Now that people have had the reader for a few days what's at the top of your list for additional features for the next release? Personally I'm really happy with it but would like to see the following:

1) Landscape orientation available in Mobipocket reader. It would let me alternate between using my left and right thumbs for page turns.

2) Faster boot time. I'm getting 27 seconds not the claimed 20 seconds. I'd also like the option of powering on to where I was reading rather then the library.

3) Delete button working to remove books after I've read them.

I've also seen suggestions of allowing the volume buttons "+" and "-" to be programed for other functions. Page turn or zoom in zoom out.

Any others?

Folders. This is absolutely necessary for anyone with even a modest collection of ebooks.

Everything else I can live with as it is :)

I don't have one yet but my plan is to buy one unless something totally turns my head before NAEB gets ahold of them. I would like support for the DRMed PDFs I get from Overdrive.

Now that people have had the reader for a few days what's at the top of your list for additional features for the next release? Personally I'm really happy with it but would like to see the following:

1) Landscape orientation available in Mobipocket reader. It would let me alternate between using my left and right thumbs for page turns.

2) Faster boot time. I'm getting 27 seconds not the claimed 20 seconds. I'd also like the option of powering on to where I was reading rather then the library.

3) Delete button working to remove books after I've read them.

I've also seen suggestions of allowing the volume buttons "+" and "-" to be programed for other functions. Page turn or zoom in zoom out.

Any others?
i also have the sony 505 and like the features on it.
- the ability to search in the library by title, author, date etc.
- the + and - to turn pages would be a nice option.

1) Folders !

2) Support for the Word and RTF files, if possible.

3) To be able to boot directly where you stopped reading, instead of having to go through the library each time.

4) The "Delete" button working.


Any of those would be nice, but especially folders...

Edit: I second julia on the ability to sort the books by author or date. And the + and - buttons on the left could be used when reading, to zoom in and out or to turn pages.

What would also be useful: a synchronization software for Linux users ! I keep hoping for Mobipocket to develop one, but so far, no luck. :(

1) Folders !

2) Support for the Word and RTF files, if possible.

3) To be able to boot directly where you stopped reading, instead of having to go through the library each time.

4) The "Delete" button working.


Any of those would be nice, but especially folders...


That is about my list. Only I like to arrange them like this

1) To be able to boot directly where you stopped reading, instead of having to go through the library each time.

2) Support for the Word and RTF files, if possible.

3) Folders !

4) The "Delete" button working.

Support for folders. Sort by authors name and landscape mode for mobi is what I need. Love this reader hate the ear buds.
C.F.Tall

I'll echo everyone else 'FOLDERS' & 'DELETE' ... oh and the USER GUIDE would be nice

Other than that .. love it :)

I would add
- a way to lock keys (a long press on two buttons for example)
- when pressing the music key, back should go to the book i was reading, not the library

I would actually prefer the ability to synchronize the reading lists and use that to categorize my ebooks. The thing I don't like about folders is the books can only be in one folder and I'd like them in multiple categories. I am concerned about the performance though if all the books are in one directory. It would also require the ability to create or edit the reading list categories outside of Mobipocket Desktop Reader for people that don't have Windoze.

I'd also like to be able to zoom in and out PDF documents.

The thing I don't like about folders is the books can only be in one folder and I'd like them in multiple categories. There is Linux under the hood, so the same file can in principle be in multiple folders (using a hard or a soft link, a single physical copy of the file can be listed in multiple directories). These would most likely look and behave like multiple copies of the file to the reader software (e.g. any metadata would be directory specific), but it is multiple copies without using any extra filesystem space.

I am concerned about the performance though if all the books are in one directory.

Yep, be afraid. Be very afraid. I dumped 3500+ PalmDoc & Mobipocket books on a 2GB SD card, and booting (more especially the building of the library) took almost 20 minutes. It did complete, though, giving me 360 pages of 10 books to a page.

But trying to page through them made it start re-indexing again :-(.

Not recommended with the current firmware.

1. Folders

2. Landscape-Mode for everything

3. A cross, T-Shaped Menue or three colums instead of one; it could look like this:

eBook
Back Lookup Forward
Layout Leave Menue Font Family
Advanced Bookmarks Font Size
Library

When entering the Menue, the cursor could be placed in the midle, therefore reducing the number of keypresses to reach every item in the menue...
Note: The Leave Menue (without change) is not entirely necesary and the function could be implemented by other means: Navigating out of the menue, eighter only Right or Left, or in every direction...

4. Zoom-Function for PDF


Chris

Folders!! (especially after the test with 3500 ebooks :-))

Support for zipped files.

RTF support.

And in a later version (although it would be a nice-to-have), or at least when folders are implemented: SDHC support.

And in a later version (although it would be a nice-to-have), or at least when folders are implemented: SDHC support.

I think this one will require a different hardware controller for the SD card. Don't hold your breath on that one.

Dale

I think this one will require a different hardware controller for the SD card. Don't hold your breath on that one.

Dale

Do we know for a fact that the controller is SD only? The Nokia N800 originally didn't support SDHC, but Nokia later updated the firmware to support it, as the hardware was already there. Has anyone opened up a Cybook to look at the hardware?

CHM support for me. Please Booken?

My current list is:


Deletion of files

Marking of books that you are currently reading. This would make it easier to find the book you want. Especiall when you use ebook editions which are missing cover images.

Sorting option to display the books you are currently reading first in the library.

Possibility to get back to book after dictionary lookup with more than one alternative and only using the square button.

Folder support.

Sorting according to author name.

Battery level display while reading a book.

Display the real filename so you can know what file to remove if you want to remove a book.

Use unit while charging.

I think this one will require a different hardware controller for the SD card. Don't hold your breath on that one.


Like jbenny says, I'm hoping the controller is SDHC-capable. But even if it's not, I've just tested a (slightly out-of-standard) 4GB SD card. That does actually work in the Cybook.

Like jbenny says, I'm hoping the controller is SDHC-capable. But even if it's not, I've just tested a (slightly out-of-standard) 4GB SD card. That does actually work in the Cybook.

Yes there are a few of those out there. Some appeared before the standard and some just defy the standard. This is probably a good thing. The SD standards keep making incompatible changes like the one they did between 1 and 2 Gig and then again between 2 and 4 Gig. Kind of stupid if you ask me.

Dale

1 # Word and RTF
2 # Folder support

Overall I'm very happy with everything except the above points.

My current list is:


Deletion of files

Marking of books that you are currently reading. This would make it easier to find the book you want. Especiall when you use ebook editions which are missing cover images.

Sorting option to display the books you are currently reading first in the library.

Possibility to get back to book after dictionary lookup with more than one alternative and only using the square button.

Folder support.

Sorting according to author name.

Battery level display while reading a book.

Display the real filename so you can know what file to remove if you want to remove a book.

Use unit while charging.


I second all of the above especially folder support and to be able to use the unit while charging.
It would also be nice to have a button for page turning on the left side of the Cybook, that way my right thumb wouldn't become so tired.

