In this thread we can continue to discuss pros and cons of desired features.
Otherwise
iRex has dedicated subforums regarding all feature requests and BUG REPORTS:
General DR1000 forum
Feedback and Bugs only forum
PC Companion Software forum
Pressreader forum
In case this post is not up-to-date,
this wiki might prove informative.
Also of interest:
iRex' official blog.
Direct link to iRex' firmware repository (manual install, latest.zip always contains the current version)
The PC Companion Software (if the automatic update doesn't work for you)
Current Software Version (Release Notes):
1.7.1 (Bugfix, only a post on
the iRex blog)
Older versions:
1.7 /
PDF version
1.6 /
PDF version
1.5 /
PDF version /
Updated User Manual
1.03 (no release notes, strictly adds
PressReader functionality)
1.02
1.01
General Update Notes:
- Tabbed Task Manager added, Spanish & Italian added, other fixes & improvements in 1.7.
- Improved keyboard and more power management tweaks in 1.6. (Updated NewsReader)
- Improved user interface and better power management in 1.5.
- Improved pen speed, more accurate battery indicator in 1.02.
Not yet implemented as of 1.7:
- Still no
Eraser (and extra button) support for the Pro pen, as announced at the DR1000 launch(!). Somewhat alleviated in 1.5 by using corresponding shortcut in toolbar, but of course the pen eraser would even work in fullscreen mode when the toolbar isn't visible.
- Related: For the sketching functionality, using the one
pen button as UNDO would improve usability a lot, especially in fullscreen mode.
-
Very important: There is no
"Clear page" in the Writing menu, right now everything has to be erased stroke by stroke using the eraser... CURRENT WORKAROUND: From a PC: erase the corresponding metadata.db or rename the original PDF, but that also removes any other info stored in the same file.
-
Enable Text Input in addition to sketching. The software keyboard is already there... faster to write, easier to read. Should be fairly easy to store in the metadata.db
-
Remember the view setting per folder. The Home folder is nice to have as icons for instance, but for picture/PDF folders the list view is more convenient. Somewhat alleviated in 1.5 by using corresponding shortcut in toolbar.
-
Remember the last image/document in a folder (i.e. when returning to that folder, it will be highlighted rather than the first item in the folder) Similar to remembering last page viewed in document. Current clunky workaround: Create shortcut instead.
- For large volumes of single pages or images,
browse compressed folders & display their content as long as it's in a supported format would be very useful (instead of literally having over 10000 files on my reader because of that)
- Expanded font menu with
custom fonts/styles, esp. add at least a SERIF font! 1.5 adds more font sizes at least. CURRENT WORKAROUND: Use the recently released
FBReader.
-
Improve controls when zooming: (some improvements in 1.5 (zoom levels))
1)
Optional key assignment in preferences (i.e. left and bottom for panning, right for flipping pages or similar) when images are LARGER than display.
2)
Auto-detect zoom-level/image-size: If the image is SMALLER than display, do NOT enable PAN.
(Currently you can only flip through a series of images when using Full Screen, Fit to Screen or Hide Margins (Not Page Flow) When using ANY Zoom setting, all the keys are switched to panning even when the image is SMALLER than the screen resolution. You have to use the pen (and no full screen) to flip pages in this mode. CURRENT WORKAROUND: Pan can be manually disabled in the Zooming menu!
- The
"Go To Page" feature should also be an
icon in the menu! Right now I have to disable Full Screen mode every time I want to use that feature (to be able to click on the current page to call up the window)
-
"Close -ALL- Documents" icon in the top-level menu, instead of the submenu for each individual document... (I ran out of memory when zooming in a large image, which resulted in instability and reset after the warning, so that would be a quick way to free it up as much as possible.)
-
Display Owner's information at boot-up and maybe in the Info panel, in case it gets lost and an honest soul actually wants to return it.
-
Adjust contrast/design of software keyboard. Would just involve updating the graphics... (the letters are clearly visible, the rest not so much. In some ways the Iliad one was a better design.)
-
Rotate screen 180 degrees in Portrait Mode. Useful to get Menu keys out of the way when scribbling, USB cable connector out of the way when used while recharging. Currently only an option in Landscape Mode (via Buttons on the left or right side option)
Long-term Features:
- Proper
(X)HTML + CSS support. Planned in upcoming browser, which will be available to everybody, not just owners of the upcoming DR1000SW. The DR1000SW has been much delayed, so that probably means no support for the foreseeable future. CURRENT WORKAROUND: Use -latest- version of FBReader.
-
2-page display, especially in Landscape mode, when reading mostly text.
-
Real Keyboard Support, USB or Bluetooth (very unlikely)
Implemented in some form as of 1.7:
-
Switch the margin color between black and white (in Personal Preferences maybe) Right now the default is black, but I would prefer white, if only because when I print on a real piece of paper, the unprinted area remains white too.
White is now default as of 1.7!
- Use the
icons in the menu bar not just as static status indicators, but also as active shortcuts (ex. click on the padlock to lock/unlock the keys, click on the pen icon to cycle through the different modes: pan, write...) Then add a few more!
Added in 1.5, with additional shortcuts.
-
Saving the "Zooming" menu preferences for each document/image folder would be very useful, especially with all the current resets/shutdowns...
Added in 1.01. Still somewhat buggy.
Fixed in 1.5
-
Improve sketching performance and accuracy! Much Improved in 1.02. Probably no longer an issue: It would nice to see a separate
pixel/bitmap-based sketching application that takes full advantage of the pen and the screen tech, and is more sophisticated and dedicated than the sketch functionality right now. The current one works OK, and inside/on top of documents for annotations (which is certainly useful). The new one could be dedicated and do away with the required compatibility with other doc formats and their metadata.db
-
remember the last page read, even across a reset.
Added in 1.01.