.png)
Archive for e-reader
Overdrive Updates Their iOS and Android Apps
Posted by: | Comments
The Overdrive Media Console has just received a major update to its line of iOS and Android apps. If you love getting ebooks from your local library, this is an app you would want to install on your tablet or smartphone.
The Android version of the updated app features dynamic home-screen widgets that let users play audiobooks right from the home screen or resume reading ebooks with a single tap. It finally gives you the ability to read books in landscape mode with multiple columns of text, offers bold font choices, and debuts an in-book image viewer. You can download it from our Good e-Reader Android APP Store or get the Playbook version.
The iOS version of the app incorporates several new e-reader features that give the user more control over text justification, line spacing, page margins, and font selection. Optimized graphics support the iPad Retina display. You can find OMC 2.4.2 for iOS in Apple’s App Store.
Waterstones and Amazon Team Up for UK Expansion
Posted by: | Comments
Waterstones has just inked a deal with Amazon today! The UK bookseller intends on selling the Kindle branded e-readers in their retail shops and offer ebooks online via their website.
The digital revolution has not passed Waterstones by, and the company intends on transforming their retail experience. It wants to dramatically refurbishing the retail space in the coming months. Not only will the stores get a decor makeover, but also will be offering free Wi-Fi internet access, digital zones, and coffee shops.
The Waterstones deal with Amazon will allow the full line of Kindle e-Readers to be available in the retail stores. You will be able to get the Kindle 4th generation and the new Amazon Kindle Touch. The UK retailer will also incorporate a large selection of ebooks from Amazon on their very own website for customers to purchase.
This deal today comes as a bit of a surprise because Waterstones and Barnes and Noble were in negotiations on bringing in the Nook line of e-readers to the UK. Ever since the investment deal with Microsoft occurred, the largest bookstore chain in the USA has been rather quiet on plans for international expansion and instead will rely on MS to sell their books worldwide.
What comes as the biggest surprise is how Waterstones Managing Director James Daunt made some Anti-Amazon comments, “They never struck me as being a sort of business in the consumer’s interest. They’re a ruthless, money-making devil,” he said last summer. He then further lamented to the Telegraph last October, in which he described Amazon as “dispiriting” and “utterly utterly ruthless”. You can tell that Mr. Daunt does not really think much about Amazon… what changed? Today he announced, “At Waterstones, we are committed to improving our bookshops quite radically to offer the best possible book buying experience. It is a truly exciting prospect to harness also the respective strengths of Waterstones and Amazon to provide a dramatically better digital reading experience for our customers.”
Kobo Touch on Sale for $89.99
Posted by: | Comments
The Kobo Touch e-Reader is the latest generation device that has a full touchscreen display, and it is one of the better ones on the market. It currently supports many foreign languages, such as German, French, English, and many more. Shop e-Readers is now selling the Kobo Touch at a rock bottom rate of $89.99, which is $10 less than what you would pay at Chapters/Indigo.
You can purchase this device and have it shipped to any country in the world at this price! Click HERE for more information on it and if you are feeling flush, make a purchase!
Aluratek Partners with Getjar for CinePad line of Tablets
Posted by: | Comments
A few days ago we announced that Aluratek was going to be releasing two new tablets that gives you Android 4.0 and some decent specs. Today the company announced its content distribution platform to get new apps on your device. It seems Getjar will be the platform of choice and will be bundled all on tablets that are shipping now.
iRiver Story HD given to Science Fair Winner
Posted by: | Comments
Every month we giveaway for a free e-reader and often they are used directly by the winner. A few months ago we awarded an iRiver Story HD Reader and it was given away to the winner of the Shidler Elementary in Oklahoma City Science Fair. Ryno Bones one of the teachers at the school filed this report.
“Some very interesting projects happened at the science fair this year. Our top winner experimented with layering different types of liquids. Second and third place prizes included gift certificates to the school book fair and we had four other students recieve gift certificates in a drawing.
Some of the coolest projects included a lava lamp made from oil, water, and alka-seltzer, dissolving candies in various substances, and the favorite of all the teachers, cakes cooked using eggs vs. egg substitute. In many instances the cleanup took longer than the demonstration, but everyone had a fantastic time.