Other than that I am very satisfied with the reader:)

1. Zooming for PDF files
2. I would like the Volume buttons to perform the zooming
3. Folders
4. Genres
5. Read/Unread indicators--sort of like iTunes
6. put the last read file on the top of the library list, its really annoying having to look for it every time.

thanks

What would be nice would be to have an indicator under each book indicating how much you have read. It would also be nice to have a folder "read books" or something like that and a menu option to move a book to that folder. I think I would like to keep the books I have read on the memory card in the reader since it is then easy to recommend and give copy of books to people.

- internal links in html and pdf (like in mobipocket files)
- hyphenation for html and txt files (like in FBreader)

Actually, i can't use internal links (for table of content, footnotes) without using mobipocket creator, and it doesn't work on linux, nor is usable for automatic download and convertion.

- Zooming in PDF ;
- New file format support: Word, RTF, OpenDocumentText (ODT) and epub...:pray:

I was just thinking it would be nice for the delete button to have three options.
1) Cancel (Oops I hit the wrong button)
2) Move to Previously Read folder (I'd like to archive old books)
3) Delete (Trash)

If I owned a Gen3, I would say the most important upgrades to the next firmware version is to fix all the bugs in the 1.0 version and then from there go onto new features in yet another version.

I'd like to be able to use the Cybook while it is charging ! Right now, you can't see the content of the Cybook when it's connected to your computer or the usb charger...

I'd like to be able to use the Cybook while it is charging ! Right now, you can't see the content of the Cybook when it's connected to your computer or the usb charger...

They should be able to tell the difference between charging and computer hookup. While hooked to a computer it might be ok to dedicate it to downloads, etc. but when hooked to an external charger you should be able to use it. It might also be able to speed up the charging a bit when charging from a regular charger instead of the computer. iPods can do this.

Dale

They should be able to tell the difference between charging and computer hookup. While hooked to a computer it might be ok to dedicate it to downloads, etc. but when hooked to an external charger you should be able to use it. It might also be able to speed up the charging a bit when charging from a regular charger instead of the computer. iPods can do this.

Dale

As a test, someone should try this (I don't know the Mac equivalent):
Plug Cybook into computer USB port.
Click on icon to "Safely Remove Hardware" and select Cybook.
Leave Cybook plugged in.

Does this do anything different than usual, like allow you to read while plugged in? What about if you press the "Menu" key after trying the above?

As a test, someone should try this (I don't know the Mac equivalent):
Plug Cybook into computer USB port.
Click on icon to "Safely Remove Hardware" and select Cybook.
Leave Cybook plugged in.

Does this do anything different than usual, like allow you to read while plugged in? What about if you press the "Menu" key after trying the above?

Wouldn't work. The Gen3 displays its "USB" screen even when the dumb USB wall charger is plugged in.

It would be nice to have the SDK but if not I'll settle for a Sudoku game added to the Firmware :-)
Great to hear they're gonna add 1/4 page and 1/2 page for PDF view !

:unafraid:

Wouldn't work. The Gen3 displays its "USB" screen even when the dumb USB wall charger is plugged in.

Well, it may not work. We won't really know until someone tries it. Using the wall charger is not the same as charging from a PC. On the PC, there are two issues involved - connecting and charging.

The reason I asked someone to try this is that I have seen other peripherals act differently when plugged into a PC vs a wall charger.

Well, it may not work. We won't really know until someone tries it. Using the wall charger is not the same as charging from a PC. On the PC, there are two issues involved - connecting and charging.

The reason I asked someone to try this is that I have seen other peripherals act differently when plugged into a PC vs a wall charger.


Harry's right, it doesn't work. At least not on my linux box.

I NEED an author name index, as well as folders. These are essential to organizing my collection.


Now that people have had the reader for a few days what's at the top of your list for additional features for the next release?

I would love to see:

ability to managed books in folders, by author, title ... you name it
text search inside a book (including, of course, an on screen keyboard)
continue reading where I last was before turning off the Cybook

I would like the current position in a book to be saved when the unit is shutting down due to low battery.

An urgent item would be fixing the font-handling bugs...

Now that people have had the reader for a few days...

That's easy. I create books to read from a whole variety of different sources. Without spending obscenet amounts of time carefully crafting each book, setting author details and titles etc, it would be just soooo much easier, if I could ditch the icon view and have a plain list view.

Granted, like many people I have a LOT of books, I read all the time so folders would be useful too, or at least genres or some way of categorising books to make selecting easier.

:grin2:

I noticed that you can put books in folders and they will actually show up in the library. You have to start the name with . to hide them. And the sorting option "folders" works so I assume you can create a folder aaaa and put the books you want to show up first in the library in this folder.

What I would like to see is folders appear in the library and when clicked opens the folder and just show whats in that folder. I organize by Genre then Author, then loose books and series folders in the author folder. If there is a universe with several series that has another folder.

I noticed that you can put books in folders and they will actually show up in the library. You have to start the name with . to hide them. And the sorting option "folders" works so I assume you can create a folder aaaa and put the books you want to show up first in the library in this folder.

Speaking of the fact that files with a . are hidden on Linux (and Unix in general) : I would like the none book files (*.dat , etc) to have a dot in front of their filenames so that they are hidden unless you need them.

-Make it possible to switch the Up and the Down part of the Navigation key

My thumb is always on the navigation key when I am reading and it is a lot easier to push Up than Down so it should be able to couple the Up with the Next page action.
Try it some time for yourself... see what you would like.

-Make it possible to switch the Up and the Down part of the Navigation key

My thumb is always on the navigation key when I am reading and it is a lot easier to push Up than Down so it should be able to couple the Up with the Next page action.
Try it some time for yourself... see what you would like.


Try 'right' and 'left' for navigation. That works great for me

Left and right is better for page navigation; if you have a page containing hyperlinks, up/down moves you through the hyperlinks on the page.

If I owned a Gen3, I would say the most important upgrades to the next firmware version is to fix all the bugs in the 1.0 version and then from there go onto new features in yet another version.

Maybe they'll actually manage to fix the bugs AND add features, all in one firmware update !

Left and right is better for page navigation; if you have a page containing hyperlinks, up/down moves you through the hyperlinks on the page.

Ive tried left and right, and I don't find them as easy as pushing Up.
Especially so when it is in the leather cover.

Speaking of the non book files that are automatically created by the Cybook when you read, it would be nice if they were automatically deleted also when you delete a book! Maybe in the next firmware release? ;)

I wonder also about translating the interface in other languages, besides the French and English available now. It would be a nice bonus for buyers in other european countries to be able to use the Cybook Gen3 in their own language, and as Europe seems to be Bookeen's main market...

1. Better support of Unicode
2. Like Hanlin V.3, support chm, djvu
3. Fix the display optimal bug
4. SDK for us to develop better software for the unit like the Sony PRS-500, Illiad, or V3
5. Open source police is the success of Linux. All these ebook or GPX2 just say they use linux, but their source code always hidden or extremely hard to read. They are the one get the fruit juice from the open source campus but feedback none. Even worse than M$ windoz. Since M$ Windoz just keep their source code and develop their own. They don't get the code from open source. So they don't have responsability to open their code. But these linux units never try to open their source. What the hell !

