Touch Kobo Touch Experience so far

[Aydan]

I got my Kobo Touch on Thursday and it's been a good experience so far.
But it has a few quirks of course. I'm using the 1.9.16 Firmware.

Findings:
1. I have the double tap problem as mentioned in the firmware thread.
It seems that it depends on the length of the tap. The longer the tap the less likely the problem occurs.

2. I'm missing custom folders/collections

3. WLAN management needs an uverhaul. I'd expect to be able to add new WLAN connections even if I'm in range of a registered hotspot. Right now you can only choose a new hotspot if theres no known ones in range.

4. I was unable to connect to my cellphone's WLAN. It was visible but didn't accept the WEP password. Other devices (iPhone, HTC) could connect.

5. I was unable to connect to a WLAN router with WPA. The password was not accepted. I could connect to it with the same password with my cellphone and my laptop. I could connect to another router though. Both use WPA2-PSK

6. The bookmarks and annotations dialog should open to the nearest bookmark/annotation to the currently displayed page. Right now it always opens to the first page. If you have a long book with lots of annotations this gets annoying.

7. Why can I only connect to a WLAN after I have registered a Kobo-account?

I hope that these points get addressed sometime in the near future.
All in all it's a good reader with room for improvement.

You Kobo-guys keep up the good work and keep the updates coming.

Regards
Aydan

[touring]

Do any of your passwords have special characters?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that they cause problems on the Kobo

And +1 for your point 7.
The only benefit I see in getting an account is to get firmware.
The downside is getting spammed by them constantly about their specials (unsubscibe doesn't work so you have to write a mail filter) and getting preview books thrust on you that you may not want

[voom]

I have never subscribed to any newsletter and never received a single spam-mail from Kobo, though I registered the device the regular way. Strange how different experiences with the same company and device can be...

[reader12345]

Does not maintain bookmarks

Filled with un-wanted junk and given no choices to opt out (homepage crap)

freezes on word lookup

slower page turning

NOT the KOBO Touch I want to own...fine before update..now garbage

[PeterT]

Many of those issues sound like a corrupted database on the Kobo Touch.

You might want to try a factory reset and reload books.

[Aydan]

Originally Posted by touring

Do any of your passwords have special characters?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that they cause problems on the Kobo

No special characters. Just letters and numbers.

[Latch]

The only benefit I see in getting an account is to get firmware.
The downside is getting spammed by them constantly about their specials (unsubscibe doesn't work so you have to write a mail filter) and getting preview books thrust on you that you may not want

You realize that Kobo isn't in the business of selling ereaders; it's in the business of selling books. The KT is just the vehicle you use to purchase and consume their product. I would guess that the margin on the KT is very low, and they are hoping you will purchase some books from them. When you look at it from that perspective, some of their design decisions make more sense.

[nogle]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Many of those issues sound like a corrupted database on the Kobo Touch.

You might want to try a factory reset and reload books.

But then you lose the pleasure of posting rants about how terrible the company is...

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by reader12345

Does not maintain bookmarks

Filled with un-wanted junk and given no choices to opt out (homepage crap)

freezes on word lookup

slower page turning

NOT the KOBO Touch I want to own...fine before update..now garbage

I got my touch just before Christmas and had freezes on word lookup with the old 1.9.14 firmware. Have to turn the device off (not sleep) to get the screen functioning properly. It's starting to get irritating now.

Doing a factory reset didn't help

[touring]

Originally Posted by voom

I have never subscribed to any newsletter and never received a single spam-mail from Kobo

lucky you!
Perhaps they aren't ready for the German market yet?

Originally Posted by Latch

You realize that Kobo isn't in the business of selling ereaders

That is very clear. But in many countries it is illegal to send spam mail that is clearly unwanted. If I want to shop with Kobo, then I will (and have), but don't want their sales emails after I have unsubscribed three times

[plib]

Originally Posted by Latch

You realize that Kobo isn't in the business of selling ereaders; it's in the business of selling books. The KT is just the vehicle you use to purchase and consume their product. I would guess that the margin on the KT is very low, and they are hoping you will purchase some books from them. When you look at it from that perspective, some of their design decisions make more sense.

So, being in the business of selling books allows one to spam your prospective customers?

I don't know your business background but, when a company is a pretty distant third or fourth placed in a competitive market, deliberately annoying potential customers doesn't strike me as a particularly sensible "design decision".

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by Latch

You realize that Kobo isn't in the business of selling ereaders; it's in the business of selling books. The KT is just the vehicle you use to purchase and consume their product. I would guess that the margin on the KT is very low, and they are hoping you will purchase some books from them. When you look at it from that perspective, some of their design decisions make more sense.

Amazon is the poster child for this business model... Know what? I can buy a kindle, sideload the latest firmware update, throw on my collectoin of mobi's and I'm up and running with no fuss whatsoever.

Kobo's management direction has turned into the squeegee guy at the stop lights.

[SF&F Reader]

Indeed. Selling a buggy, at times frustrating to use, ereader seems like a poor way to sell ebooks.