Database Users

Ebook Reader Available?

Just had a look at Marketplace and can't see an ebook reader client.
Anyone know of one please? I would have thought that the HD2 big screen was perfect for reading.

The HD2 is excellent for reading ebooks, but you need to specify which format your ebooks are in.
My preference is for Mobipocket but this can't handle protected eReader files. For that you would need to download eReader . However I couldn't get this to install from the PC installer, though it's OK from This topic using the CAB file.

Thanks Neil, I'll give them both a try.

I like both but prefer Mobipocket!
Just a hint though- with both you need to go into the options to select screen tapping to tunr pages as the HD2 doesn't have a D-Pad
Oh- & both are free programs!

What is an ebook? I mean what is the file extension? Is there only one format for all the ebooks out there? Is it a LIT like the Microsoft Reader, or a different format?

alex fung said:
What is an ebook? I mean what is the file extension? Is there only one format for all the ebooks out there? Is it a LIT like the Microsoft Reader, or a different format?
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The file extensions are dependent on the format the ebook is encoded with, which determines which ebook reader needs to be used.
Ebooks are either encrypted or open format. To comply with the publishers requirements, all mainstream ebooks are encrypted, and different formats use different modes of protection. There is an increasing problem with being able to buy ebooks in different countries- for example many ebooks available from FictionWise can't be downloaded in UK due to licensing restrictions, but another company, BooksOnBoard have a bigger selection of globally available titles.
As you mention, Microsoft Reader used the .lit extension, but as this program doesn't work with WM6 it's a bit of a problem. There are other programs than can read .lit files, such as uBook (microbook) but they can't read any with DRM. There are ways however to strip the DRM on the PC version of MS Reader which still works.
The earliest mobile ebook reader was on the Palm Pocket, and the program I mentioned above, eReader works with these files which are still being used for mainstream books. They have the .pdb file extension
Mobipocket books have the .prc file extension but Mobipocket can also read html, text files and unencrypted eReader files.
There is unfortunately a move towards more proprietary formats with the release of devices like the Amazon and Sony ebook hardware. Also, many new ebooks are being released using the ePub format which is an Adobe protocol and is not available for any mobile devices.
Sorry for the long post! Its abit of a soapbox for me as I've been usign ebooks for a long time and relish the idea of having a large number of books always available on my devcie, especially on holiday. I don't like the way my choice has been limited more and more over the past year!

If you have your books in simple text formats (ie txt, rtf, doc, html), alreader should be perfect for you.

the format which is winning the ebook format wars is .epub and there is areader out there for that particular format...Freda

blackheart2925 said:
the format which is winning the ebook format wars is .epub and there is areader out there for that particular format...Freda
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Thanks for that- it's a very good start. It is only for non-encrypted ePub files though, and unfortunatley the vast majority of commercial titles are encrypted

NeilM said:
Thanks for that- it's a very good start. It is only for non-encrypted ePub files though, and unfortunatley the vast majority of commercial titles are encrypted
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There are tools on the internet that can be used for decrypting DRM-protected EPUBS (a Google search on INEPT will lead you in the right direction). Depending where you live, it may or may not be legal for you to download and use them though
Jim

I use Micrsoft Reader and Mobipocket. First because I have a big archive with books in .lit format, and the second one because I can convert lots of formats in books who works for it and I like this program allot. one problem if I can call it a problem is lack of updates for it. For example to make progress bar from bottom of page bigger or to make some animation with page flip (now I see iPad have implemented that). It may seem like some graphics nonsense but I think this are very important because of psychological effect (feeling good reading a book but filing good about it from start of the program) at the end of day you read a book to relax and feel good (technical or any educational books come usual in .pdf format so are not included in discussion). and I think because of power and size of screen HD2 deserve better graphics. Don't forget that iPhone had big success because of better graphics with a OS witch odder ways it was waaaaay inferior to WM, just because of that psychological effect created by very well designed graphics.

Grab a copy of freda (search here on xda). It's the best free epub reader out there. There'll be a new version released soon by Jim.

I do like Freda, but it's not finger friendly. Particularly the Library View. You need fingers like a small bushbaby to select a particular book.
Best I've tried up to now though.