The things I would like to see on the reader are these:

1) Folders!
2) More options for Sorting books, at the very least By Author and By Genre
3) The ability to search for a book by name or author, including partial names
4) The ability to resume to the book you were reading when you turn the device back on.
5) Mapable +/- keys when not playing music. Or at least make them a Page Up and Page Down key. Useful both for reading and for browsing through the library.
6) The ability to read in landscape mode. It occurs to me that with the black case the way it is, it might make a good stand on a table.

Text highlighting. (If it's possible to select words for a dictionary search, it wouldn't be hard to create a tool to actually highlight the text and save it that way).

A folders system which really *WORKS*! I've got the older Sony PRS500 as well as the Cybook and I wasn't impressed with the 'collections' thing all that much on the PRS500 because it didn't really put the ebooks in a folder it just put their titles in a collection list. How difficult to remember!

A real folder navigation system would mean I could put all my thrillers into a Thrillers folder and see the Thrillers folder in the main Library screen. When I click on it, it would then refresh the Library screen to show only those subfolders and titles in there. If I had a subfolder labeled Romance Thrillers, I wouldn't see any of the titles contained therein until I selected that folder and clicked to open. It's a simple concept and the basic concept has been used since the days of CP/M.

We *NEED* this because when we put in our SD cards stuffed with several hundred ebooks, the search process to find an ebook title halfway through the list can be quite frustrating.

Then, I'd like to see either a By Authors title listing which breaks it down by Authors | Authors A, B, C, etc. | Authors A - Adams, Alt, Anderson, etc... | Authors A/Alt, Madelyn/A Charmed Death, Hex Marks the Spot, The Trouble with Magic... Of course, each selection point would open up a new Library display as one drilled down...

Of course, adding support for Amazon Kindle .azw files would be a big plus. :D

Derek

It would be great if someone from Bookeen actually read these forums!! .. time will tell!

I basically love the Cybook but a few 'tweaks' would be awesome:

1) As others have said an 'author' sort of some kind is a must

2) The option to change the buttons usage .. especially the volume ones as I have no intention of ever playing music on it!

3) It may sound weird to some but I would really like page numbers! .. when I read a book if there are page numbers I have a rough idea of where I am should the kids come along and change it all for me! .. but with a 'progress bar' I don't stand a chance! .. When I sold my iRex I was part-way thru one of my e-books and trying to find where that was via the progress bar was an absolute nightmare!!

4) Again, as others have said, the ability to switch on and arrive where you left off ..

5) The 'delete' option to be working


Hmm it looks a bit like a 'list' now but basically even if nothing changed I'd still like it and still choose it over the other readers ..

Loopy

-compatibility to 4gb sd cards => english wikipedia on the cybook!

You've all covered my list nicely. So I'll add one more item...

An SDK! Then we can help pitch in and extend it's capabilities instead of whining. :thumbsup:

Gary

You've all covered my list nicely. So I'll add one more item...

An SDK! Then we can help pitch in and extend it's capabilities instead of whining. :thumbsup:

Gary
Couldn't have said it better myself.

-compatibility to 4gb sd cards => english wikipedia on the cybook!

That would need a hardware change, not a firmware upgrade.

4) Again, as others have said, the ability to switch on and arrive where you left off ..

At least you arrive in the library with the book you've last read highlighted. So all it takes is another push of the button and you're right were you left off before. :)

That would need a hardware change, not a firmware upgrade.
how sure are you on this?

how sure are you on this?

Pretty sure. The controller in the Gen3 doesn't support SDHC cards.

Pretty sure. The controller in the Gen3 doesn't support SDHC cards.

There are some non-SDHC cards in the 4Gig category. It might be possible to support those devices but I believe your are correct, no SDHC.

Dale

There are some non-SDHC cards in the 4Gig category. It might be possible to support those devices but I believe your are correct, no SDHC.

Dale
The whole purpose of SDHC was to expand the size of SD cards over 2GB. That definition itself implies that there are no non-SDHC 4GB cards.

Also, this isn't something that could be fixed in a firmware update. This is just them using old chinese hardware to save a few cents per unit.

>The whole purpose of SDHC was to expand the size of SD cards over 2GB.
> That definition itself implies that there are no non-SDHC 4GB cards.

Yes, there are. I own a miniSD one, and they are not hard to find. The theoretical maximum size of non-HC (mini)SD cards is 4GB, not 2.

I tried it in my Cybook, and it works fine when connected to my PC (as a USB disk). I can read and write to it and it shows up with the correct size and free space.

However, the Cybook *software* does not recognize it at all. The standard directories are not created and files on it do not show up in the library.

> Also, this isn't something that could be fixed in a firmware update.

Well, I think it is. If it is physically capable of reading and writing them, and my experience shows that it is, the rest is software.

SDHC support is something else again. I tried an 8GB SDHC card, and it choked on it; it hung at the boot screen.

Regards,

Marco.

I would like to see support for
1) more mobipocket reader navigation features, e.g., inter-document hyperlinks and support for javascript drop-down boxes;
2) pdf zooming; and
3) improved library organization/navigation features, e.g. folder-based navigation.

Javascript support in HTML documents would be kinda sweet.
Even sweeter: an SDK ... pleeeeeeeeease with cherry on top :)

I would like to see support for
1) more mobipocket reader navigation features, e.g., inter-document hyperlinks and support for javascript drop-down boxes;
2) pdf zooming; and
3) improved library organization/navigation features, e.g. folder-based navigation.

I understood from the Bookeen website that is can zoom PDF's. :blink:

Zoom page------yes------Only available for PDF format and images with a limited set of zoom possibilities

What I'd like to see is:

1. Better PDF support: internal Links in PDFs, support for PDF TOC, zooming

2. Folders

3. Better HTML support: Links between HTML documents, support for more HTML elements (the most important for me would be the <pre> element)

4. An SDK

5. Source code of the GPL'd components

1. Folders!
2. On turning on, revert to the last page read.
3. Folders!!

David

1. Remappable buttons (will never use music, and don't want to lose my place when I accidentally pick up the Cybook by its edges... I hate to think what I'll do if they enable the delete button (: )

2. Tags, rather than folders. Otherwise where will I put that Cyberpunk Romance Recommended-by-Mary that is Not-Read?

I don't own a Cybook Gen 3 -- I have a Sony PRS500. By I could be induced to switch. It would take a few things:

1. Vastly improved support for large libraries. This could be folders. It could be drill-down menu selection as described by delphidb96. It could be hugely improved tagging. But something. And definitely something better than the one-level drill-down Sony added with the 505.
2. Inter-document hyperlinks. This could be html or pdf or mobi or... The key thing here is that it would let me build #1 on my own if I had to.
3. Better support for large libraries.

Xenophon

Oh yeah... Did I mention that I want better support for large libraries?