Our school is an urban Title I school with 99% of students on Free and Reduced lunch program. We host a parent outreach reading night once a month, and this has been our highest turnout EVER! We are proud of all our fourth and fifth grade students and we had almost all of them in attendance. We hope this will be the first of many such events.”
Plastic Logic Quits the e-Reader Business
Posted by: | Comments
Cambridge UK based Plastic Logic has just confirmed it is getting out of the e-reader business. It intends on immediately closing down the USA development offices and continue to operate out of their Cambridge headquarters. The company has shifted its business model away from marketing e-readers that use their flexible display technology and instead will license it to other companies.
Plastic Logic CEO Indro Mukerjee says: “Plastic Logic has always been at its core a dynamic technology company. Having recently achieved significant milestones, including being the first in the world to fully industrialize the mass-production of flexible plastic displays, we are now well positioned to address a broader set of applications and markets throughout the world.”
The UK based company found it hard to compete in North America and scrapped plans to launch its eagerly anticipated QUE e-reader a few years ago. It recently launched the PL 100 e-reader last year to make a play for lucrative government contracts in the Russian educational system. The Plastic Logic 100 used a new technology that is neither LCD nor eInk, but instead is patented PlasticPaper. Because the base is not glass, the Plastic Logic 100 display is large, thin, lightweight, and uniquely shatterproof and rugged, which is especially important given constant use by students. The resolution is 1280×960 and has 150 PPI! It has a capacitive IR touchscreen interface that makes interacting with it easier than most touchscreen e-ink devices.
Plastic Logic plans on licensing various facets of their technology to vendors who want to use it in their products. Plastic Logic’s pride and joy is the flexible screen technology called “PlasticPaper.” There are no specific announcements in terms of who is signing on to license the technology, but you would figure some companies are lined up.
Is there a market for this type of screen technology? e-Ink Holdings currently has a dominant stranglehold on the market. Other companies are finding it very hard to compete in the e-paper segment. Mirasol only recently released its new screen displays, but only Eastern companies have signed on and the displays remain irrelevant in North America. Pixel QI also has superb e-paper that mimics e-ink but has higher resolution, and only a spartan amount of companies have ever signed on. Other companies completely go under without ever releasing a single product. Only yesterday Bridgestone scrapped its QR-LDD technology because it could not release products by itself and found no investment to release commercially viable products. The one thing Plastic Logic has going for it is that it owns its own means of production. It is quite easy to pump out a copious amount of screens for new clients, but will anyone take the risk and sign on?
Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight Nighttime Reading Tests
Posted by: | Comments
Welcome to another Good e-Reader Exclusive Video Review! Today we check out the brand new Barnes and Noble Simple Touch Reader with Glowlight and conduct a battery of nighttime reading tests!
The Nook Glowlight is the first e-ink reader in the world to utilize LED lights built into the bezel to give you the ability to read in the dark. How does this compare to book lights which have been on the market for a number of years? We compare the Nook Glowlight with the standard LED Book Light. We also compare it to the brand new Solar Focus Kindle case with built in Book Light. Finally, we check out how it rates against the Nook Tablet and iPad 3 for reading at night!
We really put this device through all the paces comparing it to most 3rd party accessories that would give your normal e-reader the ability to read at night. Many people buy tablets because they also allow you to read without depending on having a lamp on or external lights. If you are thinking of buying an e-reader or tablet to read at night, this is the best test to help you make the decision.
Amazon to Release New Glow in the Dark Kindle in July
Posted by: | Comments
Amazon has been working on a glow in the dark device will before Barnes and Noble ever released their Glowlight e-reader earlier this month. Anonymous sources in the company told Reuters today that Amazon is working on an e-Reader with glow in the dark function that is set for a July release, and a new version of the Kindle Fire for the holiday season.
“I do see demand for a front-lit Kindle,” said Jennifer Colegrove, Vice President of Emerging Display Technologies at DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, which monitors trends in the display sector. There is a trade-off, she said: “Front-lit will consume battery power and [it will] run out… quicker.”
