Archive for the ‘Cybook 3’ Category

Try as I might I could not finish a good completion of my Kindle review.  I am just not interested in the reader.  It took me forever to find a book to buy and download.  Since Amazon has the one click buy and download, I quickly learned that you got to be very careful when browsing.  If you are not paying attention there is the possibility that you will buy something by mistake.  I feel as though I have to adjust myself to the reader rather than the reader adjusting to me.  For example, I rarely get to read during the day.  Most of my leisure reading takes place at night so in order to use the Kindle I have to use a light.  To be fair I knew that and that’s the reason why I don’t get much use out of my Sony reader either.  Another adjustment is the case.  It makes the reader bulky to me.  At home I remove it, but I wanted to try using the reader in a different environment.  I toted it with me to a coffee café and used the case to keep it from any damage.  It was just too uncomfortable for me.  M-edge plans to offer a cover for the Kindle.  It should be out within a couple of weeks.  Maybe that will change my mind about using the device.  They do have the second generation Sony reader cases available for pre-order.  Also, the on/off and Wifi buttons are on the back.  I find it annoying to take off the cover to perform what I see as frequent tasks.  I forgot to do so and the battery ran out in a day or so.  I guess the Wifi shortens battery life considerably. 

The only thing that has surprised me is that people recognize the Kindle.  I get questions about the reader everywhere.  Most people seem to react positively to the reader, but shy away because of the price.  When I have had my other readers with me, most people thought I was playing some sort of video game, or using a PDA.  So I am happy that word is spreading about e-books. I just wish that another e-book device would come out that will make me as excited as I was about my Cybook. 

On the catch up, I have been running around like crazy.  It happens to me every Christmas.  I keep telling myself that I will do better, (buy early, buy less, and stress less) but I never do.  I have been using my Eee PC more and more.  I really like the laptop. My only change would be for it to have a swivel screen.  If you are looking at getting a different type of case for yours, take a look at Fabrix Cases.  The cases are about $40 plus another $10 for shipping.  That’s a bit too pricey for me. Usually I use a portable DVD player case or insert padding into a book/Bible cover.  I have yet to find one in a color and style that suits me.  I am thinking about making my own cases.  We’ll see. 

I sincerely hope that everyone had a beautiful holiday season and a great new year ahead.

I am happy to report that Derek’s sample Cybook 3 is now alive and well.   From what I gather it was an unproperly formatted file that he loaded directly to the device (instead of the memory card).  You can read about it here on his blog.  Bookeen has updated their blog again, and it looks like Mobipocket’s Desktop software now works with the Cybook.  Things are looking up.  This was to come along later, but now customers will be able to buy and read Mobipocket’s secure titles as soon as they get their reader. Not only will you be able to take advantage of DRM’d books, but you will have access to RSS feeds via the software’s eNews feature.  The eNews feature synchronizes your Cybook with any of the hundreds of thousands available.  This is a stark difference from the meager selection available via Sony’s Connect software.  

The device now supports pdf format and includes features as fit width, fit page, fit height and rotate 0°, 90°, 180°,270°.  To recap the supported formats, they are: Mobipocket (encrypted and unencrypted), HTML, Palmdoc, txt, pdf, and rtf.  More formats are expected and will be a part of future firmware updates. Bookeen’s blog also has a review up written by James Frank.  Frank’s a part of the group that has sample devices.  Bookeen is still standing by a release date before the end of the month.  That gives us all a chance to see the Kindle reader before making a final decision.

I just read Derek’s latest blog post and it seems that he has a “bricked” Cybook 3 (Derek has a sample device).  This is hot on the heels of the latest firmware release.  He doesn’t really go into detail on how his device got in this mess. Was it the update or a corrupted file? That doesn’t matter.  The question that needs to be answered is if the Cybook is really ready for prime time?  If someone like Derek who is no newbie to e-books can have this happen so easily, what are the chances that the average consumer will be able to avoid such problems and how to troubleshoot them?  We all know that things do occasionally go wrong with technology, but that doesn’t help keep first impressions favorable.  One of the main points of e-book devices these days is the ability to load personal documents.  If loading documents can cause such problems, then  Bookeen needs to fix this quick.  We know that the Cybook 3 has been delayed from being released in September to make adjustments in the final steps of mass production.  We were to be pacified that at least pdf capabilities would be included upon release rather than a later update.  Today, on Bookeen’s blog it was announced that, the design has now been modified to change the surface treatment.  So now the Cybook 3 will not be glossy, but still soft to the touch.  Another modification is that the navigation will be easier to press.  I have to ask why there was ever an announcement for a September release.   Are these really minor changes? Maybe so, but it still suggests that the device was obviously not ready for a September release.  I think that it would have been better to have had a release date of 4^th Quarter 2007.  That would have given Bookeen more wiggle room.  After all, if it came out earlier it would have been a nice surprise.  Still Bookeen says that the official release date will be before the end of this month, with a confirmed $350 price tag.  At any rate, I hope Derek’s problem can be fixed and that it was just a freak incident.