Sony PRS-T1 specs!

[azxswq]

Originally Posted by cybmole

word in other threads (kindle forum) is that K touch has a faster processor than K3 - & that e.g. dictionary searches are much quicker. no word on how much faster in percent terms though

Here is some good info that others have posted in my thread.

To summarize, Kindle 4 (keyboard) is assumed to have the same cpu as Kindle Touch. And K-4 is i.MX50 family of cpus. And we still don't know what PRS-T1 has. Some say TI, but 950 was supposed to be Freescale as well.

Thank you for your help.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...96#post1762896

[seajewel]

i preordered Kindle Touch 3G but I may cancel, depending on how the T1 pans out. Sony's not really a bookseller.. I wonder if it would be possible for Sony to focus on the hardware, but provide sort of an android e-ink reader that people can put all sorts of reading apps on (Kindle, B&N, Google books, etc). I would love something like that, and maybe the T1 will be able to do that with some creative modification?

It would be nice if Sony actually went in that direction though. Or is that a completely harebrained idea?

[elemenoP]

Sony is a bookseller, their current devices are about as tied to their own store as Kindle, Nook, or Kobo. Your dream might be achieved by... Pocketbook?

eP

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Sony is a bookseller, their current devices are about as tied to their own store as Kindle, Nook, or Kobo. Your dream might be achieved by... Pocketbook?

eP

I didn't mean that they don't sell books. but they really aren't booksellers in the way that B&N and Amazon are.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by seajewel

i preordered Kindle Touch 3G but I may cancel, depending on how the T1 pans out. Sony's not really a bookseller.. I wonder if it would be possible for Sony to focus on the hardware, but provide sort of an android e-ink reader that people can put all sorts of reading apps on (Kindle, B&N, Google books, etc). I would love something like that, and maybe the T1 will be able to do that with some creative modification?

It would be nice if Sony actually went in that direction though. Or is that a completely harebrained idea?

I agree about Sony. They are not at all known as a bookseller, which is why Amazon owned the market from Kindle 1, Day 1.

With all the speculation about Android, I hadn't realized this meant every possible book reader could be made for the device. Do B&N, Kindle and Sony Reader apps all have Android incarnations?

What you are talking about is breaking the Device/Store lock-in that exists on all devices. I fully advocate such a break, and think it's absolutely terrible it has continued this long. Damn iTunes/iPod all to hell for it! (And irony of ironies, the iPod plays tons of formats even though they popularized this lock-in model.)

-Pie

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by seajewel

i preordered Kindle Touch 3G but I may cancel, depending on how the T1 pans out. Sony's not really a bookseller.. I wonder if it would be possible for Sony to focus on the hardware, but provide sort of an android e-ink reader that people can put all sorts of reading apps on (Kindle, B&N, Google books, etc). I would love something like that, and maybe the T1 will be able to do that with some creative modification?

It would be nice if Sony actually went in that direction though. Or is that a completely harebrained idea?

The T1 has the ability to buy from the Sony Store and download free books from Google Books and your public library, directly from the device.

It also has the ability to download non-DRM epub and pdf files directly, through the browser (so one should be able to access MR books, as well as Smashwords and Feedbooks and other non-DRMed sources).

How well all this is implemented remains to be seen, but it does seem that Sony is pushing for openness more than any other ebook reader maker/ebook provider.

It's not a perfect world yet - but Sony's garden has the lowest wall of all of them.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

What you are talking about is breaking the Device/Store lock-in that exists on all devices.

Not really "all" devices. The Sony, Nook, B&N readers support ePub, so while they do have their own book stores, any ebook you buy that supports ePub with Adobe DRM is going to work.

Although, if I did have an ePub device I would probably stick with Google books which gives you browser based reading and ePub device based reading.

The only true lockins are with the Kindle and the iPad iBooks. Of course, iPad will run the Kindle app and the B&N app and the Kobo app.

Amazon also provide the Kindle reader on many devices and the new Kindle Cloud reader will support. So, you can take your Kindle books to more devices than just the Amazon built Kindles.

BOb

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Not really "all" devices. The Sony, Nook, B&N readers support ePub, so while they do have their own book stores, any ebook you buy that supports ePub with Adobe DRM is going to work.

Although, if I did have an ePub device I would probably stick with Google books which gives you browser based reading and ePub device based reading.

The only true lockins are with the Kindle and the iPad iBooks. Of course, iPad will run the Kindle app and the B&N app and the Kobo app.

