Kobo Firmware 2.6.1

[jackastor]

.Duplicated post

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I agree with what you are saying, I just don't see the point. Saving money doesn,t seem to be the point. Taking over the epub DRM supplying market and making money, seems unlikely, selling more books because they are kepub could be it, but unless you own a Kobo and truly love it you are not looking to buy kepubs, and the convenient online store is already a big incentive for Kobo owners to buy from Kobo.

The big incentive is that to properly support multiple languages, you need to have epub3 support. I'd suspect that the ACCESS renderer was chosen more for it's support of Japanese text than any nefarious plans to drop support for epub2. A large portion of the international market is going to require epub3 to support needed features. A different DRM scheme is mandated by Adobe appearing to have dropped their plans to produce an epub3 compliant version of the Reader Mobile code. At one time, they had a roadmap but then that roadmap vanished.

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

And Kobo has pretty well shown us with 2.52, to the dismay of many, that epubs can have the same features as kepubs on Kobo readers. Maybe they didn't have all the features, but I am sure they could do it if they wanted to.

Quite likely they could match the features between the two variants. At this time, it seems quite a few vociferous people do not want them to do so.[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Perhaps it is all a nefarious plot to make Sony et. al start supplying features, and then Kobo will jump in with a sleek clean featureless ereader and wipe them of the map

The reports and images I've seen for the Sony 13.3 inch ereader suggests that it is using an epub3 renderer. Either that or the books shown were hand tweaked to look good with an epub2 compliant renderer.

What we do have to remember is that in much of the world, ereaders are being squeezed out by small cheap tablets and even smartphones. Dedicated ereaders are likely to become even more of a niche market while ebooks continue to grow.

Regards,
David

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The big incentive is that to properly support multiple languages, you need to have epub3 support. I'd suspect that the ACCESS renderer was chosen more for it's support of Japanese text than any nefarious plans to drop support for epub2. A large portion of the international market is going to require epub3 to support needed features. A different DRM scheme is mandated by Adobe appearing to have dropped their plans to produce an epub3 compliant version of the Reader Mobile code. At one time, they had a roadmap but then that roadmap vanished.



Quite likely they could match the features between the two variants. At this time, it seems quite a few vociferous people do not want them to do so.

The reports and images I've seen for the Sony 13.3 inch ereader suggests that it is using an epub3 renderer. Either that or the books shown were hand tweaked to look good with an epub2 compliant renderer.

What we do have to remember is that in much of the world, ereaders are being squeezed out by small cheap tablets and even smartphones. Dedicated ereaders are likely to become even more of a niche market while ebooks continue to grow.

Regards,
David[/QUOTE]

Well I don't want a 13.3 inch ereader, I am sure many do. Not enough to make it a big money maker IMO but what do I know.

I hope ereaders continue to be atleast a niche market, I see more and more children with them although you are right that tablets are far more popular.

I am still dreaming of an IPod thin ereader with a small bezel and at least a 5 inch screen. Better than almost reasonable software would be a bonus.

Helen

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by guma

It's just unfortunate that their customers are living in the present and might plan for a KOBO-free future when they feel that the current experience with KOBO devices is somewhat disappointing ....

Possibly. Though we have to remind ourselves that the posters here are a very small portion of Kobo users. Most of the users I've talked with have been very happy with their purchases.

Kobo's management has to look to their future and that future is going to be epub3. Just too many potential customers who require some of the epub3 features to make their reading experiences pleasant. Amazon does have an advantage here since they control their ebook format and DRM and can make changes without consulting with anyone else while Kobo works with open standards which are notoriously slow to develop -- no one has ever accused a committee of being speedy.

Regards,
David

[PeterT]

Taming; this might be of interest as it does seem to show that the Adobe DRM scheme will make it into Readium

Originally Posted by http://kb.datalogics.com/articles/FAQ/Update-on-Readium

According to Readium website, http://readium.org/ , Readium™ is an open source reference system and rendering engine for EPUB publications. Readium is built on WebKit technology and is working towards support EPUB 3 publishing format.

An initial beta version of the Readium Extension for Google Chrome is available.

Datalogics supports the Readium project and believes that once available it will be a useful tool for reading epub3 compatible ebooks in a browser on a wide range of platforms. When Readium becomes production ready Datalogics will integrate the Adobe DRM capabilities with it and make this offering available to our customers so that it can be used to consume the wide variety of content which publishers protect with the Adobe DRM.

[taming]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Taming; this might be of interest as it does seem to show that the Adobe DRM scheme will make it into Readium

Well, I believe it might actually say that Adobe will use the readmium end product and incorporate it into the Adobe SDK. Not sure if that is different, or if I am picking nits .

It should be a good thing. However, if consumers can buy or borrow (thinking Overdrive) a DRM protected book from multiple vendors (Sony, Kobo, Google Play, Feedbooks for example), and load it onto multiple brands of devices and apps, without the end user having to worry about things like Adobe authorizations and without the bookseller having to pay fees to Adobe, well, it is a changed ballgame.

I guess we will see...

(good catch, btw--recreational researching strikes again)

[RZetlin]

I got the 2.6.1 Update for the my Aura today.

I don't like this update - you can no longer display images in full screen in the epub format.

[taming]

What images, where?

[Joe563]

Originally Posted by taming

What images, where?

As reported here with MDK's response.

[taming]

Thanks, Joe. Nice to see MDK is paying attention . I have not run into it yet.

[PeterT]

Maybe 'coz you read in kepub format? /me runs and hides!

[RZetlin]

Originally Posted by Joe563

As reported here with MDK's response.

The 2.6.1 update is a step backwards.

The constant display of the top and bottom margins take up too much space especially on the Glo.

Originally Posted by PeterT

Maybe 'coz you read in kepub format? /me runs and hides!

It's worst for the standard epub format. Images do not show up at all.

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

The 2.6.1 update is a step backwards.

The constant display of the top and bottom margins take up too much space especially on the Glo.

I take it you didn't have 2.5.2.....step forwards for me.

[taming]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Maybe 'coz you read in kepub format? /me runs and hides!

Could be, but png files are png files in whatever format. Do folks who load images through the standard epub driver with covers loaded through the driver see them?

And yeah, I am now reading only kepub formatted books (using the extended driver and books I buy from Kobo) because epubs drive me crazy. The exception is library books--I suffer through them in epub format.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by taming

...
And yeah, I am now reading only kepub formatted books (using the extended driver and books I buy from Kobo) because epubs drive me crazy. The exception is library books--I suffer through them in epub format.

Being somewhat still new to using the Kobo, what is it about epubs that you don't like? And what is it about kepubs that you prefer? It's a serious question for me, I might be missing something important and not even be aware of it.

The only differences I've noticed is the annoying title bar at the top for kepubs (which I hate). And that kepubs give you more Reading Life Stats, but for myself, the cutesiness of those stats wore off quickly the first time I had to do a factory restore and they all were reset to zero. So that makes them entirely useless to me even as a "cute-to-have but not needed item." And some of them just never update no matter what you do, even when using the kepub format (like the highlight award for me never updates).