Head of Penguin Group not running from digital revolution

The UK's Daily Mail has a look at Penguin and it's chief, John Makinson. Penguin was an early proponent of the paperback, and continues to embrace new formats. A great read (hat tip: Nate's Book News).

Lack of updates this weekend...

Sorry in advance for a relative lack of updates over this upcoming weekend. This afternoon through the wee hours of the night I'm at a charity celebrity sports auction for the South Florida Make-a-Wish Foundation (support your local chapter if you can) as their event photographer. This weekend, I'll be taking my daughter on a long overdo trip to Disney (oh the perks of living in Florida - cheap access). I'll be updating the site over the weekend, but in smaller spurts to be sure.

OverDrive for Blackberry, Beta

OverDrive now available for Blackberry. Joining the Macintosh, Windows, Windows Mobile and Android editions is a beta release of their software for Blackberry devices. OverDrive let's you download and listen to audio books from many public libraries, plus retail sites including Barnes and Noble.

Download the beta now.

10 predictions for the industry in 2010

Nice read by Kobo, here are some highlights:

• A $99 eReader released.
• $4.99 bestsellers as competition kicks in.
• Super Kindle announced.
• 15 million eReaders sold.

The other 6 are available on their blog.

$2 off coupon for Kobo

Good through tomorrow, use coupon code 2daysale to get $2 off your next eBook purchase at Kobo.

Scribd: Send to mobile active; MANY devices supported

C|NET, reporting on Scribd's new mobile device support, with initial support for Kindle, nook, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile (Phone Classic, whatever it's called now), Blackberry, Palm, Onyx, jetBook Lite, EZReader, Cooler and iRex devices.

Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Kindle

This, according to Dr. Westby Fisher:

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) will be available on the Amazon Kindle e-book reading device starting this March. JACC is the first cardiovascular journal on the Kindle platform and the second medical journal after theNew England Journal of Medicine. Visit the Kindle store on amazon.com beginning on March 12 to order and learn more. Also, bring Kindle to ACC.10 in Atlanta to download the meeting abstracts and final program.

O'Reilly and Kurzweil

Paul Biba, reporting live from TOC talked about a keynote conversation between O'Reilly and Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil has always been a fascinating author to me, I've read most of his books - and while I don't necessarily agree with all of his predictions he sure presents an intriguing point of view.

If you want a good glimpse into a possible high technology future - listen to Kurzweil speak. Mennonites and Amish likely need not apply.

Kindle author threatens to sue Sharp Writ Book Awards

From the official press release:

Organizers of the Sharp Writ Book Awards confirmed that they has received threats of legal action by a Kindle™ Author for excluding Kindle™ (and other) eBooks from being nominated for the prestigious 2010 Sharp Writ Book Awards.

While they bring up a somewhat valid point, the book awards organization is a bit melodramatic:

“We decided to exclude e-Books because of practical issues." explained Yashpal Talreja, Coordinator for the BLSIG. “Unfortunately, all the popular e-publishing platforms use proprietary formats; accepting digitally published books for the Awards would have required us to equip each of our judges with a Kindle™, a Nook™, a Sony reader, and an iPad™; and still we will miss some platforms. It is truly astounding to see how much interest the Awards have generated, the books have been pouring in from all over the world."

I'm not sure it's necessary to have an iPad, given the fact it's not even out, but their point is well taken - some smaller authors aren't necessarily distributed on ALL eBook platforms.

Astri Dual Screen prototype hands on

Nate's Ebook News had a chance to play with the Astri dual screen reader prototype, running Android. With an eInk and color LCD screen, it's a fairly interesting idea, given the expected US retail price of under $150.

Game Change: Finally available as an eBook

Game Change is finally available in eBook format, after a multi-month holdback by the publisher and several nasty 1 star reviews left in retribution at eBook sites. I had forgotten all about it, and if I didn't catch a blurb in my email from Barnes and Noble might never have remember I was somewhat interested in the book.

The book is now widely available, including from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Sony.

eBook sales up 176%

Publisher's Weekly is reporting that eBook sales are up sharply for 2009:

E-book sales from the 13 publishers that report figures to the Association of American Publishers soared 176.6% in 2009, to $169.5 million, the AAP reported Friday.

Amazon and Microsoft sign co-licensing patent deal

Microsoft and Amazon have signed a deal that grants a license to each other's patent portfolio. Speculation is that Amazon was more likely to face a patent infringement suit, as they had paid Microsoft in the deal. Further speculation

Acer to eReader industry: buh-bye!

Acer has decided to halt their entry into the eReader market. They claim the eReader market is "small" and there's no "proven business model yet". I suspect it's more the case of the market exploding this year, but not necessarily for upstarts. Between the "big three" (Sony, Barnes and Noble, Amazon) and high profile upstarts (Que, Blio, Spring Design, Skiff) there may not be much room for one hundred OEMs making other equipment. There's so many eReaders I alone might buy this year, but that still leaves a couple of dozen people out. :)

JAVOedge releases another nook accessory

JAVOedge continues a frenzied pace of nook releases, this time it's the Tweed Flip Style case.

The case is available for nook, Kindle 2, and in a book-style (non flip, no kickstand) for the same (nook link, Kindle 2 link).

FBreader 0.12.5 Released

FBreader, a popular open source eReading application that works on just about every desktop/tablet/netbook/notebook/portable device out there (and whose code runs on many an eReader) has been updated to v0.12.5 - better ePub handling is the main new feature.

FBreader supports just about every open file format out there - and nothing with DRM.

Spring Design Alex: Live at TOC

Paul Biba, editor of Teleread reporting from O'Reilly's Tools of Change conference had some time with the Spring Design Alex, and came away ready to buy.

Apparently, it's three main features are: speed, speed and more speed. Sounds good to me!

Nate's Ebook News is reporting that the ship date has slipped, and it's due in about 10 weeks.

Barnes and Noble 3Q results

Barnes and Noble has released financials for 3Q 2009, period ending 1/30/2010. Highlights include:

• $2.2 billion in total sales, a 33% increase compared to prior year.
• Store sales decreased 4.7% to $1.4 billion. Same store sales down 5.5%.
• College bookstore sales down 1.3%.
• Online sales increased 32% to $210 million. Sales accelerated greatly during the quarter, with January sales up 67% year-over-year.

