[JeffElkins]

I wanted to post a message regarding firmware 1.3, now released for Readers sold in France. The next version of PRSCustomizer will support it, and I bet that many folks will switch to it. To quote igorsk:

The French firmware is quite advanced, they added switchable localization, customizable date format, proper (locale-specific) title sorting and grouping.

The xml is more complex than the previous versions, but I've successfully ported the clock and now have 1.3 working fully with the Universal Flasher. The cool thing is that Sony has added localization via an xml file, kbookLanguageAssets.

I'm testing a feature to PRSCustomizer for the 1.3 firmware that allows one to load a user defined language file; this eliminates Porkupan having to rewrite his routines each time a new language is added, then me having to port his changes to PRSCustomizer. I think this will be very popular with the international users; it also opens up the possibility of customizing the Reader's menus and prompts in your own language.

I've attached the English language xml file. Changing it is simply a matter of editing a text file:

To localize my Reader to Finnish I would change:

<string id="STR_NODE_TITLE_BEGIN" value="Begin"

To:

<string id="STR_NODE_TITLE_BEGIN" value="Aloittaa"

Changing the date format is equally easy:

MM/DD/YY

<string id="STR_FORMAT_DATE" value="MM/DD/YY"/

or DD/MM/YY

<string id="STR_FORMAT_DATE" value="DD/MM/YY"/