Apps for Entourage

[luqmaninbmore]

Will the eReader app from eReader.com work? You can download the apk from the ereader.com website.

[miklos.klaar]

The eReader application loads in a small screen (compatibility mode). Too bad.

M

[luqmaninbmore]

Is it fully functional, though? I could live with it being small.

[TallMomof2]

Yes, I used it briefly and it worked fine. It's easier for me to strip the DRM and convert the ebook to ePUb and view it on the eInk side.

[maynard]

I just bought an edge. Would someone please post instructions, or a link to instructions, that explain how to manually install an apk file? My system has been updated to the latest firmware release, but I seem to have no file management tools at all.

All I really need is a terminal and /bin/bash. But a file manager and a good chess game would make me very happy.

[sarah11918]

I would start by going to slideme.org and downloading their installer for apps found on their site. (Some are free, and some are paid.) It's not a manual installation (you'll just run their app), but it's *like* having access to a very small marketplace. Maybe you'll find everything you need there.

I think the EE forum itself has more technical threads, so you might want to check there too.

[Dellaster]

Originally Posted by maynard

All I really need is a terminal and /bin/bash. But a file manager and a good chess game would make me very happy.

maynard, Better Terminal Emulator is reported to work on the eDGe in full screen. Download the APK file from that link, get it onto your eDGe somehow (side-loading with the SD card sounds like what I'd be doing), and when you see the .apk on your eDGe, press and hold your finger/stylus on it. It'll give an installation option. Don't expect Linux-like low-level access to the system with it. Android seals off a lot of the underlying system.

The only chess app I could find was ChessWalk 1.1, which works but only in a small window. You can get it at http://SlideMe.org

Obviously I'm just going by what I've read since my eDGe is still a week away. Good luck!

[maynard]

Telestar: That terminal program definitely works. Gives me a root shell, that's useful. Now I need an ssh client. Gotta be around somewhere.

One funny thing: the keyboard has no "CTL" key.

[Dellaster]

I've managed to set up my Android SDK emulator as a G1 Dev phone and gain full access to the Android Market on my PC. I can browse the apps, install, then adb pull the APK for transfer to the eDGe.

Unfortunately not a solution for the average user ... and I'll leave it at this so I don't violate forum rules.

[maynard]

Is there a decent ebook reader with PDF support (or a PDF viewer) for the Android LCD screen? Is it possible to use that at the same time as running the music player? What I want is to view a language textbook in color, play the language CDs at the same time, while taking notes and doing character writing practice on the eink screen.

IOW: I'd like to collapse my language textbook, workbook, audio supplement, and writing practice into a single device. Suggestions?

[borisb]

The eDGe comes with Docs to Go which has a decent PDF viewer for the LCD side. You can definitely have the music player running in the back ground.

One thing you can also do is open the book on the eInk side, double-click the Camera tool bar button to put a colour snapshop of the page on the LCD side, then toggle the Journal to write your notes. All this with the music player playing in the background.

[maynard]

Boris,

I'll try Docs to Go. What about having a music player control in the foreground while I have Docs to Go running? I'd like to be able to stop and start the audio supplement as I'm working.

[maynard]

OK. So I scanned in a chapter of my Chinese textbook in color into Acrobat Pro and made an image based PDF using "high" optimization. I then transferred that pdf file to the library so I can read it on the eink screen, as well as a copy to internal storage so "Docs to Go" can load the file as well. This approach requires two copies of the same file, unfortunately. I also extracted an mp3 of the audio supplement for that chapter and installed it on the Edge.

Here are my thoughts:

The image quality on LCD is just fine. I've had to crop out the margins to get a full page to fit on the screen, but it still works. This textbook uses color coding in the text to note grammar elements, so color support really helps here. Of course, loading that pdf on the eink side works just fine too.

If I flip the screen so that eink is on the right and the LCD is on the left, I can then load the PDF in color to on the left screen while running the "Notes" program on the eink screen. In Notes, I've found that the *smallest* brush possible to handwrite with is the largest circle. The middle circle and small circle make are too small due to inaccuracy with the stylus. This means that I have to write extra large characters in order to come close to what they should look like. However, it _does_ work.

Finally: WRT the audio player... the control panel requires a full and active screen. If I switch to Docs to Go, the browser, or any other application, the audio player panel disappears. That's too bad. An iPod Touch (or iPhone) - for example - places the start/stop control in the top menu where it can be reached while browsing.

The biggest problem with this approach though is the time taken to scan and arrange my textbook. But I'd have that problem regardless of which ereader device I choose.

[maynard]

Interesting bug: If I flip the eink and LCD panels such that LCD is on the left and eink is on the right and then close the clamshell case, when I next open the case the LCD panel stays oriented as if it's on the left (as I set it) but the eink screen reorients itself such that on the right side it shows text upside down (as if it were the left panel too).

Definitely a bug.

[Dellaster]

Good catch on that screen orientation bug, maynard. As to the start/stop audio thing, it's a shame there's no easier way to do it.

A little off topic for apps, but I've found that XVID 704x400 videos, keeping that original size, work beautifully on the eDGe after conversion to "_x264.mp4" in "Customized MP4 Movie" mode by the free Any Video Converter program. Use two passes -- the extra time is really worth it. (Edit to add: fullscreen landscape view is a perfect fit.)