Kobo Firmware 2.6.1 - Page 25

MikeB1972 · 06-12-2013, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger64

This is not a surprise. This has nothing to do with the format. Kobo rendering for the EPUB format is just sub-par, plainly poor, riddled with longstanding bugs. If I cripple you before starting, there is no surprise if I shall probably win the race...

"Kobo, with limited resources, is bracing mostly for the incoming EPUB3 support... ta la la, ta la la..." How do you say "langue de bois" in English?

Out of the MOBI world, I guess that the vast majority of ebooks are in EPUB2 format but who cares... Not Kobo for sure.

langue de bois - best English equivalent would probably be stonewalling.

I'd agree that if the epub3 access renderer is going to be able to read ADEPT DRM files then there is no point (from Kobo's point of view at least) of putting much effort to change the epub2 rendering.

samhy · 06-12-2013, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff1192

Still no sign of this update for me. Weird because I've never had to wait this long for an update from Kobo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhy

In the past when a firmware was released on, say, a Thursday or Friday, I used to get it in the middle of the next week (on Friday at the very least). Just once it was available for me a couple of days after the original release.
In that case it might be the release had been put on hold to give time to fix things, though

Okay I was right with the mid-week thing and wrong with the on hold one: the Mini is downloading 2.6.1.

Edit: the Mini has the update, not the Aura yet (maybe the serial numbers idea).

Anak · 06-12-2013, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger64

This is not a surprise. This has nothing to do with the format. Kobo rendering for the EPUB format is just sub-par, plainly poor, riddled with longstanding bugs. If I cripple you before starting, there is no surprise if I shall probably win the race...

"Kobo, with limited resources, is bracing mostly for the incoming EPUB3 support... ta la la, ta la la..." How do you say "langue de bois" in English?

Out of the MOBI world, I guess that the vast majority of ebooks are in EPUB2 format but who cares... Not Kobo for sure.

Some do think that (k)epub rendering will improve with epub3 files. Personally, I doubt that.

Consider this.
epub2 (standard epub file with or without DRM)
epub3 (standard epub file with or without DRM)

Kepub = standard epub2/3 file + proprietary Kobo DRM + KoboStyle hacks

Kepub rendering issues will remain with epub3 files. As the KoboStylehacks causes these problems. It's primarily a code that handles all epubs, no matter how they have been formatted/coded originally, to override the original layout of an epub just to be sure that it becomes flexible for user adjustible settings like fonts, margins etc.

Example of KoboStyleHacks (epub2):

Code:

<!-- kobo-style -->
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="css/kobo.css"></link>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/kobo.js"></script>
<style type="text/css" id="kobostylehacks">div#book-inner p, div#book-inner div { font-size: 1.0em; } a { color: black; } a:link, a:visited, a:hover, a:active { color: blue; } div#book-inner * { margin-top: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0 !important;}</style>
</head>

<body><div id="book-columns"><div id="book-inner">
  <div class="booksection" xmlns:xml="http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

BTW, just to make clear: this is not about formatting or a layout the way I would like it to see. A standard epub has its own layout that replicates the layout of the printed book and will look very similar (leaving hardware and software [e.g. xhtml/css] limitations aside).
KoboStyleHacks do have an impact on this layout because its nature is to "catch all".

Kepub layout will thus always be sub optimal or may even be considered sup par compaired to other readers.

tlaine · 06-12-2013, 07:57 AM

My Aura received its update about 1:00am, on the 12th. Bought from Smith Books.

PeterT · 06-12-2013, 08:30 AM

One thing I can't quite tell about RMSDK is who exactly supports it. From Adobe's web saite I see http://www.adobe.com/devnet/readermobile.html that says

Quote:

The Adobe Reader Mobile SDK is available through a license agreement to OEMs, ISV integrators, and mobile applications developers on a case-by-case basis. For further information regarding licensing, please contact one of our reselling partners below:

and lists http://www.datalogics.com/products/acs/ http://www.bsquare.com/ and http://www.bluefirereader.com/adobe-content-server.html

At DataLogics I can find this http://kb.datalogics.com/articles/FA...-by-Datalogics which shows updates still being made to RMSDK

Quote:

Datalogics has released the following versions of the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK to OEM customers with the following updates and modifications:

