A neglected Reading Life feature: Faces and Places

Cameronpaterson · 02-06-2012, 12:59 PM

I haven't seen much about the Faces and Places feature (i.e. the ability to check in on Facebook with characters and places in particular books) since it was first rolled out last year. As far as I can gather, it is still unique to the iOS app, oddly enough (perhaps for technical reasons), but what about the books it can be used in? Is it specific to certain books, and if so, which ones? I have only recently started using the Kobo iOS app so am not sure

Sharkus · 02-06-2012, 02:02 PM

Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (the versions that were originally bundled in the iOS app) had faces and places data.

There are other books as well, let me just check to find out what they are.

Cameronpaterson · 02-06-2012, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharkus

Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (the versions that were originally bundled in the iOS app) had faces and places data.

There are other books as well, let me just check to find out what they are.

Thanks Sharkus. Any info gratefully received

I don't think Kobo have been making enough of this clever little function

Sharkus · 02-06-2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameronpaterson

Thanks Sharkus. Any info gratefully received

I don't think Kobo have been making enough of this clever little function

No problem, all I had to do was look through my notes to find out what they are.

Books with Faces and Places Data

Previously included with iOS app - These are free books.

Dracula
Bram Stoker
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...7Ug/page1.html

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Caroll
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...Fbw/page1.html

Books that can be purchased.

The Strain
Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...ZsQ/page1.html

The Corrections: A Novel
Jonathan Franzen
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...Dkw/page1.html

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...5VA/page1.html

Beautiful Creatures
Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...gRw/page1.html

Forever
Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...MDg/page1.html

Linger
Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...VZg/page1.html

Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...uAw/page1.html

Pride And Prejudice (Previously included with iOS app)
Jane Austen
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...Zlg/page1.html

A Complicated Kindness
Miriam Toews
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...YVQ/page1.html

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...0Jw/page1.html

Cameronpaterson · 02-06-2012, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharkus

No problem, all I had to do was look through my notes to find out what they are.

Books with Faces and Places Data

Previously included with iOS app - These are free books.

Dracula
Bram Stoker
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...7Ug/page1.html

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Caroll
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...Fbw/page1.html

Books that can be purchased.

The Strain
Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...ZsQ/page1.html

The Corrections: A Novel
Jonathan Franzen
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...Dkw/page1.html

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...5VA/page1.html

Beautiful Creatures
Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...gRw/page1.html

Forever
Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...MDg/page1.html

Linger
Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...VZg/page1.html

Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...uAw/page1.html

Pride And Prejudice (Previously included with iOS app)
Jane Austen
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...Zlg/page1.html

A Complicated Kindness
Miriam Toews
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...YVQ/page1.html

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/x/boo...0Jw/page1.html

Excellent. Is that list definitive?

Sharkus · 02-06-2012, 02:29 PM

For iOS certainly. I will admit there are a couple of books on the list I have that aren't returning data, so I need to check what they are. My guess is that at some point they have been published / removed, which would cause their id to become invalid, and that is what we use to work things out. I think it's only two books though

One thing to note, some of those books will be the Canadian or US versions, so when you click on the URLs you may find it states the book isn't available in your region (UK). It is possible they may also be the world-wide versions, I've not expressly checked that though.

Cameronpaterson · 02-06-2012, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharkus

For iOS certainly. I will admit there are a couple of books on the list I have that aren't returning data, so I need to check what they are. My guess is that at some point they have been published / removed, which would cause their id to become invalid, and that is what we use to work things out. I think it's only two books though

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'returning data' and 'ID' in this context?

Sharkus · 02-06-2012, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameronpaterson

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'returning data' and 'ID' in this context?

Sorry, I was being overly technical.
Each book we have has a unique id associated with it. The way faces and places works is that we have a file in the app that holds all the faces and places data. One of the things we look at is the unique id of an item in this list and the unique id of a book you are opening. If the two match we know that faces and places data exists for that book.

The data I referred to is the faces and places information.

Hopefully that makes it a bit clearer.

Cameronpaterson · 02-06-2012, 02:56 PM

Yes, it does

Thanks v much. I didn't realise you worked for Kobo. It would nice to see more publishers using this feature in future - and/ or introducing book-specific Reading Life awards in future (cf. the film- and TV-specific awards on the Getglue network). I'm sure you've already considered both those issues...

Sharkus · 02-06-2012, 04:15 PM

I am one of the QA's on the iOS team, so when it comes to iOS specific questions I will usually pop up to provide some input.

Cameronpaterson · 02-07-2012, 04:33 AM

That's good. iOS is clearly your lead platform too

Cameronpaterson · 02-12-2012, 09:23 AM

Such a tiny - and apparently completely random - list. Why aren't more publishers using this feature I wonder?

02-06-2012, 12:59 PM	#1
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	A neglected Reading Life feature: Faces and Places I haven't seen much about the Faces and Places feature (i.e. the ability to check in on Facebook with characters and places in particular books) since it was first rolled out last year. As far as I can gather, it is still unique to the iOS app, oddly enough (perhaps for technical reasons), but what about the books it can be used in? Is it specific to certain books, and if so, which ones? I have only recently started using the Kobo iOS app so am not sure

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02-06-2012, 02:02 PM	#2
Sharkus Evangelist Posts: 444 Karma: 2269648 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo: Original, WiFi, Touch, Aura, Aura H20, MiniGloHD ;) iOS app	Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (the versions that were originally bundled in the iOS app) had faces and places data. There are other books as well, let me just check to find out what they are.

02-06-2012, 02:29 PM	#6
Sharkus Evangelist Posts: 444 Karma: 2269648 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo: Original, WiFi, Touch, Aura, Aura H20, MiniGloHD ;) iOS app	For iOS certainly. I will admit there are a couple of books on the list I have that aren't returning data, so I need to check what they are. My guess is that at some point they have been published / removed, which would cause their id to become invalid, and that is what we use to work things out. I think it's only two books though One thing to note, some of those books will be the Canadian or US versions, so when you click on the URLs you may find it states the book isn't available in your region (UK). It is possible they may also be the world-wide versions, I've not expressly checked that though.

02-06-2012, 02:56 PM	#9
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	Yes, it does Thanks v much. I didn't realise you worked for Kobo. It would nice to see more publishers using this feature in future - and/ or introducing book-specific Reading Life awards in future (cf. the film- and TV-specific awards on the Getglue network). I'm sure you've already considered both those issues...

02-06-2012, 04:15 PM	#10
Sharkus Evangelist Posts: 444 Karma: 2269648 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo: Original, WiFi, Touch, Aura, Aura H20, MiniGloHD ;) iOS app	I am one of the QA's on the iOS team, so when it comes to iOS specific questions I will usually pop up to provide some input.

02-07-2012, 04:33 AM	#11
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	That's good. iOS is clearly your lead platform too

02-12-2012, 09:23 AM	#12
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	Such a tiny - and apparently completely random - list. Why aren't more publishers using this feature I wonder?

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