Last year Amazon acquired a Seattle based company Oy Modilis that prides itself as a world leader in light-guide technology. The reason Amazon was a bit late to the game is because they tend to patent all of their technologies before a commercial release is possible. It normally takes six months to a year for patent applications to be approved and finalized, which is why their new device has taken so long to hit the market.
All signs are pointing to a July release using the same e-ink Pearl display that their previous models have used. It is also said to be six inches and feature a fully interactive touchscreen display.
How to Access the Hidden Internet Browser on Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight
Posted by: | Comments
Welcome to another Good e-Reader Exclusive Video Tutorial! Today we are going to show you how to access the hidden internet web browser found in the new Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight! The method used in this video is quite different from the previous generation Nook Simple Touch.
In order to start browsing the internet and viewing e-ink photos of cats with funny captions or whatever else you do online, you need to setup your WiFi. Once you have connected to your local network you need to access the SETTINGS menu. Select Social next and then click on Connect your Facebook, Twitter, and Google Accounts. We are mainly concerned with the 3rd option which says “Link your Google Account” and then click on Forget Password. When you select this option a small HOME button appears on the very bottom of your navigation bar. Once you click on that you are greeted by the Google Search Bar and you can now slowly browse the internet.
Barnes and Noble Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight Review
Posted by: | Comments
The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight is a new breed of e-reader that allows you to read in the dark. It maintains the same e-ink display found in previous models of the Nook Simple Touch, which makes it very easy on the eyes during long reading sessions. Unlike LCD screens, it does not burn your eyes when you are reading in the dark. Is this new form of e-reader just a gimmick or does it raise the bar?
Hardware
The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight features a six inch e-ink pearl display. The resolution of 800 x 600 is comparable with most other e-readers on the market, like the Kindle Touch and the Nook Simple Touch released last year. Underneath the hood is a 800 Mhz processor with 2 GB of internal memory. If you need more space to store your books and other media you can expand it up to 32 GB via the Micro SD Card. Most of your daily functions tend to zip along fairly fine with the processor and 256 MB of RAM.
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is a full touchscreen e-reader that is one of the most responsive devices on the market. It features an infrared display that is on the side of the bezel. This allows for pin-point accuracy in terms of interacting with the menus and keyboard.
The big draw on this new e-reader is the Glow function that allows you to read in the dark. Instead of having the light appear from underneath the screen like most tablets on the market, it emits from the same area as the IR display. There are a total of eight LED lights that are spread around the bezel that provide a fair amount of light. In some cases, because they are spread out, I found that some lines of text are darker than others. The glow feature is not always on by default, but you have to hold down the N button for around two seconds to turn on the light. In the settings menu there is an option to change the different levels of luminosity.
Honestly, the glow feature is one of the best new technological advances to hit the e-reader scene in a long time. If you wanted to read your ebook reader in the dark you would have to purchase a bulky aftermarket light or a case with a built in light. This drastically increases the cost and often becomes bulky and cumbersome.
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is noticeably thicker than a Kindle Touch, at 0.47 inches (11.9mm) to the Kindle’s 0.40 inches (10.1mm). It’s a little lighter than the Kindle or the Nook Simple Touch, weighing just shy of 7 ounces. I think its rather impressive that they managed to actually shave off a bit of weight while adding a new light display. In terms of battery life you can get over 1 month with the GlowLight functionality on, based on a half hour of daily reading time, or over 2 months with GlowLight off, based on a half hour of daily reading time. One of the cool things with this model is Barnes and Noble is actually including an AC adapter right in the box. The previous models only had a USB cable to charge your unit on your PC.
Like most other e-readers on the market, this has a dedicated Wi-Fi interact connection. You can easily connect up to your own local network and download new content from the B&N online store. You can also take your e-reader into any Barnes and Noble store location and read books. Many online stores only allow you a small sample of the book if you are downloading it online. When you are actually in a physical store location, you can read the book in its entirety as long as you stay in the store. When you leave, the book simply disappears from your library, but at least you can try before you buy. This is one of the cool aspects of running a physical retail store; they can do little things like this that make a world of difference.
I would take the Nook with Glow over the Kindle Touch any day of the week. The physical page turn buttons really give it the edge because they are slim and optimized for right or left handed people. It may not have all the extra features like “Send to Kindle” or “Instapaper,” but I find on a hardware level it is lighter and gives you a better e-reading experience than any other device currently on the market.
