“No Plans” for Official eReader App for webOS; Growing List of Alternatives 28
Contrary to what Jason Robitaille wrote a few months ago, eReader may not be coming to webOS after all. jeffro77 reported the following recently in the PreCentral Forums that the eReader.com support folks wrote to say that "There are no plans to create a version of eReader that is native to the webOS platform."
While eReader as well as a webOS version of Mobipocket Reader have been eagerly hoped for by webOS e-book fans, particularly those of us who have previously purchased secure e-books from sites like Fictionwise and eReader.com (now sister sites, owned by Barnes & Noble) and read them on our previous Palm phones and PDAs, this news is disappointing but not disastrous. That’s because there is a growing number of e-book reader programs for the Pre and Pixi.
The most notable e-book application is homebrew graduate pReader by Jappus/MHWsoft, available for free in the App Catalog. pReader bypasses the current limits of the Palm SDK by converting e-books via the cloud [NOTE: CORRECTED] from their native format into a standard one readable by the Palm and Pixi, and the latest versions can decrypt most secure eReader and Secure Mobipocket format books. pReader is also great for unencrypted Mobipocket books, like those from the Baen Free Library or contained on the Baen CDs. The initial processing can be slow (although much faster than in its earliest homebrew versions) but once finished, books open quickly, and formatting and cover images are preserved. pReader is not the only choice for Pre/Pixi users seeking to do some reading. In the App Catalog, one can also find the free Shortcovers, which links to the Kobobooks.com (formerly Shortcovers.com) eBooks store/site, as well as the $4.99 Popelli Reader (also a homebrew graduate). For those users who use MotionApps’ Classic, the PalmOS versions of both eReader and Mobipocket Reader still work fine, including for secure e-books, which can be loaded either via USB mode or HotSync. One may also find unsecure e?books in PDF, Word or HTML formats that can be read via the Pre’s browser and document viewers.
Still, one hopes that the note jeffro77 shared via the forum is not the last chapter in the eReader story, and that other e-book options (such as a Amazon Kindle client like that currently available for the iPhone and iPod Touch) become available especially after Palm releases its PDK this spring. For now, pReader is probably the most versatile of the webOS e-book readers, and given its price (free, that is), it can’t be beat on value.
28 Comments
Hi, I'm one of the developers of the pReader (the one mentioned in the article). I'm much honored that our app is featured on the front page, but there's a small error in the article.
The pReader does not "[bypass] the current limits of the Palm SDK by converting e-books via the cloud". It doesn't transmit any data over the network and does all its work on the device itself. The Popelli Reader is the one that uses the Cloud to convert the books.
But it is true that the Palm SDK is rather limiting, but the project was intended from the start to show what's possible even within those limitations.
Otherwise, it's a great article! :)
My apologies; will fix shortly.
Has anyone considered that these companies have seen the fine work done by Jappus which already supports their DRM and considered writing their own app redundant?
Talk about biting that hand that feeds you (or rather, fed you...). Seriously, which company gave eReader it's start? Apple? Google? Microsoft? RIM? No, it was Palm. Okay, so fine, Palm fell off the radar for a while, and some new kids took over the block, but now it's back and better than ever and Fictionwise does what? Lame.
Regardless, pReader is an incredible app in its own right, and the developers have earned every possible accolade that I can come up with. I use this application every day, and I can honestly say that without it, I would've abandoned the Pre in a New York minute.
So, good on you, pReader (and your developers!), and up yours, Fictionwise.
Regards,
Adam
Tell us how you really feel. ;-)
First, no Audible.com love, now eReader bails on webOS.
At least, the eReader folks didn't "string us along" like the weasles at Audible.com - they first blamed it on Palm, then said they were working on an app for webOS, now, they admit they wern't working on anything, and they're not going to. (bought a Sansa Fuze just for audible content, and so I still have a portable voice recorder)
come on, Audible, you'll support the Sansa Fuze, but, not webOS?! WTF!
Well, at least pReader is pretty good, for text. ;-/
Screw Audible.com
I was seriously bummed when switching from my WinMo phone because I read almost every night on my phone. I think that the Dev's "wanted" to make an ebook reader, but were scratching their heads a bit on how to do it due to the limitations of the SDK. pReader show's that ingenuity is the mother of invention and they birthed an reader that works wonderfully. Jappus is very dedicated to the project and super responsive. Once the PDK comes out, I'm sure the hoops that he's had to run through will be replaced with a more standard approach to file management. Awesome app!
Plus, the fact that I can multitask, I can read while listening to music, chk scores on espn, chk twitter, etc all at the same time. My ADHD is being fed nicely :-)
everyone download pReader. It works great!
it's a chick phone (according to verizon ads) and apparently chicks would rather shop than read. i personally love the webos but hate the phone specs, crappy battery with crappy performance that no future webos version can fix. palm needs to work on new hardware and port the existing stuff we already have because the sprint pre just can't hang anymore in 2010. snapdragon?
if only you knew what you were ranting about... ;-)
i'm only kidding about the shopping part but i'm not kidding about the specs, the 600MHz down clocked processor sucks along with the memory on SPRINT. i realize the verizon version is different but not enough to keep up with nextgen phones. if you give me crappy battery life then give me more processing power behind it.