While they don't break out nook eBook sales separately from print book sales online, the huge uptick probably is in no small part due to the nook's shipping.

nook(TM) began shipping only in the middle of the third quarter, and, as evident in our sales, we are thrilled with how customers have embraced our product and our digital eBook platform," said Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "In addition to the accelerating online sales trends, nook(TM) sales have been strong at our bookstores since the product became available earlier this month."

Barnes and Noble announced a $0.25 per share dividend, EBITDA of $204 million and consolidated net earnings of $80.2 million or $1.38 a share. Guidance had been between $1.20 and $1.40 a share.

As of this posting, shares of Barnes and Noble (BKS) were at $20.58 per share, down $0.93 per share (-4.23%) on the day.

DISCLAIMER:  I currently hold shares in Barnes and Noble.

Android DRM eBook reading with iReader

iReader is a versastile eReading application for Android phones, tablets and MIDs that supports a plethora of formats (although no ePub... yet). The author posted two helpful documents up today:

• Reading DRM encrypted MOBI files.
• Reading DRM encrypted eReader files.

Douglas Preston's open letter

We have watched, with interest and no small amount of alarm, the recent struggles between publishers and eBook retailers. We thought it might help if we explained our position. We, as writers, have no real say in the matter, and no real influence on either side of the issue. We, like you, are caught in the middle. What we want is simple. We want to write the best books we can for you to enjoy; for our publishers to make available to you in the format in which you prefer to read them; and at a fair price that enables us to write future novels while keeping the publishers and the Amazons, Apples, Barnes & Nobles and WalMarts of this world in business. From our perspective, the most important element in all this is you, the reader. Without you, the Preston-Child books would not exist, and it is to you that we owe our first and greatest allegiance--on this issue and, in fact, all related issues.

I'm not really sure "they" (or Preston, specifically) are "caught in the middle". Nobody denies that authors have little say in publisher pricing of eBooks. But when one calls out his readers with negative remarks - you are placing yourself in the middle.

Sorry, Douglas, my sense of entitlement extends to continuing negative coverage of your remarks.

JAVOedge releases new flip cases for nook

New from JAVOedge are a Blue (and Purple) Croc Flip Case for the nook. I like the look, although the color is not quite up my alley.

Their cork model is a bit more up my alley.

Kobo launches in the United Kingdom

Congrats to Kobo for the launch of their United Kingdom eBook store.

Wilson James authored books free

Since the code is listed as "just for Finding Free eBooks readers" I'm going to direct you to that excellent blog, but you can grab any of five books by Wilson James for no cost.

Libre eReader hands on

Walyou goes hands on with the Libre. If you are interested, read on - to be honest, I couldn't quite get past the looks of the device.

Macmillan to debut editable textbooks at reduced cost

Macmillan is embracing Wiki-style editing... of textbooks! Electronista reports on a new textbook format that allows professors to make edits to textbooks (with full publisher permission).

With 100 titles expected to be available at launch, they initially will support computers and iPhones. Macmillan mentioned they are in talks about creating iPad versions as well.

Gadgeteer Kindle DX review

A fantastic look at the Kindle DX from The Gadgeteer. If printed, it would take up close to 50 pages.

Best of... no worlds?

Engadget brings word of the Sungale 7" Cyberus ID700WTA which is an 800x480 LCD (7") that has some web functions, video playback functions and "eReading" functions and built in WiFi for $279. I carry a media player, eReader and iPhone (and often a laptop too). I'm all for an all-in-one device, but not sure this is going to be it.

iRex DR800SG Review

MobileTechReview has a look at the iRex DR800SG. According to the review, it has a Verizon EV-DO 3G cellular modem which might be interesting - but quite honestly eBooks are so small they download quickly on any 3G service.

They directly support NewspaperDirect, and you can download titles over wireless, albeit at a $1 premium. You can also shop at Barnes and Noble via the 3G connection, and offline access to content via ADE is possible for shopping at places like Sony's Reader Store, Kobo, or loading checked out library books.

Check out part one of their video review:



Part two is also available, which covers adding books via 3G and other topics.

BookArmor review for nook

Tony over at OSSRamblings.com has an in-depth review of the BookArmor (tm) High Impact Travel Case for nook. It's also available for generic 6" eReaders, 5" eReaders, Amazon Kindle 2, and the Sony PRS-505 / PRS-700.

He liked it fairly well, although it's not for me, it seems like decent protection against big falls, and certainly not expensive relative to some of the designer cases out there.

Cybook Opus: Lightest eReader?

I read with great anticipation the article entitled "Cybook Opus Wins featherweight E-Reader Crown" at ComputerWorld. Having just reviewed one of the lightest eReaders, I was curious to see just how smaller it could be.

Bookeen, a company whose name just keeps popping up manufactures the Opus. It's billed as 6.0" x 4.2" x 0.4" and weighs 5.3 ounces. Let's see how that stacks up:

eReader Size Comparison
	PB360	Opus	Sony
Width	4.6"	4.2”	4.25"
Height	5.5"	6.0”	6.25"
Depth	0.39"	0.40”	0.41"
Weight	5.3oz	5.3oz	7.76oz
Surface Area	25.3”	25.2”	26.6”
List Price	$239.99	$250.00	$199.99

I'm not quite ready to declare it the King of the Small eReaders yet - in part because I haven't reviewed one, but also due to it's 4 shades of gray e-Ink screen. For reading, it shouldn't make a large difference - but it's far from ideal for images.

Kindle Chronicles 83 online

Episode 83 of Len Edgerly's excellent Kindle oriented podcast is online. This week he discusses (among others):

• Amazon's Blackberry Kindle app.
  
• Motoko Rich's widely discussed NY Times article on eBook pricing.
  
• Some issues he encountered removing a hack prior to a Kindle 2.3.3 update.
  
• Much more!

Even nicer, his notes on the release mention M-Edge's generous donation of a Kindle and some M-Edge accessories to Sergeant Andrew B. Corbin, who will be leaving for active duty in Afghanistan this March. Great job guys! Look for the Podcast on iTunes, or download/play it here.