RMSDK 9.3.3 - 30 May 2013

Win32: update project files for VS.NET 2008 to allow building RMSDK with these once again
35713: addressed issue with highlighting UTF-8 characters
35766: fixed issue with obtaining external link data
35780: removed erroneous leading space supplied with extracted text at beginning of paragraphs

RMSDK 9.3.3. - 17 May 2013

34971: resolved some cases where spaces were not returned in retrieved text for some ePub files
35633: resolved text extraction issue in certain ePub files
35678: performance improvements for getPageNumberFromArray API
35721: added handling of Arabic diacritics when retrieving page text

RMSDK 9.3.3 - 9May2013

iOS: changed activation fingerprint generation to no longer use deprecated iOS calls

RMSDK 9.3.3 - 25 April 2013

Initial Datalogics release of the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK v9.3.3. This includes:
Performance improvements in CSS selector parsing, PDF text retrieval and reduction in memory needed for handling font data
Many enhancements for vertical text layout, including better support for Japanses Ruby and Kenten
Many page rendering fixes and improvements
Updates to text retrieval for enhanced handling of words with multiple styles and line breaks on special characters
CFI bookmark fixes and updates for better EPUB file bookmark compatibility

showing yes, changes are still being made to (at least) their version!

taming · 06-12-2013, 11:26 AM

I guess I would have a few questions. Are the changed versions being made available to Kobo? How much developer changes would Kobo have to make on their end to take advantage of them? I've said it before, I do not see Kobo making any investment at all right now in epub2.

This is not an Adobe epub3 product. There isn't one (yet). I've no doubt that the changes that are being made to RMSDK will be compatible with the epub3 product that Adobe does (eventually) deliver.

tempest@de · 06-12-2013, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uschiekid

The custom dictionary I'm using works with 2.6.1...as far as I can tell there has been no change in this regard.

The only thing was I had to re-replace the dictionary file, since it over-wrote it with the kobo dictionary during the update. I don't know if that is what usually happens as this is my first fw upgrade since adding a custom dictionary.

Thank's.

if I remember correctly with every update it is necessary to re-place the custom dictionary.

Anak · 06-12-2013, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taming

I guess I would have a few questions. Are the changed versions being made available to Kobo? How much developer changes would Kobo have to make on their end to take advantage of them? I've said it before, I do not see Kobo making any investment at all right now in epub2.

This is not an Adobe epub3 product. There isn't one (yet). I've no doubt that the changes that are being made to RMSDK will be compatible with the epub3 product that Adobe does (eventually) deliver.

Some changes/features should probably added by (heavy) coding on Kobos side.
But "page rendering issues en improvements" could probably done by replacing the old library or module the new one.
But I don't know which verson Kobo uses or if they update to the latest available version.

In an earlier post I read that Datalogics will make the Adobe DRM module available in their epub3 implementation.
Maybe Adobe has discontinued their reading software but they don't stop with their DRM solution.

DNSB · 06-12-2013, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily7

I have been trying to keep up with this thread in order to stay well informed but it is quite honestly information overload. My comprehension is not very sharp today, so I hope someone doesn't mind answering a couple of questions:

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!

Epub3 is basically a superset of epub2. If you read an epub2 book on an epub3 device, you should see very few differences and most of those are the differences you would see reading an epub2 ebook using multiple epub2 renderers. The Kobo ereaders use two different renderers, one is the Adobe Reader Mobile used for epub2. My opinion, for what it is worth, is that the ARM renderer is there only to continue support for Adobe ADEPT DRMed epubs. The ACCESS Netfront BookReader is a (mostly) epub3 compliant renderer used to read Kobo's .kepub.epub ebooks. If you rename a .epub file to .kepub.epub, it will be rendered by the ACCESS renderer. There seem to be few differences in the actual text display. You do need to add an epub3 extension to properly identify the cover image.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily7

2. This latest FW release, again information overload. I read the gist of the pros and cons and bugs that have been posted but so far all I've gleaned is that there is a space at the top that most don't like. Are there any common major usability problems with this release? I can't decide whether or not to upgrade from 2.5.1, which has been my favorite release and the one I consider most stable so far. Help?

The 2.5.2 firmware update added a top bar with the book title similar to what is seen when reading .kepub.epub ebooks. This caused a large number of complaints in this forum. 2.6.1 removed the title but did leave about a 5mm wide top margin compared to the 3mm top margin seen with 2.5.1. There is an issue with .png cover images which I consider to be a more serious issue than that loss of 2 mm on the top of a page. So updating is your choice but I don't consider updating from 2.5.1 to 2.6.1 to be an critical update.

