Earlier today, Google launched its eBook store with 3 million books, many of them free. I’ve been playing around with it on my iPad even though there is no iPad app yet. That is because you can read the books in your browser. iPad and Android apps are available, but if Google can make the browser reading experience just as compelling, people won’t need those apps.
So far, however, the… → Read More
Google today unveiled its long-rumored entry into the e-book sales world, not called Google Editions, as was previously speculated, but a more anonymous-sounding Google eBooks. The basic idea is to provide an entirely web-based e-book platform accessible from any device with a browser. The business model they’ve opted for is slightly less centralized than the competition, but not quite the … → Read More
Contrary to my prescient cynicism, the NYT is running a piece on the rise of e-readers as the must-have holiday gift, quoting some dude who things this is the “tipping point.” Only a small slice of the book-buying public has bought an e-reader. About nine million devices are in circulation in the United States, according to Forrester Research. That could jump in the coming weeks as… → Read More
It took them a while, but now it seems Sharp is serious about entering the e-book and tablet business. The company announced “Galapagos”in Tokyo today [press release in English], with Galapagos being the (terrible) name both for Sharp’s cloud-based e-book service and two new Android devices supporting that service. → Read More
The only Larsson I’ve ever heard of is Henrik Larsson, so clearly I’m out of the loop with regards to this Stieg Larsson fellow. The Swedish author has become the first author to sell one million copies of his book(s) on the Amazon Kindle store. Amazon now calls him the first member of the imaginatively named Kindle Million Club. → Read More
Samsung predicable announced an ebook reader at CES 2010 just like nearly every other company there. The E60, originally called the E6, is a cute little device, with a slider design and a touchscreen — both first in the US market. The reader was supposed to hit the states this Spring with B&N content, but it’s still not here the heat index clearly states it’s summertime.
The Digital Reader… → Read More
It was just a matter of time, but now Sharp has unveiled a 10.6-inch display [JP], which is 3D, can be used without glasses and is suitable for e-book readers, tablet PCs and digital photo frames. Just like with the 3D TV the company showed today, technical details are relatively scarce (both devices were publicly shown for the first time today). → Read More
Explain something to me: what is the value in having multi-touch on an electronic book reader? How often do you adjust the “zoom level” when you’re reading a regular book or magazine? Not often, no; you tend to keep the book or magazine right in the sweet spot, where you can comfortably focus. So, the Bookeen Orizon. It’s an electronic book reader with multi-touch, the first such reader to have… → Read More
Announced today, the Alex E-book Reader is an interesting take on electronic books. The upper third of the device features a standard 6-inch electronic ink screen similar to Amazon’s Kindle and then the bottom part sports a 3.5-inch color touchscreen running Android (1.6). The two screens can be harmonized by taking a web page you’ve loaded up on the Android browser and shooting it to the… → Read More
In-flight movies might not be the only form of airline-provided entertainment on KLM flights. The airline is considering handing out e-book readers after the idea won a contest offered up by the airline. The idea beat out Online Tax-Free Shopping and placing wind turbines under the runways. (yeah, I don’t get that either)
But as fun and exciting as free e-books seem, it would be a… → Read More
Book publishers are increasingly embracing digital books, and not just on Amazon’s Kindle. Today, John Wiley and Sons, Barnes and Noble imprint Sterling Publishing, Chronicle Books, and the University of Chicago Press announced they will join a total of 150 publishers to offer ebooks in the Scribd Store. Wiley is the venerable publisher of the For Dummies series of books as well as Frommer’s … → Read More
Our own Nicholas Deleon is on his way to the official announcement this morning but here’s the latest on the iRex e-book reader that’s set to be launched in partnership with Barnes & Noble. → Read More
We just downloaded and installed the Kindle for iPhone app and you can color me impressed. Not only do you get – almost – the same reading experience you get on the Kindle this essentially opens to ebook market up in ways that could change the whole “reading a book” industry.
The download is free and opens a small window asking you for your Amazon account.
