Can't Navigate Concise OED or Britannica Concise

RMOP · 01-05-2011, 07:23 PM

I removed the DRM from personally-owned Mobipocket versions of The Oxford Concise English Dictionary and the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. These are the two single most expensive eBooks I've purchased, and I LOVE them. I first used them on my Palm TX, then moved them to my SymbianOS phone, and now want to use them on my Android phone with the Kindle reader, which is working great with the bulk of my Mobipocket books.

Removing the DRM was fairly simple, and the DRM-free versions of both books can be read and navigated on my Mobipocket Reader on my PC. Both are recognized on my Android and open w/o a problem. However, the crucial navigation and search hyperlinks do not work. Meaning, in the COED Table of Contents, the first two hyperlinks, "Look up word" and "Full text search" are dead. The OTHER links, "Cover page," "About this book," "Abbreviations," "Pronunciations" and "Lookup tips" take you to the appropriate sections. I can manually page through the dictionary, and links within those pages work. I just can't search as needed.

For the Britannica, it's much the same. "Encyclopedia Search" and "Image Index" are dead links on the Android, whereas "About this Book" is live. I can page through the articles, but there's no way to search. BTW: one can, in theory use the Android Search function, but of course it's useless in an encyclopedia.

I'm about resigned to re-purchase both of these items from the Kindle store, though it seems a shame to have to do so.

Has anyone gotten Mobipocket versions of these items to work on the Android Kindle Reader?

Cheers and Thanks.

wallcraft · 01-05-2011, 08:28 PM

You are probably out of luck. The table Cross-platform feature support shows the features that are not supported in the MOBI Java reader, which is the basis for the Kindle Reader and presumably the Android Kindle app. The only MOBI ebooks that commonly used these features are dictionaries and other reference works.

Note that I could not find these ebooks in the Kindle store, and even if they were there they might not work with the Android Kindle app.

RMOP · 01-05-2011, 09:11 PM

Wallcraft,

I couldn't really tell from the chart which missing features were linked to dictionaries and reference works, but I suspect you are correct about the level of my luck on this matter, although I did find another hyperlinked reference to work flawlessly.

Looks like I'll be shopping for near-equivalents, though Britannica is really hard to beat, IMO.

Thanks for the input.

wallcraft · 01-05-2011, 09:40 PM

See if Webster, Noah: Webster's Dictionary 1913 (updated), v2.1, 17 July 2009 works. It also has a "Look up word" option, but the odds are this one also won't work in Kindle for Android. Since it is in the public domain, it will be easier for others to check.

RMOP · 01-06-2011, 07:15 AM

Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd Edition [Kindle Edition] shows to be readable on the Android platform. At roughly $50, I haven't tried it yet. I may play around and see if I come up with alternatives.

wallcraft · 01-06-2011, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMOP

Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd Edition [Kindle Edition] shows to be readable on the Android platform.

You can get the New American Oxford Dictionary by installing the latest version of Kindle for PC. It has DRM, but once DRM-free it works for me in Windows MobiPocket Reader.

RMOP · 01-06-2011, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

You can get the New American Oxford Dictionary by installing the latest version of Kindle for PC. It has DRM, but once DRM-free it works for me in Windows MobiPocket Reader.

This dictionary is bundled with the Kindle reader for PC? I know the Kindle itself comes with a dictionary...

wallcraft · 01-06-2011, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMOP

This dictionary is bundled with the Kindle reader for PC? I know the Kindle itself comes with a dictionary...

Yes. This is the same dictionary that comes with the K3 in the US. You need the latest K4PC and the dictionary gets downloaded automatically the first time you select a word (if not before then).

RMOP · 01-06-2011, 05:10 PM

Got it. Now to make it readable on the Android Kindle reader...

RMOP · 01-06-2011, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Yes. This is the same dictionary that comes with the K3 in the US. You need the latest K4PC and the dictionary gets downloaded automatically the first time you select a word (if not before then).

Well, easy enough to get this dictionary to the Android, but it behaves just like the COED and the Britannica. No navigation links. Looks like I may have to purchase the other one from Amazon -- but I wonder if that can actually be used on the Android Kindle reader.

Yes, it does read fine in the Mobipocket Reader on my PC.

RMOP · 01-06-2011, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

You are probably out of luck.

Am, for now. I've just tried several trial dictionaries, each of which Amazon reported as available for the Android Kindle platform, and none of which worked as expected. There no reason they can't make this work, AFAIK. Let's hope they will. A built-in dictionary is essential to an electronic book reader, and it should be manually searchable as well.

01-05-2011, 07:23 PM	#1
RMOP Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, TabPRO 8.4, Galaxy Light, Sony PRS-300	Can't Navigate Concise OED or Britannica Concise I removed the DRM from personally-owned Mobipocket versions of The Oxford Concise English Dictionary and the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. These are the two single most expensive eBooks I've purchased, and I LOVE them. I first used them on my Palm TX, then moved them to my SymbianOS phone, and now want to use them on my Android phone with the Kindle reader, which is working great with the bulk of my Mobipocket books. Removing the DRM was fairly simple, and the DRM-free versions of both books can be read and navigated on my Mobipocket Reader on my PC. Both are recognized on my Android and open w/o a problem. However, the crucial navigation and search hyperlinks do not work. Meaning, in the COED Table of Contents, the first two hyperlinks, "Look up word" and "Full text search" are dead. The OTHER links, "Cover page," "About this book," "Abbreviations," "Pronunciations" and "Lookup tips" take you to the appropriate sections. I can manually page through the dictionary, and links within those pages work. I just can't search as needed. For the Britannica, it's much the same. "Encyclopedia Search" and "Image Index" are dead links on the Android, whereas "About this Book" is live. I can page through the articles, but there's no way to search. BTW: one can, in theory use the Android Search function, but of course it's useless in an encyclopedia. I'm about resigned to re-purchase both of these items from the Kindle store, though it seems a shame to have to do so. *Has anyone gotten Mobipocket versions of these items to work on the Android Kindle Reader?* Cheers and Thanks.

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01-05-2011, 08:28 PM	#2
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	You are probably out of luck. The table Cross-platform feature support shows the features that are not supported in the MOBI Java reader, which is the basis for the Kindle Reader and presumably the Android Kindle app. The only MOBI ebooks that commonly used these features are dictionaries and other reference works. Note that I could not find these ebooks in the Kindle store, and even if they were there they might not work with the Android Kindle app.

01-05-2011, 09:11 PM	#3
RMOP Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, TabPRO 8.4, Galaxy Light, Sony PRS-300	Wallcraft, I couldn't really tell from the chart which missing features were linked to dictionaries and reference works, but I suspect you are correct about the level of my luck on this matter, although I did find another hyperlinked reference to work flawlessly. Looks like I'll be shopping for near-equivalents, though Britannica is really hard to beat, IMO. Thanks for the input.

01-05-2011, 09:40 PM	#4
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	See if Webster, Noah: Webster's Dictionary 1913 (updated), v2.1, 17 July 2009 works. It also has a "Look up word" option, but the odds are this one also won't work in Kindle for Android. Since it is in the public domain, it will be easier for others to check.

01-06-2011, 07:15 AM	#5
RMOP Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, TabPRO 8.4, Galaxy Light, Sony PRS-300	Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd Edition [Kindle Edition] shows to be readable on the Android platform. At roughly $50, I haven't tried it yet. I may play around and see if I come up with alternatives.

01-06-2011, 05:10 PM	#9
RMOP Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, TabPRO 8.4, Galaxy Light, Sony PRS-300	Got it. Now to make it readable on the Android Kindle reader...