The Cybook Frame made me wonder if you can now read while using external power?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Bookeen have said that a firmware release will be available shortly. I suggest we leave them in peace to get on with it, rather than moaning about it.

The problem is that you do not know if they have received the bug report you have sent so you cannot know that they know about the problem. I would be extremely disappointed if they have not received my email telling them that some images causes the reader to crash and therefore they have not fixed it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

The problem is that you do not know if they have received the bug report you have sent so you cannot know that they know about the problem. I would be extremely disappointed if they have not received my email telling them that some images causes the reader to crash and therefore they have not fixed it.

They acknowledged my bug report of dictionary lookup problems, said that they were aware of it, and that it would be fixed in the new firmware release.

[DDHarriman]

Hi HarryT

I do not think people are “moaning” here, at least I’m not, and yes I know (Bookeen is in the business for several years now, I have followed their early attempts in the eBook area) and agree with everything you say, I even say more, the feeling I have had from them up to now is of a very professional company.

The thing is… they have promised that “firmware release will be available shortly”, and the months begin to pass and nothing of the “shortly”, instead they appear with a “art” thing costing another fortune. I personally have nothing against the “art” thing, I will just not buy it, but of course I can imagine that other people will.

Finally, and that’s why I think is important, as you say the product is very impressive (and that Sony part, remember that then they had no competition at the e-ink level besides the costly Iliad, and now the Cybook as), but it’s time to do it better fast.
Bookeen has a lider position here and it would be great if they could maintain it.

BTW: I do not think “crashing on dictionary lookup, font issues, bookmark problems,” are “minor bugs”.

Best regards,

[ProfJulie]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Bookeen have been in the eBook business for many years longer than either Sony or Amazon. I suspect they will be in the eBook business long after Sony have pulled out of it (I'm not so sure about Amazon - I think they're in it for keeps).

Yes, we'd all like a firmware upgrade to fix the few minor bugs which the device has (crashing on dictionary lookup, font issues, bookmark problems, etc) but there's nothing wrong with it that's a "show stopper" to my mind. It's certainly in far better shape than the Sony Reader was when it was initially released.

Bookeen have said that a firmware release will be available shortly. I suggest we leave them in peace to get on with it, rather than moaning about it. It would be counter-productive for them to say "it'll be released on such-and-such a date" because then everyone would complain if it were late (which such things generally are). I can entirely understand why it is that they are keeping quiet about it. Let them release it when it's ready.

They are selling every machine they can get their hands on. There's obviously nothing too wrong with their business model given that that is the case.

I agree with you in principle. But I have an email from Bookeen, dated January 3, 2008, which states:

"We will release in the next few weeks a software upgrade which fixes at least the first issue. We have no final release date yet, but we work to find a definitive solution to the bookmark issue and integrate it at the same time."

In accordance with their email message to me, I start expecting to see a firmware update around mid to late January. Then this week I finally receive an email from Bookeen, open it up and all I see is an advertisement for an overpriced frame! What am I to think of this!

Bookeen is not managing customer expectations very well, wouldn't you say?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

They acknowledged my bug report of dictionary lookup problems, said that they were aware of it, and that it would be fixed in the new firmware release.

Yes, and? They have answered 2 out of 4 of my bug reports. So what should I assume. That the two reports they have not confirmed has been mislaid? They seriously need a bug tracking system or a similar system.

And they have not responded to my request for the firmware restoration procedure.

[JSWolf]

They have a blog they don't take advantage of. Why can't they use it to post things like, "we expected to have a firmware release out by the end of January, but it is taking longer then we expected to find and fix some of the bugs." At least that would be giving info and also use it to tell what sort of problems they are working to fix. Use it to keep customers better informed.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ProfJulie

I agree with you in principle. But I have an email from Bookeen, dated January 3, 2008, which states:

"We will release in the next few weeks a software upgrade which fixes at least the first issue. We have no final release date yet, but we work to find a definitive solution to the bookmark issue and integrate it at the same time."

In accordance with their email message to me, I start expecting to see a firmware update around mid to late January. Then this week I finally receive an email from Bookeen, open it up and all I see is an advertisement for an overpriced frame! What am I to think of this!

Bookeen is not managing customer expectations very well, wouldn't you say?

Yes, that's the e-mail I got too ("in a few weeks", that is). But would it have made you feel better or worse if they'd said "we'll release a firmware upgrade at the end of Jan" - and then failed to do so? From their experience of the earlier CyBook they probably know knew, with the best will in the world, that these things are ALWAYS late, and so decided not to make any announcements. I can understand that.

They'll come through in the end, I'm sure, and it's not as if (for me personally, at least) any of the bugs are show-stoppers. I realise that other people have experienced more serious bugs than I, but the only "real" bug that's hit me is the CyBook sometime hanging up or rebooting when I look up a word in the dictionary, and that's just an annoyance.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes, and?

and nothing. Just letting you know, that's all.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

BTW: I do not think “crashing on dictionary lookup, font issues, bookmark problems,” are “minor bugs”.

