[APP] Freda - a new ebook reader

[Jim Chapman]

[UPDATE: See post 2 of this thread for an updated version of the program, with links to new screen shots and documentation]

I've written a program for reading eBooks on Windows Mobile devices. It can read txt, html and (DRM-free) ePub files. Screenshots attached.

The program is called 'Freda' - short for 'free reader', since it is free software (both in the sense of 'free beer', as I am not charging for it, and in the sense of 'free speech', as I am licensing my code under the GPL).

It's in 'public beta' at the moment, so please download it and let me have any feeback.

The program uses two third-party libraries, SharpZipLib and the Majestic-12 HTMLParser library; both are licensed on terms permitting their redistribution for commercial and non-commercial purposes. More information is here

Happy reading!

[Jim Chapman]

Hi Folks,

It's here: version 1.0 of Freda is now released. The attached ZIP file contains the files you are most likely to need:

• freda6.msi - for WM6, for install from the desktop PC using ActiveSync
• freda6.cab - for WM6, for direct CAB install on the handheld
• freda5.msi - for WM5 and WM 2003, for install from the desktop using ActiveSync
• freda5.cab - for WM5, for direct CAB install on the handheld

Main new features:

• CSS Style sheets are recognised, with some limitations
• Controls/gestures can be customised
• Line spacing, indent and justification can be customised
• ... and a bunch of other features and fixes

See the freda home page for more details, and for alternative download locations.

Any problems or questions, please let me know.

Discussion for this release can be followed from this post on.

Thanks,

Jim

[bk227865]

Briljant,

Its the first epub reader that i found on my diamond that is able to render my epub newspaper correctly. Including links and images.
(the standaard is doing a test this week only with an epub version of its newspaper)

A few remarks to help you with the beta version (witch already is a keeper for me)

I had to install freda into main memory for it to start up.
The splash screen seems to to big, the text on it is cut off left and right, i have a vga screen.
The liberary display setting (icons or details) are not saved.

[Jim Chapman]

Thanks for the feedback - I'm working on those items now. [fixed in release 1.0]

Thanks,

Jim

[McAndrew73]

Thanks for this program.
I'm a long time reader on PDAs and there was the need for something new.
I've just installed it now and I'll come back with some comments asap.

[Jim Chapman]

Looking forward to your feedback. Over at mobileread, I've been getting some feedback that CSS formatting is an important feature, so I'm particularly keen to hear the forum's view on that (because the beta 0.9 version of the program doesn't handle CSS formatting at all).

Cheers,

Jim

[fards]

this is a really nice app!

I'd like to see an autoscroll in full screen mode if possible, this makes late night reading sessions a bit easier (less chance of being moaned at because of tapping buttons)

I'm not certain how easy it would be to control speed of scrolling on something like my touch HD with virtually no buttons though..

it's replaced mobipocket for me.

[Jim Chapman]

Yes I had wondered about implementing autoscroll, but wasn't sure what would be a good mechanism for controlling the speed. I was thinking it would be kind of cool to control it using the acceleromter (gravity sensor) - something like 'tilt more to scoll faster' ... but I've not really throught it through. Ideas welcome.

Jim

[fards]

Originally Posted by Jim Chapman Yes I had wondered about implementing autoscroll, but wasn't sure what would be a good mechanism for controlling the speed. I was thinking it would be kind of cool to control it using the acceleromter (gravity sensor) - something like 'tilt more to scoll faster' ... but I've not really throught it through. Ideas welcome. Jim

one option would be to use the volume buttons to speed up and down, but it may not work in the 6.5.x builds as the MS volume control seems to takeover.

accelerometer is an option, but it could be frustrating when you move the device accidentally, unless you set up a control key such as long press talk/send, to enable the gsensor speed control only when the control key is called.

[the0ne]

love Free apps