B&N eReader annoyances

I've been fairly harsh about some of the work that needs to be done in the nook. My future features wish list is fairly long. I'm very upset about the fact that pre-orders are not reflected as such in the 3G store. I've noted that English language literacy may not be their developer's best quality. I've noted that their RMA replacement tracking information isn't. In fact, I know I've posted other gripes, but I think the point has been made.

So, in a refreshing break of complaining about nook - I'll complain about the B&N eReader app for the iPhone/iPod Touch. For one thing, while I dutifully entered my credit card to unlock The New York Times, and that let me read it on any day (it unlocked the entire subscription), apparently you need to do this each time for every book. No thanks, too tedious. How about letting me sign into the application, the same way signing into a nook let's you read your books hassle-free.

The eBook reading layout isn't without flaws either. On the right hand column, there's a nifty A-Z picker, clicking on any letter will instantly flip the list to that letter. Unfortunately, in edit mode, where you would remove books (it's really an archive, not a delete, so that's strike one for the wording), the A-Z list gets in the way of the delete button. If you click the right hand of the button, you'll instead scroll the list. Test much, Barnes and Noble?

Check out Greg McQueen's blog for information on 100 Stories for Haiti.

SmashWords is publishing the eBook, donating 100% of the net proceeds to the Red Cross, with an anticipated release date of March 4th.

A print edition will be available for £11.99 through Bridge House Publishing.

A great cause, I'll be picking up the book myself, and hopefully it will sell well, bringing in some needed funds.

Archos 5 Android Tablet

Nate, one of the editors at MobileRead has posted some impressions of an Archos 5 Android Tablet on his personal site, specifically relating to eBook reading.

He found things a bit rough around the edges:

• eReader - seemed to work very well, supports eReader and FictionWise.
  
• FBReaderJ - couldn't get it to work.
  
• Aldiko - had trouble importing existing books, but no trouble acquiring new ones.

I asked in a comment if he'll have a chance to try iReader, which looks pretty slick and would probably be the first app I tried if I finally break down and grab an Android tablet.

Vook raises $2.5 million of seed funding

Brad Stone reporting for the Bits blog for The New York Times reports that Vook has received $2.5 million in funding. Vook aims to blend multimedia with printed books, allowing for digital eBooks with audio and video content embedded, very similar to the Blio efforts, and quite similar to what people were expecting Apple to announce with iPad (they didn't).

iPad, ePub, DRM

There's a lot of talking running around the web that Apple's iPad and specifically their iBooks application will not support Adobe's ADEPT / ADE encryption. Some even say therefore Apple is going with their own proprietary solution. To be honest, Sony's solution is also proprietary - although to be fair, it's:

• Already available across many devices.
  
• It's licensable - Apple's FairPlay won't be on competing devices, they don't want it to be.

This doesn't make the iPad a closed platform, locked to one vendor. iBooks is specifically installable as an application. Buy an iPad, open the box - there's no iBooks, it's not baked into the operating system. Since it runs iPhone applications out of the box, you can run txtr, Kobo, Kindle, B&N eReader and all the other wonderful apps from day one.

Whether the terms and conditions of the SDK for iPad will prohibit native (high resolution) versions of those apps remains to be seen, although I highly doubt it will be forbidden.

Calibe 0.6.42 released

Quick maintenance release for Calibre fixing comic formatting issues and problems generating catalogs. Recommended for all 0.6.41 users.

Download Calibre.

Amazon mulling Kindle natively in UK

Amazon is apparently considering launching a local Kindle in the United Kingdom where books would not carry a premium as they do with the Kindle International releases, reports The Next Web.

Amazon expands DTP to support additional languages

From the official press release:

SEATTLE, Feb 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that authors and publishers around the world can now use the self-service Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) (http://dtp.amazon.com) to upload and make available their books in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian to customers worldwide in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). Authors and publishers already have the ability to upload and make available their books in English, French and German, and now they will have even more options when offering their books to Kindle customers.

TI and LiquaVista have prototype machine

A new color eReader prototype from Texas Instruments and LiquaVista. LiquaVista is apparently quite busy, readying a developer kit for Freescale based devices as well.



Hat tip to E-Ink-Info.

Calibre 0.6.41 Released

Calibre, the quite excellent eBook management software for users of virtually every eReader on the market has been updated to 0.6.41. New features include:

• EB511 support for Macintosh users
  
• Support for editing metadata in DRM protected MOBI files
  
• Speed improvements when reading large ePub and OPF files
  
• Timezone awareness
  

A few notable bug fixes as well:

• Drag and drop working again for Macintosh users trying to drag books to the dock.
  
• Many minor fixes for outputted MOBI and ePub files
  

Download calibre today (and consider a donation if you use it regularly).

More on eBook pricing

I saw a bunch of links to a piece by Shatzkin on some comments Michael Cader made, and realized it was the same article I commented on about a week ago. Somehow, I missed this gem by Michael Cader:

People who can afford an ereading device can afford all proposed ebook prices.

Ok, you caught me. It's true - I can afford more. You are 100% absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably, indisputably correct. I can pay $20 for a book. Hell, I can pay $40 for a book, although I'd probably have to start reading a bit fewer titles at that price point / switch back to paper.

You know what - I bought milk just as often two years ago when it was $4.79 a gallon as I do today when it's under $4. I drove damn near as often when gas was $4 a gallon as I do now when it's $2.65 at last glance, and that's about as often as when it was $1.00 a gallon. In fact, I can pay more for many things, although if everything cost more all at once I'd have less of those things (and do: inflation mixed with stagnant salaries has been a bitch).

What Shatzkin eloquently states:

Has anybody ever found anybody who would prefer to pay more for anything they buy?

I counter with a slightly harsher: "There's absolutely no way in hell I'll buy books from a publisher who wants me to pay more just because I can if there are others that aren't quite as crazy."

Look - at some point, you're just going to piss off your consumers beyond the point at which they'll grin and bear it. I've come out in favor of agency deals, even though it means cost goes up. I want the authors, publishers and retailers to all be profitable in the short term, so in the long run they still bother to write/publish/sell eBooks. A bonus is the promise of no more 2 - 7 month delays - I actually get something.

