2.1 Feature Requests

[mikelove]

stephanhodges - word frequency sorting requires us to find a usable word frequency list, though, which has proven elusive so far.

HW60 - well take 雨 for example; 雨伞 "umbrella" is one of the most common words containing 雨, but 伞 isn't a very common character outside of that one word, certainly a lot less common than many of the other characters that turn up in much more obscure 雨 compounds - 雨带, 雨集, 雨景, 雨立, just to name four from the ABC 雨 compounds list. Very common characters often turn up in some very uncommon words.

 

[HW60]

The main question is if it is possible to reduce the list to a size that a beginner likes to open it. The method to reduce the total word list is not so important - almost any shorter list will do. If stephanhodges idea does not work, because no usable word frequency list is available, it should not be too difficult to make selections from the total word list using a limited number of characters. The book I bought has only 雨，雨衣 and 暴风雨 connected to 雨 and not 雨伞, because 伞 is number 2202 in the above frequency list (actually I do not know which frequency list is used in the book).

Pleco shows 282 words containing 雨 and additional 92 words starting with 雨 (ABC) and 18 / 11 words using Oxford dictionary; the other dictionaries are somehow in between. So using Oxford for compounds maybe a solution for me, if no other solution is available.

 

[mikelove]

That's actually the main reason we added the dictionary switch button to Compounds. The ABC dictionary database includes some frequency data (grade levels + a tag for concise-edition words) so we might be able to filter on that at least if we can't get a good frequency list... Thanks.

 

[nrich]

Feature Request: Flashcard Text Link

I'm enjoying using the document reader and especially that I can add flashcards straight from the reader screen. What would be great is when the flashcard is added it is tagged with a link to the original document. In that way, when reviewing flashcards, one could easily flip back to the context where the word occurred.

 

[mikelove]

Thanks - this should fit in nicely with a "notes" feature in general.

 

[fischer]

Feature Request: Search function in the pleco-buid-in-reader

 

[mikelove]

Oh yes, we've been needing to add search to the reader for a while now - kind of silly that we don't already have it, actually. Thanks.

 

[mfcb]

from the "desktop version" thread, made me have an idea...

We don't have camera text recognition capability - that's actually an almost entirely different kind of problem than Chinese handwriting recognition, and we don't think the technology is there yet to make it practical in Pleco. (even the technology existed, it's doubtful we could secure a license to it at a rate that would be compatible with the still-shrinking prices of mobile software)

why not let us select part of a picture (with the character in it) and put that as a background-image for the handwriting recognizer ? that way we could just repaint the character and let the handwriting recognizer do his work...
or just let us zoom into the picture and scroll within it, tilt it... and toggle handwriting recognition when ready to "redraw" the character...

 

[mikelove]

Possibly, but you'd still need to a) see the character clearly enough in the photo (not easy with, say, a restaurant menu with lots of characters on it), and b) correctly separate / almost correctly order the strokes. Not inconceivable for a future update, though, particularly if Microsoft provides a standard interface in WM7 for fetching photos from a phone's built-in camera.

 

[sfrrr]

Speaking of pictures, here's an off the wall idea: a visual dictionary. These dictionaries are not only useful when you're traveling, don't know a word, and can then point to a picture of what you mean. They are also useful for learning parts of things--what do you call the laces on those shoes--as well as just expanding your vocabulary in directions your classes may not take you--for example, my granddaughter learned the names of all the furniture in her house by using a hard-copy visual dictionary.

Just a thought...

 

[johnh113]

Dear Sfrrr,

I love the idea of a visual dictionary! Probably very hard to license.

John

 

[mikelove]

Hard to license and to adapt for Pleco - we don't support embedded images in definitions yet, though it's not inconceivable that we could add them in a future release. I do agree it would be a lovely addition if we could get the licensing / tech stuff worked out. Particularly good on a large-screen device like, say, an iPad...

 

[mfcb]

i guess, that version 2.1 is dead (at least for WM), so i would like to place a final feature request for WM.
could you give us a small API-library to access the dictionary definitions and flashcard data (like cards to review according to the currently selected session profile...)?
that way i could build my own tools around the dictionaries i bought. i understand, that the API should include some prevention for mass export of dictionary entries, but i guess you could think up something to differentiate between an "export" and "normal" usage... anyway that prevention must be done for any kind of "web-pleco" as well :wink:

 

[mikelove]

Oh 2.1 isn't necessarily dead on WM - I think at the very least we'll continue synchronizing updates to our cross-platform engine code to WM for a while, it's not like WM6.5 devices are going to disappear from the market overnight, or like people won't still be using them years from now; Palm OS has been dead for more than a year now (webOS was actually announced at that same conference last year) and we're still selling software for those.

Some of the previously-discussed improvements like finger touchscreen support might not happen, since those would be a lot of work, but once Microsoft releases an official Windows Mobile 6.5 SDK (they had one, but pulled it since it was buggy) we might at least see what we can do with its new gesture API (would give us a standardized way to disable those pesky scroll gestures). And there's a good chance that at least the 2.1 improvements that didn't require a massive amount of new user interface work would make it to WM.

An API might be tricky, but we'll see what we can do licensing-wise about that; we probably would want to offer something like that for an eventual web-based version at least, maybe requiring a user-specific "API key" for access to non-free content.

 

[Grahameh]

Don't know if these have been covered, but:
-the alphabetical column on the right is to narrow to read on my Touch HD2 and it doesn't get better in landscape mode. Is the dividing line movable?
-the list in the column moves too quickly to find anything.

 

[mikelove]

You should be able to move that column if you simply tap on / drag the dividing line; does that not work? You can also adjust the font sizes for it in Preferences / Fonts tab. As far as the list scrolling too quickly, what if you tap on the arrow buttons on it instead of dragging it up / down, does that improve matters any?

 

[flameproof]

New feature request: (at least I think it can't be done yet)

Starting flashcards without starting pleco

I mean, can I start flashcards from the WinMobile desktop, or with a WM link?

 

[mikelove]

Wouldn't be difficult, but how much of a difference would this really make speed-wise versus opening up Pleco and launching flashcards from the Modules menu?

 

[flameproof]

Wouldn't be difficult, but how much of a difference would this really make speed-wise versus opening up Pleco and launching flashcards from the Modules menu?

I use HTC Diamond which is pretty slow. I guess I would use Flashcards way more often it would be more convenient. So to have optionally start flashcards from the WM desktop would be great for me.

 

[sfrrr]

For me, the convenience and time-saving is along the lines of standing in front of the microwave telling it to hurry up. Flashcards on the desktop seems more streamlined and convenient, but if I tined it with a stopwatch, I'd probably save three seconds. Max.