I used Palm to read ebooks since lots of years ago, when I moved to WM I still using the same aplication: iSilo
iSilo consist in two aplications... one in WM wich you use to read and another on the pc wich you use to encode the files to iSilo format (pdb). You can encode lots of file formats including plain txt and html (with images) or grab complete websites.
I love iSilo cause a 5 megabytes pdf can be just a 200k pdb file and got autoscroll with is a feature I love to read books (ipad don't have that)

Alpha4 said:
I do like Freda, but it's not finger friendly. Particularly the Library View. You need fingers like a small bushbaby to select a particular book.
Best I've tried up to now though.
Click to expand...
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I hope you've popped some feedback on the freda thread. Jim is always looking for improvements so comments from the user base will drive this!

Yep I will fix that display to make the lines a bit bigger. Actually, I've been thinking about implementing a setting to let the user control the font-size and line spacing used for controls (because some people don't mind poking the screen with a fingernail, whereas others really want to use finger-tips - but there is a trade-off in that the larger the controls, the fewer lines will fit the screen).
Anyhow, I had been thinking the setting should have values called 'small/medium/large', but it's clear that what I need is 'bushbaby/human/gorilla'
Thanks for using Freda.
Jim

what about flip page animation like in SPB Shell v.2 or iPad? Is that posible to implement?

Jim Chapman said:
Yep I will fix that display to make the lines a bit bigger. Actually, I've been thinking about implementing a setting to let the user control the font-size and line spacing used for controls (because some people don't mind poking the screen with a fingernail, whereas others really want to use finger-tips - but there is a trade-off in that the larger the controls, the fewer lines will fit the screen).
Anyhow, I had been thinking the setting should have values called 'small/medium/large', but it's clear that what I need is 'bushbaby/human/gorilla'
Thanks for using Freda.
Jim
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Thanks Jim, sounds good. One point I will make is that the HD2 has a capacitive touch screen and, as you no doubt know, a fingernail won't register a touch at all. Almost any other body part is fine though .
I look forward to the next version of Freda.

carbunaru said:
what about flip page animation like in SPB Shell v.2 or iPad? Is that posible to implement?
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Click to collapse
Freda has a rather simplistic animation which appears when you scroll up/down, or slide pages left/right. It would be nice to more sophisticated animation approach (like Stanza for instance), which shows the page contents distorted and shaded as they turn. I may implement that at some stage, but it would be complicated because I'd have to use the DirectDraw Sprite APIs, rather than the regular .NetCF GDI APIs - and that (a) would involve a fair amount of re-writing (b) might create portability problems.
Thanks for your interest in Freda,
Jim

Thanks for answer. I think a program with this kind of features will became no one on market because the trent (made by Apple) is for people to looking to "looks" of progams and not their utility.
Just my opinion.

[Q] Microsoft Word? View & Edit?

Hi all,
I am looking at purchasing either a netbook, or this Acer Iconia Tablet. One reason I am buying either of these is for viewing and editing/creating word documents. Obviously this can be done on a netbook, but can this similarly be done using this/any android tablet?
I have read about Documents to Go app however not fully aware of the functionalities etc (are you able to create new documents?). If yes, is the editing and viewing of the documents on the app/tablet good, i.e. easy? (with a USB keyboard)?
I'm not interested in the full editing found in desktop PC's or anything, just the basic write, read, edit, create.
Thanks for your time, appreciate all input.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

I use Documents to Go on my Iconia, very pleased with it. Thus far, I haven't found anything of substance that I can't do. I have a Bluetooth keyboard, but rarely use it.

I got docs to go and it has been able to do everything I need so far. I have only edited my resume on it, but it has worked perfectly. I also set up my printer to use with my tablet.

Ok thank you very much for your fast responses! Are you able to create a new document? or are you only able to edit other documents already on the device?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

i use quick office hd version, it's customized for the honeycomb and works well

beaver2233 said:
Hi all,
I am looking at purchasing either a netbook, or this Acer Iconia Tablet. One reason I am buying either of these is for viewing and editing/creating word documents. Obviously this can be done on a netbook, but can this similarly be done using this/any android tablet?
I have read about Documents to Go app however not fully aware of the functionalities etc (are you able to create new documents?). If yes, is the editing and viewing of the documents on the app/tablet good, i.e. easy? (with a USB keyboard)?
I'm not interested in the full editing found in desktop PC's or anything, just the basic write, read, edit, create.
Thanks for your time, appreciate all input.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also use docs to go. I love it. You can create new docs...but it should be noted you need paid version to edit/create. You prob already knew that

gmpdmd said:
I also use docs to go. I love it. You can create new docs...but it should be noted you need paid version to edit/create. You prob already knew that
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Click to collapse
Hehe yeah sure did. Thanks heaps everyone for your replies gah now decision time, Toshiba nb550d netbook or the iconia... :/
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

What about google docs, I think its pretty nice having my documents in the cloud.

