Forma New Kobo reader: The Forma/Shape

[Braid]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Wouldn't it also require an accelerometer to really be useful? Without one, you would have to manually change back and forth between landscape and portrait modes.

All my Kindles have the option to read in landscape mode, with no accelerometer. I use it all the time. I don't tend to switch to and from landscape very frequently. My Oasis2 has auto-orientation, which is useful when switching from left-hand to right-hand reading. Obviously when reading in landscape mode, the device is symmetrical, so there is no need for auto-orientation..

In conclusion: no, landscape mode definitely does not require an accelerometer to really be useful.

[Cbp001]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

It's comfortable but still poorly placed. I keep pressing the power button instead of the page turn button.

Thanks for answering my questions. Man that’s a bummer, such an annoyance can impact your reading pleasure and it’s not something they can repair with a firmware update. Maybe their folding cover makes it harder to push the button?

[milady133]

Seeing the French video, I don't think it's comfortable holding the eReader on landscape mode and using the buttons to turn the page, she doesn't even try to use them. Given how I use my eReaders, I don't find this design attractive, I still think the Nook Simple Touch and subsequent models form factor the most ergonomic, it might not be pretty and it feels bulky, but it's sturdy. Kobo software is better so I have move on, but I would still be using the Nook for ergonomic reasons.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Yes, but are there not two different models on the photo?
Diferents button, maybe only one model is waterproof ?
-"Little" KOBO FORMA "6" + waterproof
and
-"Big" Shape "7" + SD

My phone has an sd card/sim slot and headphone jack it is still waterproof.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I assume the keys flip also when you flip the Forma?

Yes, but I can't remember where I read that. Maybe in the review I linked to above.

[Dirk-71]

Another review in english...

https://youtu.be/gs0INyFODmQ

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Wouldn't it also require an accelerometer to really be useful? Without one, you would have to manually change back and forth between landscape and portrait modes.

I think adding landscape to the older readers would wind up causing more confusion than anything.

For some. I pretty much always have my phone set to change manually. I find automatically changing between portrait and landscape one of the most annoying things. It takes one swipe and a tap to change the direction, and I rarely want to keep changing back and forth quickly. I just want it to stay the way I want it, no matter which side is "up" according to the accelerometer.

I can't imagine it would be any different with an ereader, in fact, I would find it even less useful for it to automatically change. Who changes the direction they are reading often enough to be annoying to change it manually? There are no buttons or asymmetry on older ereaders, so it doesn't need to adapt for when you switch hands, which is the only legitimate reason I can see that an accelerometer is necessary on the Forma.

It wouldn't have to be out and prominent. It could be hidden in the settings whether or not the option was available...then it could be in a similar position to where light settings are at the top. But until it gets turned on, it wouldn't have to be there at all, not exactly confusing, IMO.

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by Braid

All my Kindles have the option to read in landscape mode, with no accelerometer. I use it all the time. I don't tend to switch to and from landscape very frequently. My Oasis2 has auto-orientation, which is useful when switching from left-hand to right-hand reading. Obviously when reading in landscape mode, the device is symmetrical, so there is no need for auto-orientation..

In conclusion: no, landscape mode definitely does not require an accelerometer to really be useful.

Exactly! I replied before I got to this post, but same wavelength

[Dirk-71]

Backside slippery, inconvenient placement of power button, only 8GB internal storage (not extendable)....as the device seems to be good for Comics/Mangas, it should have a bigger storage, at least 32 GB.

I doubt the Forma will be successful.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Dirk-71

Backside slippery, inconvenient placement of power button, only 8GB internal storage (not extendable)....as the device seems to be good for Comics/Mangas, it should have a bigger storage, at least 32 GB.

I doubt the Forma will be successful.

Hmm... you did notice the Forma like the KA1 will come in two editions? You will be able to choose between an 8Gb and a 32GB version though outside of Japan, the 32GB version will not be available until after the 8GB version is released. I have a Forma LE on my Christmas list for this year.

[CH23]

I still hope for an internal SD card, but we'll see.

Someone mentioned that it won't show 2 pages at once, but I hope this will be added sometime later. the screen can fit close to 2 Clara HD screens, which for my mangas would be really nice.

[patrik]

Nate, could you do some highlighting at various places and see how that works?

I'm curious how exact it is, as well as if you hold it with one hand, and do the highlight with the other, if the screen area bends/flexs enough to feel uncomfortable?

Thanks

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by CH23

I still hope for an internal SD card, but we'll see.

Someone mentioned that it won't show 2 pages at once, but I hope this will be added sometime later. the screen can fit close to 2 Clara HD screens, which for my mangas would be really nice.

If it doesn't require a new port, to match the hardware/OS, KOReader might still work on this new Kobo device. If so, that kind of display option is just the kind of thing the guys on the project at github are good at.

Luck;
Ken

[Amon_Re]

I'd love to see side by side shots of this thing next to an A1

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

I realised I was assuming something: ...landscape mode means two-page view, right?

Apparently not:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/techc...ium-price/amp/

There's just a single column of text in landscape mode.

I agree, it should have two columns.

Originally Posted by mgrimace

Nate the great, can you speak at all to the uniformity of the lighting? Specifically, in dim/low light is there any light bleed/banding along the edges, dark/light cones, and blotchiness and/or discolouration with the comfort light (i.e., the various screen issues that some of us experienced on our KAO)?
~M

it is nicely uniform, yes