Nobody respects a fool and his money. I worked in publishing for a few years earlier in my career, a magazine publisher in fact. We had two main guys in charge. One I would occasionally bump into on the subway when we came in at similar times. The other paid his limo driver to sit on the corner, and circle if the cops came by, all day - 8-10 hours sometimes, so if he had to go somewhere, say... lunch, he wouldn't have to wait. I'm sure that guy (Christopher Meigher if you are wondering) might be willing to spend $20 for an eBook just because, but most of us regular folk don't want to without a damn good reason.

In my other professional life (the one that pays the bills), I purchase a lot of IT equipment. Quite frequently I'm hired to build entire data centers (well, small ones at least) and those bills can be six figures... but just as often seven figures. I was just talking to a long time vendor of mine who remarked on several points about dealing with me:

• That I always pushed for a good price.
  
• That sometimes I pushed for a absurdly great price, but usually with reasons (unrealistic budgets that leave no choice).
  
• That I always call competitors but never play them against each other, round after round, and pull a deal from someone last minute because I can save a few thousand dollars.
  
• That there were clients he literally stopped returning the calls of because of some of the same tactics he commends me for not having.

You think I'd still call that guy if he squeezed me the way some publishers think they can squeeze us, the consumer?

Is an eBook worth more than a hardcover or paperback? Nope. It's worth "almost" as much as a hardcover when hardcovers are exclusively out (you need to subtract for printing, for sure). It's worth "very much almost" as much as a paperback when paperback editions are out (since they have an even smaller printing cost).

Is it worth more because we can buy $259 devices and therefore "can afford it"? Good question. Octane aside, should a Mercedes owner pay more per gallon than a Hyundai owner, just because?

You want me to pay more than $10 to $15 for an eBook, fine - give it to me a month before the print edition. I'll do it (sometimes) for (some) titles. If we're really the folks with money, stop treating us like the red headed step child in a family of blonds.

Special thanks to A Kindle World who reminded me I'd missed this one gem of a comment.

ePub pagination in Atlantis

Atlantis is a fairly interesting word processing application. On their blog, they have a look at pagination in ePub documents, which eReaders will attempt to do automatically, but occasionally you want some finer tuned control over. It ends up being a decent look at some of the structures of an ePub file as well, and an interesting read for anyone making eBooks - regardless of which word processor you might use.

On iPad, 3 minutes of your time requested

Neil Curtis edits out some extras from the iPad special event from a few weeks ago, here are highlights if you didn't have time to watch the longer video from Apple:

eBook sales at all time high

E-Reads reports on a release from the International Digital Publishing Forum and Association of American Publishers touting a $19.1 million dollar month in December 2009 for eBook sales in the United States. 4Q 2009 saw more sales ($55.9 million) than the entire year of 2008 ($53.5 million).

Data includes sales from about a dozen publishers, reflect wholesale prices, excludes library, educational or professional trades, and covers only the United States.

First Look: Blackberry Kindle app

Paul Higginbotham writing for Kindleville takes a look at the Blackberry Kindle application released this week by Amazon.

Kindle Nation helps you get ready for Spring Training

The highlight for me was the free PDF copy of SABR's "Emerald Guide to Baseball 2010". 586 pages of previews, retrospectives and statistics upon statistics.

Head on over to Kindle Nation Daily for some additional picks.

Fisher-Price's answer to V-Tech's Flip

Paul Biba catches what I missed yesterday - Fisher-Price also has a kid-oriented eReader device coming out, the IXL (not exactly a kid-friendly name mind you). There's more information available at Business Week and The New York Times.

Is the "Agency" deal not as straight-forward as we thought?

"IT" being the so-called "Agency" arrangement that Apple is striking with most publishers - and that most publishers are asking (demanding?) Amazon agree to. The New York Times' Motoko Rich has me confused.

Maybe e-book prices won’t be rising so much after all.

Always inspires confidence, doesn't it, when a 'news' article starts with the word "maybe". I'm just saying...

Publishers indicated that e-book editions of most newly released adult general fiction and nonfiction would sell in a range from $12.99 to $14.99, under a complicated formula that pegs e-book prices to the list prices of comparable print editions. Publishers liked Apple’s deal because it resulted in a marked increase above Amazon’s $9.99 price for most new releases.

How complicated is the format? Publishers set the price, keeps 70% of the gross. Apple allows them to set the price, keeps 30% of the gross.

But according to at least three people with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke anonymously because of the confidentiality of the talks, Apple inserted provisions requiring publishers to discount e-book prices on best sellers — so that $12.99-to-$14.99 range was merely a ceiling; prices for some titles could be lower, even as low as Amazon’s $9.99. Essentially, Apple wants the flexibility to offer lower prices for the hottest books, those on one of the New York Times best-seller lists, which are heavily discounted in bookstores and on rival retail sites. So, for example, a book that started at $14.99 would drop to $12.99 or less once it hit the best-seller lists.

This is where I get confused. Apple wants what flexibility? I thought the deal was - publisher's set the price.  The hope was, they'd set the price competitively - now we're hearing that Apple has the right to force discounts on best selling titles? Does Amazon get this same provision, or might we actually see iBooks priced CHEAPER than their Kindle counterparts for the hottest titles?

And what of the discounts - do they come out of the 30% Apple keeps, or are they negotiating the right to force discounts below $14.99 for any title on the best selling list?

If I were Apple, and could get ONE price concession, it'd be a guarantee that upon release of a paperback, the price of the eBook drops by 50% automatically. Ever notice those $9.99 Kindle books tend to stay $9.99 even once the $8 paperback hits the market?

Amazon releases Kindle for Blackberry

Continuing Amazon's strategy of offering access to Kindle books on any device, as long as it's a Kindle, computer or mobile phone (other eReaders need not apply), Kindle for Blackberry is now available free of charge.

iREX DR 800SG now available in the States

While not yet available in retail stores, Best Buy now lists the iRex DR 800SG as available for shipping within "1-2 business days" at a price of $399.

This is the second device I'm aware of that ships with a 3G modem and support for the Barnes and Noble store, plus support for iRex's own store, and NewspaperDirect.

