LBook Firmware 2010.04.19

[cloggy]

..the links are referring to the firmware for the PPro version, does anybody know a similar link for the V3ext (6 inch) with a very recent LBOOK firmware version to give it a try? Robert earlier promised to have the new Hanlin V3ext available last week but I haven't seen or heard anything about this version anymore.

Thanks in advance..

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by cloggy

..the links are referring to the firmware for the PPro version, does anybody know a similar link for the V3ext (6 inch) with a very recent LBOOK firmware version to give it a try? Robert earlier promised to have the new Hanlin V3ext available last week but I haven't seen or heard anything about this version anymore.

Thanks in advance..

This site is hosting running updates of Buggins' CcoolReader work on the V3ext platform. The site is in Russian, so if you do not read Russian you can use Google translate or something similar.
http://begemot.homeftp.net/buggins

The one that I like the best so far is the 20100330 version.

There is an even newer version on the site, but Buggins seems to have regressed the Lbook bookshelf application on that one?

[polly]

This post did a nice job listing reasons, so I'll just elaborate on a few of them.

Originally Posted by Xochipilli2012

I don't love everything about the LBook software, but it edges out Astak in a few key areas--the menus are cleaner and easier to read.

The lBook menus have a more polished look than Astak and are easier to read. I liked the old lBook (11/09) design better than the new one, but the new one better than Astak's. No offense intended, but yours tend to be tiny and stark.

The LBook software allows one to delete, copy, or move books on board. This is huge. Astak does not.

This is huge for me too. I have my books organized now so that unread books go on my card. If I like the book enough to keep it on my reader, I move it to the reader after I've read it and then delete the copy on the card. This makes it super easy to find a new unread book while still having them organized and is much more convenient than having to plug it into my computer to manage files.

The system font choice for the LBook not only affects the non-CoolReader and non-ADE book formats, but the PocketPro's menus themselves.

Overall, the user-experience with the LBook firmware seems more "pleasant" and "intuitive".

Anyhow Robert, I recommend you give it a try so that you can communicate your findings directly to the evil PM rather than relying on 2nd hand accounts. I dare say, you might have access to more than one PP at a time so you could make comparisons side-by-side.

I like the way that the file type is listed just underneath each book in the bookshelf and that the author name appears under the book for some formats. I'd like it if all of the formats in the bookshelf display like the fb2.

Until your latest update, lBook offered CoolReader3 software, which I like much better than CoolReader2. The downside was that lBook forgot to translate the CoolReader menus into English, but that's been fixed now.

I've gotten the impression that lBook has its own programmer(s) making modifications, which takes out your whole issue with time zones and Chinese.

[cloggy]

Many thanks Dave_S for the link. I gave the V3update-20100420-newkernel-bigfiles.zip version a try and I have to say that I specially like the Turbo update in CR3. I'll use it for the next couple of days to see if I like it. So far, so good..

[Xochipilli2012]

Originally Posted by theducks

The Menu says English Speaking while reading EPUB

Seems to offer text-to-speech for EPUB (when not read in CoolReader), PDF, PDB, and LIT.

[theducks]

2 things I noticed with the last versions (4/21)
Updating loses "Recently Read" (Display entries), but the book opens in to correct place
Windows Explorer "Eject" does not work (Must use USB device Icon), that worked in the Jan Astak FW


BTW other nice touches in the UI is the Sort type is displayed in the Lower Left and The Storage in use (Upper Left) and path is bolder than the Jinke FW

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by cloggy

..the links are referring to the firmware for the PPro version, does anybody know a similar link for the V3ext (6 inch) with a very recent LBOOK firmware version to give it a try? Robert earlier promised to have the new Hanlin V3ext available last week but I haven't seen or heard anything about this version anymore.

Thanks in advance..

Dear cloggy:

The best laid plans of mice and men and factories do often go astray.

The FTP upload to Astak of the 6 inch Firmware Upgrade should arrive to Astak on this Thursday. We will then test it including a beta test. Allowing no problems we MAY see this available to all by Friday of next week. That is an educated guess.

So, it definitely IS coming but must be tested well first!!

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by theducks

2 things I noticed with the last versions (4/21)
Updating loses "Recently Read" (Display entries), but the book opens in to correct place
Windows Explorer "Eject" does not work (Must use USB device Icon), that worked in the Jan Astak FW


BTW other nice touches in the UI is the Sort type is displayed in the Lower Left and The Storage in use (Upper Left) and path is bolder than the Jinke FW

Another interesting feature is that the picture viewer can be set to work like a digital frame, changing images every few seconds. The rate of the change can be controlled using the number keys 1 to 5.

Dale

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Another interesting feature is that the picture viewer can be set to work like a digital frame, changing images every few seconds. The rate of the change can be controlled using the number keys 1 to 5.

Dale

Oooo!

Where do you find the manual (English) or all info on using this FW ?