Software
The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight is running Google Android 2.1 as the main operating system. Every single e-reader that the company has ever produced runs this OS, which allows more speed and flexibility then the standard Linux OS that almost all other e-readers on the market use.
Barnes and Noble really makes their e-ink based devices a social reading experience. They have various programs like Nook Friends, LENDME, and social media integration. This is a total advantage, because you can borrow an ebook for up to two weeks from your friend and even browse their entire reading list to see what books they are reading. If you don’t really know anyone that uses the Nook and want to borrow books for free, you can visit various ebook lending sites like Lendingbook. You can also share select passages and quotes via Twitter and Facebook, once you connect your accounts.
Barnes and Noble provides a wide and expansive ecosystem for you to buy and read books. The store is built right into the e-reader and is organized in a very intuitive fashion. It is optimized for swipes and gestures and all of the text is large enough that you won’t often click on something you didn’t intend. The store is divided into many sections with popular categories like the New York Times Best Sellers, Editors Picks, and various genres/sub-genres. You can also download plenty of newspapers from various publishers, such as the New York Times and many local papers. Currently they have over one million books that are both paid or free.
I really like the responsiveness of the Nook Simple Touch with Glow! Navigating menus and settings are super fast and there is little wait time for menus to load. Books tend to open very fast and page turn speeds are out of this world.
e-Reading Experience
There are only a few book formats that the Nook is compatible with, such as EPUB and Adobe PDF. EPUB is really the internet standard for electronic books, and allows you tremendous flexibility in changing the fonts, line spacing, and margins. When you buy the Nook you are not just limited to buying books from Barnes and Noble, but you have the freedom to buy from wherever you want. When you purchase a book from another store, you simply need to download Adobe Digital Editions to transfer it over to your device. The only store you cannot do business with is Amazon, because they use their own proprietary format.
More libraries are starting to use the Overdrive system to facilitate the lending of digital books. This allows you to use your Nook to borrow books from your public library. The only thing you need is a library card and a 4 digit pin number. Check with your local library branch to make sure you can borrow books from them.
If you are the type of person that downloads a ton of books from the internet or dives into the shady underworld to get your content, this e-reader is for you. You can download any book in EPUB format and then use a 3rd party program like Calibre to manage your library. I really like Calibre because it allows you greater control to edit your books. When you download books online, often the title of the book or author’s name is misspelled or the file has the book title, authors name, and series all in the title. With Calibre you can change all of this information and even change the cover art if you want. If you don’t want to use any third party programs, you can simply use Windows Explorer to copy the books into your books or documents folder.
The Nook line of e-readers allows you more flexibility than most other devices on the market to tailor your reading experience the way you want it. There are over eight different fonts you can choose from when you are reading a book. The default options are Caecillia, Malabar, Amasis, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Trebuchet, and a few others. You also have seven different options to physically change the size of the font. This is very useful to optimize the size of the font based on your own personal needs. There are also plenty of options to change your line spacing, margins, or abide by the publisher’s defaults.
Nighttime Reading
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is designed to be read under any circumstance and its priority is reading at night. We ran a battery of tests to compare it against LCD tablets like the iPad 3 and Nook Tablet. We also compared it to the new SolarFocus case with built in LED light and the official Barnes and Noble Booklight.
When you have a dedicated e-reader like the Kindle Touch, or even the 1st generation Barnes and Noble Simple Touch Reader, the only way to read in the dark is with a booklight. We found from our tests that these lights only illuminate the top half of the screen and in many cases give you a LED glare on the screen. In testing the Nook Glowlight against various booklights the new Barnes and Noble e-reader simply blew them all away. If you have a normal e-reader and decide to invest in a booklight, the costs dramatically increase.
LCD based tablets like the iPad 3 and Nook tablet are designed to read in low-light conditions and have many options to change the brightness of the screen. In many cases they also have nighttime reading mode that will change the background to black and the text to white. This is supposed to prevent headaches and not burn your eyes during long reading sessions. There is obviously a fundamental difference between e-ink technology, which mimics real paper, and an LCD screen. In most of our tests the LCD screens performed fairly well at night but lacked outdoors in the sun. The Nook Simple Touch was the clear winner in terms of being a pure e-reader both indoors and outdoors.
