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Old 12-12-2009, 10:26 PM   #16
lhamilton
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I would enjoy a French/English or German/English dictionary -- it would be a real plus when reading books in those languages. I suspect that sort of feature would really sell these readers to students.
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Old 12-13-2009, 07:37 PM   #17
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Old 01-22-2010, 01:14 PM   #18
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OK, guys, here I am with some news:

I wrote an e-mail to Sony in December, saying that I would be happy to see other dictionaries available on their unit - specifically, a German Duden and a French Larrouse. They answered, asking me to contact the Product Information Department.

Today I finally got some time and I did it. Well... I got another phone number, for their eReader support. After the guy listened to what I wanted, he created a case and said that he will forward my request to their development team. He said that they would look into it and will see if it's possible to include new dictionaries in the next firmware release.

Although I realize that this is not a firm promise, I think that those who are interested in getting other dictionaries on their readers, should call Sony eReader support and open a case. The more people will ask for it, the more chances we have to see other dictionaries in our readers. So, call 1-877-263-2863 and tell them I sent you - just kidding :-), tell them you would like to see new dictionaries in your Reader.
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Old 01-22-2010, 01:19 PM   #19
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Interesting. Is that a Canadian number?

And is it only possible to put the request to them by phone? Is there no e-mail facility?
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Old 01-22-2010, 01:23 PM   #20
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Sony doesn't usually add features requested by users to the firmware of their devices. Ask any psp or ps3 owner about media playback on these two consoles (it's very limited).
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Old 01-22-2010, 01:34 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by franklekens View Post
Interesting. Is that a Canadian number?

And is it only possible to put the request to them by phone? Is there no e-mail facility?
I don't think it's a Canadian number. And, if there was an e-mail facility, I would say that they would have forwarded my original e-mail to that Department.

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Originally Posted by Levelpart View Post
Sony doesn't usually add features requested by users to the firmware of their devices. Ask any psp or ps3 owner about media playback on these two consoles (it's very limited).
But, it doesn't hurt to try, does it? Even if this will not be available for the existing models, there is a chance to include more dictionaries in the next models. Of course, there is also that 'what if' - what if you are wrong? What if they will include more dictionaries? What if they will not include it in the firmware, but they will make it available for download, for a fee? I would be happy to see it in a firmware, for free, but I would be willing to pay for it too. I love the fact that I can tap the word and see the definition - it's a lot more convenient than browsing a dictionary, plus it's a great way to expand one's vocabulary!

As I said, it won't hurt to try and it will only cost you 10-15 minutes of your time. If you think it's worth, then go for it, if not, just ignore the posting.
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Old 01-22-2010, 02:05 PM   #22
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I'll give it a try, I like the idea of foreign language dictionaries on Sony devices.
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Old 01-23-2010, 03:19 PM   #23
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I really don't want to have to pay for international calls to request new features... But even the fact that they listened to your request is very encouraging. The ability to choose between dictionaries on the reader is already there, I don't see what is stopping them from making more available. I wouldn't expect them for free, and they couldn't possibly install all the different languages that people might want, but having the option to pay for and add to my reader a third-party dictionary of my choice would be great!
Can someone direct them to this thread?
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Old 01-25-2010, 08:02 AM   #24
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What I would really love is a wikipedia working the same way as these dictionaries. THAT would be great. And I don't see it really difficult to do. Of course that would have to be a reduced and text only wikipedia, but I am sure there must be plenty of versions out there. They could even easily make it updatable...
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Old 01-25-2010, 02:40 PM   #25
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Anybody has an idea whether there are any third party dictionaries out there or not?
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Old 01-25-2010, 02:53 PM   #26
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Anybody has an idea whether there are any third party dictionaries out there or not?
I have never heard of any third party dictionaries. Even if there were, I suspect that they would be loaded as any other book, in which case, the reader (person) would have to exit the book he/she is reading, to search the word in the dictionary, then return to the book. In my opinion, this is worse than having a paper dictionary beside you.

What I would like to see is the same convenience offered by the current dictionaries: tap a word and, Bingo!, the definition appears at the bottom of the screen.
There is, however, something that I don't really like at the current dictionaries: if the word is not found, the eReader does not allow you to enter a word - the sign for keyboard appears only if the definition was found. In my opinion, this is a drawback and I think that Sony's developers made a mistake here.
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Old 01-25-2010, 03:05 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by franklekens View Post
Does anyone know if Sony plans to extend the dictionary functionality of the new PRS 600 to include foreign language dictionaries? Because it's a nice feature, but I'd find it more useful to have it for languages which I can read, but only with a dictionary at hand.

And if nothing is known about this -- at least is there a forum to discuss this and/or a lobby for Sony to implement this?
I understand that if you set your menu to German or French you can use the built in dictonary, although I might be wrong.
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Old 01-25-2010, 03:32 PM   #28
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I understand that if you set your menu to German or French you can use the built in dictonary, although I might be wrong.
The built-in dictionary is available only in American or British English (if you choose one of these two languages). If you choose any other language, you won't get any dictionary. And, this applies even to those units sold in Europe (France, Germany), which I find stupid!
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Old 01-25-2010, 03:53 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurentiu View Post
The built-in dictionary is available only in American or British English
True, there are only two built-in dictionaries.

Quote:
(if you choose one of these two languages). If you choose any other language, you won't get any dictionary. And, this applies even to those units sold in Europe (France, Germany), which I find stupid!
False. You can select one of the English dictionaries even if you have a non-English menu language. If the dictionary is not set by default, go to advanced settings and select one.

As far as 3rd party dictionaries are concerned, it appears that the Sony FW could support them, but it does not at the moment. It is possible to use the dictionaries out of the /Data partition (via a rather primitive hack to kconfig.xml). For some stupid reason though, Sony didn't release the software that would allow people to create their own dictionaries. The BBeB Dic Studio doesn't make dictionaries compatible with Sony Readers. As a result, we know how to add a dictionary (or rather, replace an existing one with a custom one as the number "2" is hardcoded), but we do not know how to make a dictionary.
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Old 01-25-2010, 05:17 PM   #30
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I'd love a French one, that would be useful..... unlike the EN one which is kind of nice to have but no more than that
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