ComputerWorld weighs in on eBook DRM

Interesting article this morning from ComputerWorld on the vexing issues plaguing those with DRM'ed eBooks and multiple eReaders.

They mention the philosophical (if sometimes harder to realize) advantage of Adobe's DRM solution allowing books to be read on any compatible system. They compare this to Kindle, somewhat poorly:

While that's possible with Amazon.com's Kindle, which uses its own file format and Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme, it requires more hassle. And it's unclear whether it will be possible at all with e-books purchased for the iPad from Apple Inc.'s coming iBook store, due toApple's reported plan to use its own FairPlay DRM.

I'm not really sure what they mean by "that's possible with Amazon.com's Kindle" unless they mean "since Amazon owns the Kindle and the DRM they apply to it, they could in theory modify it to be more open although nobody really expects them to do that." Kindle books don't work on other eReaders due to technological limitations in their DRM, they don't work because Amazon wants it that way.

 On its Web site, Adobe openly admits that e-books sold by Barnes & Noble should "initially" not work on other Adobe-compatible e-readers. That's because Barnes & Noble is using a new, more liberal form of ADEPT that requires users to enter in a password to read the e-book.

The article goes on to cite user complaints over this; which are valid. Adobe needs to get the new SDK in the hands of every major eReader manufacturer and provide them assistance in moving towards this format. This "available later this year" business is bad business for Adobe - it's available now, since nook owners use eReaders with the technology baked in. It's giving the solution a bad eye. They also should do a better job of differentiating ePub and PDF file formats, and ADEPT encryption, since many people see the iBook/iPad situation as another failure of ePub. ePub hasn't failed - it's a file format that works on virtually every reader not manufactured by a vendor whose name starts with an 'A' and ends with an 'N'.

Apple has just chosen, like that other vendor to use their own DRM in lieu of Adobe's. Given Apple's relationship with Adobe and desire to control content to ensure it plays back on their own players this should be neither a surprise nor a shocker. Even in music, once DRM was dropped, they do use a format while widely available, and in theory playable on any number of players - is not MP3 and not quite as ubiquitous.

They quote Paul Biba and Teleread:

"Everybody, except Amazon, is practically lying through their teeth by telling consumers that they are using the so-called 'standard' Epub format and how this is a great benefit to everybody. Hogwash!" Biba wrote earlier this week. "The whole thing is a fraud."

I'm not quite as harsh. Quite honestly, ePub is a standard, open format. The DRM layers above it are not quite a complete train wreck. If your device is supported by Adobe Digital Editions (3 of the 4 in my house currently are, the fourth being the non-ePub compatible Kindle 2), you can load books from Sony, Kobo, and other fine eBooksellers, Barnes and Noble not YET included. I have no reason to believe Sony won't update their Reader line to support the newer version once available - they made a big investment in switching to ADE and a big push to update their existing hardware to support the format.

The article cites Nick Bogarty, Adobe's business development manager:

"There are contractual obligations for interoperability between stores and devices -- that's the whole benefit of our platform."

This means it will happen, if vendors wish to continue using ADEPT/ADE/ACS versions they will have to continue to be interoperable. That's not the same as saying running a later version should leave you 100% compatible with older versions.

25% off at Fictionwise

Since it's a coupon unique to TiPB, it seems only fair to make you head over there to get the code, but it's worth 25%  off all eBook purchases through February 28th.

Digital "mygazines" for your mobile device

Mygazines has launched a web-based (no app, no flash - just Javascript required) magazine viewing portal. A fairly nice looking web app, with smooth scrolling, a useful "text only" article view, and easy access to emailing articles / posting them to social bookmark sites.

Gizmodo on my kid's next toy

My three year old loves technology (go figure). She's known for a year how to use her mother's iPhone (nobody gets their paws on mine) - teaching herself page swipes and multitouch pinch and zoom gestures. She always wants to play on the computer with me, and will even occasionally open Facebook on the iPhone and scream "Facebooook!" while pretending to send emails.

So how are the various eReaders in my house for children's books? Who knows! Did I mention she's three? That said, she'll absolutely have the VTech Flip once it ships this fall. Head on over to Gizmodo for more information about the soon-to-ship $60 device.

Get $2.50 off your next Kobo purchase.

Use coupon code GET250 to receive $2.50 off your next eBook at Kobo (no expiration date known). This is a great discount!

Quick Review: nook Hutton Envelope in Brown

Confession: I'm a case addict. I was in New York City a couple of weeks ago, and one of their larger Barnes and Noble stores had a large supply of nook accessories in stock (still no nooks, although that's probably changed by now). They had the Hutton Envelope available, which I'd ogled many times on their website, but resisted at $39.99.

I'd shown my father the same case many a time, and he'd resisted as well (he's a fellow gadget geek, and we have a bad habit of buying things in twos). 

In person - the credit card came out. This case is not as functional as some of the wonderful products from M-Edge, but then - it doesn't need to be. It's absolutely gorgeous. If you don't need to carry a charger, or accessories and are not fretting about charging a device while it's still protected by a case, then you might look very closely at the Hutton series, available in many colors.

The outside of mine is a deep brown leather with prominent white stitching (as pictured above). The inside is a soft, velvety green material, and the flap closes with a very strong magnetic clasp.

The leather itself is a very stiff, firm, well protecting leather and will definitely protect a nook from bumps or scratches.  So far, I'm very pleased with the $40 style statement I made.

Nate's nook review

Nate of MobileRead fame has reviewed the nook on his personal blog and finds it.. ok but a tad ho-hum. He does cite the exciting possibilities with the Android operating system, but worries it will fall to the hacker community to exploit.

Hanlin V5 Reviewed

Leon Wing reviews the Hanlin V5 for The Star Online, the Hanlin is the first officially distributed eReader in Malaysia (and is available in other markets as well).

Pricing disparity?

Spotted at TeleRead -

Fictionwise sent me a promo for ‘The Lovely Bones’ and some other movie books. I had already read ‘The Lovely Bones’ and thought I might enjoy a re-read. But it’s hard to swallow a $14.44 price ($16.99 if you aren’t a club member) when the mass-market paperback retails on Amazon for $7.99! The non-club price is MORE THAN double! And it’s locked down by DRM of course, making it less usable than its print counterpart. I think what has gotten lost in the whole ‘authors vs readers’ dialogue coming out of the whole Macmillan mess is that BOTH sides have to play fair. If we could really trust them to actually lower the price over time to match the comparable print counterpart, maybe we wouldn’t feel so strongly about paying that premium when the book is hot.

