Classic New Firmware for Nook?

[lionel47]

Has anybody heard anything about a Nook firmware upgrade?

I love my device but there are some features I think could (should?) have been added by now. For clarity: I rooted mt Nook in the first couple of weeks I had it but reverted back to the B&N software when I had some issues with functionality.

Anyway, here are a couple of things on my wish list (in no particular order):

• Ability to create folders
• Ability to merge My Documents and B&N sections
• Improved battery life
• Ability to delete documents

I'm not a developer but I am wondering how difficult it would be for B&N to do a quarterly release of the firmware. Even if it just had a single feature added, it would help keep people like satisfied that they believe in constant improvement.

[bookwerm]

If you go to the nook forums on the b&n site, some of the admins have been mentioning a new firmware update is coming in mid to late april. They're not giving details on what the update addresses, but it sounds like we should see something shortly.

[Goshzilla]

When the nook is in standby mode, it is still consuming power, regardless if airplane mode is on or off. If the nook however is completely shut off(which is done by holding the power button for a few seconds), then supposedly no power is being used, so the only way for the battery level to drop would be for the charge to dissipate from the battery as it does naturally.

Other than that I could definitely use a few improvements, including:

1.) Better document navigation for both books and music files
2.) Quicker page loading, at least have a buffer of two or three pages
3.) The ability to skip to a page number, this is, I think, tied to number 4
4.) Improved page calculations
5.) Improving the ability to navigate a book's contents. Huge books will have many many chapters and scrolling through the entire list can become tedious.
6.) Make highlighting and note taking quicker, which would also in turn make dictionary searching faster.
7.) Allow the user to just enter a word in the dictionary to look up, rather than having to copy it off the text.

[Schmots]

It uses power even in airplane mode in standby because the OS still is trying to make a connection and check B&N for updates and information. NOT because the screen displays an image.

[lionel47]

Originally Posted by Schmots

It uses power even in airplane mode in standby because the OS still is trying to make a connection and check B&N for updates and information. NOT because the screen displays an image.

That's kind of silly. Why not shut off all radio activity in airplane mode? Just power off the radio. I can do that on just about every device I own.

[Schmots]

The radio is off, but the os still trys.

[lionel47]

Originally Posted by Schmots

The radio is off, but the os still trys.

Very simple, then. If radio is off, then OS does not look for updates or try to connect.

[Schmots]

Originally Posted by lionel47

Very simple, then. If radio is off, then OS does not look for updates or try to connect.

I am not saying that it should function that way, I am just saying thats the way it functions.

[lionel47]

Originally Posted by Schmots

I am not saying that it should function that way, I am just saying thats the way it functions.

Didn't mean for it to sound like I was directing that at you personally. I jsut meant that B&N developers should have caught that one in the QA process.

[BookJunkieLI]

Originally Posted by Goshzilla

1.) Better document navigation for both books and music files
2.) Quicker page loading, at least have a buffer of two or three pages
3.) The ability to skip to a page number, this is, I think, tied to number 4
4.) Improved page calculations
5.) Improving the ability to navigate a book's contents. Huge books will have many many chapters and scrolling through the entire list can become tedious.

Point 1 to me is an absolute must and, frankly, was kind of dumb that something wasn't included from the get-go. I mean, seriously, one of the major features that they tout is the ability to store hundreds to thousands of books on your tiny little device. Well, that's great and all but if I can't organize those hundreds to thousands of books in a manner that makes them easy for me locate what's the use of having them all stored in that tiny little device? Seriously, unless your OCD fixation requires that everything be alphabetized by only the title, I know of no bibliophile who does not organize their books by Genre, then Author, then Title. Well, except my friend who just tosses them randomly on the shelf and somehow still knows where everything is when she needs it. But then she's just plain weird.

Points 2-5 unfortunately are far more difficult to achieve if my understanding on of how the ePub format works. ePub is, essentially, an electronic version of a book not dissimilar to a PDF file. While a PDF file is absolutely rigid and you can't adjust anything beyond the size at which the whole file is displayed an ePUB will let you adjust font and font size. The problem is that like a PDF the 'length' of the page is basically set in stone and does not adjust for the size of the screen you're reading on. So if the page length is set at 11" and you're reading on a 5" screen you're only going to see the page in 5" increments. This is demonstrated by the fact that I have come across pages while reading on my Nook that cut off mid-sentence within the top half of the screen and then pick up again with the rest of the sentence once I go to the next page. So, sadly, I think this is a flaw in the file format that might not have an easy fix. I could, of course, be wrong as I am not a programmer but that's how it appears to me.

Beth

[Madam Broshkina]

ePubs on the Sony and iRex 800 (with latest update) have a "go to page" function so this is something that can be should be able to be added to the nook.

[Goshzilla]

Points 2-5 unfortunately are far more difficult to achieve if my understanding on of how the ePub format works. ePub is, essentially, an electronic version of a book not dissimilar to a PDF file. While a PDF file is absolutely rigid and you can't adjust anything beyond the size at which the whole file is displayed an ePUB will let you adjust font and font size. The problem is that like a PDF the 'length' of the page is basically set in stone and does not adjust for the size of the screen you're reading on. So if the page length is set at 11" and you're reading on a 5" screen you're only going to see the page in 5" increments. This is demonstrated by the fact that I have come across pages while reading on my Nook that cut off mid-sentence within the top half of the screen and then pick up again with the rest of the sentence once I go to the next page. So, sadly, I think this is a flaw in the file format that might not have an easy fix. I could, of course, be wrong as I am not a programmer but that's how it appears to me.

Then it's a serious flaw, not with the epub format, but with the program written to read them. Palm's eReader program designed for the PDB format can calculate precise page numbers, even when fonts are adjusted. The EB1100 also did this. The info for each font and page calculations were never discarded, but rather saved and then linked to the file in some manner such that deleting it from the device also deleted the information.

I shouldn't expect the Nook's firmware to fix this, because Adobe is the software designer responsible for it.

[lionel47]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

ePubs on the Sony and iRex 800 (with latest update) have a "go to page" function so this is something that can be should be able to be added to the nook.

The Nook has "go to" functionality but it only does it by chapter and not by page.

[droople]

Originally Posted by lionel47

The Nook has "go to" functionality but it only does it by chapter and not by page.

but it does not have "go to page" functionality