I can't read maths equation on my tab no matter what apps I use. Any suggestion?

dhruvmp said:
What about google docs, I think its pretty nice having my documents in the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Docs to go will work with your google docs, but the google docs app is pretty craptastic itself.

How about a decent software keyboard? One that has 5 rows for a change for those damn numbers.
All keyboards I've seen are simply mobile ones scaled up. They just won't do.

Bec07 said:
How about a decent software keyboard? One that has 5 rows for a change for those damn numbers.
All keyboards I've seen are simply mobile ones scaled up. They just won't do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using Tswipe-Pro. It's free (with a minor nag once in blue moon) customizable (size, type, color) with T9 up top along with number keys and cursor keys as well.
I also concur on the Google Docs app. For viewing, everything else is better. But you can do edits in GDocs, I suppose. I think I missed the big 50% off sale for Docs to Go too--the free app included is good enough for referrence checks for me.

Bec07 said:
How about a decent software keyboard? One that has 5 rows for a change for those damn numbers.
All keyboards I've seen are simply mobile ones scaled up. They just won't do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hackers Keyboard, available in the Market.

gtriever said:
Hackers Keyboard, available in the Market.
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Click to collapse
1+ Been using this for about a week!

Both look awesome!

Nothing compares to MS Word or even OpenOffice.
All the Android office apps have major features missing and problems displaying certain things correctly.
For casual use it's ok, but if this is a major part of your work then I'm afraid an Android tablet wont do it for you.

I have used Docs to go and Quick Office HD. Quick Office HD works better and is the only one I have found that show headers and footers in word docs. Also it works with Dropbox so I sync my work docs and can see and edit them if need be.

Maddmatt said:
Nothing compares to MS Word or even OpenOffice.
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Click to collapse
I beg to differ.
Open office, office 2010 and 2007 just don't display right on earlier versions and unfortunately many institutions don't bother updating since a plug-in is enough for docx or pptx.
I've found open office to misalign lines in pptx over and over again.
Since things don't shine on PCs either and you always have to worry a little about the target device, I thing a tablet is perfect for content creation.
You can always set the paragraphs straight and change styles at home in 2 minutes.

[Q] can you edit word documents with the pen?

to use the stylus to write directly onto a word document with just a jpeg picture on with the pressure sensitivity. this would be incredibly useful and worth the price tag alone.
Do you have to be a guest to attend the london launch event tonight?
as soon as someone confirms this is possible I will go ahead and purchase it. Nb I don't even need the ability necesserily to converrt with the device as I can do that on my computer but to write on the word document is what I need.
If there ar any developers as such who read this could you please do some research because Im sure others would love this feature, saving edited word documents big respect to all the kitchen people, this device is going to be incredible.

n e one know about this. Well I guess I will just have to spend the money to found out come tomorrow. The most amazing thing will be, if i teamviewer my homepc when away from it using whatever teamviewer apps android have hese days and it recognizes the samsung stylus as wacom compatible then i can write on all my home documents when away from the 'office' as it were.
this would be incredible and i will try it out, to continue the conversation with myself. surely this is something a german would have though of by now though... ,.... cheers

im going to edit this thread for at least two weeks with creative ideas like for an application to capture every page of a word document, say if there is 100 pages automatically then save it in one large folder as jpegs or png which will allow the user the draw on word documents effectively.

Isn't it more simple to convert a word document to a PDF file and make notes in the PDF file? There are even already PDF converters and PDF edititng apps with which you can draw notes available in the market.