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by polly

This post did a nice job listing reasons, so I'll just elaborate on a few of them.



The lBook menus have a more polished look than Astak and are easier to read. I liked the old lBook (11/09) design better than the new one, but the new one better than Astak's. No offense intended, but yours tend to be tiny and stark.



This is huge for me too. I have my books organized now so that unread books go on my card. If I like the book enough to keep it on my reader, I move it to the reader after I've read it and then delete the copy on the card. This makes it super easy to find a new unread book while still having them organized and is much more convenient than having to plug it into my computer to manage files.







I like the way that the file type is listed just underneath each book in the bookshelf and that the author name appears under the book for some formats. I'd like it if all of the formats in the bookshelf display like the fb2.

Until your latest update, lBook offered CoolReader3 software, which I like much better than CoolReader2. The downside was that lBook forgot to translate the CoolReader menus into English, but that's been fixed now.

I've gotten the impression that lBook has its own programmer(s) making modifications, which takes out your whole issue with time zones and Chinese.

Dear Polly:

This helps. The evil PM is demanding that I give him an explanation and your post clarifies a lot!! I think he should get two Pocket PRO side-by-side and compare.

By the way, the Evil PM is not so evil. Lately he has embraced MobilRead Forum and is starting to make good decisions. Frankly, he has us moving forward. I have to give him credit... when he is open to listening he leads things well and becomes a real asset. It is strange to see the change in a few months. From a horrible Ogre who barked orders without regard to other's imput... he has become a good manager that listens and ralleyes his team. He IS starting to take us in a good direction and I find myself totally supporting what he is doing. The man has become a people-person who DOES listen and does allow others to have authority; and he is a real leader.

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by Robertb

By the way, the Evil PM is not so evil. Lately he has embraced MobilRead Forum and is starting to make good decisions. .

Tell him to pop in here and say hello. We'll commiserate with him over the frequent beatings.

[Xochipilli2012]

Hi there!

These aren't the best images, but I hope they will give you some idea of what the LBook firmware looks like:


LBook Splash Screen:



Bookshelf with Arial Font:



Bookshelf pop-up menu:



Settings menu:



Bookshelf after setting system font to DejaVu Serif (installed in the /fonts folder on the SD card):



CoolReader 3 main menu, page 1:



CoolReader 3 settings, page 1:



CoolReader settings, page 2 - Note #3 where "Document Embedded Styles" is turned off so I can use the css style sheets stored in the CRENGINE folder on the SD card:



CoolReader keyboard layout - (long press of #1 in CoolReader - LBook version is much easier to read than the one from Astak):



Dictionary look-up menu (quick-press of #3), which could be used with whatever dictionary is installed at the time. LBook firmware ships with an English-Russian dictionary, but this can be over-ridden by the properly formatted files installed in the /dict folder in the internal memory. The dictionary I installed needs to be edited as it tends to find forms of the target word, rather than the word itself. In this case it finds "god-forsaken" instead of "god":



The is the other look-up which locates a word on the screen in a way similar to have some mobile phones lookup words for texting, also for looking up in the dictionary. In this case, it returns a screen that says it could not find "Mongoloid":



CoolReader font-size change screen (key #8) - note that this is the second of two pages, with additional smaller choices on page 1:



Pop-up menu for Epub and PDF viewer:



Zoom options for Epub and PDF viewer - only 5 for LBook firmware, unlike 9 for Astak:



File tools pop-up menu accessed by long-press of selection in the Bookshelf:



Options popup for MOBI, PRC and possibly other formats (which don't include TTS):



Font-size popup for MOBI, PRC, etc.



Hope this helps!

After doing all this, I realized I didn't photograph the pop-up for LIT and PDB files...sorry about that! It would have included the "English Speaking" option and is probably identical to the options on the Astak firmware.


Cheers!

Originally Posted by Davimee

Does anyone by chance have any pictures of the Pocket Pro with this firmware, to see how it looks?

[Davimee]

Originally Posted by Xochipilli2012

Hi there!

These aren't the best images, but I hope they will give you some idea of what the LBook firmware looks like:

Hope this helps!

After doing all this, I realized I didn't photograph the pop-up for LIT and PDB files...sorry about that! It would have included the "English Speaking" option and is probably identical to the options on the Astak firmware.


Cheers!

Thank you so much for posting those! That does look really nice! I wondered what people were talking about when they referred to the spiral notebook, and now I see what it is. I actually think that's pretty cool! I also like the paperclips.

I think I'll still stick with the Astak firmware, but it is cool to see what others are doing. Thanks again for posting!

[jusmee]

Just noticed one change between the latest two quickly released versions. The splash screen for Coolreader is back. In the previous release is was just a clock, now the full graphic screen is back. I really suspect there were a few problems that needed to be rectified pronto Best to use the very latest one I would think.

[jusmee]

Oh, and has anyone else noticed that settings in Coolreader disappear when you upgrade to a new lbook firmware?