Reading pdf on a BlackBerry

[jjeffh]

This isn't about eBooks, but I didn't see any forums to put it in and it is about reading portable documents. I just got my first BlackBerry, a Curve 8530. It comes with Word, Excel, and Presentation To Go by DataViz. But it can't open pdfs. I have to buy Documents To Go for $50 to get the 3 app readers I got for free in order to get the one reader I want.

It seems to me the whole idea behind Acrobat Reader is universal availability. Is Adobe doing anything to make pdfs accessible via BlackBerry? Does anyone in this forum have a suggestion? (FYI, I already tried emailing myself a pdf as an attachment, and yes the BlackBerry can open it that way, but it is not readable.)

Thanks,

- Jeff

[markerline]

How can the blackberry open it and not read it at the same time?  Do you mean to say you can't zoom in on the text in any way?  If it is open you should be able to zoom with Documents to Go's Reader or Adobe Reader LE.  (Adobe Reader LE is on my Windows Phone 6.5 Professional).  When I had my Treo by Palm it could open Adobe Acrobat documents but it was very slow to refresh the screen whenever I moved around in the document, depending on the PDF file size.

You should post this in the Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat forum.  eBooks is very specialized to eBook devices.

[jjeffh]

First, thanks for drawing my attention to the other forums which I missed last night. I only looked in the "Product, Player, and Reader" group. I see there is also a "Mobile and Device" group.

But to answer your question (in case anyone here is interested) this is specific to BlackBerry. I've used Win Mobile and Palm with PDF To Go, too, and they worked fine. My BlackBerry came with Word To Go, Excel To Go, and Slideshow To Go installed ... but not PDF To Go. As far as I can tell I will have to purchase the full DataViz application to get the pdf reader. That costs $50 and includes the three apps I already have.

Meanwhile, I heard that you can open a pdf email attachment so I tried it with a particular, 1mb, 100 page pdf I want to have on my mobile device. When I open it as an attachment I can see it and even zoom, but it's very fuzzy and hard to see any page. There is a menu option to view text, which makes it easier to read, but it reads across the page and it's a 2-column format so the lines all get scambled. Then when I try to download the attachment I get an error that I'm downloading a document I won't be able to open.

It's a bit frustrating and I came out here to Adobe because it is curious to me that they haven't addressed this since the point of the pdf format is universality. Anyway, that's my sad tale! Thanks for your prompt reply and for pointing me to the right forum.

- Jeff

[MichaelKazlow]

Adobe has Reader forums for Palm, Symbian, Pocket PC and Unix. Just not the Blackberry. If you want to request such a product here might be the best place: https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform.

My bet is if they haven't done it yet, they are unlikely to. Since pdf is a standards-based document these days, there is no reason that RIM shouldn't be responsible for making a Reader for their platform. Perhaps you should direct another request to RIM.

[jjeffh]

I agree completely, Michael. It really does fall to RIM to, at the very least, not exclude pdf from the DataViz bundle they provide. Frankly, I'm not going to make it a crusade, though. I don't expect any resolution so I'll just decide whether reading pdf's on my phone for the next two years is worth $50 to me.

Nice group you have here, BTW. Thanks to both of you for promptly and helpfully addressing my off-point intrusion.

- Jeff

[coloringpageskids]

I have a samsung star wifi and it can read pdf files and blackberry  is superier than my mobile it should open.

Coloring pages for kids

[jjeffh]

I appreciate everyone's interest, so here's an update: in the "BlackBerry App World" application on the BlackBerry itself I found an app called RepliGo Reader for pdf. It's $15 and works perfectly. Better than just zooming and clarity, its got a "Reading View" that displays everything in a single column filling the screen with the text at a comfortable size (even for 2-column documents).

- Jeff