I understood from the Bookeen website that is can zoom PDF's. :blink:
I guess I should have said more flexible zooming. Yes, you can "zoom" with a few "limited possibilities": fit to page, fit to width, fit to height, combined with either portrait or landscape display. Of these, only the fit-to-width/landscape mode made my 8.5 inch x 11 inch PDF readable, and that only barely. Personally, I would like a zoomed page mode where I pick the zoom factor as a preference and the display is a "window" on just part of the page that fits; the direction buttons would be used to move the "window" on the image, similar to the image viewer.

If tags means some slow method of selecting them I do not want them. Folders are fast (and a folder could correspond to a tag). The important thing is that displaying a menu every time you look for a file with a specific tag is to slow.

My first five votes is for folders. Then re-mappable buttons.

1. Adjustable margins (like in the desktop version of mobipocket) or at least the ability to set none.
2. Remappable buttons
3. CHM support
4. When you turn it on to go to the last book and page read
5. Folders

1. Adjustable margins (like in the desktop version of mobipocket) or at least the ability to set none.
2. Remappable buttons
3. CHM support
4. When you turn it on to go to the last book and page read
5. Folders
Hmmm... My choices would be in a different order (see my previous post). But I'd like to make a humble suggestion for improvement to your #4. Perhaps when you turn the reader on it should go to the last screen you were looking at. Last book and page is great :2thumbsup if that's where I was. But, how 'bout the last menu I was staring at?

Xenophon

If tags means some slow method of selecting them I do not want them.

Fair enough. But, I'm curious - what folder structure would you (in both the y'all and all y'all senses) use?

Fair enough. But, I'm curious - what folder structure would you (in both the y'all and all y'all senses) use?

Probably something relatively flat like: ReadBooks, ToReadSoon, Wodehouse, GeorgetteHeyer, Crime, ScienceFiction, ShortStories, ...

And make new folders for authors I have a lot of books of. I would also probably try to collect all Hugo nominated works that are available and save them in a structure sorted by year.

Probably something relatively flat like: ReadBooks, ToReadSoon, Wodehouse, GeorgetteHeyer, Crime, ScienceFiction, ShortStories, ...

And the GeorgetteHeyer book you've read stays in the GeorgetteHeyer folder? I'm genuinely curious, because I can see (after nearly a week) that I'm going to have to impose some kind of structure on my books at some point and I want to know what actually works for folks.

And the GeorgetteHeyer book you've read stays in the GeorgetteHeyer folder? I'm genuinely curious, because I can see (after nearly a week) that I'm going to have to impose some kind of structure on my books at some point and I want to know what actually works for folks.

The big problem I have is, yes, one can create sub-folders under /eBooks and put the ebooks into the relevant sub-folders; and, yes, the ebooks are all visible in the Library, but doing so doesn't create any kind of structure within the Library!!!! Once I've got the Cybook turned on, I'm still seeing a large, and growing larger, flat list of all the available ebooks!

Now this isn't *that* big a problem with 80 or fewer ebooks, but put 900 ebooks on the SD card and finding that next ebook in a series can be difficult and time-consuming! The Library *should* be able to show all ebooks and sub-folders within a given folder - without listing the ebooks contained in the sub-folders! I should be able to select a sub-folder and see only the ebooks inside that sub-folder as well as any sub-sub-folders in there (but not the ebooks contained within those sub-folders). Plus, since even such dinky programs as WinZip and WinRAR understand the idea of an icon to represent the next-higher-folder within a directory chain (usually expressed as a folder icon immediately followed by two periods (dots)), I or others would have no problem backing up the chain to the root, /eBooks, folder.

Derek

And the GeorgetteHeyer book you've read stays in the GeorgetteHeyer folder? I'm genuinely curious, because I can see (after nearly a week) that I'm going to have to impose some kind of structure on my books at some point and I want to know what actually works for folks.

Well, Heyer books are a special case since they are there for re-reading. I do not see any problem with multiple copies of the same book in different folders. ReadBooks is just for information purpose. Maybe you are right and it will be a bit limiting not having tags. But I think a directory structure will work well enough.

I'd like to be able to read on it while its charging.

I'd love to see the ability to save typeface and size settings into presets. I've found a combination that works very well for me, but when sharing the device (especially with folks what're hard of seeing), the option to toggle back and forth between my setting and a larger, clearer one would be awfully cool.

Also, for word-collectors, a way to use the lookup function to save wordlists (or just to log your lookup choices, heck) would be great for review and drilling.

- Danny

Has there been any word from Booken on a release timetable for firmware updates? I haven't seen a damn thing out of them since October.

I think a comment in their blog mentioned December so we can always hope for January.

Well, after using my Cybook for a few days, here are my suggestions for the next firmware. It's amazing how with little changes the cybook could be way better.

1.- Option to boot directly into last opened file. (like the iLiad)
2.- " Customize button mapping
3.- Text highlighting
4.- Battery level display while reading a book.
5.- Sort by author (better library navigation in general)

The "look up" mode disappear after each page turning. It should stay until removed or shoul have a quicker access e.g. : the 4th knob on the left of the e-book.

I think a comment in their blog mentioned December so we can always hope for January.

Anyone else find it odd that the blog hasn't been updated since 12th November? Surely a heck of a lot has happened since then that's worth commenting on!

Anyone else find it odd that the blog hasn't been updated since 12th November? Surely a heck of a lot has happened since then that's worth commenting on!

Yep! And I'm wondering just when we'll see an update to version 1.0x. It's been far too long since the last firmware update for a product which is so new and has such usability issues, IMO.

Derek

I'm really hoping for a folder option. Perhaps one that takes advantage of Mobipocket's "Reading Lists" so that I don't have to re-sort all my books.

I'm really hoping for a folder option. Perhaps one that takes advantage of Mobipocket's "Reading Lists" so that I don't have to re-sort all my books.

My prayer is: "From your lips to Bookeen's ears!"

Derek

I emailed Bookeen about being able to sort ebooks into folders or reading lists and got this reply:

The possibility to sort or group books (using reading list or folder support, etc.) has been highly demanded by our customers. We will definitely insert this new feature in a future firmware upgrade (Q1 2008).

Seems like good news to me, even if we will have to wait a while for the solution.

1) Folders
2) Manual attitude of contrast and brightness for font and background.

1) Folders
2) Pagenumbers
3) switch blend out read books in library
4) show progress in books in library
5) change margins and lineheight

I just got my Cybook, (late christmas present), and the display is realy amazing. But there are a few points that could be better:

1) Folders
2) Bookmarks for PDFs
3) A function to crop PDFs whitespace
3) Reading Mobipocketbooks in landscape view


In general I would like more functions for PDFs, because I have all books I need for university as pdf file.

Oh i forgot. Major issue for me:
0) Give us an option to use the main (center) button to flip to the next page.

