The Digital Reader

The Best News and Info on Ebooks and eReaders

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Entries Tagged as 'tips and tricks'

1GB Not Enough on the NookTablet/NookColor? Here’s How to Fix it

February 21st, 2012 · tips and tricks

One of my several complaints about the NC and NT is storage. B&N has chosen to ship the ereaders with most of the internal storage partitioned so that only the stuff you buy from B&N can go on it. You cannot even see that space, much less copy files to it.

B&N is about ready to release a fix for this. Starting 12 March, you can bring your Nook Tablet into a Barnes & Noble store and have the Nookseller rearrange the partitions so less is reserved for B&N and  you can use more of it. [Read more →]

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Here’s a Better Way to Make KF8 Ebooks

February 17th, 2012 · ebook tools, tips and tricks

Last week I wrote a post explaining why you shouldn’t make KF8 files  (they’re a waste of space and not many people can use them), and today I’m going to show you  tool to fix the size problem.

My recommendation last week was to wait for a tool that would let you split the enormous file generated by KindleGen into smaller files that would be easier for the end user. It turns out that tool already existed, I just didn’t know about it, [Read more →]

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Dropbox Automator – SendToKindle For the Rest of Us

January 30th, 2012 · Kindle, Kindle Cloud, tips and tricks

A few weeks back Amazon released  nice little tool called SendToKindle. fter you installed it on your Windows PC, it gave you the option to right-click on certain files and send them to your Kindle. It’s a neat little tool, but it is also restricted to just Windows. If you’re running Linux or OSX, you’re out of luck.

Until now.

[Read more →]

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My eReader Doesn’t Support DRM. Now What?

January 28th, 2012 · tips and tricks

One of my readers was asking my opinion today about an ebook reader that he wants to buy, and he ran into a problem. Andrew was looking at getting a cheap Delstar OpenBook. It’s not a very good ereader, and now that the company is dead (okay, there are 2 problems with this device).

But the real problem with the OpenBook is that it doesn’t support DRM. There’s not anything you can do bout that, so your choices are to either learn how to remove the DRM or find sources of DRM-free ebooks. (But explaining how to remove DRM is  topic for another post.)

So you need to find DRM-free ebooks. Luckily there is already a list of ebookstores and free ebook sites over on MobileRead. I’m not sure how complete it is, but it’s  start.

Wiki.MobileRead.com

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How To Install an Alternate Home Screen for the Sony Reader Wifi

January 22nd, 2012 · tips and tricks

It’s been some time since I last posted about hacking the Sony Reader and a lot has changed since then. I left off at simply doing the basic hack, but other Sony Reader owners have been adding new abilities and tweaks.

Now, the Sony Reader Wifi has limited storage for apps so there’s a limit to what you can do with it. But you can change the home screen, and you should. The stock Android home screens don’t look so good on  grayscale screen, and Sony’s original homescreen cannot show all the many extra apps that you can install.

[Read more →]

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New Trick: Sony Reader Wifi has a Hidden Partial Refresh Mode

January 16th, 2012 · hardware news, tips and tricks

While I was busy recovering from CES this weekend, one Sony Reader owner discovered  neat little trick.

It turns out that there’s a hidden screen refresh mode. Instead of the entire screen refreshing at once, the new mode allows for partial screen refreshes.  This isn’t going to be all that useful to a stock Sony Reader Wifi, but I would hope that you have already hacked your device.

[Read more →]

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K4 ScreenSaver Hack Now Available (video)

January 6th, 2012 · tips and tricks

A few weeks back I blogged about how, the K4 has a hidden debug menu. That menu wasn’t all that useful at the time, but now it is, because enabling the debug menu is now the first step in installing your own screensavers on the K4.

Yesterday I got an email from the hacker who first found the debug menu. He’s posted a new video which shows how to root the K4 and install your own screen savers.   I’ve watched the video, but do to the complexity of the instructions (and the confusing way that they are presented) I have not followed through on the hack.

[Read more →]

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New Update for Pandigital Novel (Black 7″) Adds Android Market

December 30th, 2011 · software news, tips and tricks

A couple hours ago I posted about a new firmware for the 9″ Novel, and after I posted that article I was inspired to go find an update for my other Pandigital Novel.

This is the cheaper, junky, 7″ tablet that is running Android v1.5. I really don’t think this tablet is worth buying; there isn’t much you can do with it due to the outdated version of Android. But lots of people keep buying it so I figure that I might as well point you in the right direction.

[Read more →]

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New Firmware Update for the 9″ Pandigital Novel Adds Android Market

December 30th, 2011 · software news, tips and tricks

I’ve just learned of an update for one of the better budget tablets that came out last year.

Pandigital is one of the more successful budget tablet makers, and they’ve been releasing tablets since July 2010. Late last fall they released the 9″ Novel, and at the time it was one of the better  budget Android tablets. It’s getting a little long in the tooth now, given that it has a single core CPU, resistive touchscreen, and runs Android v2.0.

But I’m still seeing readers show up and ask questions about this tablet. Given that in the past week someone came looking for a way to update this tablet, I thought it worth a post.

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Miro Makes it Easy to Add Video to the Kindle Fire

December 28th, 2011 · software news, tips and tricks

Video doesn’t get much attention on this blog, for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention.

I’ve just heard about Miro, an open source media player, and it looks like this app could fill my needs for videos much like calibre does for ebooks.

Miro is a video player for Windows, Linux, and OSX. Like calibre, Miro will play multiple formats and it even supports conversion to and from a number of formats.

[Read more →]

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