All posts tagged apps

Posted:
August 8, 2009
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5

Comic Reader Mobi looks very promising…

There’s a new iPhone comic reader application ,and it’s called  Comic Reader Mobi

The developer Ty Landercasper told me about his new comic reader app made for iPhone and iPod Touch (there’s also a version for Windows Mobile, and coming soon to Blackberry) . Ty told me,  “It has everything you’d expect from a full featured comic book reader, native support for rar, zip and pdf files. Automatic bookmarking, and fast load times. But what really makes it unique is the lens feature!
The lens allows you to only zoom in on a small section, preventing the need for scrolling around.”

It’s hard to describe, but easy to demonstrate. Check out this YouTube video to see what it’s all about:

Here’s the info from his website:

  • Autosizing lens. Just tap on any text, and the lens will zoom in on just that part. Finally you can see the whole comic as the artist intended without sacrificing readablity!
  • Native support for zip,rar,cbz, cbr and pdf files.
  • Use the comic sync tool (Windows only), for ultra fast USB uploads to the iphone. No need to wait for slow file conversions or sync over your wireless connection!
  • Autobookmarking. Comic Reader Mobi remembers your last position in every file, and even in every series. Switch between them without ever having to worry about losing your place.
  • Next page is prebuffered so there is no lag between pages
  • High quality Image resizing ensures that images look their very best
  • Bring up the transparent onscreen controls by douple clicking on the page, or pressing the lower corners
  • use the stand pinch gesture to zoom in on comics

I’m super buried in work right now, so I haven’t yet had a chance to try out the application. But if any of you readers have tried it, please leave a comment and let us know!

Comic Reader Mobi

Posted:
September 9, 2008
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6

ComicZeal Releases a Nice New Iphone Comic Book Reader App

iPhone Comic App Dept: I just downloaded the new ComicZeal app for iPhone, and it is a winner! (Thanks to Maddux for the tip!) With ComicZeal you can download a fantastic assortment of public-domain comic book files and read them in their very simple-to-use reader.ComicZeal iPhone Comic Book Reader AppComicZeal Iphone Comic Book ReaderThe comic book files download fast, and they stay on your iPhone so you can read them off-line anytime you want. They are a very good resolution. The images open quickly and they pinch and zoom very fast, with a very smooth response.

The comics can be read in portrait and/or landscape mode, too!

I have emailed the developers at bitolithic.com to find out how comic book creators and publishers can create their own iPhone comics to work with their ComicZeal application. I’ll post a real review and more details as soon as I get a chance. Check out ComicZeal at: http://www.bitolithic.com/ComicZeal/comiczeal.htm and http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288016881&mt=8

UPDATE: The ComicZeal developers replied to my email and told me that they’ll be releasing a beta version of their iPhone-comic generator software which will allow creators and publishers to post their own comics that work with the ComicZeal app. from Emiliano’s email to me:

I’m specially glad to hear that you have some comics you would like to put up on your website. The creator is being designed for people such as yourself, I’d love to see a library of comics hosted at other websites. We’re working hard to get the creator up for beta test.
ComicZeal has posted more detail HERE about the ComicZeal Creator software. I really appreciate the level of information they’re offering here. I know a lot of people want a native .cbr reader for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but their article helps to explain why converting to their .cbi format will make a better iPhone comics reading experience.
Posted:
August 25, 2008
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3

iPhone News: iVerse Comic Book Reader for iPhone and iPod Touch

iPhone comic fans have another app to watch out for: iVerse Comic Book Reader for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Take a look at the video demo below. None of the features look anything NEARLY as cool as the iPhone ComicReader app (now called Infurious) featured in the previous post, but maybe it’s too early to tell.

Looks like the competition is heating up! Let’s watch Clickwheel, ComicReader (Infurious Comics) and iVerse go head to head in the battle for best iPhone comic book reader! This is the best scenario for iPhone users because it will force these developers to aim for the best or they’ll die on the vine.

More info available at http://www.iversecomics.com/

Thanks to dean at http://www.touchtip.com/ for the tip!
Apple iTunes

Posted:
August 4, 2008
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8

iPhone Manga Converter from MangaWare

The iPhone Manga Converter from MangaWare is an interesting app that lets you prep comic files on your computer that you can upload to a web server and view anytime on your iPhone.

The process is very clever, but hard to explain…that’s why they’ve included a demo video on their website. Looks kinda freaky. I tried it out last night and after a short learning curve, I was able to read some old comics on my iPhone.

iPhone Manga Viewer

iPhone Manga Viewer application

The process works very nicely as long as you have your own web space available for uploads. Basically, the software allows you to turn the pages of your comic book scans into individual little web pages that are automatically optimized exactly for the iPhone. Once the conversion process is done, you need to upload the folders to your personal web server using FTP or your web host’s file manager. Once that’s done, you (or anybody else you share the url with) can type the url of your web space directory right into your iTunes web browser like this:

http://yourdomain.com/folder

The interface allows you to view a little index page where you can see all the pages of the story.

iPhone screen shows the index page as seen when using iPhone Manga Converter app.

This is the index page as you see it on your iPhone.

From there you can start reading at any page, and use little icons in the screen corners to go forward or backward through the pages.

iPhone works as a digital comic book reader with the help of the iPhone Manga Converter from Mangaware

A more advanced option allows you to chop up the story into individual panels which will fill the screen space when tapped. This is a good idea, but I was not able to get the program to auto-detect where the panel shapes are…probably because the pages I have scanned in are in color and not as high-contrast as the pages used in the software example.

Take a look at the demo video and see what you think…

Apple iTunes

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