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Are there any ereaders for the Palm Pre?
January 11, 2010 | 11:03 am
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By Paul Biba
There don’t seem to be any that I can find. eReader has apps for a lot of platforms, including the old Palm OS, but none for the WebOS Pre. Mobipocket doesn’t have one either. Palm’s app catalog has been closed, but now House of Palm has opened it up on the web. I can find about 500 listings for individual books, but no listing for any ereading software.
I guess if you have a Pre you are out of luck with reading most ebooks. Am I right?
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Comments:
I do not have a Palm Pre but try this.
Upload a non-DRM PDF eBook to Google Docs.
I have heard that the Palm Pre web browser can do Google Docs. Then try and view the PDF from the Google Docs pDF viewer. If that works you at least have access to a non-DRM PDF eBook viewer.
Kobo (formerly Shortcovers) has an application for the Pre – see http://www.kobobooks.com/palmpre.
You could try pReader, which is designed for the Pre running Homebrew. It is an eBook Reader for WebOS that is currently supporting plain-text, PalmDOC, MobiBook and eReader (even with DRM) files. It is written entirely in Javascript and reads the files directly from the media partition. No conversion is necessary. Reading in landscape mode is fully supported as is basic customization of the text-size and appearance.
Pretty sure Kobo Books has an app for that, if you’re a fan of their service.
AFAIK Kobo and pReader are it for now.
eReader is supposedly working on a WebOS app and someone is supposed to be working on porting FB Reader.
Some have had a little success running eReader and Mobipocket in PalmOS compatibility mode (or whatever they call it).
There is a Shortcovers app. I have it installed, but haven’t used it. I’ve been hoping B&N will release their ereader for the Pre.
Along with Shortcovers (Kobo) and pReader, the Classic – Motion apps allows you to run many old Palm programs. So you should be able to run old copies of MobiPocket Reader as well as eReader on the Pre.
shortcovers is kobo books’ e-reader for pre. their iphone/pod touch app is called kobo books. i wasn’t super happy with it, but may give it another try. reading offline did not appear to be possible with the pre app; but shortcovers tech support says otherwise. i haven’t had a chance to explore in more detail. i mainly read on my kindle and ipod touch — shortcovers on the pre is just for emergencies.