Regards,
David

DNSB · 06-12-2013, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger64

This is not a surprise. This has nothing to do with the format. Kobo rendering for the EPUB format is just sub-par, plainly poor, riddled with longstanding bugs. If I cripple you before starting, there is no surprise if I shall probably win the race...

"Kobo, with limited resources, is bracing mostly for the incoming EPUB3 support... ta la la, ta la la..." How do you say "langue de bois" in English?

Out of the MOBI world, I guess that the vast majority of ebooks are in EPUB2 format but who cares... Not Kobo for sure.

If Kobo wrote their own renderer for epub2, you might have a valid point. However, the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK is not a Kobo product. Adobe appears to have handed over the responsibility for developing and maintaining the SDK to Datalogics. The Datalogics webpage suggests that they are being quite active in fixing some bugs. How long it takes for those fixes to be propagated back to their customers, tested and included in updates? Your guess is as good as mine.

Langue du bois, if I revert it back to Russian and then to English, would be probably be closest to weasel wording -- like most politicians, able to say many words but with little meaningful content.

As for the epub2, yes, most epub ebooks available now are epub2. To support more languages such as Japanese properly, you need at least part of the epub3 standard implemented. Adobe had a roadmap for epub3 support which was withdrawn, as near as I can tell, this was done around the same time they started supporting the Readium project. Looking at Datalogics web page, they appear to be waiting for the Readium project to finish their epub3 SDK before adding the Adobe ADEPT DRM support to their version of the SDK.

Regards,
David

taming · 06-12-2013, 12:40 PM

I looked at the specs for the datalogic apps and programs and was surprised to see that they didn't support PDF reflow either. I downloaded the PC one, and it is pretty basic--no font choices, etc. It does authenticate to Adobe automatically. I may try the Android app at some point.

Rev. Bob · 06-12-2013, 01:10 PM

One thing I noticed and liked about 2.6.1 is the removal of the ever-present brightness bar at the bottom of the screen when the Glo's light is on. I can still adjust the brightness, but it's properly tucked away in the menu.

Skydog · 06-12-2013, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhy

Okay I was right with the mid-week thing and wrong with the on hold one: the Mini is downloading 2.6.1.

Edit: the Mini has the update, not the Aura yet (maybe the serial numbers idea).

Is the new home screen on the Mini difficult to read compared to the older version? (I.e., more but smaller tiles.)

frddgls · 06-12-2013, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skydog

Is the new home screen on the Mini difficult to read compared to the older version? (I.e., more but smaller tiles.)

The Touch doesn't have the new homescreen and I don't believe that the Mini does either.

Skydog · 06-12-2013, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frddgls

The Touch doesn't have the new homescreen and I don't believe that the Mini does either.

Thanks. I suspected it might not but I've read through so many threads I cannot remember.

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06-12-2013, 07:57 AM	#364
tlaine Zealot Posts: 113 Karma: 145622 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Southwestern Ontario Device: Kobo Aura HD, Mini; Kindle PW2	My Aura received its update about 1:00am, on the 12th. Bought from Smith Books.

06-12-2013, 11:26 AM	#366
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I guess I would have a few questions. Are the changed versions being made available to Kobo? How much developer changes would Kobo have to make on their end to take advantage of them? I've said it before, I do not see Kobo making any investment at all right now in epub2. This is not an Adobe epub3 product. There isn't one (yet). I've no doubt that the changes that are being made to RMSDK will be compatible with the epub3 product that Adobe does (eventually) deliver.

06-12-2013, 12:40 PM	#371
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I looked at the specs for the datalogic apps and programs and was surprised to see that they didn't support PDF reflow either. I downloaded the PC one, and it is pretty basic--no font choices, etc. It does authenticate to Adobe automatically. I may try the Android app at some point.

06-12-2013, 01:10 PM	#372
Rev. Bob Wizard Posts: 1,760 Karma: 9918418 Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Here on the perimeter, there are no stars Device: Kobo H2O, iPad mini 3, Kindle Touch	One thing I noticed and liked about 2.6.1 is the removal of the ever-present brightness bar at the bottom of the screen when the Glo's light is on. I can still adjust the brightness, but it's properly tucked away in the menu.

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