Yes, simcard is in complete set of V8.
About new software:
I will say, what I had time to check and notice...
Improved text layout (justified), especialy in Russian (txt, wolf).
Improved margins - now they are very small (about 3mm around the text)
There is a folder "New books" - it is an analogue to "Favorites" for pc - last books you open you can find there.
BTW, Jinke remembers all books, you open, the last page you was reading, caracter size (zoomed or normal)!
So actually, you don't need bookmarks - just open one book read some pages, open another one, two,three or more books - V8 remembers where you stopped reading and your caracter size. Very good!
But, of course, you can use bookmarks - 3 unique per one book. You can cancel them and make new where you like.
For txt-files now you can see correct total number of pages at the second screen. You can jump to any desired page number by pressing (for example 4-7-8+ok for page #478). It was working only with wolf files before).
About battery life:
I realy don't know how long can V8 stay without use... I think it depends of the battery self-discharge...
But when reading you can turn pages about 9000 times. It was a "crash-test" made by LVD.
In real use + battery self-discharge I think it is more real about 6000 page turns... But if you set it aside for a year - I think your battery will be empty with or without V8
As I noticed, using the second screen is more power-capacious, and firmware updates too.
Since the end of May I charged it two times (500mAh). And never switch it off.