Kobo and Pulse in UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph

[Cameronpaterson]

The Kobo Vox - and in particular, Pulse - gets a mention in this recent article from UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...exy-again.html

However, I found the reference to Pulse a little puzzling. I quote:

"Its Pulse system shows you not just how many people have bought a particular book on their Kobo, and where and what time of day they read it, but also how many finished it.
I can’t be the only person secretly fascinated to know how many people really did get beyond page 42 of Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. “Being able to see that 90 per cent of readers actually finished a certain book against 20 per cent for another title you’re thinking of buying could influence your purchasing decision,” says Lindsey Mooney, vendor manager for Kobo."

I know you can view likes and comments on Pulse, and the number of people who have finished a particular book, but can you really see "where* and what time of day they read it", or how many people have bought the title (without necessarily finishing it)? Is this an iOS-only option - or am I missing something on the Vox? Perhaps it's something for authors only? (The author of the article is a novelist).

*I assume she means on what app or device, rather than the reader's geographic location

[paulsalter]

unless the iPad has a different version

just checked on my iPod and I cant se this info, just the same as the Vox

Kobo have said a new version for iOS is with Apple almost ready for release so perhaps this has these changes

[Cameronpaterson]

Originally Posted by paulsalter

unless the iPad has a different version

just checked on my iPod and I cant se this info, just the same as the Vox

Kobo have said a new version for iOS is with Apple almost ready for release so perhaps this has these changes

Really? I hadn't heard that a new version of Kobo is imminent. That's intriguing - iOS is clearly their lead platform, so who knows what new features it'll include?
As for the article, it's a mystery! Perhaps someone well-informed like Sharkus might care to comment?

[paulsalter]

post number 5 in here is where they mention it, no details of whats in it unfortunately

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=171986

[Cameronpaterson]

Originally Posted by paulsalter

post number 5 in here is where they mention it, no details of whats in it unfortunately

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=171986

Ah ha! Could be out any day now I guess

[Sharkus]

Originally Posted by Cameronpaterson

Ah ha! Could be out any day now I guess

Quite possibly. It has been submitted to Apple so it is now in their hands. With the launch of the new iPad, they have probably been inundated with apps and so approvals could well be a bit slow.

As for the pulse question. The iOS app doesn't display where / when a user read a book. I have a feeling that this might have been something planned for the initial launch but did not make it in.

[Cameronpaterson]

Originally Posted by Sharkus

Quite possibly. It has been submitted to Apple so it is now in their hands. With the launch of the new iPad, they have probably been inundated with apps and so approvals could well be a bit slow.

As for the pulse question. The iOS app doesn't display where / when a user read a book. I have a feeling that this might have been something planned for the initial launch but did not make it in.

Thanks Sharkus. Don't worry, I understand the complexities of the App Store approval process.
I didn't think that Pulse on either iOS or the Vox displayed that information. The more I think about that article in the Daily Telegraph, the more mysterious it seems. There the author is, waxing poetic about Pulse, on the basis of all sorts of information that it simply doesn't display. You can't see how many people have bought a book, when they read it, where (??) they read it, etc. I would assume she was employing some poetic license (the author is a novelist after all) but then we have this mysterious quote from the Kobo vendor manager, about how the percentage of people who've actually finished a book could influence your decision to buy a copy - fine in theory, but you can't see how many have actually bought it, so why would someone from Kobo say that???

[Cameronpaterson]

Not to make too much of a minor issue....but perhaps, if Sharkus is correct and I have no reason to think he isn't, the author of the above article simply saw and was quoting from some old press release about plans for Pulse. Definitely a bit of creative license being employed though :/

[Cameronpaterson]

Wow, the iOS update is still a no show. Apple are taking their time with this one

[paulsalter]

The negative side of having a device which is restricted to using just the one store, apple take far to long approving apps/updates

[Cameronpaterson]

They certainly do sometimes. I often wonder how the app store approval process actually works - there must hundreds of people in an office somewhere, staring at glaring screens as they click their way through an unending torrent of new submissions

[paulsalter]

sounds quite tedious checking them all, does have it's plus points that you know when you install an app it doesn't have any nasty hidden code in it.

be nice though if you could just google kobo ios apk (or whatever the ios version is called) and install it, or get direct from kobo site