Touch Kobo Touch Firmware 1.9.16

MDK · 12-23-2011, 09:40 AM

Kobo Touch Firmware 1.9.16 and desktop 2.1.6 will be released shortly.

Kobo Touch:

• Speed improvements to page turning and searching
• Crisper, sharper text for your reading experience
• The new 'Recommended for you' list automatically finds books tailored to your tastes
• A simple consolidated HOME menu now contains Library, Store and Reading Life
• Icons for Settings, Sync and Help are now also available under the HOME menu
• Sync anytime, anywhere by touching the cloud icon in the status bar
• Sync progress is now shown as a progress bar at the top of the screen

Desktop:
• Check out the Recommended For You panel for your next great read
• Performance and user experience improvements, notably:
o Device sync
o Opening a book

As usual, special thanks to the beta testers for their feedback!

jiminrussell · 12-23-2011, 11:02 AM

Both the desktop and touch updates done here and I like what I see. The slow page turns from 1.9.14 have been fixed and the other changes are a nice bonus, the Touch is now all that I expected it to be and more when I bought it six months ago, Thank you!

spindlegirl · 12-23-2011, 11:18 AM

Little by little the Kobo Touch is getting closer to being the e-reader I thought I was buying when I bought it! That is great. My husband updated his and so far seems happy.

Dan_P · 12-23-2011, 12:20 PM

...here is another happy customer.. after problem with sd cards and 1.9.12 I am happy to say that the first 15 min of play has been positive.
the 8gb transcend class 6 is now playing ball

Suzanna · 12-23-2011, 12:32 PM

Just updated and I'm happy with what I see so far. I like that on the home page you now have an option to show featured releases, new releases, or your own shortlist (I'm keeping it on shortlist for now to avoid temptation.

) The way everything is now organized under the "home" menu is also nice.

artifact · 12-23-2011, 12:40 PM

The 'featured items' area has to go. One of the reasons I chose the Kobo Touch over the Nook and Kindle was because it didn't hog homepage real estate nor force their bookstore upon me. I specifically sought a device that was generic and not connected to a bookseller.

At least let me disable it. (If I can I can't find it.)

BOOO!

spindlegirl · 12-23-2011, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artifact

The 'featured items' area has to go. One of the reasons I chose the Kobo Touch over the Nook and Kindle was because it didn't hog homepage real estate nor force their bookstore upon me. I specifically sought a device that was generic and not connected to a bookseller.

At least let me disable it. (If I can I can't find it.)

BOOO!

I find myself agreeing with that. Kobo Touch already sells a Special Offer edition for a reduced price, and I paid the full price for mine.

Edited to add: The shortlist comes up on the homepage and not ads for new books. I misunderstood, and am happy with how the homepage works.

robko · 12-23-2011, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artifact

The 'featured items' area has to go. One of the reasons I chose the Kobo Touch over the Nook and Kindle was because it didn't hog homepage real estate nor force their bookstore upon me. I specifically sought a device that was generic and not connected to a bookseller.

At least let me disable it. (If I can I can't find it.)

BOOO!

There is no ability to disable it currently, but you can set it to show your shortlist which at least gets rid of it showing recommendations/ad type stuff. The particular option you have chosen for the carousel (Recs, new books, shortlist etc) should stick (i.e. always stay the same unless you change it) but it currently has minor bug preventing that. I realize that doesn't solve all your issues, but that's all they've given us currently.

Suzanna · 12-23-2011, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robko

There is no ability to disable it currently, but you can set it to show your shortlist which at least gets rid of it showing recommendations/ad type stuff.

That's interesting. Mine started up showing the shortlist by default. I only saw the new releases/featured option when I noticed the menu arrows and clicked on it. I do like that they've given you that option.

pj4776 · 12-23-2011, 12:57 PM

New to the site so hello everybody.