1. tags, leading to virtual folders. Also a way to customize your virtual folders, e.g. Author | Series | individual books or Genre | Author | individual books or ...
2. After switch on -> return to page last read
3. List view in library, with options to sort on "last recently read" and sort on "Rating" and "Purchase Date". This would also mean that there should be a way to rate books
4. Remappable buttons
5. Reading while charging

Customizing your virtual tag folders doesn't need to be anything fancy; I don't mind if this would be a power-user option, having to edit an ini-file in the System folder or something. Furthermore, I would propose to use the tag infrastructure already used by Mobipocket; it is already there and can be maintained by using the Mobipocket Reader. Maybe not ideal, but sometimes you have to be practical :rolleyes:

1. tags, leading to virtual folders. Also a way to customize your virtual folders, e.g. Author | Series | individual books or Genre | Author | individual books or ...
2. After switch on -> return to page last read
3. List view in library, with options to sort on "last recently read" and sort on "Rating" and "Purchase Date". This would also mean that there should be a way to rate books
4. Remappable buttons
5. Reading while charging

Customizing your virtual tag folders doesn't need to be anything fancy; I don't mind if this would be a power-user option, having to edit an ini-file in the System folder or something. Furthermore, I would propose to use the tag infrastructure already used by Mobipocket; it is already there and can be maintained by using the Mobipocket Reader. Maybe not ideal, but sometimes you have to be practical :rolleyes:

Why virtual folders? Why not just support real folders? Seems easier.

Dale

Why virtual folders? Why not just support real folders? Seems easier.


The advantage is that you can have the same file in more than one folder without copying it. But if this lead to a delay in getting folders it is not worth it.
Also you cannot put the tagging functionality in the desktop reader since that program does only work on one operating system family.

Both NTFS and Lunix support file links in filesystems, so theoretically you could have the same functionality (tags, same file in more than one folder) using only generic filesystem functionality. Only old FAT is missing them.

We'll see what Bookeen comes up with, I guess.

Both NTFS and Lunix support file links in filesystems, so theoretically you could have the same functionality (tags, same file in more than one folder) using only generic filesystem functionality. Only old FAT is missing them.


I am very tempted to try to reformat my SD card to an ext2 file system to see if it works...

1. Page numbers while reading
2. progress bar for the Library mode
3. PDF zoom OR better - Reflow
4. Portrait mode for reading
5. Stars like in iPod for
6. Clock
7. May be the guys could open the platform for hacking and tweaking? It will bring some interest and flow. Bring some features to customers too.

Mostly, I love my Cybook.

1. The ability to read mobipocket format books from mobipocket.

1. The ability to read mobipocket format books from mobipocket.


Have been reading mobipocket-formatted ebooks purchased from Fictionwise and Mobipocket for some time now. (Well, not doing so *NOW* because my Cybook died early last week - as in broken power switch. Now I just pretend to read my Cybook by staring at my white wall and imagining there's text there.)

Derek

Not all the mobipocket format books from mobipocket.com work - so greater compatibility would be a nice addition.

Not all the mobipocket format books from mobipocket.com work - so greater compatibility would be a nice addition.

It is probably not a question of incompatibility but a question of bugs. So I hope that all people that find a book that do not work report it to Bookeen.

One answer I am surprised at not seeing especially at the top of everyone's lists....

1. ALL THE BUGS FIXED

One answer I am surprised at not seeing especially at the top of everyone's lists....

1. ALL THE BUGS FIXED

Maybe becaue it is a stupid wish. If you meant all observed bugs fixed its is a bit more sensible. But I rather have folder support than all observed bugs fixed. They need to fix important bugs like some books not working and bookmarks not working but after that folder support are more importat.

Perhaps for Bookeen, as for me, bookmarks do work perfectly :)

Speaking as a software developer myself, it's very difficult to fix a bug that you're unable to reproduce yourself.

Perhaps for Bookeen, as for me, bookmarks do work perfectly :)


They work perfectly for me to. Maybe because we were in the first batch? Maybe the hardware have changed? And I meant that it was important for Bookeen. Non working bookmarks is bad PR.


Speaking as a software developer myself, it's very difficult to fix a bug that you're unable to reproduce yourself.

Exactly. And some bugs are really not so important compared to new features.

Perhaps for Bookeen, as for me, bookmarks do work perfectly :)

Speaking as a software developer myself, it's very difficult to fix a bug that you're unable to reproduce yourself.

Maybe they could implement some workaround if they are not able to fix the problems. I have on of the Cybooks with the bookmark problem. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. If there were pagenumbers while reading a book then I could at least use the "goto page" feature to jump to the last read page (of course I still would have to remember which page that was).
Instead of impementing the support for folders (which probably is a mayor change) they could implement the "goto page" in the library view (The pagenumbers are allready there) or even better let us use letters to jump to a specific book. An other possibility would be to allow us to switch off the cover pictures to speed up paging.
My library currently has over 150 pages in 5 books per page view and it's not funny to go to a book starting with 'B' after having read a book starting with 'S'. If I switch to the 20 books per page view I need less paging but the buildup of every individual page takes much longer and the Cybook won't accept another paging before the page is completely displayed.

It would also be nice if Bookeen would keep us up todate or on their blog page about the solved problems and when they intend to but a firmware update on the net, instead of yet another review of the Cybook.

Perhaps for Bookeen, as for me, bookmarks do work perfectly :)

Lucky you! It's a rather strange bug indeed -- so very unpredictable! At first I thought it only occurred when I left the reader switched on for some time without turning a page (e.g. when going into the kitchen to make tea and get some cookies and feed the cat). But this morning, I could no longer place bookmarks after I'd read one hour without any sort of interruptions. 'Tis all very strange. :chinscratch:

Lucky you! It's a rather strange bug indeed -- so very unpredictable! At first I thought it only occurred when I left the reader switched on for some time without turning a page (e.g. when going into the kitchen to make tea and get some cookies and feed the cat). But this morning, I could no longer place bookmarks after I'd read one hour without any sort of interruptions. 'Tis all very strange. :chinscratch:

I just enabled the write protection on my SD card and the symptom then is exactly as described with the bookmark bug. So maybe there can be many reasons for this. One might be that the slider setting the write protection is loose. Another might be that the connections are dirty. Or that the drivers cannot handle the card. Or if you have corrupted the file system. Or a timing issue that make the write fail sometimes for certain sD cards.

But I seem to remember people having problem with the internal memory also.

1
The 4-way button is not that good, which is something that would be kind of difficult to handle through a SW update. One feature that would make it easier is if the SW where changed so that more then one item were scrolled when a button pressed continuously. It would have been best if it accelerated.

2
Another thing that would be helpful is if it was possible to remap the three music buttons to something useful, like page turning or zoom.

3
Directories

I keep all my books on an SD card and always use the Windows "safely remove hardware" tool before unplugging the USB cable. I too am wondering if the bookmark issue some people are having could perhaps be due to file system corruption caused by uplugging the USB cable with write operations pending.

I keep all my books on an SD card and always use the Windows "safely remove hardware" tool before unplugging the USB cable. I too am wondering if the bookmark issue some people are having could perhaps be due to file system corruption caused by uplugging the USB cable with write operations pending.

Maybe time to do some experiments. Especially for Windows users to see if it is possible to replicate it...