It then brings up a screen showing the… → Read More
Although I don’t get the feeling that Ian Fleming would have been a big e-book fan (he was a paperback kind of guy), that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be awesome to have a 007-themed Sony Reader. Unfortunately the Reader itself is standard issue — but the cover for it is embossed leather, and the Reader comes with two free Bond books. → Read More
Because nothing says “I want to jump your bones” like an eBook reader. → Read More
I want to upgrade my Kindle. I really do. The Kindle design is clunky, it’s starting to fall apart regularly, and the screen is hard on the eyes. But friends, my next Kindle – and next after that, ad infinitum – will be from Amazon unless Tuetonic company Txtr actually makes and sells the item you see before you. Sadly, I seriously doubt it will. → Read More
Even though it’s pretty much an open secret that Amazon will release the Kindle 2 early next year, plenty of people are still looking to buy the first version of the device this Christmas season. → Read More
Tired of lugging around paperbacks, but don’t feel like dropping the extra change for a standalone e-book reader when you already own an iPhone? ScrollMotion has announced that they’ve partnered with Random House, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin, Penguin Group USA and Hachette to begin selling e-books repackaged as iPhone applications, or “books-as-apps”. Serving as… → Read More
Turn the Nintendo DS sideways and then open it. It’s like a book! ROFL!!! They should totally make it so you could read books on it, but they should only make 100 books available at first and it should only be available in Britain– like so. → Read More
Love it or hate it, Amazon.com’s Kindle e-book reader is selling well — in fact, even at $359 there currently aren’t any in stock. So Amazon certainly doesn’t need any advice from me about how to sell more Kindles, but I have some ideas about how the company could make the device more attractive to casual readers like me. The basic idea would be to make the Kindle reach critical mass… → Read More
China appears to have gotten into the electronic book business. Hanvon just announced the N510, an eBook reader that was used aboard that Chinese space flight in September. The N510, which may never even be released outside of China, has a 800×600 display (that’s 167 pixels per inch) and reads most of the relevant formats, including PDF and plain text. There’s also MP3 support… → Read More
The Frankfurt Book Fair just wrapped up, and one clear theme emerged from the show: people are willing to embrace digitized books, à la the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, but they may need some time to get used to the idea. For example, Penguin called such gadgets “mainstream” and no longer in “the province of geeks any longer.” Meanwhile, plenty of people were on hand to defend the… → Read More
Sony’s got a new Reader in the PRS-700 and that Reader, it’s got a touchscreen. Simply slide your dirty, smudge-inducing finger across the six-inch screen and watch as the e-inked pages magically turn, just like a real book. Or use that same finger to enter notes and/or highlight text. There’s also a stylus for people like me who have weird issues with touchscreens. And for those of you who… → Read More
Next month, new Sony Reader Digital Books, model PRS-505, will be able to support the EPUB format. The International Digital Publishing Forum’s XML-based standard format has gained acceptance among major trade book publishers. Current owners can download the software upgrade now. The Readers will continue to support Sony’s proprietary BBeB format. Adobe eBooks with digital rights management… → Read More
Just when the recording industry is getting comfortable with the idea of digital downloads for music, piracy and all, along comes a new breed of online copyright infringement: that of digital books. Those fantastic eBook readers like the Kindle and that thing Sony wants us to like are a blessing for us bookworms, but it could be a headache for authors. As DRM is circumvented and copies of works… → Read More
Here it is, you guys; the book of the future. It’s the $350 ECTACO jetBook — the “ultimate pocket library.” It’s got a 5-inch screen yet “fits perfectly in the palm of your hand.” My what an enormous palm you have, sir. It’s got a cool translation feature wherein you can translate snippets of text between English and Russian and Polish. You can also… → Read More
That’s a pretty big screen, ladies and gentlemen. The one on the left there, with the dog — it’s almost ten inches! Guess what else? It’s got built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and it uses electronic ink, has 4GB of storage, and lasts 5000 pages on a single charge. I’d actually buy it if I knew how to accomplish such a task (more on that later). Then there’s the dumpy… → Read More
In what appears to be a last ditch effort by Sony to thwart the onslaught that the Amazon Kindle is bringing in the realm of eBooks, they’ll be giving away 100 Connect eBooks Classic titles with the purchase of the Reader Digital Book. That’s not too shabby considering each title is $1.99. A few of the titles included are Beowulf, The Time Machine and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Just… → Read More
This endorsement is by no means random. It is a direct challenge to one of the many well thought out theses put forward by Peter Ha in his terrific Kindle review: I’ll be the first to admit that e-books suck. They’re great in theory, but they’ll never catch on. There’s nothing that screams dork more than an e-book. I, like many others, enjoy the real thing. There’s just something… → Read More
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