I too purchased my Kobo touch because there was no advertising on the device. I have had it about a month now and really love it but I really hate the new featured/new release menu.
the pages do turn a bit quicker now but I had not really noticed it was slow as this is my first e-reader.
they should of giving you the option in the settings menu to remove the featured/new release bit.

taming · 12-23-2011, 12:58 PM

I see a difference between trying to sell its own books via the device and selling tube socks via the reader, but I don't like hard selling of books either. I'm glad that shortlist is a choice and look forward to being able to make that my permanent preferred choice.

SCION · 12-23-2011, 01:01 PM

Kobo did it right by allowing the shortlist to show instead of recommendations. The NOOK Touch is a total fail in this area. NOOK Touch customers have been asking from day one to have a shortlist instead. Folks are avoiding the homescreen. Number one reason I got rid of it! Nice updates indeed.

Suzanna · 12-23-2011, 01:04 PM

I tend to keep my Kobo in airplane mode - I wonder if that's the reason I default to shortlist on the home screen. In airplane mode, you only see blank book covers when new releases/featured is selected.

feedbakbwr · 12-23-2011, 01:16 PM

My desktop software keeps looping to update every time i run the desktop software?

therealjoeblow · 12-23-2011, 01:22 PM

Thank you and Merry Christmas Kobo!

I was fairly critical and vocal a while back when the internal database kept corrupting and requiring a factory reset. Since that was taken seriously and (knock on wood) fixed, I am very happy with the Kobo Touch and enthusiastically recommend it to friends and family!

Kobo Dev's - you should know I've now purchased 3 of these, my own originally in July, one for my Daughter in October, and now one for my Wife as a Christmas present. I would not have bought the 2nd and 3rd one if you hadn't shown such continued active development and improved the device so significantly.

As many have noted, it was merely 'ok' when it launched, but with the last few firmware updates, the KT is pretty close to 'as good as it gets' for an ereader. If we could only get better library management (collections/series, metadata support, etc), it would be perfect.

Well Done, and thanks again!

Cheers
The REAL Joe

PS - I haven't actually installed the 1.9.16 update yet, so I hope what I read above about the advertising isn't going to make me reneg on my praise here, because I, like others paid full price for a device with no advertising whatsoever, and if that's not the case, I'm definitely not going to be happy!

12-23-2011, 09:40 AM	#1
MDK Kobo Developer Posts: 76 Karma: 164028 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kobo Aura, Glo, Mini	Kobo Touch Firmware 1.9.16 Kobo Touch Firmware 1.9.16 and desktop 2.1.6 will be released shortly. Kobo Touch: • Speed improvements to page turning and searching • Crisper, sharper text for your reading experience • The new 'Recommended for you' list automatically finds books tailored to your tastes • A simple consolidated HOME menu now contains Library, Store and Reading Life • Icons for Settings, Sync and Help are now also available under the HOME menu • Sync anytime, anywhere by touching the cloud icon in the status bar • Sync progress is now shown as a progress bar at the top of the screen Desktop: • Check out the Recommended For You panel for your next great read • Performance and user experience improvements, notably: o Device sync o Opening a book As usual, special thanks to the beta testers for their feedback!

12-23-2011, 12:20 PM	#4
Dan_P Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: 1.9.16 land Device: kObO	with the usual disclaimers...... ...here is another happy customer.. after problem with sd cards and 1.9.12 I am happy to say that the first 15 min of play has been positive. the 8gb transcend class 6 is now playing ball

12-23-2011, 01:01 PM	#12
SCION Séduisant Posts: 4,706 Karma: 2107018 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Texas, USA Device: Boox Note Air2+; Kobo Libra2; Kindle Scribe, Oasis3; iPad Mini6	Kobo did it right by allowing the shortlist to show instead of recommendations. The NOOK Touch is a total fail in this area. NOOK Touch customers have been asking from day one to have a shortlist instead. Folks are avoiding the homescreen. Number one reason I got rid of it! Nice updates indeed. Last edited by SCION; 12-23-2011 at 01:03 PM.

