FBReader 0.7.1a is released

[MishaS]

A new version of FBReader is available. Changes:

• Added package for Nokia 770.
• Fixed bug with file opening on reiserfs.
• Added support for iconv (this makes it possible to use system encodings and in general speeds up the conversion).

So finally a package for Nokia 770 is available. And if you are lucky owner, I'd appreciate if you tried the package and share your experience

I'd like to thank Nikolay Pultsin who created FBReader for his Zaurus (a Linux based computer as well) and then helped me with porting to Maemo.

[rsperberg]

I've written Misha about my favorable experiences with the 770 version of FBReader.

I've also written about them at Teleread and Internet Tablet Users blog. I've also posted screen captures of the program running on the 770 so people can see how much text displays on the 800-pixel-wide, 225-pixel-per-inch display. These are at topicalweb.com/making-ebooks/fbreader-captures.htm

In short, it's the best e-book reading experience I've ever had. Each page displays about the same number of words as half a paperback book page. Lines have 12-14 words, perfect reading length. (Or you can rotate it to a newspaper-column-type vertical display.) The control over type -- how the text displays -- exceeds that of any other e-book reading program: font, size, bold, italic, alignment, hyphenation by style -- e.g., text paragraphs, titles, section titles, verse, footnotes, etc. can all be designed the way you want them.

The program isn't finished yet, of course, or else the version number would be 1.0, I imagine . There are no bookmarks, yet, nor highlighting. But the library features are very nice and, again, very much controllable by the user.

FBReader is also available for Linux desktops.

Misha and Nikolay have done fabulous work. They deserve our great thanks!

Roger Sperberg

[rsperberg]

Wanted to note that an easy way to upload fonts to the Nokia 770 has been posted .

I uploaded a number of TrueType and OpenType fonts, and as expected was able to access them within FBReader.

Here's a sample page in Book Antiqua:



and here's a page in Maiandra GD:



Another image can be found at Internet Tablet Users blog

Roger Sperberg

[Alexander Turcic]

Gorgeous screen shots. I am sure they'd look even more pleasant on the actual 770 screen.

[rsperberg]

The texts on screen do look fabulous, but of course the physical size of the screen is smaller than shown here.

You can, of course, bump up the size of type pixel by pixel till you're extremely happy with the size and the balance between type size and line length.

[TadW]

Originally Posted by rsperberg

The texts on screen do look fabulous, but of course the physical size of the screen is smaller than shown here.

Which probably makes it look even better on the real screen. Same amont of pixels on a smaller screen => higher DPI.

[rsperberg]

It certainly makes for crisp shapes and very smooth curves.

[TadW]

I think I'll get the N770 as a christmas gift for myself. Most of the available reviews look fine, although none of them has focused too much on its e-book reading capabilities. Roger, would you say the N770 is ready and stable for being mainly used as an e-book reader? I remember you mentioned problems with large Plucker file.

[rsperberg]

That was with the Plucker Viewer. I've never learned if what gave the problem was inherent in the GTK+ Viewer or whether it was something that could be altered and the program recompiled. The guys who did the port didn't know and don't have time to fix that problem now.

FBReader appears to have no problem whatsoever with Plucker documents. I do think the program is robust enough. Note, of course, that it lacks highlighting and bookmarks in its current version. And the Nokia 770 is definitely robust and stable enough. The combination is really great.

Hope you can find one available before Christmas, if that's really when you want it. Ordering direct from Nokia today would probably get you a January delivery. CompUSA has models for sale, but each store has only a few in stock. I live within 15 miles of 5 CompUSA stores and 4 are currently sold out.