The Cybook Frame made me wonder if you can now read while using external power? - Page 4

tompe · 03-02-2008, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

As we are discussing in another thread, it seems that they did exactly what they said they would - released a firmware upgrade (build 538) around mid January which does indeed appear to have fixed at least the majority of the reported bugs. If you write to "support@bookeen.com" and request it, they'll send you reflash instructions.

That is not a release. And I was never told that there was a new version that might solve my problem. And they did not recommende me to upgrade.

It might be so stupid that they do not release it since they have not finished writing the installer program.

It is kind of annoying that they put a newer firmware with bug fixed on new devices but do not tell customers with old firmware that they can ask for an upgrade which might fix problems.

HarryT · 03-02-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

It is kind of annoying that they put a newer firmware with bug fixed on new devices but do not tell customers with old firmware that they can ask for an upgrade which might fix problems.

I agree - I only found out about it by asking out the release date for the "official" upgrade. I'm very pleased to have it, though, because now I can use my dictionary without having to wonder every time I look up a word whether or not I'm going to have to reset the CyBook. Would have been nice, though, if they'd told the people who'd previously reported bugs that it was available.

Perhaps, though, they felt that the "it'll be released in a few weeks" reply they were giving people back in December was sufficient, and assumed that people who ask again in a few weeks?

Anyway, we've got it and the bugs have been fixed - that's the important thing.

Snuffi · 03-03-2008, 08:14 AM

1) About the frame: I totally agree with the people here when they say that that frame is wildly overpriced, especially if you consider the fact that for that price you already get a digital photo-frame including a colour screen and specialized firmware which does everything from slideshow to various effects when blending from one picture to the next. Just a little more money would probably already get you one with WLAN to display your pictures right from your PC. Why would I want a black-and-white-only device if I can get a colour frame for about half what they charge for the frame alone (and no, it's not an arts vs. holiday photographs thing because for real art it is way too small, IMHO).
BUT, and here I disagree, I doubt that they had to put a lot of effort into this frame. Someone mentioned that some artist might have approached them with the idea and the fact that they state on their site that each frame is "unique" and "numbered" suggests that it is not mass-produced but crafted by someone outside the company. It, therefore, has no or very, very little impact on issues and deliveries of their Cybook. So, even though I wouldn't buy one, I think it's a very good idea to enable small companies to make a little money with some add-on for their product. I wished that more big companies would add some gadgets and add-ons from smaller firms to their store because that would give smaller firms a chance and wouldn't cost the bigger ones a thing...

2) About the communication with Bookeen: I still think that submitting bugs via e-mail is not a good idea as it takes way too much effort to reply to every single one that it is being looked into. For this kind of communication you need a forum. People can post their findings and other people will see that the issue is already known and being worked on. Info about a release can be given to all interested users and if the date has to be postponed it just needs a single post to let people know.
Most of the people here are not that deperately waiting for the firmware that they need an exact date but if no information gets out or word is only spread by bits and pieces from several sources people get the impression that not much is going on and start to get impatient.

Even if they don't want to host a forum for getting in touch with their customers (and I'd be hard pressed for a reason why they would not) they could at least use the blog to give people an idea what's going on: Post a list of bugs currently being fixed. Post a preliminary release date. Post some info why they postponed the date (be honest, who would really complain if they posted something like "we just got in this and that bug and we felt it important enough to rather postpone the new firmware two weeks than make all the people affected by this bug wait a couple of month until the next release")
Communication is key here, and I fail to see why they make it so much harder on themselves by trying to do all that in a one-on-one way via e-mail instead of using a simple forum or making more of the blog they already have in place.

Zarkov · 03-04-2008, 09:43 AM

I agree with the sentiment that Bookeen customer support is a mess. Not because of slow replies but customers support by email alone is just a bad idea in these spam infested times.

Any sort of webform would be better. Enter a problem, enter your email address and submit. Auto send a ticket or support number and your set. The customer knows he’s actually being helped and you have a decent way of tracking various bugs.
At the moment I have no idea if I’m being helped at all and if there’s no solution at the moment I can’t see Bookeen finding my old emails when they develop one.

It’s nice to see that there’s such an active forum here at Mobileread but if it wasn’t, then I would have no clue whatsoever of the current state of affairs at Bookeen. I probably wouldn't have bought one either.

