Kobo Firmware 2.6.1

[WigglePig]

OK, so my Glo and Mini (£24 from WHSmiths last Saturday!) both just downloaded and installed the 2.6.1 update. So far, all good.

The Glo now has the new UI but the Mini does not; is this how it is supposed to be?

Regards

Piggly

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by WigglePig

OK, so my Glo and Mini (£24 from WHSmiths last Saturday!) both just downloaded and installed the 2.6.1 update. So far, all good.

The Glo now has the new UI but the Mini does not; is this how it is supposed to be?

The Touch and the Mini have the old UI. Probably just not enough pixels to make it look good on the lower resolution screens.

Regards,
David

[tempest@de]

I just updated my glow trough wifi, it got stuck at 100% I had to reset it and when I connected it, the glow showed message saying that a new software was available and if I wanted to update or leave it for later.
This feature is new? I don’t remember it giving the option to not update, I usually don’t sync it to avoid the new firmware, I only update after reading the coments.

[WigglePig]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The Touch and the Mini have the old UI. Probably just not enough pixels to make it look good on the lower resolution screens.

Regards,
David

Fair enough and that makes sense. A bit of a shame really as it would look rather nice.

Now all I need is a nice slim case for it so I can carry it in my pocket.

Piggly

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

I just updated my glow trough wifi, it got stuck at 100% I had to reset it and when I connected it, the glow showed message saying that a new software was available and if I wanted to update or leave it for later.
This feature is new? I don’t remember it giving the option to not update, I usually don’t sync it to avoid the new firmware, I only update after reading the coments.

That's what it does when you update using sync over wifi. So even after downloading you can always choose later...that later means the next time you power off (or disconnect from a computer, I believe)...after saying later, you don't have an option to keep postponing it. BUT you can then attach to your computer and delete the update files if you don't want to upgrade.

[ACritic]

Why are the readers are granted worse and worse home-screens from one release to the other? It is a mystery to me. There used to be a pretty good home-screen on Kobo. 6-7 books with reasonably big cover pictures - where the cover pictures could server as an esthetic delight as well - and you could also show 5-6 of your favorite books (shortlist) on the home screen. This is pretty much corresponded to the way people read books. A few currently read books around them, while the favorites arranged on a shelf, always nice too look at. Then first the shelf was taken away: no more short list on the home screen. Now the book covers shrunk to such a miniscule size that in total make up about %10 of the home screen. To make up for it a huge double (a narrow white and a very thick) frame added to each book on the home-screen. Wow! The area of the frames are bigger than the picture of the book. And what the frame has must be really important pieces of information in the eyes of the designer: the percentage of the book read, number of bookmarks. (Author, title, publication year. No way. Try to read them on the shrunk cover if it has them.) Now the home screen has the look of a productivity bulletin board with the performance figures posted. If it continues in this spirit I expect further reading statistics in the future. And now the whole thing is crowned with a huge search bar to further suggest the feeling that reading and books are really far from the heart of the designers. I wish at least they had the brilliant idea of (giving us the option of) opening the last book read when you turn on your Kobo, or at least allowing us to go directly to the library.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by ACritic

The area of the frames are bigger than the picture of the book. And what the frame has must be really important pieces of information in the eyes of the designer: the percentage of the book read, number of bookmarks.

The highlights/annotations info actually has a function (at least it has on the Aura, so I think it has a function on the Glo as well). If you tap on that part of the box, the annotations page will open.

And I like the information I am given in that box and wouldn't want to have the author, book title or anything the like there. It was not there before on the old homescreen (I have a Touch) and I never missed it.

If it was an option, okay. If not, percentage read/time to finish and annotations are of more use to me (just my preference, of course).

[tempest@de]

Originally Posted by Uschiekid

That's what it does when you update using sync over wifi. So even after downloading you can always choose later...that later means the next time you power off (or disconnect from a computer, I believe)...after saying later, you don't have an option to keep postponing it. BUT you can then attach to your computer and delete the update files if you don't want to upgrade.

oh thanks, didn't know that, last time I updated was connected to the pc, don't even remember when was the last time I updated with wifi.
Just out off curiosity where would be the update files? in the .kobo folder? How can I know which file it is? maybe it will come in handy in the future, since I had to downgrade twice before.

