Sammy of PalmAddicts sent us note (http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/2008/08/ereader-for-the.html) that version 1.1 of eReader for iPhone / iTouch has been released. As we've mentioned earlier (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27086), this upgrade adds the ability to browse to other web sites (http://www.manybooks.net) offering eReader-formatted content.

Ready for your immediate consumption over here (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284499993&mt=8).

Full list of changes (http://www.ereader.com/help/iphonefaq.htm):

The ability to download eReader PDB files from web sites other than eReader.com and Fictionwise.com, as well as personal content in eReader PDB format.
New options to: lock screen orientation, tap instead of swipe to turn pages, choose white text on black background, turn off page animation, and turn off full justification of text.
Ability to sort the on-device bookshelf by author, title, or download date.
Better error messages and several bug fixes.


Demo of new features:

oFXC_bmu1x4

The tap-to-turn, and extra sorting options are great! And also being able to use manybooks.net for downloading material is a great extra for an already excellent application.

Is there a list of other sites that would be appropriate for downloading with the eReader app?

The tap-to-turn, and extra sorting options are great! And also being able to use manybooks.net for downloading material is a great extra for an already excellent application.

Is there a list of other sites that would be appropriate for downloading with the eReader app?

Look in eBook Stores in the wiki. Most sites are identified as to what formats they support. Always check the wiki!

Dale

It's great that they're showing a demo - it really does make it look easy to work. It really is too bad the iPhone requires AT&T (the evil empire). ;)

The tap-to-turn, and extra sorting options are great! And also being able to use manybooks.net for downloading material is a great extra for an already excellent application.

Is there a list of other sites that would be appropriate for downloading with the eReader app?
Munseys (http://www.munseys.com) is gearing up to offer eReader format, but it isn't in place yet. Another place to check is Memoware (http://www.memoware.com).
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Dennis

It's great that they're showing a demo - it really does make it look easy to work. It really is too bad the iPhone requires AT&T (the evil empire). ;)

This all runs on the iPod Touch too.

BOb

Nice! Now I just need autoscroll. Autoscroll! Autoscroll! Autoscroll!

It's great that they're showing a demo - it really does make it look easy to work. It really is too bad the iPhone requires AT&T (the evil empire). ;)

/me shouts "Jailbreak!!!!!" and looks the other way :whistle:

You can upload your own books to a "Personal Shelf" in your Fictionwise Account and then get them onto your iPhone from there. There are a few other options they are investigating to allow you to download directly from your PC/Mac, but in the meantime the Personal Shelf at Fictionwise worked for me.

Now that I can upload my own content, I am looking for software for the Mac to convert files to ereader format. Does anyone know of a free solution, or do I need to buy the $30 eReader software?

Thanks, Michael

Now that I can upload my own content, I am looking for software for the Mac to convert files to ereader format. Does anyone know of a free solution, or do I need to buy the $30 eReader software?

Thanks, Michael
What kind of source files do you want to convert? I don't know of any solutions for converting other ebook formats directly to eReader. You would need to get the content into PML format first.

The Dropbook utility can take PML files and create eReader documents. It's freeware, and available for the Mac.

There is also a Java app called Makebook, which is no longer developed or supported.

You can find Dropbook and Makebook here (http://www.ereader.com/ereader/help/dropbook/download.htm).

Instructions for using them are here (http://www.ereader.com/ereader/help/dropbook/run.htm).

And the Palm Markup Language is documented here (http://www.ereader.com/ereader/help/dropbook/pml.htm).

There are various macro files available for Microsoft Word and Open Office Writer that generate PML formatted texts you can feed to Dropbook. I haven't used them, and can't comment on how well they work. If you use either Word or OO Writer on the Mac, I'll try to dig up links for you.
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Dennis

Doesn't Stanza (http://lexcycle.com) export in eReader format? I see that it's in the "export" menu, but I haven't tried it.

ETA - okay, I just tried it and it worked just fine. I uploaded the file to the FW Personal Content, downloaded it to the iPhone, and it opened just fine.

HTH,
Tracey

If you have word or open office on your mac there are macros for both applications to create PML files that can be used with dropbook. Check the eReader wiki.

Dale

Doesn't Stanza (http://lexcycle.com) export in eReader format? I see that it's in the "export" menu, but I haven't tried it.

ETA - okay, I just tried it and it worked just fine. I uploaded the file to the FW Personal Content, downloaded it to the iPhone, and it opened just fine.

HTH,
Tracey

They certainly don't indicate any support for this format. Are you sure it was not PalmDOC? eReader does support PalmDOC format as well. Did it specifically say eReader?

Dale

Doesn't Stanza (http://lexcycle.com) export in eReader format? I see that it's in the "export" menu, but I haven't tried it.

ETA - okay, I just tried it and it worked just fine. I uploaded the file to the FW Personal Content, downloaded it to the iPhone, and it opened just fine.

HTH,
Tracey

The problem with Stanza is that it isn't very good about setting the Name/Author of a book when it exports it. Otherwise, it would be perfect.