In Linux if you get some kind of error the file system can be configured to be remounted read only. That will happen automatically in the Cybook. That would also be consistent with the observations.

I can't save bookmarks after reading for a particularly long time, like 2 or 3 hours straight. When I can't save a bookmark, it will also not save my place in the book. The only way to fix it is to reboot the Cybook. This is on books on the Cybook memory, NOT an sd card. I also use "safely remove hardware".

I'll be reading and saving bookmarks every now and then, and suddenly after a time, it just won't save. When it won't save a bookmark, it also won't save my place. As if it's just not writing to the settings file. It only happens (and always happens) when I've been reading for a few hours straight, I don't have an exact amount of time.

It's not that the Cybook has been on for a long time, I do that often without problems, it's that I've been actively reading for a long time straight.

Battery is 100% charged, by the way. I keep it charged up, it hasn't gone below 90%.

1. A virtual keyboard so that it can be used as a stand alone e-Dictionary.

I can't save bookmarks after reading for a particularly long time, like 2 or 3 hours straight.

That's my experience too. Nowadays I power it off more regularly and the problem has never occurred since.

That's my experience too. Nowadays I power it off more regularly and the problem has never occurred since.

Yeah, I try to do that too. But if I'm reading that long it's usually because I'm all caught up in the story and I don't think about it. :)

I know what you mean ...

The Cybook should have to accomodate us in that :)

I do agree it is an inconvenience.

Wish list :
1) right + and - buttons used for Zoom in/out in PDF and pictures
2) When reading a book, pre-load the next page while the user is reading, to make the page switch faster
3) available SDK, so that geeks can play with the Cybook (Bookeen, let the geeks work for you, and keep the good ideas !). Everyone's win at this game
4) Faster boot.

1. Zooming for pdf
2. Folders
3. more formats, esp .chm
4. remember last page of every opened book.
5. bookmarking for all formats (maybe I'm missing something but I don't see an option to book mark .pdfs... only had it for a few hours though)

4. remember last page of every opened book.


It does remember the last page of every opened book :).

Not all the time...

1. Zooming for pdf
2. Folders
3. more formats, esp .chm
4. remember last page of every opened book.
5. bookmarking for all formats (maybe I'm missing something but I don't see an option to book mark .pdfs... only had it for a few hours though)

1 thru 3 and 5 above and they *really* need to work on multi-file html support as well as support for .rtf. I've yet, even with my new unit, been able to get it to recognize .rtf. C'mon, Bookeen. RTF is well-documented and has been around for ages!

Derek

When reading pdfs that are larger than the screen the Cybook indicates this with an arrow symbol and lets you scroll to the next part of the screen using the navigation key

Since the text on a pdf page is continuous I always get confused for some milliseconds after the flip. I think it would have been better if there was an option to turn on some kind of placeholder to use for reorienting the eye after the flip.

I think that a simple line in the left margin at the bottom of the first screen that is repeated at the same position (relative to the pdf page) after the flip would do.

When I view books in my mobipocket pc reader, I can rename the files - but once transferred, they're listed under their properties name. If I rename it, then I want it on my cybook as the renamed version.

Folders!

To boot to last screen you were viewing rather than to the library.

Some warning when your battery is about to die so you don't panic when it freezes on you

To be able to read while it's on charge.

I'd like to put my books in a specific order via mobipocket pc and have them in that order on the cybook

A 'find' or 'go to' option, eg so you can 'find' chapter 3

The ability to brighten my epaper - I have to wear tinted glasses as I'm photosensitive, I have to twist in my armchair so that the light in the centre of my ceiling is shining at the 'page'


Do you think we'll actually GET any of this stuff we're all wistfully wishing for?

A 'find' or 'go to' option, eg so you can 'find' chapter 3

There is a "Go To" option which can take you to the Table of Contents so that you can 'jump' to chapter 3. Of course that assumes that the book was created with a Table of Contents, which some of them aren't.

A pop-up or something when you reach the end of a book and hit the next page button. Some books don't say "The End" and the end.

Customization of the splash screen when booting up and the possibility of turning the Cybook off without blanking the screen, ideally showing some picture or image of choice.

A real indication of the zooming factor for PDFs. I create the PDFs with 9x12cm size, which is the size of the screen, but the status bar says it's a 235% zoom. The Cybook "thinks" it's A4 size, which it obviously isn't

A pop-up or something when you reach the end of a book and hit the next page button. Some books don't say "The End" and the end.

Enabling the pageometer helps (Layout -> Show Pageometer).

Enabling the pageometer helps (Layout -> Show Pageometer).

Yes, but not for PDF files. And for my PDFs I disable the status bar, as the text reaches the bottom end of the screen.

Thing's I wish but no one written about.
1. Responce of hardware keys. - Sometimes when I push a button status LED lights but page is not flipped. I've push a button longer to work.
2. Ability to leave shut down without clearing last red page and powering w/o welcome screens right to page I've red lat time. (If device is shut down this info can be shown in header or footer by an icon like "POWER_OFF")

And of course all other popular features and bugfixes requested.

Reflowing of tagged PDF text books... that would make a good % of the PDF files great to be read in the Cybook.
This funcionality is offered by the Adobe Reader for the pocketpc - and this one is from 2002!

One should always hope.

Yep! And I'm wondering just when we'll see an update to version 1.0x. It's been far too long since the last firmware update for a product which is so new and has such usability issues, IMO.

Derek

If the late Edsger Dijkstra could be around to see this...

Unfortunately for the users, the Cybook brings in enough $ so why bother to implement some good improvements? We're talking about very basic usability issues mostly and some extras that are not really that hard to implement.

If the late Edsger Dijkstra could be around to see this...

Unfortunately for the users, the Cybook brings in enough $ so why bother to implement some good improvements? We're talking about very basic usability issues mostly and some extras that are not really that hard to implement.

Geez! *HOW* long ago did I write this??? :)

Derek

Recognition of files with shtml extensions as html files would be nice.

I grabbed some of these years Nebula nominated work and just copied them to the Cybook and noticed that all was not shown in the library and that was because the extension of one of the html files was shtml.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the Cybook will only display one font face/font family per mobipocket-book; I'm happy with the possibility to choose my own font for reading, but it would also be nice to be able to read a book with the fonts which were defined in the book. The PC-version of Mobipocket Reader can display more than one font in a book, but the Cybook-version can't...

So what I would like in the next firmware: the possibility to switch between book-defined fonts and my own preferred font.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the Cybook will only display one font face/font family per mobipocket-book; I'm happy with the possibility to choose my own font for reading, but it would also be nice to be able to read a book with the fonts which were defined in the book. The PC-version of Mobipocket Reader can display more than one font in a book, but the Cybook-version can't...

So what I would like in the next firmware: the possibility to switch between book-defined fonts and my own preferred font.

How do you define fonts in the book and is this used much? Can other readers like the Kindle show these fonts? FBReader?

fonts can be defined as "font family" or "font face" in html; when you use html as your "raw format" when formatting books, you can define all kinds of font faces for all kinds of text. The final step is to convert your html to mobipocket (with mobipocket creator).