yes i can, but then i would have to convert back to a word document, only doing to by saving the pages as jpegs then inserting them into word without OCR recognition.(because ocr recognition or anything similar messed it up[see below for specifics]) I do this though because then I can see my notes over three large monitors whilst all pdf viewers like adobe for windows only allow you to see two pages at a time clearly on one screen.
Having amassed allot of notes into jpg formatt, which is actually quite useful. editing them with a wacom pen is quite bliss. Although most pdf to word converters claim to work, I believe it is very hard and having searched high and low for years they never render the text acurately enouph , specifically tables , graphs, maths language etc.
So you are right in that I could convert my word document s back to pdf , ocr ecognize them in adobe and then draw on the with the samsung. Then, convert them back to word in jpegs to see 6 or more documents at a time although the transition of when i get back to my office from a day 'out' taking notes will be quite unpractical in that I have to spend a while saving my pdf's into jpeg format and overwriting my older file,,then having to convert back again when i go back 'out' to make notes.
This is presuming I can edit my notes when I get back to the office, and knowing the wacom pen works with the samsung im sure this shouldnt be a proble as i ave a wacom intuos 4.
Having said that... ... brain stops thinking. I should patten my idea of an application that screen captures every page in a document automatically or series of documents. If i knew how to program id make a few bucks...hint hint anyone who reads this with broad android knowledge. I've never used android before
also i've sent consirable time snipping parts of pages in pdfs to insert as jpegs into word and this takes up 50% of my time editing them in word. So, your right I think in that 50% of the time for those native files i have in pdf I'm sorted otherwise im not considering the stamp feature to amnually put in 100 stamps for each document .... . I asked a guy on youtube if he could test a word document for me.
in terms of development if you'd like me to specify what i mean about teamviewer and the current use of wacom pens in word 2010 id be happy to screenshot and show you. But ideally the world wants this feature on release(with an app). Same goes for the editing word documents fingers crossed i guess as there is no light as of yet in the note specific apps or what is in the device by default specifically . cheerz

[Q] Note taking in class

Do you think the handwriting is good enough for taking notes in class? I'm in an engineering program, and note-taking with a keyboard is really not possible with the amount of math we do.
I don't care about the OCR, I just need to have everything archived. I really just want to replace all of my paper notebooks.

Yeah I'm in the same position. It works quite well for taking notes. Although the palm rejection on the stock note taking app sometimes doesn't work the OCR is incredible considering most humans can't understand my handwriting. For my engineering class I used an app called Quill. It has a stylus only mode so only the stylus writes on the pad. It has several different page options notebook and graphing paper that I use frequently. You can also export to pdf or png if you like but it keeps an archive of your entire notebook collection that you can backup to another location.
I know that's more than you asked for so in short the handwriting is more than acceptable for my uses. If you want I could write something out for you(but my none tablet handwriting isn't the best though)

Be sure to check out this thread from Lenovo's forum.
I use the TPT for college. This term for Calculus and Chem. I use my ThinkPad Tablet to take notes in class all the time. Here are some example math notes. Since its inception, I've been using Quill exclusively for all my note taking. Thanks Volker! :smileyhappy:
I do not find it heavy or cumbersome at all. As a PDF e-reader/annotator it shines! I have 3 textbooks on it and it works great. I recommend Mantano Reader or ezPDF. I do not see why it wouldn't work great as an e-reader in general. I have a Gen3 kindle, so non-PDF e-reading would be done on it as it is easier on the eyes, battery life, a lot lighter, etc.
Bundled with the right add-ons, it can also be used as a means to write a paper, etc. (Although it'll be better when LibreOffice ports their suite to Android).
Using a HP TouchPad Bluetooth Keyboard & Logitech Wireless M305 mouse.
I now own all Android Office apps thanks to Amazon's daily free app. I'd say each are quirky honestly, but I simply like the UI of OfficeSuite Pro & QuickOffice Pro HD rather than the bundled Docs to Go. In the end, each work. Google Docs remains unusable for me due to some unknown bug that leaves me with a white screen.
I opted against the keyboard folio, due to them not being instock at the beginning, Lenovo plauging people's lives with direct orders and people complaining about the mouse. All in all, my setup is cheaper and maybe smaller/lighter albeit not as mobile... I also love this keyboard, it's practically full-size or at least feels it.
As a replacement to a laptop, it is almost there but not quite, the browsers available via market are more than enough.
I get a lot of use out of it. But I'll be honest, without Quill, it wouldn't be getting much use other than a PDF reader/annotator and light browsing.
An article worth reading/skimming: ThinkPad Tablet Experience by The Gadgeteer.

I wish i had one of these when I was in engineering school.
Using mine for annotating PDFs in law school now.

^any chance you could throw up a screen shot of how it looks annotating a pdf on this? Im looking to a tab as an e-reader for journal articles and medical manuals and the lack of annotating ability is what has kept me from buying one yet.
Are you able to take notes/highlight/pretty much anything else you can with a pen and paper?
Also, is it possible to annotate and save over the original file or will it save a separate file with you annotations? ie if i have file"x.pdf" and I annotate it, when i save, will it replace x.pdf with the original file with my notes on it or will I have a completely separate file with the orig and my notes?
Thanks!

