Literati

Literati is a wireless Reader that can download Kobo eBooks. (all manufacturer links seem to be dead)

Features

• 7" Color LCD Display 16:9 ratio 800 x 480 pixels.
• Unlock new reading possibilities in color, including cookbooks, children's books, magazines and newspapers.
• Built-In Wireless Bookstore - Turn it on, buy an eBook, and enjoy. With one-touch purchase, you're reading in seconds.
• 512 MB internal memory for eBooks. Can be expanded with SD card.
• Weight: about 12.6 oz.
• Dimensions: 9.5 x 5 x .5 inches
• Battery life: up to 6 hours without Wi-Fi, 4 hours with.

Powered by Kobo™

• The Kobo bookstore offers access to over 2 million titles, including new releases and New York Times™ bestsellers. Browse the store and buy with confidence knowing that Kobo's bookstore includes partners such as Borders®.
• 150 Free Books - The Literati comes preloaded with 25 treasured classics and provides easy access to another 125 of our favorite free classics. Re-live these famous works of literature again for free!
• Stylish Case Included
• Font sizes are adjustable for easy reading.
• With Kobo's global bookstore embedded on your Literati, you can instantly build your very own library, pull a book off the virtual shelf and begin reading. And, when you feel like taking a break, save your place with a customized bookmark. The best part: You can pick up just where you left off - not only on your Literati, but with Kobo's free eReading Apps that can be installed on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer.
• Also available in black with a silver keyboard area.
• Supports PDF and ePUB using ADE. Can use library books.
• Undocumented limited support includes HTML and JPG, perhaps others.
• Beginning with release 1.9 the unit now supports CBZ and perhaps CBR files. Great to set up a slide show.

Support

Merch Source is the manufacturer. They have 2 Customer Service numbers for hardware issues 800-374-2744 and 800-481-7938. 866-204-4714 is Kobo's customer support help line for software issues. Sharper Image is only the importer.

How to update your unit without wifi

Go to the kobo forum site. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Literati questions. Select the question to update and then download the KoboRoot.tgz file from the site. If you have access to a computer and your Literati is running then you can follow the instructions on the page. In my case my Literati was completely locked up showing the logo screen so here is what I did:

1. Turn the device off
2. Place the file you downloaded at the root of an SD card. Place the card in the device (it faces backwards)
3. Hold the Q key down while turning the device on.
4. It will look for an upgrade on the SD card. It may complain once or twice. Just be patient and wait for about 10 minutes or so. During that top it will like display the power on logo screen but it is not done yet.
5. When it finishes it will display the bookcase and the buttons will work.

This may not be the latest version so if you are ever where there is a wifi connection check for a later one.

• The firmware is available directly at: http://download.kobobooks.com/firmwares/merchsource/1-9/KoboRoot.tgz Check the download size. It should be 60,748,205 Bytes.
• Version 2.0 is also available http://download.kobobooks.com/firmwares/merchsource/2-0/KoboRoot.tgz Check the download size. It should be 62,043,413 Bytes.

Some browsers seem to not recognize the extension .tgz and may corrupt the file when downloading.

Power Input

The device's battery input terminals run at five volts, and the power circuity will accept power from any source above 500mA.

Software Hacks/Extensions

By modifying the Kobo eReader.conf located in the /.kobo/Kobo directory of the eReader, mountable by computer, you can set the URL the device's 'store' function points to. A video demonstrating this, was located here but no longer available. The device is running Linux 2.6, however lacks many of the essential programs found in a typical desktop Linux distribution such as Ubuntu.

Known Bugs

In firmware version 2.0, attempting to enter text using the physical keyboard on any textbox in the store browser causes the device to crash (shut down and restart).

For more information

• MobileRead - discussion group for help.
• MobileRead - another thread
• Development forum - No longer available.
• FCC.gov data on the Literati.