Amazon also provide the Kindle reader on many devices and the new Kindle Cloud reader will support. So, you can take your Kindle books to more devices than just the Amazon built Kindles.

BOb

Well, yes and no. I'm a bit of a stickler in terms of lock-in.

The two largest book stores are lock-ins, with iTunes being another lock-in (don't know how they rate in book sales). While Adobe DRM is supported on the Nook, that's a one-way deal; can't read a B&N purchase on the Sony.

So the atmosphere is really really clouded when it comes to Device/Store capabilities. We need our devices to become DRM and Format Agnostic across the board. I would dearly love to buy books from Amazon, for example, but I have a Sony Reader. Yes, I could crack DRM, but I hate Calibre's ePub conversion... and let's face it, most people don't know how to deal with DRM; either a device reads the book or it doesn't.

If the Sony Reader had open Android, and you could install the Sony, Kindle and B&N apps on it, it would then be "format agnostic." Not the best way to do it (no DRM and one agreed-upon format is the best), but it would be the first Reader that truly has no lock-in limitation at all.

-Pie

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

We need our devices to become DRM and Format Agnostic across the board.

This would be nice, well actually dropping DRM and having a standard format to rule them all the way DRM mp3's seem to be the norm. Although, I think iTunes still serves up AAC files rather than MP3... but at least they are DRM free.

BOb

[Hellmark]

I've had a sony reader for years, but never bought a single book from Sony. Sony uses ADE, so I can buy pretty much where ever I want.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

Yes, I could crack DRM, but I hate Calibre's ePub conversion...

-Pie

so tweak it - it is easy to do. I buy from amazon, convert + read on Sony, tweak all books ( via sigil) to look exactly as want them to - easy peasy.

+ I would never buy an e-book that I could not edit - show me an e-book with zero typos / format errors & I'd be gobsmacked...

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by cybmole

so tweak it - it is easy to do. I buy from amazon, convert + read on Sony, tweak all books ( via sigil) to look exactly as want them to - easy peasy.

+ I would never buy an e-book that I could not edit - show me an e-book with zero typos / format errors & I'd be gobsmacked...

Can you get a header on every page telling the book title and chapter number? Think LRFs from Sony, which had a small-font header on the top right of each page.

AFAIK, this cannot be done except by hand. And I'm probably the only who makes it work.

I too am a tweaker... uh, the ePUB kind!... but to get what I want is not at all easy or peasy! And the garbage generated by Calibre is just horrifying to work with.

-Pie

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

Can you get a header on every page telling the book title and chapter number? Think LRFs from Sony, which had a small-font header on the top right of each page.

AFAIK, this cannot be done except by hand. And I'm probably the only who makes it work.

If you wouldn't mind sharing, I would be interested to know how you've done that, even if it's just an outline of your method. Do you, perhaps, use some kind of generated background image?

[azxswq]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

If you wouldn't mind sharing, I would be interested to know how you've done that, even if it's just an outline of your method. Do you, perhaps, use some kind of generated background image?

This sounds like a Perl or PhP script job. Maybe my CompSci skills will come in handy... still, very happy with my T1 decision. (Actually non-decision, by not cancelling my pre-order after K-Touch announcement/release.)

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

If you wouldn't mind sharing, I would be interested to know how you've done that, even if it's just an outline of your method. Do you, perhaps, use some kind of generated background image?

It's pretty ugly. BUT I AM WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES!!!@@!$!!

I'll outline it, and maybe post my files later. I don't get full credit for this; I took the initial from another mobileread thread, and then customized it till I have the whole thing nailed down.

Basically it requires a custom "page-template.xpgt" which the ePUB spec actually says not to use. Ever. Hah! Then I am required to insert the header tag after every paragraph in the ePUB. You read that right. After every paragraph!

1) Copy page-template.xpgt to the ePUB OEBPS directory.
2) Add a special class in the CSS for the header. This places the tagged text into the header.
2) Add a reference to the page-template.xpgt to the header of every single content file, but after the CSS.
4) Pick your text. My Preference: "Book Title -- Chapter."
5) Add the tagged text after every </p> in each file.

This technique works on the Sony, but not on iBooks. Apple iBooks actually prints the whole header tag after each paragraph. Ugly!

The advantage of the "page-tempate.xpgt" is that you can customize margins, as well as insert a header and footer. I like a little whitespace for margins, even though it's not the most efficient use of screen space.

And every ePUB I make passes epubcheck perfectly.

-Pie