I'm using ezPDF Reader to annotate and highlight my pdfs.
It isn't exactly like pen&paper but it's ok for me:
You can highlight only text because you have to long-press on a word to get the text-selection handles. Then you have to select the text you like and choose if you want to highlight/unterline/strikeout. In other words: there is noch free-hand highlighting (so no highlighting of text in images or diagrams).
But there is a free-hand markup tool which you can select from the toolbar to write allover the document.
As soon as you try to highlight something in ezPDF for the first time it asks if you want to create a copy "x.annotated.pdf" or if you want to keep the original file "x.pdf"

rupheos said:
Yeah I'm in the same position. It works quite well for taking notes. Although the palm rejection on the stock note taking app sometimes doesn't work the OCR is incredible considering most humans can't understand my handwriting. For my engineering class I used an app called Quill. It has a stylus only mode so only the stylus writes on the pad. It has several different page options notebook and graphing paper that I use frequently. You can also export to pdf or png if you like but it keeps an archive of your entire notebook collection that you can backup to another location.
I know that's more than you asked for so in short the handwriting is more than acceptable for my uses. If you want I could write something out for you(but my none tablet handwriting isn't the best though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post images from your notes showing the capabilities of the TPT and Quill? I'm in engineering too and I would like to see if this is a real paper substitute. (Obscure.detour has too nice of handwriting for me to judge )

nsfl said:
Can you post images from your notes showing the capabilities of the TPT and Quill? I'm in engineering too and I would like to see if this is a real paper substitute. (Obscure.detour has too nice of handwriting for me to judge )
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Click to collapse
Haha My notes are from Quill as well. It isn't that nice of hand writing

I use my TPT for extensive note taking in class both written and mathmatical notes. The winning combination for me has been:
1. Writepad stylus (notes)
2. ezPDFreader (reading and annotating PDF s)
3. QuickOffice Pro (word, power point, excel)
4. Thinking Space (brainstorming)
5. Smooth Calendar (assignments)

nsfl said:
Can you post images from your notes showing the capabilities of the TPT and Quill? I'm in engineering too and I would like to see if this is a real paper substitute. (Obscure.detour has too nice of handwriting for me to judge )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I send notes to students using quill.

Edit Samsung apps within Evernote

Hi,
One of the most useful things I was hoping for with my Note3 was the ability to write, doodle and brainstorm on the phone when I am lonely in the pub. Evernote let's me share notebooks and can be so useful. However I, or clients, can't edit these notes within Evernote (computer or by phone) instead they are saved as JPEGs, or even PDFs which I can't edit.
I'm a graphic designer and web developer and have always had a real note book (paper) with me for such occasions and the Note has always appealed massively for being able to digitize and share my notes stuff on the fly.
I don't really care if it's S Note, or another app (I like Notes Mobile too) and would even be prepared to leave Evernote it gave me the sync and share options that I need.
My question is this: Has anybody found a workaround, or combo of apps that means their notes can be shared and edited (text anyway) by others on desktop and/or mobile?
OK, I thought SNote save as PDF and share with Evernote might work but it doesn't. A couple of apps will save as PSD which is kind of good but I haven't tried that out yet.

Blizzaa said:
Hi,
One of the most useful things I was hoping for with my Note3 was the ability to write, doodle and brainstorm on the phone when I am lonely in the pub. Evernote let's me share notebooks and can be so useful. However I, or clients, can't edit these notes within Evernote (computer or by phone) instead they are saved as JPEGs, or even PDFs which I can't edit.
I'm a graphic designer and web developer and have always had a real note book (paper) with me for such occasions and the Note has always appealed massively for being able to digitize and share my notes stuff on the fly.
I don't really care if it's S Note, or another app (I like Notes Mobile too) and would even be prepared to leave Evernote it gave me the sync and share options that I need.
My question is this: Has anybody found a workaround, or combo of apps that means their notes can be shared and edited (text anyway) by others on desktop and/or mobile?
OK, I thought SNote save as PDF and share with Evernote might work but it doesn't. A couple of apps will save as PSD which is kind of good but I haven't tried that out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have not worked with Evernote much but have found some programs (the best being simplenote) which claim they can import an Evernote file and use embedded OCR to convert the file to text based:
http://simplenote.com/downloads/
Hope this helps!