As an experiment, I made an html page on which I defined two different fonts (serif and sans serif). After converting this html page to a mobipocket book, it turned out that both fonts were still recognisable in the PC version of mobipocket reader, but the font information was neglected on my Cybook.

Of course I made certain, that both the fonts I used in my html page were available and known to my Cybook.

fonts can be defined as "font family" or "font face" in html; when you use html as your "raw format" when formatting books, you can define all kinds of font faces for all kinds of text. The final step is to convert your html to mobipocket (with mobipocket creator).

As an experiment, I made an html page on which I defined two different fonts (serif and sans serif). After converting this html page to a mobipocket book, it turned out that both fonts were still recognisable in the PC version of mobipocket reader, but the font information was neglected on my Cybook.

Of course I made certain, that both the fonts I used in my html page were available and known to my Cybook.

I second this suggestion. It would allow such things as symbols or foreign languages (i.e. with different alphabets) in the text.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the Cybook will only display one font face/font family per mobipocket-book; I'm happy with the possibility to choose my own font for reading, but it would also be nice to be able to read a book with the fonts which were defined in the book. The PC-version of Mobipocket Reader can display more than one font in a book, but the Cybook-version can't...

So what I would like in the next firmware: the possibility to switch between book-defined fonts and my own preferred font.

Well, it's already got the ability to switch between any ONE font family and any other. But, yeah, being able to see two font families within the ebook WOULD be nice.

Derek

Wouldn't work. The Gen3 displays its "USB" screen even when the dumb USB wall charger is plugged in.
I haven't received my CyBook Gen3 yet, however could someone try a trick I use for my Meizu player: use tape to prevent communication connectors in the USB-connecter or insert the USB charger half-way. My Meizu now charges without switching to USB-modus. Hopefully this works for the GenBook Gen3 too.
Original reference: using m6 while charging usb (http://www.meizume.com/miniplayer-m6-sl/1584-using-m6-m3-while-charging-usb.html)

I haven't received my CyBook Gen3 yet, however could someone try a trick I use for my Meizu player: use tape to prevent communication connectors in the USB-connecter or insert the USB charger half-way. My Meizu now charges without switching to USB-modus. Hopefully this works for the GenBook Gen3 too.
Original reference: using m6 while charging usb (http://www.meizume.com/miniplayer-m6-sl/1584-using-m6-m3-while-charging-usb.html)

Couldn't get the link to work. :(

Derek

I Olympus

What you are proposing is no problem with the Cybook:

1 - one can not read when it's charging;
2 - the connection is normaly tight, so much so, it will have to be hard pushed for the USB cable to be disconnected;
3 - the USB slot is protected by a plastic "thing", so it will not "short circuit" by accident.

Best,

As an experiment, I made an html page on which I defined two different fonts (serif and sans serif). After converting this html page to a mobipocket book, it turned out that both fonts were still recognisable in the PC version of mobipocket reader, but the font information was neglected on my Cybook.

For anyone who likes, I've attached my two test files (both html and prc in single zip file)

Look up feature needs to be upgraded.

Look up mode ends when i press back button after searching a word.
It's quite inconvenient.

I hope look up mode is still alive even after pressing the back button so that i can look up other words with no need to start look up mode again.

Look up feature needs to be upgraded.

Look up mode ends when i press back button after searching a word.
It's quite inconvenient.

I hope look up mode is still alive even after pressing the back button so that i can look up other words with no need to start look up mode again.

I, on the other hand, would find that highly inconvenient because I rarely want to look up more than one word on a page. I wouldn't want an extra key-press to get out of lookup mode!

I, on the other hand, would find that highly inconvenient because I rarely want to look up more than one word on a page. I wouldn't want an extra key-press to get out of lookup mode!

Agreed! I have to do fancy foot work to get out of the dictionary and back to the book as it is. I wouldn't be happy having to do more key-presses to get out of look up mode as well.

Latecomer to the thread, but what I'd like to see are:

- folder structure in the library to assist navigation (I saw that Bookeen have mentioned this as a 'to do')

- Library search facility

- User-customisable buttons (please, I am never going to use the Cybook for music, and I keep pressing the music button by accident!)

- .rtf support

- support for larger SD cards

I, on the other hand, would find that highly inconvenient because I rarely want to look up more than one word on a page. I wouldn't want an extra key-press to get out of lookup mode!


I agree with you if i only read books in English and my native tongue.
But i think the Cybook could be a useful tool of learning foreign languages thanks to its look up feature.
Currently i'm learning German, so there are many words on a page that i have to look up.:(

- support for larger SD cards

Support for SDHC cards would require a different controller in the machine - it couldn't be done with a firmware change.

Support for SDHC cards would require a different controller in the machine - it couldn't be done with a firmware change.

Yup. But 4GB non-HC cards should be supportable with the current hardware. They don't work now; I tried.

Yup. But 4GB non-HC cards should be supportable with the current hardware. They don't work now; I tried.

Trouble is, though, there is no "standard" for non-HC cards >2GB. Different manufacturers use different techniques. That's the reason the HC standard was introduced.

Support for SDHC cards would require a different controller in the machine - it couldn't be done with a firmware change.

Looking at the datasheet for the S3C2410 - the SoC used in the cybook, there's no reason why SDHC couldn't be supported with a software update. It's of course possible that a separate SD card controller has been used instead of the built-in one, but why would they spend the money on an extra chip to do something already built-in?

Another thing to add to the wish-list: I'd like to have the option of returning directly to the page I was reading when switching the Cybook on again. This has always been the standard on e-readers I've used and I don't really understand why the Cybook returns you to the Library page every time you switch on.

Another thing to add to the wish-list: I'd like to have the option of returning directly to the page I was reading when switching the Cybook on again. This has always been the standard on e-readers I've used and I don't really understand why the Cybook returns you to the Library page every time you switch on.

An option would good, yes - let you choose between going to the library screen or going to the last book read.

I guess the current system is a reasonable compromise for those who have several book "on the go" at a time. Given that it comes it with the current book "highlighted", it only takes 1 keypress to go to it, but you're already there on the library screen should you wish to choose a different book.

Having the choice would be good. Have you passed your request to Bookeen?

Looking at the datasheet for the S3C2410 - the SoC used in the cybook, there's no reason why SDHC couldn't be supported with a software update. It's of course possible that a separate SD card controller has been used instead of the built-in one, but why would they spend the money on an extra chip to do something already built-in?

Indeed. And looking at the old OpenMOKO/Neo1973 specs, which uses the S3C2410 as well (http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo1973_Hardware#microSD-Card), it specifically says it supports SDHC and that it's connected to the S3C2410 MMC/SD controller.

So it should be possible.

Quicker boot up!

Sort by Title, Author, or date.

Search for all books by an author.

Having the choice would be good. Have you passed your request to Bookeen?
No, good idea. (And I can see the value in also having a 'recent books' option to let you find the last few books you've read quickly.)

No, good idea. (And I can see the value in also having a 'recent books' option to let you find the last few books you've read quickly.)

