ePub on BlackBerry?

[=X=]

cool keep us posted

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by =X=

cool keep us posted

Ok, well you asked! Turns out Mobipocket for Storm 2 is still in beta. I installed it, added one book, and got "app error 523". According to every forum I found, this meant the app crashed the O/S and I was going to have to reinstall everything. Fortunately, I hadn't installed anything else or added my contacts....

I tried rebooting the phone, and got no response from it. I put it down to grab the CD that came with the phone, and when I got back it had rebooted and things seem to be fine now. I did add another book, and the reading experience on this is MUCH better than I expected. You know, with twice as much screen, I expected a two times better experience, instead I got at least a TEN times better experience. For fiction (which is 99.9% of what I read), this is great! It will by no means replace my Asus for reading at home, but out on the go, this has just become my "go to" reader.

I put the phone on top of a printed page of a standard paperback. If you don't count the space for margins, it's only about 3/4 of an inch per side smaller than the print area on that page. Definitely readable.

The only other thing with the Storm 2 and Mobipocket is the page turning mechanism. You swipe from right to left across the bottom of the screen, which seems backwards to me. I'm so used to the trackball on the Curve, where you can scroll up or to the right to turn pages.

(Descending into philosophy here, stop reading if you like ). I still can't get used to my cellphone as multifunction device. With the old one, it replaced my mp3 player almost instantly. This one, besides still being fantastic for that, has just filled my need for a reader that I can take anywhere. It came with a 16 gig SD card - that will store more than all the books and music I'll ever need to take with me anywhere. All I need now is a bluetooth headset/headphone gadget that both plays music and accepts calls (if there even is such a thing!).

I wonder if there is a menu option somewhere within the Mobipocket reader options that will let you reverse the swipe direction for page turning. One of the apps (cannot remember which) I installed on my T91MT had the backwards swipe but had an option to reverse it.

[wallcraft]

The MobiPocket Reader for BlackBerry is most likely never going to come out of beta, since MobiPocket appears to exist now in name only. The bottom line is that if a MobiPocket app works for you there is no reason not to continue to use it, but expect issues migrating to new devices.

The MobiPocket app lives on in part as "Kindle for BlackBerry", also in beta but likely to have a future. The Kindle apps are typically much simplified relative to their MobiPocket parent, and I don't know how easy it is to read your own DRM-free MOBIs.

Something I forgot to mention in an earlier post is that B&N Reader for BlackBerry is likely to get ePub support at some point. B&N's ePub migration path is non-transparent, but if they want to stop providing eReader files they have to get all their apps to support ePub.

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

(Descending into philosophy here, stop reading if you like ). I still can't get used to my cellphone as multifunction device. With the old one, it replaced my mp3 player almost instantly. This one, besides still being fantastic for that, has just filled my need for a reader that I can take anywhere. It came with a 16 gig SD card - that will store more than all the books and music I'll ever need to take with me anywhere. All I need now is a bluetooth headset/headphone gadget that both plays music and accepts calls (if there even is such a thing!).

Glad to see that's its working out well for you. As someone for whom one of the primary question when looking at a new phone is how well eBooks work on it, its nice to see other people appreciate the convenience of being able to grab a few minutes of reading when carrying your primary reader is not practice.

As for the headset, there are a number of headset's out there from a lot of manufactures which allow you to listen to Music and answer your phone calls as well over bluetooth. What you need to look for is the term "Stereo Bluetooth" and "A2DP Profile" on the specifications which will usually mean that it will do what you need.

For recommendations, I've used Motorola's Headsets quiet successfully in the past and would probably still be using them if I'd not lot one of the earpieces and was unable to find a replacement. I've not used Jabra's and Plantronics Stereo Headsets though I've had good luck with their normal headsets.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The MobiPocket Reader for BlackBerry is most likely never going to come out of beta, since MobiPocket appears to exist now in name only. The bottom line is that if a MobiPocket app works for you there is no reason not to continue to use it, but expect issues migrating to new devices.

The MobiPocket app lives on in part as "Kindle for BlackBerry", also in beta but likely to have a future. The Kindle apps are typically much simplified relative to their MobiPocket parent, and I don't know how easy it is to read your own DRM-free MOBIs.

Something I forgot to mention in an earlier post is that B&N Reader for BlackBerry is likely to get ePub support at some point. B&N's ePub migration path is non-transparent, but if they want to stop providing eReader files they have to get all their apps to support ePub.

That's kind of what I figure too, Wallcraft. I do hope B&N's software eventually supports un DRM'd epubs that you sideload, in addition to ones you buy through their store. I was pretty surprised that it didn't already have it, since I have bought epubs from them. I know that on Kindle for PC, it will read your own un DRM'd .mobi files just fine, matter of fact it sort of insists on being the app you use for that (takes over the file association for .mobi). I haven't tried it yet on the Storm.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

t will by no means replace my Asus for reading at home, but out on the go, this has just become my "go to" reader.

Yes since I started reading on my BB Storm I've found I was reading less and less on my 505. In addition it handled PDF much better than the 505 and the blacklight made it real easy to read at night.