Michael

The problem with Stanza is that it isn't very good about setting the Name/Author of a book when it exports it. Otherwise, it would be perfect.

Michael

You should report your issues so that they fix them before release. Stanza is still in beta after all.

BOb

They certainly don't indicate any support for this format. Are you sure it was not PalmDOC? eReader does support PalmDOC format as well. Did it specifically say eReader?

Dale

Ya got me there. They have export formats for "Palm Doc" (creates a file with a default extension of prc), "eReader" (pdb) and "Palm Database" (pdb again). A cmp of the exported files eReader.pdb and PalmDatabase.pdb show them to be identical.

So, I guess you're right, it's probably not truly eReader - but then I think it's misleading of them to specifically use "eReader" as an export format.

The problem with Stanza is that it isn't very good about setting the Name/Author of a book when it exports it. Otherwise, it would be perfect.

Michael

I totally agree. I've emailed support and they say they're planning on adding editing of metadata but it hasn't shown up in 8 betas so far :( Maybe beta 9 :D

Ya got me there. They have export formats for "Palm Doc" (creates a file with a default extension of prc), "eReader" (pdb) and "Palm Database" (pdb again). A cmp of the exported files eReader.pdb and PalmDatabase.pdb show them to be identical.

So, I guess you're right, it's probably not truly eReader - but then I think it's misleading of them to specifically use "eReader" as an export format.
Easy enough to find out. PalmDOC is the Palm OS version of a plain ASCII text file, in a Palm Database format, and compressed to save space in RAM. DOC readers decompress it on the fly as they display it.

eReader files are in PML markup format, and support color, fonts, text attributes, images, and links.

Export something with the latter from Stanza and see what it looks like in eReader.
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Dennis

eReader sells "eBook Studio" software to create ereader format books. Go to "Software" and click on Windows or Macintosh to get the correct version. I was trying to figure out how to convert before I noticed it sitting in my ereader library. Bought it five years ago and completely forgot about it.

It works well. Shows a real time preview, actual page breaks, sets all the metadata, lots of formatting options.

Okay, I uploaded a bunch of my personal (non-copyrighted) .pdb files to my Personal Content bookshelf on the eReader website. Now how to I get them on to my iPhone? The eReader site says you do it "exactly the same way you would download your purchases" except nuh-uh. On the iPhone, when I tap the plus sign, all I see are my actually purchased books. The personal content is nowhere in sight.

Has anyone else had this issue and found a solution?

I can see my uploaded items. Are you sure they are correctly formatted and that you're logged in to the correct library (you need to log in to fictionwise and ereader separately)? I used the ereader ebook studio software mentioned above.

i'm a windows mobile user since Casio era. Around that dark ebook times, i chose microsoft reader format as there had been convertlit around to help 'unsecure' my purchased ebooks (yes, i went through hell with amazon.com and bn.com when they closed their ebookstore. Luckily i got that convertlit, and now with fictionwise.com, powells.com and ebooks.com).
Fast forward to three months ago. I'm comfortable with .lit, since i can blow the file and use the .opf file to create mobi .prc with all the formatting intact - so far. Then i got lucky to win an iphone 8gb with 1.1.3 firmware.
Downloaded books.app, rubooks.app, and still not content with them.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, when i decided to go to FW 2.0.1 (for 3G iphone but works for my gprs/edge one). Why? Because i want to check ereader.app
Ereader has done a good job, with some minor tweaking needed (chapter jump or page jump like in msreader?).
Then comes the .pdb format issue. I'm trying to find a software that can read the .opf from my blown .lit files, and create a .pdb with all formatting intact. I could do this to .prc, so basically when i bought .lit, i can convert it to mobi .prc. I have a library in .lit and .prc.
But not in .pdb... yet.
I tested the reader studio demo from ereader.com site, and still not satisfied as it doesn't preserve the formatting based from the .opf file.
As for downloading, i tried with fictionwise personal folder, and it went fine. But perhaps (i havent tried this with ebook, but have done it successfully with songs and video) using iphoneexplorer (on an XP machine) i can just drag and drop my .pdb to my iphone harddisk. I will find some free time to test this, as my main machine at home runs win2k.

cheers
TK

eReader 1.2 is now available.

Do you know what the differences are between 1.1 and 1.2?

Never mind - just seen another thread listing the changes :).

Do you know what the differences are between 1.1 and 1.2?

NEW: What New Features are in the 1.2 Release?
eReader for iPhone and iPod touch version 1.2 includes the following new features:

* Status and navigation bar hiding after 5 seconds to give you the full screen while reading your books.
* Page number display and page slider bar.
* Introduction of the book unlock hint.
* Added Medium-large and Colossal font sizes.
* Use middle truncation in the Table of Contents and bookshelf titles.
* Back button for link navigation.
* About eReader screen.
* Several other various improvements and bug fixes.

TK--

You might want to check out Stanza--another reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It reads non drm-ed mobi and lit files (as well as many other formats). There is a desktop interface for both Mac and Windows that allows you to transfer files to your iPhone.

dordale :)