, or any other machine for e-reading, to please yourself rather than fretting whether the market value is falling.

Psst! The existence of FBReader and Opera, as far as I’m concerned, effectively adds another $150 to the worth of the XO.

What you can read with the XO

So what can you and your children read on the XO? The machine’s built-in Firefox derivative—not as good as Opera—points to a few child-oriented books. In addition, some spiffy-looking picture books are available in the IDPF’s .epub format, which FBReader can read, from Bob DuCharme’s site, source of Little Bo-Peep.

But that’s not all. Download .epub books from Feedbooks, as well as Mobi, PDF and other formats from Manybooks.net–everything from This Side of Paradise and My Antonia to SF novels by Cory Doctorow. Manybooks even has a Young Readers section. What’s more, via FBReader’s Plucker capabilities, you can read thousands of books from Project Gutenberg, including its children’s areas.  And if you have access to a PC, you can use Mobipocket Desktop to read free, ad-supported Wowio books, which include many colorfully packaged classics, both old and relatively modern. Alas, a big disappointment for many XO users could be the International Children’s Digital Library, which offers more than 2,400 colorful titles from around the world, but not in a format that’s easy for the XO’s seven-inch screen to give full justice to. Wait. See item #10 in a just-released OLPC newsletter, reporting XO optimization of the ICDL.

Vs. the Kindle and other dedicated readers

So how does the XO stack up against dedicated e-readers like the Kindle? The XO can’t read DRMed XOed e-books with the software now available, but for typing in search words and doing quick emails, it’s leagues ahead of the Kindle in ways beyond the screen contrast issue, a big flaw of E Ink—at least in my opinion. While the XO keys are child-sized, they’re still bigger than the Kindle’s. You can even plug in a USB mouse and USB keyboard and use the former for scrolling through books with FBReader. The advantage of the special e-book gizmos like the Kindle is that they’re smaller and lighter and easier to learn to use and turn on instantly (the XO takes a minute or two to boot up under Linux).

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Popularity: 3% [?]

By David Rothman

iLiad owners can download a new version of the FBReader with .epub capabilities (although FBR won’t recognize cascading style sheets). See MobileRead for info on this and other refinements. Thanks for your work on this, AdamB!

Popularity: 3% [?]

By David Rothman

An update of FBReader, which among others unleashes powerful e-book capabilities of the OLPC XO, is just out—Version 0.8.13. Hey, Dov, let us know if you port the latest and greatest FBR. 

Just excuse me—I’m XOcentric. FBReader is also available for a wide variety of other machines, ranging from Linux PDAs to the iLiad and Windows machine. Screen shot is from an old Nokia version.

New wrinkles, in the words of developer Nikolay Pultsin, are

• Fixed infinite loop in text drawing code
• Fixed some problems with plain text format,.
• Added ‘go to page number…’
• Motorola A1200 port

Speaking of the XO: You can arrange to get OLPC software updated automatically.

Popularity: 3% [?]

By David Rothman

Dov’s eager for the world to try out his FBR line-spacing fix. I have, now, and can say the tweaked 0.8.12 works just great. I had to remap the paging keys and others when I installed the new FBReader; also, my keyboard arrow for scrolling works different. Hey, no big deal. Thanks again for your work on this, Dov!

Related: The OLPC laptop as a promising school and library machine—with quick Opera and FBReader installation instructions—as well as updated info on obtaining FBReader for installation by the easier RPM method.

Housekeeping: The post with a few more XO e-reading tips, including the issue of PDF vs. FBR, might come late tonight.

Site news: Yep, Robert and I know that speed is subpar—he’ll be working on the problem.

Popularity: 2% [?]

By David Rothman

If you want to read oodles of commercial books on your new OLPC XO—without converting DRMed files in violation of the DMCA—the best place to look would be Wowio. It has an added bonus. The hundreds and perhaps thousands of titles there are free. But a nasty catch exists: they’re in PDF.

In a post later today, based on my further use of the XO, I’ll make the case that you’ll generally be better off using Mobipocket Desktop to convert PDFs even though the XO can display the latter. Mobi won’t normally run on your XO (I’ll note a possible exception for people maniacal about being able to read DRMed bestsellers). But FBReader, which can read nonencrypted Mobipocket, will.

I’ll also pass on other e-reading tips. My new 9G memory card is working great with a cheapie reader I bought from Amazon, letting me smoothly transfer Wowio books between my PC and the XO.

Housekeeping: A new, longer post will replace this one.

Detail: As noted before, Wowio, groan, is a U.S.-only service. I hope the TeleBlog’s readers keep griping about this. No do-goodism expected out of Wowio or publishers. The market in English-speaking countries such as India would be huge, and although there are piracy risks, the benefits, as I see them, far outweigh the negatives.

Related: OLPC angering donors: “Give 1 Get 1… some day… probably” from Ars Techica (thanks, Mike), as well as related OLPC News forums.

Popularity: 3% [?]

By David Rothman

Major thanks to Dov (photo) for his FBReader tweak. Questions or feedback for him? Comment away!

Popularity: 3% [?]