I still perfer the 505/Kindle, but not by much.

Originally Posted by phenomshel

(Descending into philosophy here, stop reading if you like ). I still can't get used to my cellphone as multifunction device. With the old one, it replaced my mp3 player almost instantly. This one, besides still being fantastic for that, has just filled my need for a reader that I can take anywhere. It came with a 16 gig SD card - that will store more than all the books and music I'll ever need to take with me anywhere. All I need now is a bluetooth headset/headphone gadget that both plays music and accepts calls (if there even is such a thing!).

I was where you where at when I had my WM5 phone. It took a while before the BB Storm changed that for me. Now I use my device for reading, checking email, surfing the web, listening to music, and pod cast (PodTrappper rocks!). I even stream radio (I'm sure you've heard of Pandora/Slacker Radio).

I actually do not check my email on the PC anymore it is much easier to check it on my BB.

I have a Samsung blue tooth head it works great on the BB Storm. I've listend to music/podcasts and had incomming calls pause the music/podcast, then resume after the call has ended w/o my intervention. Also placing calls with the headset work just fine as well.

I think the Head set recommended on this thread are better solutions then my head set.

Originally Posted by jswinden

I wonder if there is a menu option somewhere within the Mobipocket reader options that will let you reverse the swipe direction for page turning. One of the apps (cannot remember which) I installed on my T91MT had the backwards swipe but had an option to reverse it.

This option exist for the WIndow CE version of MobiPocket. That reader was feature rich, but none of it's other incarnations are anywhere near the functionality the WinCE version had.

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The MobiPocket app lives on in part as "Kindle for BlackBerry", also in beta but likely to have a future. The Kindle apps are typically much simplified relative to their MobiPocket parent, and I don't know how easy it is to read your own DRM-free MOBIs.

Something I forgot to mention in an earlier post is that B&N Reader for BlackBerry is likely to get ePub support at some point. B&N's ePub migration path is non-transparent, but if they want to stop providing eReader files they have to get all their apps to support ePub.

DRM Less MOBI work just fine on the Kindle for BB, even the mdp files are supported, so all bookmarks are preserved. (Notes and highlights are not displayed because the app does not support them)

I don't know if the Kindle or B&N readers will get better, my inclination is to believe they will not. Both companies are in the business of selling devices and books. However if reading from the BB becomes a better experience their sales in HW will diminish.
MobiPocket did not sell hardware they sold books and their interest was to have the most functional reading software so the consumer would enjoy the experience.

=X=

[DaleDe]

Kobo for blackberry has ePUB support I believe.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Kobo for blackberry has ePUB support I believe.

I do not believe this is true unless they've made a change within the last month. Their app supports their proprietary format, not ePUB.

Buried deep in their FAQ they also confirm this.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by =X=

I do not believe this is true unless they've made a change within the last month. Their app supports their proprietary format, not ePUB.

Buried deep in their FAQ they also confirm this.

Ah, I didn't realize they had a proprietary format. The kobo eBook site only talks about ePUB. Do you know anything about their proprietary format?

Dale

[=X=]

I don't know too much about it, but it's not really that complicated . What I know is they don't provide a file for the book. There is not file stored locally, nor can you read a book on the local storage. Instead they provision one chapter at a time. The chapters look like HTML web pages in the reader client, without any way to customize the GUI.

That means while reading the book if you're at the end of a chapter you have to wait while the book downloads the next chapter.

It really is a terrible reading experience.

The nice feature they've added since they launched is if you buy one format you have access to both. (Their format for the BB reader and ePUB for any other device that supports Adobe ePUB)

=X=

[ctol]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Just got the Storm 2. Once I get used to the touchscreen, I think I'll really like it, both for what it's meant to do, and for reading ebooks. I'm transferring stuff now, when I'm done with that I'll install mobipocket.

BTW, I have the Storm 2 and it can be a very capable ebook reader. I write short stories and poetry and use if for quick editing purposes. I just convert them to Word doc files and use the free version of Documents To Go for editing purposes. Unfortunately it does only read doc files however, so they have to be converted to that form to be readable. I then either email them to myself or just copy them back to my computer. I have also used it as my ebook reading software as well. It scrolls slowy and take a while to load large book files but it does get the job done. But that is mostly because you are somewhat limited by the 1.8 gig of main device memory. Not that I would give up my Sony 600 for main reading device though. I much prefer the larger reading real estate.

[GraceKrispy]

I read this thread and it hadn't honestly occurred to me to use Calibre to convert Epub into mobi to use on my blackberry. But I tried it after this, and it worked beautifully. No issues that I can see thus far. I couldn't figure out, however, how to get it into my blackberry via calibre- once I sent it to my blackberry, I could never find it again. So I ended up saving it to disc (computer) and then uploading it to the mobipocket and then sending to my phone. Worked that way. I'm sure there is an easier way, but that's all I could do.

[Crowl]

Probably the easiest way to work out where it was sending the files would be to simply to connect the blackberry to your computer as a removable drive and then do a search. you would hope that it would send it to the ebooks folder the mobipocket program itself creates for you just outside the main blackberry folder structure on your memory card, but who can tell.