Audio files
 

I have a question relating to ebook reading devices, as well as formats. There doesn't seem to be a generic subforum under "devices", so I'll ask here.

I know that in an epub I can have links to multimedia content. Specifically, I am thinking of MP3 files. I want to imbed a link, so that as you are reading, you can listen to an audio clip at an appropriate time.

At this point, I don't know if Mobipocket, Lit or other formats support this. I plan on doing some testing, using the Windows versions of the various reader softwares. When I get a chance, I'll throw together a sample ebook or two for testing.

What I can't test (not having the hardware) is whether any of the hardware ebook readers support this functionallity. If you are reading an ebook and select an embedded link to an MP3, what happens? Does the clip play? Is the reading experience totally interrupted by the playing of the audio, or are things integrated smoothly? Other observations are also welcome.

I don't know of any eBook format which supports this functionality.

I know that epub doesn't yet specifically support audio, but I can link to external files that are listed in the manifest. Since many of the ebook readers seem to have the ability to play MP3 files, I was wondering if they would play if linked from within an ebook.

All of the eBook readers that support mp3 currently play mp3 in the background and there is no syncing or changing the file from within the eBook being read. It could be a nice feature for the future but the only thing close today is the AAX support on Kindle2. It works exactly the opposite. An audio file kicks off a screen display at points in the file.

Dale

How to enbed audio/video files in ePub/Mobi/SONY

It is easy to embed this files with a simple link but I do not believe these are supported by ADE or Mobi firmware. A video file would not display in E-INK anyway do to the extended refresh times, a video would look like a collection of single pictures displayed every second or so.

Dale