PRS505 Firmware update: epub, DE, and reflow -- oh my!

[smaulz]

So umm.. have we all been played here? The morning's just about over, and nothing new on the homefront. Cruel hoax, perhaps?

[seajewel]

still morning in California! not even 10 AM.

[JSWolf]

The day is not yet over.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

Also there was an earlier question about reflow. The PDF does not have to be "tagged" to be reflowed.(and we actually ignore the tags if we they are there - we got better results that way) Because of this there are cases were we will really mangle the PDF during reflow because the text flow in the PDF do not match what you would expect as reading order.

Any other technical questions , fire away.

--
Jim Lester
Adobe Systems

Can reflow be turned off?

[thorswitch]

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

Any other technical questions , fire away.

--
Jim Lester
Adobe Systems

First off, thanks for stopping by! NatCh answered this earlier, but since you're actually with Adobe, I'd just like to reconfirm this with you, if that's ok: With the new firmware update, will we be able to read Adobe Secure 6.0 DRM books? I think the whole "Digital Edition 1.5" vs "Acrobat X.X" vs "Adobe Secure X.X" just has me a bit confused, since I don't work with Adobe products on a regular basis (sorry!)

Thanks!
Kriselda

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

First, I think I can safely say that there will not be a desktop Linux release of ADE this calendar year. (I don't think the fact that the Sony is running on top of Linux OS counts for what you want).

Still pushing back the release then ? AIR should be available on Linux later this year based on what I've read. But DE 1.5 might still be running on something different than the rest of AIR apps.

Second, ADE talks to the Sony PRS-505 through a DLL that get installed with the Connect Library. If you do not have Connect Library installed, then you will not see your Sony as a bookshelf in ADE (and you wont be able to activate your Sony, DRM won't work, etc...)

Since Sony does not ship the Connect Library for Mac and did not have a Framework (Mac version of a DLL) for us to talk to, the Mac version of ADE will not "see" the Sony Reader. You can still transfer files through the OS, but DRM'd files will not work unless you have previously authorized your Sony Reader with an AdobeID (on a Windows box) that is the same as what you are using on the Mac. I'm a Mac user, my wife (who has a 505) is also a Mac user - I feel the pain on this.

Ok, so basically, you're using the DLL to communicate a certain number of informations directly to the 505, instead of just using the UMS. But you authorize the device and connect it to an Adobe ID only the first time that the device is connected to DE.

Hopefully, this won't be a problem for every device released on the market...

[nathantw]

Originally Posted by grooks

Maybe the new firmware will include the clock.

Or maybe a way to keeps the month and day even after shutting down.

[Jim Lester]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can reflow be turned off?

At the default font size, the PDF is displayed as is. Reflow will happen when you increase the font size.

Originally Posted by thorswitch

I'd just like to reconfirm this with you, if that's ok: With the new firmware update, will we be able to read Adobe Secure 6.0 DRM books?

Yes, providing that the book is already in ADE 1.5 or can be migrated into 1.5, by upgrading to ADE, then you will be able to transfer that book to the Sony Reader (once they get the firmware out there ).

You will not be able to transfer content directly from Acrobat Reader to the Sony device.

Originally Posted by Hadrien

AIR should be available on Linux later this year based on what I've read. But DE 1.5 might still be running on something different than the rest of AIR apps.

Correct, ADE 1.5 is not an AIR application.

[Baccchus]

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

Any other technical questions , fire away.

Will reflow be able to cope with multicolumn pages? If so I'll be very happy.

[llasram]

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

Any other technical questions , fire away.

Oooh!

Does the Reader version of DE use exactly the same rendering engine as the Windows desktop version or are their differences which could result in different behaviors across the platforms?

Is it planned for Reader firmware updates to become available as new versions of DE are released?

More a straight DE question, but is improving Unicode support a priority? (My experience trying an epub book in DE using Unicode spaces other than U+0020 was pretty miserable, DE replacing them all with '?'.)

-Marshall

[Ervserver]

Christmas in July

[jerryleejr]

Here is an article for the AP so the word is getting out.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...A01LwD92413D80

[Shadowplay]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

Christmas in July

If that's the case then Santa is being pretty damn stingy right now since the update still doesn't seem available. hehehe

I've got my 505 charging up next to me here at work just waiting for that update to roll out.

[Jim Lester]

Originally Posted by Baccchus

Will reflow be able to cope with multicolumn pages? If so I'll be very happy.

It depends upon how the PDF was authored. If the text flow follows the column, then it will work. If the text flow goes across the columns, it will be ugly.

Originally Posted by llasram

Does the Reader version of DE use exactly the same rendering engine as the Windows desktop version or are their differences which could result in different behaviors across the platforms?

The rendering engine code for both PDF and ePub are shared for ADE and the Sony Reader. However the Sony Reader is using different processor with different memory overhead, and a screen of a different resolution and bit depth. There will be differences, hopefully small and appropriate for the situation.

Originally Posted by llasram

Is it planned for Reader firmware updates to become available as new versions of DE are released?

I'm an engineer not marketing. That question is not technical and involves Sony's future plans, so a big ole "No Comment" from me.

Originally Posted by llasram

More a straight DE question, but is improving Unicode support a priority? (My experience trying an epub book in DE using Unicode spaces other than U+0020 was pretty miserable, DE replacing them all with '?'.)

Improving the quality of our rendering engines are always a priority. Please report a bug on the ADE Forum http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc43717/ Extra bonus points applied for providing sample for QA to test against.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

The rendering engine code for both PDF and ePub are shared for ADE and the Sony Reader. However the Sony Reader is using different processor with different memory overhead, and a screen of a different resolution and bit depth. There will be differences, hopefully small and appropriate for the situation.

No support for justification then ?