Mobipocket new release (with iLiad support) on May 3rd

[templario]

There is a new release of Mobipocket, dated today, and in the changelog there's this:

May 3rd, 2007 : Final Release Candidate build 580:

* iRex iLiad device support
* Multi user installation enabled
* Palm Synchronization with custom library location fixed
* Reader Language & "Open Last Book" at startup settings fixed


So if I understand correctly everything is ready, isn't it?

[Adam B.]

That sounds right......I think it's pretty late in the netherlands right now. We'll probably have to wait till tomorrow before they put the mobipocket viewer into IDS.

I'm curious if mobipocket is going to take advantage of the content lister's ability to display images. With the books I create, I always setup a manifest file with an image of the book's cover. It adds a nice touch that makes me not miss the dead tree version.

[Bert]

Did anyone see the announcement on the mobipocket website?

Enjoy your Mobipocket eBooks on the awesome device with paper-like display, the iLiad by iRex: this device produces stable image, and you can read indoor, outdoors just like paper. Furthermore the iLiad has an amazing autonomy: read three hours a day for more than one week without recharging.
Please note that you will need the latest version of the Mobipocket Desktop Reader in order to send books to the iLiad.

I'm afraid they've used the description from the website (or the iLiad's box) without checking further ...

[scotty1024]

That's the mythical super battery version iLiad+ (ER0100/001) right?

[pdam]

something for the weekend :-)

[CommanderROR]

I just went ahead and downloaded the mobipocket creator and reader.

I must say, the support for mobipocket is almost enough to make me consder going back from my STAReBOOK (which still has not seen the promised firmware-update) to the Iliad.
While the miseralbe battery-life and the booting-time issue are still pretty big showstoppers for me, the wonderful ease with which mobipocket software enables me to create ebook files is just something I have been missing.

I will test the mobipocket viewer on the Iliad and will watch the developer section very closely to see what kind of improvements can be made once the debricking function is finally here (any news on that by the way?).

Maybe there will after all be a way "back to the Iliad" for me...

[bruce]

Originally Posted by Adam B.

I'm curious if mobipocket is going to take advantage of the content lister's ability to display images.

Hope so. Having cover art was one of the little things that made ebooks feel "more real" to me when I was still adjusting to the loss of the tactile pleasure of turning pages while reading. I made a point of (re)building any of my RocketBooks lacking such.

With the books I create, I always setup a manifest file with an image of the book's cover. It adds a nice touch that makes me not miss the dead tree version.

Yep...once you have enough books loaded, seeing all those covers starts to approximate the joy of browsing ones real world bookshelf for a new book. It's a pity there doesn't appear to be a way to adjust the number of books appearing per-screen in the browser. Personally, I prefer seeing a more crowded "book shelf" :-)

[splat]

Anyone giving good odds on us not seeing it this side of the weekend.

[bruce]

I wouldn't take that bet now...mobilepocket just became available for download :-)

Installing right now...

[splat]

Originally Posted by bruce

I wouldn't take that bet now...mobilepocket just became available for download :-)

Just noticed the post over on the official forums. Official release Monday, but grabbing the reader now over IDS

[bruce]

My daughter volunteered to model the iLiad displaying the mobipocket documentation :-)

[chrisv5]

Originally Posted by bruce

My daughter volunteered to model the iLiad displaying the mobipocket documentation :-)

honto kawaii :-)

[splat]

Being a Mac user, there is no Mobipocket desktop software available to me. Is there any reason / disadvantage to just copying the .prc files over to the iLiad?

[Robert Marquard]

As long as you only want to read the books then there should be no problem at all. I do that for my trusty old T3 all the time because direct copying on the SD card is faster.
Syncing through the desktop reader is only relevant for annotations.

[bruce]

Originally Posted by splat

Being a Mac user, there is no Mobipocket desktop software available to me. Is there any reason / disadvantage to just copying the .prc files over to the iLiad?

Not having desktop just means you have one-time extra step of grabbing your iLiad's personal id number from the file Mobipocket_PID.txt and registering it with the website (something which the Desktop software seems to handle automatically) but after that, it should be as straightforward to simply download your purchases into the desired directory on the iLiad.

If you want to bundle your mobipocket books with a manifest.xml file and coverpage image for nicer browsing, there's some extra work but you have to do that work anyways regardless of whether you are using Desktop software as under windows, or simply copy the file as you would under MacOS.