While a good point, I've never found Fictionwise to be particularly price competitive. In fact, the title is $4.99 at Amazon, B&N and Kobo for eReaders.

E-Reader-info interviews Bookeen's CEO Michael Dahan

Great interview with a guy who clearly understands the market well. Some interesting tidbits:

On the difference between 5" and 6" eReaders:

In fact most of the time, customers don’t see the difference between the 6" and 5". The current market on 6’’ device is clearly aiming heavy readers. The customer typology is quite well defined. It’s a 45 years old person with Reading as his first leisure activity. It makes sense if you think about it.

Confirming the often cited restriction on mixing MobiPocket DRM with Adobe Digital Editions support as a restriction of licensing by Amazon:

Mobipocket belongs to Amazon. Amazon forbids us legally to have two DRMs on the same device. Technically we can do it, legally we can not.

On the forthcoming Orizon's use of Sipix versus Vizplex:

• AUO (Sipix) touchscreen is light year away from Sony resistive technology. You keep the optical quality of ePaper and you get an incredibly reactive touchscreen. For us touchscreen on such a large display is a must-have.
  
• AUO has great developments and move incredibly fast.
  
• We did not want to depend only on one screen manufacturer (PVI).
  

My favorite quote relates to large size eReaders, newspapers and magazines:

Currently it is very difficult to manufacture a device and reach a SRP below 400. You are thus in direct competition with the iPad. We try to see how to make low price large screen devices.

I think Magazines on ePaper without colors is nonsense. Newspaper makes more sense but are you ready in to pull out from your backpack your A4 sized reader to read the newspaper.

Not sure, it will make it in the everyday life.

View the whole article, it's well worth it.

OpenPeak's OpenTablet 7" tablet revealed

Based on an Intel Atom chipset, the device apparently will be "affordable" (OpenPeak's claim), come with a 7" LED backlit LCD screen, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth connectivity, an HDMI port for video playback, integrated speakers and what appears to be a clone of the iPhone icon system - no word on the actual operating system, but I'd guess something based on Android.

No doubt an eReader will eventually be available, and at 7" it's an interesting alternative to the iPad - should it ship at a reasonable cost.

Credit Suisse Analyst predicts Amazon share of eReader market to plummit

The Wall Street Journal reports on an analyst from Credit Suisse who states:

Apple’s iPad and the expected entry of others such as Google into the e-book space will cut Amazon’s share of e-book sales from 90% to 35% over the next five years, writes Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang in a research report Tuesday:

I'm not keen on commenting on five year predictions. I'll just be happy to still be blogging about eReaders in five years - who knows what the market will look like by then!

$1 a day for the New York Times on an iPad?

Gawker has a downright scary article that there's some serious debate on charging $20 to $30 a month (almost a buck a day at the high end) for access to the application they are developing for the iPad.

Look, I get it. You want to protect your ... wow, it's a buck fifty now? I have been away from NYC for a long time. Ok, I don't get it. Here's the deal:

1) Readership down.

2) Ad revenue down.

3) Raise newsstand price.

4) Readership down.

5) Ad revenue down.

6) Charge $300 dollars for mobile access.


For the benefit of those who don't remember / don't live in New York City, there was a time that the New York Post was struggling heavily. I recall when Rupert Murdoch reacquired the paper in the early 90's he increased circulation and saved the paper by lowering the price to a quarter.

So, I get it - they don't want to give it away for free anymore online. The Wall Street Journal proved you can charge for access. But let's think about what might ever, possibly work for a moment. Eyes closed? Ok, raise your hands if your mind latched onto... say a buck a day or so to read a newspaper-formatted web app.

The New York Times digital division thinks $10 a month is more reasonable - and they are certainly right - it's more reasonable. Maybe not perfectly reasonable, but it's ballpark. They also (correctly) think the pricing of Kindle, nook and Sony editions is overpriced. I used to work for that division as a consultant; I always liked those guys.

Have they looked into the Journal? It's $2 a week or $104 a year for a subscription. That compares to $119.08 for the print edition. Want both? $139.88, or about $35 more than a regular online subscription.

Don't just toss a number out there folks, make me consider subscribing!

Save up to $3 at Kobo through Thursday

Through Thursday, save up to $3 at Kobo. Save $1 per book for up to three titles by using coupon code 3daysale during your checkout.

B&N to reorganize web forums

Beth @ nookverse notes:

Tomorrow, starting at 3:00 PM Eastern, Barnes and Noble will be reorganizing the eBooks Help board into four distinct entities–nook General, nook Q&A and Support, eReader Software, and eBook Discussion. Hopefully, this will make the official boards easier to read.

Beth, I hope so to. They certainly can't make the forums any HARDER to navigate.

Last Douglas Preston post for the day, I promise...

Apparently the American consumer's sense of entitlement extends towards negative reviews. Reviewers at Barnes and Noble are a tad kinder, but not without complaint.

Kyobo and Samsung partnering for the SNE-60K eReader

Kyobo, South Korea's largest book retailer has partnered with Samsung for a new eReader, the SNE-60K, installing a booth in it's 16 chains where prospective customers can demo a device, reports The Korea Herald.

The SNE-60K replaces last July's SNE-50K effort, which sold less than 3,000 units. The new device will sell for 429,000 won, or approximately US $372.80. The article cites the lack of wireless as a major failing for the device's predecessor. The major competitor to the SNE-60K in Korea is the iRiver Story, which sells for 359,000 won, or approximately US $311.97 - but is lacking wireless.

Samsung's eReader connects to about 65,000 eBooks, although the article mentions many current bestsellers remaining unavailable.

Kyobo aims to sell 15,000 units - and Samsung hopes to sell 50,000 overall readers. Each SNE-60K comes with two complimentary 6 month newspaper subscriptions and a pre-installed wireless Kyobo store applet.