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

oh thanks, didn't know that, last time I updated was connected to the pc, don't even remember when was the last time I updated with wifi.
Just out off curiosity where would be the update files? in the .kobo folder? How can I know which file it is? maybe it will come in handy in the future, since I had to downgrade twice before.

There are three files.....called.....located.....

okay, someone help me out. Can't remember either info....

someone will be sure to though...come on, experts!

or someone who has a better memory than me

[Halvah]

I'd like to bump one of Lily7's original questions.

<quote>
1. Is the current epub format about to go obsolete? I don't understand this epub2 vs epub3 and ACCESS renderer stuff. WAY over my head. I guess I just want some reassurance that I haven't built up a huge collection of epub ebooks only to have their formats go obsolete!</quote>

Will the hundreds and thousands of original epubs many of us have collected become obsolete and unreadable on future generations of ereaders?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

Just out off curiosity where would be the update files? in the .kobo folder? How can I know which file it is? maybe it will come in handy in the future, since I had to downgrade twice before.

Yes, there are 3, all in the .kobo directory. Names are:

• manifest.md5sum
• KoboRoot.tgz
• upgrade

The first 2 are files, the third is a directory.

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by Halvah

I'd like to bump one of Lily7's original questions.

<quote>
1. Is the current epub format about to go obsolete? I don't understand this epub2 vs epub3 and ACCESS renderer stuff. WAY over my head. I guess I just want some reassurance that I haven't built up a huge collection of epub ebooks only to have their formats go obsolete!</quote>

Will the hundreds and thousands of original epubs many of us have collected become obsolete and unreadable on future generations of ereaders?

no. that is not what is being discussed. even if the device is using an epub3 "programme", it can read epub2. It's like .doc, all of your old .doc are not suddenly lost because windows created .docx.

It'll be backwards compatible.
This means: When new standards are embraced, it just means new files can't always be read on old devices OR more likely, it won't have all the new features of the new standard. So if you have an old ereader that isn't getting new firmware, it may not have the ability to read new epubs that are being released using epub3 in the way that was intended by the creator of that epub. But really, it all comes down to: nothing to worry about. Unless you plan to keep your ereader device alive for an insanely and unnaturally long time

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Halvah

I'd like to bump one of Lily7's original questions.

<quote>
1. Is the current epub format about to go obsolete? I don't understand this epub2 vs epub3 and ACCESS renderer stuff. WAY over my head. I guess I just want some reassurance that I haven't built up a huge collection of epub ebooks only to have their formats go obsolete!</quote>

Will the hundreds and thousands of original epubs many of us have collected become obsolete and unreadable on future generations of ereaders?

Very probably you will still be able to read your epub collection on an ereader you buy years from now. The new standard is an enhancement of the old standard. Your old ebooks won't be able to take advantage of some of the new features such as embedded audio and video files, language support, etc. but they will look pretty much the same. The ACCESS renderer used by Kobo to handle it's .kepub.epub ebooks is an epub3 renderer yet by renaming your ebook from .epub to .kepub.epub, you can read it with ACCESS instead of the Adobe Reader Mobile. Well, renaming and a few other tweaks.

If nothing else, you will be able to convert your old ebooks to whatever new format is required, much as you can use Calibre today to convert between multiple formats -- I've used Calibre and Sigil to convert quite a few of my old non-DRMed .lit files to epub format (Calibre for the basic conversion, Sigil to clean up the result and set the style to my personal settings.

Regards,
David

Originally Posted by ACritic

Why are the readers are granted worse and worse home-screens from one release to the other?

Different people like different home screens. I like the current one because it allows me to remove the tiles for books that I decided not to read, it gives highlights and annotations information, adds tiles for the "Extras" that I use, give basic reading statistics (percent completed and time left) for books that I'm reading, and allows me to check that new books have been side-loaded at a glance. If the screen fills up, it'll even keep a history of books that I've started. (The titles pop back up when I dismiss tiles from books I've read.)

Clearly your opinion differs. That's fine, please recognize that different people have different tastes.

[TechniSol]

I'd still like to see a more user configurable UI, with a larger graphic for the currently selected title the user has been reading. Perhaps with configurable stats for each title so you only need to display the info you want so things don't get too busy...