Our Thoughts
The Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight really raises the bar on e-reading in 2012. It is the only device on the market that allows you to read comfortably in low-light conditions. Personally I do most of my reading at night when I am going to sleep. In the past, I needed the lamp to be on and be positioned in such as way that the e-reader was facing the light source so I can read without any shadows. When you have a family or are sleeping with a significant other this could cause drama with them wanting the light off. You could obviously bypass this by purchasing a book light or a case with a built in light. I was never a fan of these because it took away from the essence of an e-reader, in that they are supposed very light and portable.
One of my main concerns with this new lighting system is what happens if one of the LED lights burns out? I have yet to find any kind of replacement lights on the market and B&N has been fairly mum on the matter. It also goes without saying that Barnes and Noble does not actively sell their e-readers or tablets outside the USA. If you live in Canada, Australia, Europe, or anywhere else your best option is the premier e-reader store Shop e-Readers, that has plenty in stock.
In the end, this is a great e-reader for the price and the only one with a built in light. It really allows you to read anywhere and anytime. Unlike an LCD tablet, it will not burn your eyes and is the closest experience you will get to reading a real book. Digital content is also way cheaper than buying the physical book. Often a new release in hardcover format will cost $25 to $45, while the ebook often costs $9.99. Any book you buy from Barnes and Noble can be read on their official apps for iOS, Android, and many other operating systems.
Pros
The ability to read in the dark
Expansive ecosystem of books and newspapers
Lots of options to change your reading experience
Fairly affordable
Cons
Most B&N stores are completely out of stock
No internet browser via the Search Menu
Rating 9.5/10
OverDrive Media Console for Windows Receives Major Update
Posted by: | Comments
Overdrive has released a new version of its Media Console for Windows today! This is a great program for your Windows Tablet or PC to checkout and listen to audiobooks, music, and video. Most libraries participating in digital lending of books via Overdrive normally have audiobooks and other content, too. The new update, entitled OMC v3.2.2, allows users to return MP3 audiobooks before the end of the specified lending period. The early-return feature is sure to please your library’s audiobook enthusiasts.
For OMC v3.2.3, the system requirements have not changed. Readers can install the free app on computers running Windows XP (or newer). Users with OverDrive Media Console already installed will receive notification upon opening the application that an update is available for download.
Find the updated app at www.overdrive.com/Software/omc
Nokia Launches Reading App and eBookstore in Europe
Posted by: | Comments
Nokia is trying to capitalize on European markets that have not been inundated with e-readers. The company has announced today that they have developed an e-reading application and online bookstore. They intend to actively market it in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the UK.
The reading application will be available on their line of Lumia smartphones, such as the 900, 800, 710, 610. The reading app itself is available in the online marketplace and the books will be provided by Overdrive. Major publishers have signed onto this new project, such as Penguin, Pearson, and Hachette. Thousands of free books will be available and also plenty of paid downloads. Popular books like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, One Day, and The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes will be available.
Nokia mentioned that “While e-books are becoming a common sight in countries like the US and the UK, they are still in their infancy—or basically unavailable—in many parts of the world. And this is where the strength of Nokia Reading lies: in local language e-reading content.”
Nokia plans on rolling out new enhancements for its online bookstore in the coming weeks. You will soon be able to download audiobooks and a news stream.
Can Publishing Companies Adopt the Pottermore Model?
Posted by: Michael Kozlowski | Comments (7)The Pottermore website has done something in the digital publishing industry that no one has managed to do. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Sony, and other major websites direct customers from their websites directly to Pottermore to purchase the Harry Potter line of ebooks. The best part is the books you purchase are DRM-Free! This basically means you can freely transfer them to your other devices without having to rely on using Adobe Digital Editions. Can other publishers adopt this model and is it economically feasible to make serious money in today’s digital world?