T-Mobile HD2 to have Barnes and Noble eReader app now?

After spotting a video at PocketNow that seemed to indicate a possible Borders deal with T-Mobile/HTC for the HD2 smart phone, I spoke to a media contact at Kobo who confirmed there was no present deal between HTC/T-Mobile and Borders and/or Kobo.

Today, CNet is stating that the upcoming release will come with Barnes and Noble's eReading application.

Energy Sistem to release an eReader in about a year for too much money!

Yawn! I mean, wow, new product announced. This time it's a firm called Energy Sistem, releasing the Energy Book 2061 eReader much, much later this year (December 3rd to be exact).

It's YA6T (Yet Another 6" Tablet), with a 16 shade Vizplex screen at 800x600 pixels, a 2gb SD card included, MP3 player, ePub/PDF capable, etc, etc. 257,76 € is the stated retail price or about $351 dollars.

It's half a pound in weight, has no WiFi or 3G, and if you are interested, there's more information available at their site.

Qualcomm Mirasol based device set to ship this fall

SlashGear brings more video and information of Qualcomm's Mirasol display technology. Apparently the first shipping product is due from an unnamed manufacturer this fall, it will not do 30 frames per second video, but has a very nice looking (if slightly low contrast, although it's always hard to judge from web video) 5.7" 1024x768 Mirasol panel.

Color me interested!

How ELSE might Apple's iPad change the publishing industry

As most of us already knew, Steve Jobs paid personal visits to meet with executives at The New York Times, Time Inc., and Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. The Financial Times speculates on some of the other changes that may occur as the iPad ushers in a potential new wave of digital newspaper and magazine sales.

Some fear customer backlash if they try to charge for content previously free. One would suggest that Amazon's long time sales of newspapers and magazines, as well as Sony and B&N recent foray into this market mean there is a market. As a web enabled, 3G capable device, it's not like the iPad will stop you from going to www.nytimes.com in lieu of a subscription.

Others worry about losing valuable subscription data that they relish. The article cites Amazon, who initially provided limited customer information about subscribers to periodicals to the publishers - which they abruptly cut off the sharing of a few months into the sales of Kindle.

Jagger, meet Hensen. Hensen, meet Jagger.

Stinger2133 writes on Amazon:

I discovered an author a few months ago, R.J. Jagger. He had 12 books on Kindle, all $4.76. I purchased all 12. Later, I discovered another author, Jim Michael Hensen. He also had 12 books out, also at $4.76, and I bought all those (I know how quickly kindle prices can rise so I wanted to snag them all at this price).

Recently I discovered that these authors are the same guy. What he did was take 12 books by one of him and change the characters names, the title, art work, synopsis and obviously the authors name. Now I have 2 sets of 12 books that are identical. I emailed the author and he confirmed that this is the case.

While his reading habits are clearly different then mine, it sure is a fascinating story. Give a little credit to Amazon customer service, they refunded 12 of the 24 books making him square. No word on whether they refunded the Jagger or the Hensen books.

Readers to authors: Shhhhh!

After all the furor over pricing recently, culminating in a New York Times article with plenty of angry book reader feedback, Douglas Preston had some somewhat unkind words for readers of America. On Amazon, he's now been further attacked. It occurs to me that a quiet author might be a happy author. I pretty much assumed that when publishers raised prices, or delayed releases - it was pretty much done to suit their own business needs and desires, and with little feedback from most authors.

It'd be nice if authors would realize that we're not greedy, nor do we necessarily have a Wal-Mart mentality as he so ineloquently characterized people like you and me. There's really just one reason that we were made to see many books on Kindle without Text-to-Speech and upset that prices are going to be $12 to $15 for new releases instead of $9.99... because that's what we were given.

I didn't ask for $9.99 eBooks released same day as hardcover and with text-to-speech which is kind of (but not really) a substitute for audio books. But yeah, I kind of got used to it.

In this post I somewhat defended Preston against another blogger's vitriol. As I've let a few days pass, I'm a bit angrier at his comments (still not as angry as Nico mind you). Preston should be attacking his publisher, or keeping his mouth shut. Or perhaps attacking Amazon. The $9.99 precedent was set. Amazon chose to sell books, often at a loss to establish a market. B&N, Kobo and others followed them in the interest of being competitive and establishing their own markets. Publishers allowed this to happen for two years until Steve Jobs came down from the mountain with his own tablet speaking of the promised land (profitability).

I still feel like it's a healthy thing for the marketplace. $10 to $15 eBooks competing against $15 to $20 hardcovers, released same day, with all parties making out (us: slight discount, same day access, publishers: still profitable, although less so than before, sellers: profitable on all titles, authors: a stable, profitable marketplace won't hurt their chances to negotiate future deals.) But now I just don't like Preston either.

Add dual USB ports to your 110 volt electrical outlets

Exhibiting at this year's MacWorld was a company called Fastmac, who is awaiting UL approval to begin selling the product featured on the left. This product is a drop in replacement for any 110v standard electrical outlet in your (American) home. It leaves you with two grounded three-prong outlets, but also adds in two USB ports - very convenient for low profile charging of things like eReaders, iPods, iPhones and the like.

I, for one, intend to get a couple.

Orizon set to launch

E-Reader-Info brings word that the Orizon eReader is set to launch this April in both the United States and United Kingdom. Weighing just under 5.3oz, the device will sell for $250. Notable specs include a 6" Sipix display with a multitouch layer, 1gb of internal memory, a Micro-SD slot, WiFi, Bluetooth, Accelerometer and a mini-USB jack for connectivity. Support will include ePub and PDF. Based on the screenshot, it would seem clear that Adobe Digital Editions support will be baked in.

Kobo profile in Canadian Business

(Hat tip: TeleRead) - Canadian Business has a fascinating profile on Indigo, which recently spun off Kobo into a standalone entity (they retained majority share control).

Readability + Calibre = Blog Bliss

Writing for The New York Times back in November David Pogue wrote up a small story on Readability. Readability (home page) strips out all of the non-essential parts of a blog or newspaper story allowing for quick and easy reading. Here's an example of the results using Pogue's own article:

The New York Times, HTML

Here's the same page, viewed using the Readability bookmarklet:

The New York Times, Readability

Here's a great way to take it one step further. If you're using Calibre to sync content to your eReader, you already know it has the ability to work with files, especially PDF and either sync them to your eReader, or first convert them to a compatible format.