12-23-2011, 01:22 PM	#15
therealjoeblow Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 52102 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Samsung Android Tablet w/Moon+ Pro Reader	Thank you and Merry Christmas Kobo! I was fairly critical and vocal a while back when the internal database kept corrupting and requiring a factory reset. Since that was taken seriously and (knock on wood) fixed, I am very happy with the Kobo Touch and enthusiastically recommend it to friends and family! Kobo Dev's - you should know I've now purchased 3 of these, my own originally in July, one for my Daughter in October, and now one for my Wife as a Christmas present. I would not have bought the 2nd and 3rd one if you hadn't shown such continued active development and improved the device so significantly. As many have noted, it was merely 'ok' when it launched, but with the last few firmware updates, the KT is pretty close to 'as good as it gets' for an ereader. If we could only get better library management (collections/series, metadata support, etc), it would be perfect. Well Done, and thanks again! Cheers The REAL Joe PS - I haven't actually installed the 1.9.16 update yet, so I hope what I read above about the advertising isn't going to make me reneg on my praise here, because I, like others paid full price for a device with no advertising whatsoever, and if that's not the case, I'm definitely not going to be happy! Last edited by therealjoeblow; 12-23-2011 at 01:27 PM.

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12-23-2011, 11:02 AM	#2
jiminrussell JimInRussell Posts: 355 Karma: 143302 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Russell Ontario Canada Device: kobo Aura One, Forma, Elipsa, Sage	Both the desktop and touch updates done here and I like what I see. The slow page turns from 1.9.14 have been fixed and the other changes are a nice bonus, the Touch is now all that I expected it to be and more when I bought it six months ago, Thank you!

12-23-2011, 11:18 AM	#3
spindlegirl Wizard Posts: 1,594 Karma: 21245891 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra h20, Paperwhite 2017, Phone & Tablet w Moonreader	Little by little the Kobo Touch is getting closer to being the e-reader I thought I was buying when I bought it! That is great. My husband updated his and so far seems happy.

12-23-2011, 12:32 PM	#5
Suzanna Living in the past Posts: 432 Karma: 6011289 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Arc	Just updated and I'm happy with what I see so far. I like that on the home page you now have an option to show featured releases, new releases, or your own shortlist (I'm keeping it on shortlist for now to avoid temptation. ) The way everything is now organized under the "home" menu is also nice.

12-23-2011, 12:40 PM	#6
artifact Addict Posts: 276 Karma: 3569616 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: jetBook (RIP), Kobo Touch	The 'featured items' area has to go. One of the reasons I chose the Kobo Touch over the Nook and Kindle was because it didn't hog homepage real estate nor force their bookstore upon me. I specifically sought a device that was generic and not connected to a bookseller. At least let me disable it. (If I can I can't find it.) BOOO!

12-23-2011, 12:57 PM	#10
pj4776 Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: bude cornwall Device: Kobo touch v2	New to the site so hello everybody. I too purchased my Kobo touch because there was no advertising on the device. I have had it about a month now and really love it but I really hate the new featured/new release menu. the pages do turn a bit quicker now but I had not really noticed it was slow as this is my first e-reader. they should of giving you the option in the settings menu to remove the featured/new release bit.

12-23-2011, 12:58 PM	#11
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I see a difference between trying to sell its own books via the device and selling tube socks via the reader, but I don't like hard selling of books either. I'm glad that shortlist is a choice and look forward to being able to make that my permanent preferred choice.

12-23-2011, 01:04 PM	#13
Suzanna Living in the past Posts: 432 Karma: 6011289 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Arc	I tend to keep my Kobo in airplane mode - I wonder if that's the reason I default to shortlist on the home screen. In airplane mode, you only see blank book covers when new releases/featured is selected.

12-23-2011, 01:16 PM	#14
feedbakbwr Redwood Original Posts: 59 Karma: 93478 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Kingston, Ontario Device: Kobo, Kobo Wifi, Kobo Touch	My desktop software keeps looping to update every time i run the desktop software?

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