J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter franchise topples billions of dollars in revenue from the books, movies, and licensing agreements. They have an amusement park and cups at 7-11, proving that it has permeated into most facets of our lives. Rowling was famous for being anti-ebook for the longest time and remained a staunch holdout in digitizing her content in the current Wild West of ebook distribution. For the longest time Amazon was throwing around huge amounts of money to gain the digital rights and were summarily shut down.
Instead of selling the ebook rights to a major company and letting them solely distribute it for a number of months before other companies entered the fray, she decided to do it herself. Pottermore was initially launched as a virtual world where people can play supplementary characters and run parallel adventures beside Harry Potter. A few months ago they launched their ebook section that sells the entire series of books and gives you a deal if you buy the complete set. Pottermore has made close to five million dollars in sales in its first month and shows no sign of slowing down. One of the best advantages of buying content from this website is that the books themselves are not digitally encrypted. This is a stark contrast to how most other booksellers operate and is a departure from the norm. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Sony sell all of their books in proprietary encryption formats. This prevents people from distributing the book to others on the internet or reselling the product. To counter theft, Pottermore does a digital watermark symbol on the books that have some of your private info. This means if you upload it to a file-sharing website, all roads lead to you. For the first time ever, a major franchise decided to distribute ebooks on their own and bypass the entire online bookseller scene. The funny thing is, its working and many companies are taking notice.
Earlier in the month, Macmillan removed DRM altogether from its TOR imprint of books, which was a huge positive step forward in making ebooks easily transferable to your myriad of devices. This is setting the stage for other companies to experiment with this business model and see if it’s viable. Obviously, there are piracy concerns and companies have relied on DRM for too long to just scrap it. Consumers can be complacent and resistant to change, which is why the encryption technology has not really been protested.
Can publishing companies adopt the Pottermore model of distributing their ebooks and make big booksellers direct customers to a third party website? I think the Pottermore phenomenon really caught lots of people off guard and is the exception and not the rule. A mega-franchise like Harry Potter comes along once in a generation and there was a predatory desire by the public at large to have these books in digital format. Rowling resisted so long at making the ebooks a reality that the demand for them was feverish. Before her books came out, you only had to look at popular file sharing sites to see millions of people were actively offering all of her books. Can any established franchises possibly have the clout to adopt the Pottermore model and can they make money from it?
Major publishers have hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to protect and are accountable to authors, agents, and the rail sphere. Pottermore, when it launched, had no accountability to anyone and hardly any overhead with the website in comparison to the infrastructure of major publishers. It would only take one of the big six publishers selling the ebooks through their own website to change the landscape of the industry.
Microsoft recently invested $300 million into Barnes and Noble and their online ebook collection. Redmond is betting on Windows 8 on tablets and PC’s to give customers the ability to buy tons of books through its own ecosystem. The essence of this deal was to give B&N access to international markets that have eluded the company thus far. Kobo is in the midst of a campaign of world domination with its new relationship with Rakuten. Kobo is leading the charge with expanding into tons of different markets and developing localized versions of their bookstore to accommodate people who speak different languages. There is a huge amount of growing investment into content distribution systems that these companies make the bulk of their revenue from. Amazon and all the rest could not afford to lose a big six publishing partner if the publisher delivered an ultimatum to redirect customers to its own website at the threat of pulling books from their stores. No major online company could afford to lose a big client and thousands of popular bestsellers, while the competition agrees to the publisher’s terms.
The current ebook scene is really in its infancy and will undergo a paradigm shift during the next five years. The current business model of books being locked into encryption and making their customers jump through a ton of hoops will be at an end. The average person has a computer, tablet, and smartphone and wants to easily transfer books to their devices without relying on third party programs. The elimination of DRM will continue to gain traction in the next few years with most major companies adopting alternative forms. Encrypting digital watermarks and behind-the-scenes metadata is the obvious solution to make people accountable for their online actions. Without being obtrusive, it allows people more freedom but penalizes the people who just love to pirate books.
In all honesty, I don’t think any major publishers will decide to sell books through their own website and make online booksellers redirect their customers to it. It requires too much infrastructure and a new forward way of thinking that does not have a proven track record. No “big six” publisher will be the first to pave the way and take all the risks. It would allow their competition to learn from it or overtake them in market share. The best thing we can expect is experiments with smaller imprints to test the waters and move very slowly.