The easiest way to do this, is to save your web page as a PDF. On a Mac, this is fairly simple, open the Print dialog and select the PDF button, then Save as PDF.

Then you can merely add that file into your Calibre library and synchronize it across.

If you are on a Windows platform, you'll need an extra step first... head over to CutePDF and download the free CutePDF Writer. You'll also need PS2PDF, another free download - you'll find a link to the latest compatible version from CutePDF's own site.

Palm Pre/Pixi eBook reading options

Own a Palm Pre or Pixi Smartphone? There are a a couple of options available for reading (DRM included) eBooks on your device:

First up is the Shortcovers app, from Kobo. Kobo used to be known as Shortcovers, and this beta app still reflects that - they'll be updating the application a bit later this year. Shortcovers supports any book from Kobo, which represents hundreds of thousands of commercially available books. Offline access to your content is available.

pReader is a homebrew app, which means it's not available through the regular Palm app store. That said, it's free, and comes with support for MobiPocket DRM and eReader DRM books.

Slashdot users chime in on their pick for best eReader

A recent article over in the "Ask Slashdot" section of their site asks It's 2010; What's the Best E-Reader?

If you are particularly technology minded or anti-DRM, there should be some excellent suggestions in there as that pretty much sums up the Slashdot crowd.

Octovo Kindle Light reviewed

KindleBoards has an advance version of the forthcoming Octovo Kindle Light and posted a very comprehensive review.

PocketBook 360 Review

UPDATE, 2/16/2010: Based on reader feedback, I've correct one spelling issue and removed my objection on behalf of left handed users - I played with the screen rotation for quite some time and then promptly forgot about it when writing about physical button layouts.

The kind folks at PocketBook were gracious enough to send me a PocketBook 360 for review purposes. Special thanks to Rita at Read an E-Book Week for coordinating the delivery and review, this review will also be available at her fine site which I highly recommend you visit.

[ top | overview | specifications | unboxed | compared to | speed | drm support | page display | clarity | data input | menu input | pros/cons | summary ]
OVERVIEW

The PocketBook 360 sells for $239.99 at their website. It's available for $20 more with a wall charger and micro SD card. The base model does have 512mb of internal memory, enough for hundreds of books to be stored at one time.

The device came in retail packaging and was well insulated against shipping damage. Curiously, they made the almost bold claim "Probably the fastest E-Reader in the world" - I guess they were proud of the speed, but not quite ready to declare victory.

The $239.99 version, which I reviewed, comes in black or ivory. I received the black version. Both colors are a nice break from the ubiquitous white that every eReader seems to come in these days.

[ top | overview | specifications | unboxed | compared to | speed | drm support | page display | clarity | data input | menu input | pros/cons | summary ]
SPECIFICATIONS:

• Samsung S3C2440 A L-40 400MHz Processor
  
• Linux 2.6 Kernel
  
• 5" E-Ink Vizplex 600x800 166dpi B&W Screen
  
• Lithium-Polymer battery rated at 1000 mAh, 7,000 page turns per charge
  
• 64mb for Operating System, 512mb for content
  
• Micro SD/SDHC Slot for additional storage
  
• Accelerometer built in
  
• Size without cover: 4.6" x 5.5" x 0.39", Weight: 5.3oz
  
• Size with cover: 4.6" x 5.5" x 0.47", Weight: 6.1oz
  
• Image formats supported: JPG, BMP, PNG, TIFF
  
• Book formats supported: FB2, FB2.zip, TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, DJVU, DOC, EPUB, TCR
  
• DRM Supported: Adobe Digital Editions

More of the review after the jump...

Kindle 2.3.3 software update released

With extremely little fanfare and no release notes in sight it would appear that Kindle users are receiving 2.3.3 via over the air updates. Hat tip: A Kindle World.

14% discount in honor of Valentine's Day at eHarlequin

Through tomorrow night, 14% off eBook purchases at eHarlequin. I'm sure they have some nice titles - personally, it's not quite my cup of tea. Buy any two titles and get a free copy of Sheikh Boss, Hot Desert Nights, whose synopsis I'm wary to read. If you like romance novels, I suppose this is a great deal!

Shatzkin on eBook pricing

Shatzkin commenting on Cader commenting on The New York Times. (phew!) A recent piece in The Times picked talked about eBook pricing. Michael Cader analyzed some of the comments in a piece for Publisher's Lunch (most content behind a pay wall). Shatzkin expands upon it, and does a great job.

Cader: $9.99 never was the top e-book price; people pay more than that every day.

I have been told directly by a responsible person at Amazon that 4% of the titles they sell are deep-discounted to $9.99 and those represent 25% of the total sales. Of the other 75% of the sales, many (most) are less than $9.99 without necessarily deep-discounting, according to Cader, 30% are more. I have personally bought many Kindle books for more than $9.99 and some for more than $14.99.

Cader: The implicit, false promise of cheap e-books was made by the people who profit, at very nice margins, from selling the devices, not from publishers.

Shatzkin pretty much agrees. He does note that Kobo and B&N before the nook didn't find this true - but were merely trying to match prices with Amazon, who established the $9.99 point without regard to book sales being profitable. He then goes on to state:

The two companies most likely to save publishers from an Amazon stranglehold on their future general readership, Apple and Google, would also place “margin from ebook sales” very low on their list of objectives for participation in the ebook supply chain.

He's exactly right, although I would believe Google taking a loss to establish a presence - I don't see this as being so with Apple. They may not look to make a lot of money, but they won't want to lose money either. It's long been known that the goal of the iTunes Music Store was to be "about break even" to foster iPod sales.

Cader: Brand-new ebooks sold at $9.99 are generally sold at a loss by the retailer.

Shatzkin notes that Publishers are taking steps to fix this, and asks whose side we, the consumer, are on? That's a fascinating question, since the answer seems to vary amongst consumers.

Shatzkin has some fascinating insight, and apparently so did Cader whose writing Shatzkin liberally quotes. A highly recommended read.