played with new wifi kobo

[digital_steve]

I'm wondering if the dictionary works with KOBO bought books that have had their DRM stripped.

[Achan]

Hey all, just checked out the kobo wifi at chapters. Apparently the latest firmware is 1.7. Dated Oct 7. However, I don't think it is the version it comes with because one of the demo units was mid upgrading its firmware over the air when I went in. I wonder what's new to justify such a jump.

[Squirsier]

Originally Posted by taming

Thanks for the reply Sensual Poet. Now, I wonder about the Sony readers? Does their dictionary work with all ePUB books regardless of the source?

Yes, they do!

[plaid]

The unit I checked out showed version 0, thought that was a bit strange.

[Achan]

Originally Posted by plaid

The unit I checked out showed version 0, thought that was a bit strange.

Yeah, that's weird. The one I saw said "Software Version 1.7 (r19517, Oct 7 2010)".

Also, I timed the start up from power off. From letting go of the button took almost exactly 30 secs (I think someone threw out that number earlier in this post too).

With the shop button replacing the Display button, the display options are now tucked away as a submenu.

Someone metioned that you can delete books from the I'm reading list on the device itself. I'm sorry to report that I tried looking for that option but didn't see it. Don't recall seeing a 'go to page' option either (but this last one i totally forgot to look for so it's based on my bad memory).

[Joyful]

I bought the new WiFi Kobo 2 days ago and so far I'm happy I did.
Mine has version 1.7.

I still have my original Kobo and in comparing the 2 screens (both my Kobos are black) the new one is definitely easier to read and page turns are much faster. I also like that the navigation button is quieter now.

I couldn't care less about the WiFi feature. I enabled it to see if it worked and then disabled it. I won't be buying anything through the Kobo - the computer is much easier.


I confess I was really hoping for the ability to bookmark specific pages and was disappointed to find out it wasn't included in this edition. I had assumed that was close to being the number 1 most-wanted feature request. I'm baffled as to why it hasn't been included yet. I read a lot of text docs that I convert to ePub using Calibre and it would be so helpful to be able to bookmark pages.

Just timed my new Kobo and it goes to sleep in 15 minutes - that's the same as the previous one, I think. It's been asleep for 2 and 1/2 hours and still hasn't powered off. I don't know how long the older Kobo takes from sleep to power off.

Joyful

[digital_steve]

1.7 is probably a beta designation or, more likely, a release candidate designation... when it's released it'll probably just revert to 1.5 (final revision).

[digital_steve]

You know the total shit of a thing... this isn't a kobo 2, it's a kobo 1.5. It's the kobo the original should've been.
For all my whining, i really like the kobo and i like supporting smaller companies. The kobo lets you read books; nice!
But for a second one so close to the first to come out, with a feature set that really does not scream "kobo sequel" (the wifi looks particularly lack-luster) and also without a pearl screen... it just seems they learned a few things with the original and included some bits in this one.

We all want faster page turns, quiter dpad clicks would be great and i, personally, would adore a usable dictionary... is it worth the $149CAD (whatever that is going to translate into for Aussie buyers)? No way.
I bought my KOBO not so long ago for $199AUD, why should i have to fork that out again?

My view (personal one) is that they should've done more R&D for the next kobo unit whilst ironing out firmware and software issues on the original unit

[JPenguin]

I would have liked more improvements in the hardware for a new Kobo but I also don't think it hurts the consumer to release a slight spec bumped device now. I really think the updated reader is very similar to the old device, the software changes from the new device should be fairly compatible with the old one too. We won't have the faster processor, WiFi or 16 levels of gray but the dictionary, library improvements, etc could be used with few changes on the old devices*.

* The changing the display -> shop button isn't a great indicator that they wanted to keep the firmware fairly device agnostic though.

Originally Posted by digital_steve

I'm wondering if the dictionary works with KOBO bought books that have had their DRM stripped.

I doubt it, to strip the DRM from a Kobo book would require the book in ePub format. From what I understand it's only the Kobo-format books (which are not ePub) which support dictionary.

Does the dictionary support work with WiFi disabled/no signal? I wonder if the dictionary support requires a data connection or whether they build in a dictionary storage function on the device itself. If WiFi is required for the dictionary then obviously this feature wouldn't be portable to old Kobo.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by digital_steve

You know the total shit of a thing... this isn't a kobo 2, it's a kobo 1.5. It's the kobo the original should've been.
For all my whining, i really like the kobo and i like supporting smaller companies. The kobo lets you read books; nice!
But for a second one so close to the first to come out, with a feature set that really does not scream "kobo sequel" (the wifi looks particularly lack-luster) and also without a pearl screen... it just seems they learned a few things with the original and included some bits in this one.

We all want faster page turns, quiter dpad clicks would be great and i, personally, would adore a usable dictionary... is it worth the $149CAD (whatever that is going to translate into for Aussie buyers)? No way.
I bought my KOBO not so long ago for $199AUD, why should i have to fork that out again?

My view (personal one) is that they should've done more R&D for the next kobo unit whilst ironing out firmware and software issues on the original unit

Interesting perspective. Not a Kobo owner but my opinion with the two being released reasonably close to one another is; if Kobo do not continue to support the original and update the firmware to fix some of these issues, thus concentrate only on the new wifi model, then I'd be rather pissed if I had bought one. If Kobo continue to support the pre-wifi model then as a consumer I would not be disappointed with the new release.

[corona]

Originally Posted by Achan

With the shop button replacing the Display button, the display options are now tucked away as a submenu.

And the "shop" button is cheesy!

[digital_steve]

Originally Posted by JPenguin

I doubt it, to strip the DRM from a Kobo book would require the book in ePub format. From what I understand it's only the Kobo-format books (which are not ePub) which support dictionary.

WTF is kobo format?
Is this new or something? As far as i know, the KOBO is an epub reader...

[digital_steve]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Interesting perspective. Not a Kobo owner but my opinion with the two being released reasonably close to one another is; if Kobo do not continue to support the original and update the firmware to fix some of these issues, thus concentrate only on the new wifi model, then I'd be rather pissed if I had bought one. If Kobo continue to support the pre-wifi model then as a consumer I would not be disappointed with the new release.

My feeling is that we'll see one more firmware update for the original and that will be it; R&D will go towards the KOBO 3 or whatever is next, basing their info from the KOBO 2/Wifi results.

Interesting business plan nonetheless

[zoran]

Originally Posted by digital_steve

My feeling is that we'll see one more firmware update for the original and that will be it; R&D will go towards the KOBO 3 or whatever is next, basing their info from the KOBO 2/Wifi results.

Sad, but sounds as to be true.
I do understand manufacturer. Too many alligators in a small pool.
I assume go-to cannot be implemented properly the way they use
sqlite. I'm not ready to investigate, since it takes time and effort
that cannot be paid back. What matters to me is: is the screen
white enough, crisp enough. Does the battery last more than 3 books.
Go-to, if they could go around it. Else? Nothing, nada, nitschevo.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by digital_steve

WTF is kobo format?
Is this new or something? As far as i know, the KOBO is an epub reader...

Kobo bookstore apparently sells books in their own format (sqlite?). As the only ebook I purchased from that store was ePUB, I have had no experience with this.

I am unsure to what my next ereader will be, but interest in the Sony PRS-650 is starting to grow in me, even though it is $100+ more than the Ko1/Ko2.