Tulkas · 03-08-2008, 09:02 AM

I'd prefer a supprt sub-site with any available downloads/upgrades, details of what's been fixed, perhaps the odd free book, ticket system to track any queries you've got, a forum so that ideas etc can be shared etc

JSWolf · 03-08-2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

800x600 grey jpeg and 91 kbytes.

Have just created a new eBook with this front page today and zero problems.

What about 800x600 color and a larger file size?

DDHarriman · 03-08-2008, 02:48 PM

Hi Jon

Good question, so I just tested it. Made an eBook with a first page made from a jpeg of 800x600 resolution, 166 dpi, 16 million colours, compression maximum (10) and size 256 kbytes.
No problem at all, shows perfectly on the Cybook and one can read the eBook without a problem.

Best,

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03-03-2008, 08:14 AM	#48
Snuffi Addict Posts: 245 Karma: 718 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Vienna Device: Pocketbook Pro 612, Bookeen Cybook Gen3	1) About the frame: I totally agree with the people here when they say that that frame is wildly overpriced, especially if you consider the fact that for that price you already get a digital photo-frame including a colour screen and specialized firmware which does everything from slideshow to various effects when blending from one picture to the next. Just a little more money would probably already get you one with WLAN to display your pictures right from your PC. Why would I want a black-and-white-only device if I can get a colour frame for about half what they charge for the frame alone (and no, it's not an arts vs. holiday photographs thing because for real art it is way too small, IMHO). BUT, and here I disagree, I doubt that they had to put a lot of effort into this frame. Someone mentioned that some artist might have approached them with the idea and the fact that they state on their site that each frame is "unique" and "numbered" suggests that it is not mass-produced but crafted by someone outside the company. It, therefore, has no or very, very little impact on issues and deliveries of their Cybook. So, even though I wouldn't buy one, I think it's a very good idea to enable small companies to make a little money with some add-on for their product. I wished that more big companies would add some gadgets and add-ons from smaller firms to their store because that would give smaller firms a chance and wouldn't cost the bigger ones a thing... 2) About the communication with Bookeen: I still think that submitting bugs via e-mail is not a good idea as it takes way too much effort to reply to every single one that it is being looked into. For this kind of communication you need a forum. People can post their findings and other people will see that the issue is already known and being worked on. Info about a release can be given to all interested users and if the date has to be postponed it just needs a single post to let people know. Most of the people here are not that deperately waiting for the firmware that they need an exact date but if no information gets out or word is only spread by bits and pieces from several sources people get the impression that not much is going on and start to get impatient. Even if they don't want to host a forum for getting in touch with their customers (and I'd be hard pressed for a reason why they would not) they could at least use the blog to give people an idea what's going on: Post a list of bugs currently being fixed. Post a preliminary release date. Post some info why they postponed the date (be honest, who would really complain if they posted something like "we just got in this and that bug and we felt it important enough to rather postpone the new firmware two weeks than make all the people affected by this bug wait a couple of month until the next release") Communication is key here, and I fail to see why they make it so much harder on themselves by trying to do all that in a one-on-one way via e-mail instead of using a simple forum or making more of the blog they already have in place.

03-04-2008, 09:43 AM	#49
Zarkov Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Cybook gen3	I agree with the sentiment that Bookeen customer support is a mess. Not because of slow replies but customers support by email alone is just a bad idea in these spam infested times. Any sort of webform would be better. Enter a problem, enter your email address and submit. Auto send a ticket or support number and your set. The customer knows he’s actually being helped and you have a decent way of tracking various bugs. At the moment I have no idea if I’m being helped at all and if there’s no solution at the moment I can’t see Bookeen finding my old emails when they develop one. It’s nice to see that there’s such an active forum here at Mobileread but if it wasn’t, then I would have no clue whatsoever of the current state of affairs at Bookeen. I probably wouldn't have bought one either.

03-08-2008, 09:02 AM	#50
Tulkas Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: London, UK Device: iLiad, CyBook Gen3, iPod Touch, PB 360	I'd prefer a supprt sub-site with any available downloads/upgrades, details of what's been fixed, perhaps the odd free book, ticket system to track any queries you've got, a forum so that ideas etc can be shared etc

03-08-2008, 02:48 PM	#52
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Hi Jon Good question, so I just tested it. Made an eBook with a first page made from a jpeg of 800x600 resolution, 166 dpi, 16 million colours, compression maximum (10) and size 256 kbytes. No problem at all, shows perfectly on the Cybook and one can read the eBook without a problem. Best,

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