Repligo Conversion, Anyone?
No doubt that Repligo is my favorite eBook format. Repligo allows you to have virtually any document from your PC right on your mobile device without compromising the original document’s appearance, formatting, fonts, graphics and integrity.
Conversion:
- I’m using Repligo PDF Mobilizer software for converting unlimited amounts of PDF files for PDA or Smartphones.
- I’m using Repligo for Nokia Series 60 2.0 software for converting other formats such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer. After installation, you’ll notice that the repligo icon is included in your toolbox of word, excel, powerpoint. If you want to convert the current page… just click this icon.
The Repligo conversion softwares are not free. The Repligo for Series 60 convertion software comes with Repligo Desktop, your guide for conversion. Repligo Windows and Repligo for Symbian 60 readers are absolutely FREEwares. By this time, if you check on their site, some are getting confused on which is to be download that’s why I’ve put download links here. Make sure that you have downloaded the correct application for your device.
The conversion softwares are intend to convert files to repligo format. If you have download such repligo files and want to convert it to another format, here’s how to do it:
- Install Repligo Windows viewer on your PC
- Open the file in it
- Do select all, then copy (as long as your eBook is text)
- Paste it to notepad
- Save it as txt format
- Then you can convert it afterwards or read it on your mobile using txt eBook mobile application
Why PDF format Is The Commonly Asked eBook Format
I’ve came across with this article Why PDF Is Not An Ebook Format, the article was written 4 years ago. PDF (Portable Document Format) is the most commonly asked eBook format, in fact there are many websites that offers free PDF ebook downloads.
The article above said, “PDF is one of the reasons ebooks have been so slow to catch on with the majority of the reading public; readers that have tried reading PDF files on screen have concluded that ebooks are hard to read.” I disagree and agree.
I disagree that pdf is slow to catch readers, PDF is still the most requested eBook format primarily because mostly PDF readers and eBooks are free to download. A simple googling search, you’ll find a lot of PDF eBook download sites. If you happen to browse eBook forums, you’ll notice that many are still looking for PDF formats. PDF is electronic transmission format for paper documents, it is the perfect format for printing, if you’re still the conventional reader. I’ve encountered many such bookworms from my old mobile blog, they choosed to have it printed and read it the traditional way.
I agree that its really hard to read PDF on mobile but I still prefer PDF format as my source format for conversion. Converting and making it eye friendly on my mobile is my primary concern.
Online Mobile eBook Reading
Speaking of online eBook reading, first you should have a proper connection settings. Options to have a proper configurations:
- Go to your phone’s manufacturer’s website
- Call your network provider and request for “over the air” configuration
- Install an application that automatically configures your settings
I’m using Settings Wizard for my configurations. In my country, GPRS connection is common to prepaid and postpaid subcribers but not the internet connection to prepaid subscribers. It depends if you’re using an old sim card, this is a gossip from my mobile blog friends that new simcards available now are not internet capable. I guess its true, its really hard to find one nowadays. It doesn’t matter if you have the right configurations, its with your network provider’s simcard. I am among the lucky ones, I still prefer to used a prepaid simcard to control my connection cost. Anyway, why am I talking about mobile internet connections here?
I’ve tried wattpad mobile application last week on my 6630. The application doesn’t work on my 6630, I always have the “Error, Invalid GZIP format” or sometimes “error” prompt. I’ve tried it on GPRS and inet connection, both with same results. I’ve used Opera browser instead using internet connection and access their website, it works fine except for the connection charges. I do not prefer to read my ebooks online whether on mobile or on the net.
Wattpad do have a list of eBooks submitted by members. There are 3 ways to read their eBooks:
- Go to their site using the wattpad reader on your phone and read it online (If their application is Ok with your phone’s connection) or download it for offline reading.
- Go to their website using a computer, register and download jar or jad file, then install it to your mobile phone.
- Go to their website, copy the text file, paste it to notepad (its in txt format, convert it to whatever format you want), then transfer it to your phone.
Note: The wattpad application is for online mobile ebook reading. You don’t need it anymore if you prefer to download their java eBook files.
HTML eBook format on Mobile
There’s a lot of eBook files available on the web, its confusing to others understanding these formats and what mobile application to use. Sometimes, we came across with html formats. HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. In layman’s terms, it should be read on the web therefore its NOT an eBook format. There are lot of sites intended for online reading. There are ways to read it online, using GPRS is the most popular but it is costly. In the Philippines, it will cost you 0.15 cents/kb. Good for you if you have WIFI supported symbian phone.
If you downloaded a html file, it is possible to read them on symbian phones. I’m using Opera 8.65 in reading HTML file on my 6630 occasionally. You can open the html file through FExplorer. Here’s how to do it. After opening it to Opera, just add it to your opera bookmark for future reading. I don’t suggest to read HTML files on your phone frequently, Opera browser consumes a lot of memory in RAM (random access memory). The symbian system will close all applications including Opera, sometimes the phone will restart by itself. Here are the tips to avoid this:
- Limit yourself with 1-2 pages as possible
- Delete images included in the html file (do this using Fexplorer)
- Close all running application including FExplorer (after opening html file)
- Turn off images at the Opera settings
- Clear the cache of Opera before reading
- Restarting your phone before doing all these could help also
This is just an option if you’re in a hurry to read the file on your phone. For larger html files, do take some time for conversion. Take note that Opera is for browsing purposes only, its impossible to bookmark your eBook page or change the layout settings like what were doing to regular eBook readers.
Tools For Mobile eBook Reading
Mobile eBook reading is not as simple as it seems if you don’t have the required applications. Maximizing symbian phone is my rule of thumb, I don’t think that’s possible without these two applications.
FExplorer 1.17 – is a third party file manager such as creating extra folder for eBook storage, transferring files from one folder to another, distinguishing file formats with their real icon, opening file with the right application and transfering files via bluetooth. Some of these tasks cannot be accomplished by built-in file manager of many symbian phone. Some eBook application’s library folders are situated inside the system folder, this folder is not accessible by a built-in file manager.
WinRAR – is a decompressing and compressing mobile tool. I’ve tried many applications with same purpose, this one is the best based on my experience. You’ll never know that you need this application not until you encounter some hindrance without it. For instance, if you don’t have a computer and you just had downloaded an eBook not knowing that its compressed as zip or rar. What if you’re searching for that file for a long time. See? Without an extracting mobile tool is a hindrance already. It is simple but you’ll never know until you experience that and I did. One more thing with this application is you can compress already read eBooks to save space on your memory.
We have the liberty to choose the mobile applications that suits our needs. As long as it serves the same purpose, it would be fine. Familiarize yourselves with these two applications, you can use them not for eBook files but to other files such as audios, videos, games and many more mobile files.