Obviously these things are subjective, but as a software developer myself, I'd define a major bug as one which prevents, or seriously disrupts, the functioning of the device. None of the outstanding bugs (that I'm aware of) do this, hence I'd classify them as minor bugs. Annoying, but not something which prevents you from reading a book.

If I had experienced the bookmark bug that some people have them I'd probably feel differently about it, because that one really would be serious for me, since I use bookmarks to mark pages which need correcting when I'm proofreading the books I create. I've never experienced a single issue with bookmarks, however. Goodness knows why, when some people have had so many. Perhaps it's the make of SD card I'm using; perhaps it's something I'm doing (or not doing) which the people who have the issue are not (or are). I'd love to know why some people see this bug and others don't. As anyone who's involved in the software business will know, fixing intermittent bugs - or ones which you're totally unable to reproduce yourself - is a tough problem.

[ProfJulie]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, that's the e-mail I got too ("in a few weeks", that is). But would it have made you feel better or worse if they'd said "we'll release a firmware upgrade at the end of Jan" - and then failed to do so? From their experience of the earlier CyBook they probably know knew, with the best will in the world, that these things are ALWAYS late, and so decided not to make any announcements. I can understand that.

They'll come through in the end, I'm sure, and it's not as if (for me personally, at least) any of the bugs are show-stoppers. I realise that other people have experienced more serious bugs than I, but the only "real" bug that's hit me is the CyBook sometime hanging up or rebooting when I look up a word in the dictionary, and that's just an annoyance.

I don't know why they felt the need to put in a time frame in my email. I did not ask for one.....all they needed to say was something like, "we are aware of the problem and are working on it. Look forward to a fix in our upcoming firmware update." By putting a time estimate in their email, they anchored themselves to a time frame. I have received no further communication from them about this, so as far as I am concerned, I am still waiting a "few weeks."

I have worked in customer support roles for software development companies....I understand about such things. Deadlines slip - I get that. One thing I learned to do was either keep the release date as open as possible with my customers or keep my customers informed of delays. Bookeen has not done that.

I believe Bookeen is working on it. I would just like to have a realistic time frame in which I can expect it...and I don't appreciate receiving junky marketing emails from them about stuff I am not the least bit interested in. At this stage of the game, I am ONLY interested in a hearing about a firmware update...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ProfJulie

I believe Bookeen is working on it. I would just like to have a realistic time frame in which I can expect it...and I don't appreciate receiving junky marketing emails from them about stuff I am not the least bit interested in. At this stage of the game, I am ONLY interested in a hearing about a firmware update...

I agree with you - it would be nice to have an estimate. I'd love to see folder support added, and the dictionary bug fixed.

As far as the "junk marketing email" bit goes though - we did all sign up for newsletters, and being informed about new CyBook accessories via the newsletter is probably a reasonable use for it. Using the Gen3 as a photo-frame when you're not reading from it is a very clever idea.

[adelheid]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Using the Gen3 as a photo-frame when you're not reading from it is a very clever idea.

I beg your pardon? You are not serious, are you?

[Tulkas]

On the firmware issue ~ an email response received from Bookeen today indicates there will be an official software update in March.

... mind you they didn't say which year j/k

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Obviously these things are subjective, but as a software developer myself, I'd define a major bug as one which prevents, or seriously disrupts, the functioning of the device. None of the outstanding bugs (that I'm aware of) do this, hence I'd classify them as minor bugs. Annoying, but not something which prevents you from reading a book.

Well, you know about the image related bug that prevents books people have bought from working. So you do not consider that a major bug? And Bookeen have not provided a work-around for this bug. (I have provided it but that is just a coincidence).

Personally this bug is annoying because I have to use smaller images in MobiPerl just because of yjis bug and that means that other platforms without the bug also will have smaller images since it would be a nightmare to try do treat files differently depending on viewing device.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, you know about the image related bug that prevents books people have bought from working. So you do not consider that a major bug? And Bookeen have not provided a work-around for this bug. (I have provided it but that is just a coincidence).

Personally this bug is annoying because I have to use smaller images in MobiPerl just because of yjis bug and that means that other platforms without the bug also will have smaller images since it would be a nightmare to try do treat files differently depending on viewing device.

I'd forgotten about that bug, Tommy - yes, that one IS major, I agree with you. Can it happen, though, on books which meet the Mobi spec of images <64k in size, or is the problem actually caused by "Mobi Creator" creating files which "break" the spec by having images >64k? I've noticed that on several of the books I've created, it's inserted images >64k; the code which shrinks larger images to 64k doesn't always seem to get it right. I see that there's a newer version of Mobi Creator now available than the one that I'm using; I'll have to see if they've fixed that bug in the new version.

BTW, After the messages on this thread I wrote to "support@bookeen.com" yesterday afternoon and asked when the next firmware release was due. I got an answer within the hour to say that it would be released in March.