My ebookwise can sort content by:
title, author, book size, recently read, recently downloaded all with or without categories (genre). These are all useful. Too bad new eBook makers don't learn from the past.

Dale

RTF support is asked for several times in this thread, it surprises me. Someone also mentioned Word format. Do you even know that there is free software that can easily convert from RTF or Word to PDF format, and how simple this? One click of a button and you've got what you need.

Some asked for CHM support: there are also tools available for conversion to PDF.

RTF support is asked for several times in this thread, it surprises me. Someone also mentioned Word format. Do you even know that there is free software that can easily convert from RTF or Word to PDF format, and how simple this? One click of a button and you've got what you need.

There is a conversion tool that goes from Word 2003 to Mobipocket. You just have to download Mobipocket Creator from http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft. It builds a nice Mobi book that is read natively on the Cybook.

RTF support is asked for several times in this thread, it surprises me. Someone also mentioned Word format. Do you even know that there is free software that can easily convert from RTF or Word to PDF format, and how simple this? One click of a button and you've got what you need.

Some asked for CHM support: there are also tools available for conversion to PDF.

Converting to Word or PDF makes no real sense. Converting from RTF to Mobipocket makes far more sense.

Derek

Exactly, pdf is much less practical. Yes you can easily convert rtf and doc to text, but it's still going to take a while; how much more straightforward if they would do it for you in software? It's not hard; if not doc then at least rtf which is an open format. Also, a massive benefit would be the ability to take work documents with me to read on the go.

Converting to Word or PDF makes no real sense. Converting from RTF to Mobipocket makes far more sense.

Derek

Doesn't Mobipocket support just only a single font or is it the Cybook that doesn't support that in Mobipocket format? Anyway I'd put my bets on PDF format which should be able to handle any kind of formatting. If it's the same story with PDF... then adding RTF support wouldn't be of much help either.

Doesn't Mobipocket support just only a single font or is it the Cybook that doesn't support that in Mobipocket format? Anyway I'd put my bets on PDF format which should be able to handle any kind of formatting. If it's the same story with PDF... then adding RTF support wouldn't be of much help either.

MobiPocket supports more than one size font but it has to be coded in the database. The default font is supposed to be left to the user.

Dale

Yes but... Mobipocket *ON* the Cybook only allows one font family at a time. It's easy enough to switch between font families 'on-the-fly', but you're not going to see that nifty serif font for general text with sans-serif for quoted text - or vice versa. If you select Georgia from the font family list, everything is going to show up in Georgia until you choose Verdana, or whatever other font you've installed.

Derek

MobiPocket books can explicitly say "display this paragraph using 10pt Courier bold" (or whatever) but the Mobi reader on the Gen3 doesn't currently support this feature - it displays the entire book in whatever font the user has chosen. It supports "style" and size changes, but not "face" changes.

I wonder how one would manage The Neverending Story... at least the paper editions I have use green and red text for action in the real world or in the Fantasia world.

I wonder how one would manage The Neverending Story... at least the paper editions I have use green and red text for action in the real world or in the Fantasia world.

Black for red and light gray for green, I'd suppose. Don't know if it would work right now, but it could be done.

*** New information ***

As far as BookDesigner is concerned, neither html or rtf versions of a sample text with different body text colors will import as anything but black text.

Mobipocket Creator DID create a mobipocket ebook with color text. And under Mobipocket Reader on my WindowsXP PC, the red and green text show up quite nicely. AND - the red text shows up as black on my Cybook while the green text shows up as light gray!

I'm attaching the sample ebook files. The Benner_A Neverending RTF was created using Book Designer and NewBookColor was created using Mobipocket Creator. Both were created using the RTF version of my sample ebook.


Derek

I wonder how one would manage The Neverending Story... at least the paper editions I have use green and red text for action in the real world or in the Fantasia world.

Normal font for the real world and italics for Fantasia

Some more thoughts after a few days of using the Cybook...

I would really like to see user-programmable buttons. There are six buttons there on either side of the Cybook and if you don't use music then three of them are not used at all, four if you count the delete button. In the meantime, the menu system is a little clunky for adding bookmarks, changing font size, etc.

It would be so much more convenient if you could use a single button (in my case I'd like to use the music button) to bookmark a page (as you can in Palm Reader for example); or if you could configure the plus and minus buttons to be page up / page down buttons, or alternatively enlarge font / reduce font. Wouldn't that make more sense? Seems such a waste to reserve them for music volume.

So... there are many good ideas here in this thread. But does Bookeen come here to read this? The OP is a regular user as far as I can see, asking what features others would like to see in updated firmware. Or do you also e mail your ideas directly to Bookeen?

My ideas for new features:

1) Page number shown on screen (page/total)
2) PDF: option to show each page over two display pages on the Cybook (each half zoomed to fit) separately, disregarding the page size that is set in the PDF file. A normal page would be shown as two half pages in landscape orientation.
3) Easy browsing, through the library, book pages, or - if provided - files and folders, ... Anything that can be large in number. There should be ways to browse many (hundreds of) items easy and fast and painlessly. Step forward by 5 or 10 pages, goto page number or letter(s) (if sorted alphabetically), etc: enter number by up/down/left/right mapping to digit up/digit down/hundreds,tens,ones.
4) Configuration of the many different preferences people might have in an editable config file. E.g. startup with library or last shown book page; button mapping; order of menu items and default highlighted menu item; etc.

It is necessarily DJVU viewer!!!:)

What the heck is "DJVU"? I thought I was pretty familiar with file formats, but that's a new one on me :).

What the heck is "DJVU"? I thought I was pretty familiar with file formats, but that's a new one on me :).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DjVu

I've run into them now and again, but I wouldn't call supporting it a must-have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DjVu

I've run into them now and again, but I wouldn't call supporting it a must-have.

It is also in our local wiki.

Dale

I've been using the NAEB version for a few weeks and while it's nice enough I still find myself using my eBookwise also.

The biggest reason is that if the temp is below 45 degrees, the eBookwise will freeze up after about 15 minutes. Sorta sucks while waiting for the bus in the morning.

In addition, the UI on the Ebookwise is mush more user friendly, the buttons are easier to use, it's much faster, and you can use it in the dark.

Frankly, outside of the weight and obsolete memory card format, I prefer the Ebookwise. And whoever came up with the @#$% square button for the Cybook should be taken out back and beaten. Fine, use is for UI navigation but they should have included dedicated page turn buttons.

The biggest reason is that if the temp is below 45 degrees, the eBookwise will freeze up after about 15 minutes.

I hope you mean 45 °F (7 °C)... I was worried when I first read it, since 45 °C is 113 °F...

I hope you mean 45 °F (7 °C)... I was worried when I first read it, since 45 °C is 113 °F...

Yes, I mean °F.

was reading a long book and got some experience with bookmarks.
it would be fancy to have some inprovements like:
1. Bookmark number
2. List of Bookmarks
3. Last Read Pager bookmark
4. Line marked bookmarks - using word look-up engine

4. Line marked bookmarks - using word look-up engine

That would be very nice to have and very useful.