AZARDI 7 ePUB 3.0 Reader and ePUB3 Unleashed eBook from Infogrid Pacific

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On November 21, 2011, Infogrid Pacific announced the release of AZARDI 7, the latest version of their ePUB reader software. Today they announced the release of ePUB3 Unleashed, a “a highly interactive ePub3. The book is pure HTML5, CSS3, SVG, MathML and Javascript.” Why is this exciting? It is the first eReader that will display ePUB 3.0 on your computer, and InfoGrid Pacific has supplied a sample ePUB 3.0 that shows off many of the bells and whistles that will soon be available in this new spec.

AZARDI 7 is available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. It has the following feature set which goes beyond ever the ePUB 3.0 spec:

AZARDI – Main Features

• Supports ePUB 3 and ePUB 2
• Fully HTML5 and CSS3 capable
• Native MathML built-in
• SVG built-in.
• Browser Typography
• Page and flow modes
• Fixed layout capable
• Multiple simultaneous readers can be open, even on the same book.
• Secure Online links
• Built-in AZARDI Interactive Engine
• Runs on Linux, Macintosh and Windows

New ePub3 Features in AZARDI 7

• SVG Covers. Loads SVG covers without HTML if the image is presented in the OPF Manifest correctly.
• ePUB Nav:TOC. Finds and uses nav ePUB TOC, LOT, LOI.
• iPub Nav; Landmarks. Finds and uses nav Landmarks.
• 1000 Chapters. Tested to 1000 Chapter book (8,000 print pages).

New General Features in AZARDI 7

• Keyboard shortcuts. Page navigation with left and right arrow keys. Alt-L to open library, Alt-P to open preferences, Alt-S to open shelves, Alt-A to add a new book from the library view.
• Covers. AZARDI now fully supports the ePub3 cover-image specification. If there is no cover referenced no cover will be generated.
• Cover presentation. Covers are now larger and fill the thumbnail window. Book Delete and Information buttons are now available on a hover event.
• Cover Avatars. If the book does not have an identifiable cover an avatar is generated presenting the title and author name (if available in metadata).
• Libraries/shelves. The general functionality has been improved. You can now delete a book from a shelf.
• STIX Fonts. The full STIX font set is now installed by default and is accessed whenever the reader detects MathML properties in the manifest.
• Auto update. AZARDI is now auto updatable using the Firefox update method. Updates are silent and you are prompted to install when they are available.
• Fixed size layout. Experimental feature. This uses a set of custom properties to allow the size of the presentation window to be controlled by the publisher for fixed layout pages. See the test books.
• AZARDI Interactive Engine. Events module added. Updated and test/demonstration books available.

AZARDI Special Features

• MathML can be directly inserted into pages. Read the User Guide ePub to get information on fonts.
• SVG. Including SVG animation using SMIL is supported, although we haven’t experimented with this yet.
• Browser typography. OTF properties and hyphenation are supported with the –moz CSS properties. The hyphenation feature uses Mozilla CSS hyphenation.
• Page/Flow. Reading mode can be set to page or flow depending on the type of content. AZARDI tries to maintain the page position while changing modes.
• Fixed layout capable. Pages can be set up with width and height and edge-to-edge. (See User Guide and demonstration books).
• Multiple Readers. You can have multiple readers open at the same time even with the same book. Notes can be made between readers and will reflect in each other.
• Internet Extension Viewport. External links resolve to a protected viewport rather than open a general browser.
• AZARDI Interactive Engine. AZARDI includes an interactive engine for learning and training. This is proprietary and included for general capability demonstration.

ePUB3 Unleashed: The Return of the Desktop is a nice little demo of what Infogrid Pacific is already doing with ePUB 3.0. It includes “Pacific Wave,” a demonstration of animated PNG images mapped to background of HTML <div> elements; Questions and Answers (QAA) interactivity; MathML; “See the Light,” an 60-second animated short using SVG, CSS, WebM audio, WOFF fonts, and Javascript; Digital Typography, a text-to-speech version of Rudyard Kipling’s “If” in which each line of the poem “pops” as it is read; Dynamic Digital Font Datalogue where you can change the font, font size, style, and case within the ePUB; AZARDI Interactive Engine (AIE) in which you can make shapes move around the screen on command; and Remote Resources using Internet Extension Viewport (IEV), which allows you to link to the Internet to deliver surveys and questionnaires, video and audio, tests and exams, supplementary study information, bookstore and catalogue, changing content, and downloads.

One of the best things about ePUB3 Unleashed is that Infogrid Pacific has made it available DRM free. This means you can open up the ePUB file with your text editor or XML editor and see how Infogrid Pacific has done all these wonderful things.

This is a nice showcase of what an ePUB3 reader can do with the new format. You can download the AZARDI 7 reader by clicking on the “License/Download” tab and ePUB3 Unleashed: The Return of the Desktop by clicking on the Resources tab on the Infogrid Pacific Web site. You can also download the AZARDI User Guide ePUB3 on the Resources tab.

Infogrid Pacific also has two blogs worth checking out: Digital Publishing and Using ePUB. Both should be great resources.

So what do you think of this ePUB3 reader? Have you created any ePUB3 files of your own? How do the work and act in the reader?