That's a shame about eReader (if it's true) ... there were several quotes from the Fictionwise founder saying it was "in the works" months ago ... oh well. But I have to say that Shortcovers and pReader have filled the gap admirably, and I've been reading exclusively on my Pre for months.
preader will be the (!) reader-software for webos, and there'll be no need for other readers if the programmers walk their way as until now: straight forward in tense contact to the users and posters on the pre-central-thread.
reading drm'ed mobipocket-books is partly working, let's hope palm opens the needed apis /sdk soon.
2 Words - KINDLE APP
The iPad has already been a deal changer for Amazon. Before the iPad was unveiled, Amazon could set their own price for their e-books. Now, publishers (including Macmillan) are pushing for a 70-30 revenue share thanks to Apple's iBook store.
While a Kindle App probably isn't a good idea on the iPad/iPhone, How about one on Pre, Pixi, Android, Blackberry market?
If that was available, I would HEART a WebOS tablet. Especially if I could move books between the tablet my phone.
I wrote to ereader.com as soon as I read this article. I have been a customer of ereader.com since 2002 and have a library of books with them. They confirmed that they have NO PLANS to develop an app for WEB OS. I'm very unhappy with that. I use Swoopo for now, but was looking forward to the ereader app so I'd have access to my library since 2002. I have installed the homebrew preader app; but I can't directly download over the air with that. So much for ereader. If an amazon kindle reader app becomes available, I will be switching to them!
I haven't gotten my Pre yet but I saw an app called freebooks and it looked great. Just did a search for it and it seems to have disappeared. Does anyone know if it is still available and if it was a good app?
Here's the latest from Audible (January 29, 2009). Apparently they are working on an application for WebOS?
"I understand that you are inquiring about the availability of an Audible application for the WebOS based Palm Pre and apologize that expectations made were not delivered upon. We are actively pursuing the development of applications for many of the new mobile operating systems (Android, WebOS), but do not have an estimated date as to when they will be completed. Please do not take this as our ignoring the needs of you or other Palm customers as that is far from our intent. Rather, we are working diligently towards the completion of software that delivers the best possible customer experience. If you would like to request further information or sign up for notifications regarding the availability of a full or beta application for the WebOS, you may contact our wireless team directly at: audiblewireless@audible.com"
Sincerely,
Rob
Audible.com Technical Supervisor
Could the reason be that papa-bear Barnes & Noble does have plans for a webOS app?
I too have an email from December saying that the webos version of eReader was in the works. OH WELL.
pReader has proven to be a great replacement and in some ways is superios anyhow. Thank you for this app!!!!!!
What happened to Freebooks on the app catalog? I already have it on my Pre and it still works. I download books with freebooks (literally thousands to free public domain titles) then read them with pReader. You just have to figure out the 1st time what books go with what file (filename is like 1234.txt). pReader is becoming one of my most used apps. I am going to load a bunch of titles from freebooks before it disappears completely.
What a bunch of crap. I got hooked on ereader with an old treo and have a large library. I saw several places confirming they were working on one for WebOS before I bought a pre. Preader is great but not being able to access my library on the phone sucks. Ereader should give everyone their money back for their old libraries.
Lets hope that Amazon comes up with something, didnt they aquire Mobipocket some years ago?
I agree with Beasley. Ereader is now owned by Barnes and Noble, who is probably quickly trying to consolidate all of their ebook companies, probably to go along with the Nook, much like Amazon has a Kindle app for mobile phones. However, a quick look on their forums isn't really clear one way or the other.
I'm quite disappointed by this news that eReader is not developing a client for WebOS. However, with the purchase by Barnes & Noble and the decision by B&N to support ePub via Adobe Digital Editions, I have a feeling that eReader for WebOS was caught in the flux. As gerhardt said above, they might just be concentrating on bringing a B&N/ADE reader to WebOS. With luck, it will be backwards compatible with DRMed eReader books.
In the meantime, I've downloaded pReader. Many thanks to the devs! I can't wait to try it out. I do most of my eReading (and I do a lot of it) on an eInk device, but I need my Jane Austen security blanket with me all the time. :-)
For what it's worth, I've read 4 full-length novels with pReader, mostly on planes and at the airport.
It's got a few glitches and oddities with auto-scrolling and swiping to change pages, but it's solid for the most part and has managed to handle most of the formats I've thrown at it.
I was using Stanza on my iPod Touch, but this thing's pretty close to replacing it for me if only to reduce gadgets I pack.
Huge fan of the Shortcovers/Kobo books app, which was actually just updated to the Kobo books branding today.
I've already read 3 books on it, and I'm working on my 4th with a 5th one already in line. Most books are priced right and they regularly contain price specials and discounts. It also offers a lot of flexibility for reading either via the pre, the website or an ePub file downloaded to your computer. Can't beat that.
This seems to imply that pReader can read encoded MobiPocket files on the Pre, but when I try, I get the message that the Pre is not an approved device. Is there a way, or did I just misread you?
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