Archive for e-Reader News
No More Google Books on the Sony PRS-T1
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When the Sony PRS-T1 was released last year, one of the big hyping factors was the ability to download millions of free books via Google Books. The Sony Wireless Reader or the Sony PRS-T1 had the ability to download books both in Canada and the USA. This is no longer the case and the button to download Google Books has been disabled.
Google recently changed Google Books and integrated them into the Google Play platform. This messed up the infrastructure on the Sony PRS-T1, and now the store points to invalid links and you no longer can download free books. The message users are receiving says: “Google Books are no longer available via Reader Store.” This problem is also affecting the iRiver Story HD, which relied on Google Books as the sole means to get new content.
So who is to blame for the inability to download free books from Google Books on the Sony PRS-T1? Basically, this is all on Sony to incorporate the changing landscape of technology with their e-readers. Although Google Books is known as Google Play Books, there are ways to get it working on the device, and Sony has not bothered to do it. Google Play Books is available on the iPad and Android, but not on the flagship Sony Reader Wireless.
DCL Survey Shows Content May Be Businesses’ Most Valuable Asset
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Data Conversion Laboratory released the findings of its most recent survey yesterday and even DCL was a little surprised by the results. This April survey was all about content and what companies perceive it to mean in terms of wealth and the marketability of companies.
“Notable is that 27% of respondents’ estimate corporate content to be worth 75% of company value,” according to the press release on the survey. “That’s quite an incredible acknowledgement of the shift in corporate value. And just as surprising, 44% said their content would make up half the value of their company! We’ve spoken about knowledge workers for years – but the shift to knowledge corporations may be even more profound.”
But what does this mean for reading consumers who are relying on digitally converted content from major businesses and small companies alike?
“Consumers are getting more and more comfortable with their mobile devices, and are used to the convenience of it all,” said Mark Gross, CEO of Data Conversion Laborartory, to GoodEReader. “As a result expectations are rising that they will have accurate and high-quality self-help support where and when they need it – on their mobile device. So it is your readers that are driving the trend for companies to scramble to publish online. Our instant, mobile device culture is driving the trend as they are using these devices to access any information they want – and not just to read a novel.”
It is very promising to hear that consumers are actually the driving force in many cases behind corporations’ decisions to go digital. It should therefore come as no surprise that of the companies surveyed, fifty percent said that they want their product service manuals to be digital, presumably to put them in the hands of their customers instantly and in an easy-to-read format. Another 77% of respondents said they wanted to convert their content to a digital format specifically for their customers to use.
While much of the consumer population might still think of Kindles or Nooks when they think of digital reading, the advent of so many practical, day-to-day niches for e-reading has meant a greater demand for electronic and a greater need for companies who serve to convert data and content.
Android ICS Update for Coby Tablets
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It’s Android 4.0 ICS time for users of the Coby tablets that shipped with an earlier version of the Google operating system. The good news was revealed in the Coby Germany website and it’s not yet known if the update is limited to only the German language tablets or all languages.
The update comes with the usual ICS goodies, which include a better recent apps menu and notification area. Another nice addition is the on-screen toolbars that move along with the tablet. Not to mention, the tablet will also now be able to run those apps that are specific to Android ICS.
The tablets that are compatible for the update include Coby MID7022, Coby MID8127, Coby MID8128, Coby MID1125, and Coby MID1126.
via netbooknews
Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight Suffering from Shipping Delays
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The Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight is currently the only pure e-ink reader on the market that allows you to read in the dark. There is so much demand that people who pre-ordered it are still waiting for the reader. New orders are estimated to take up to two weeks for them to ship out and many retail locations have no stock available.
Barnes and Noble Store locations in most of the USA have little to no stock available if you are looking for their latest e-reader. We have been in touch with over thirty retail locations in Washington State, Oregon, California, and Florida. All of the various B&N bookstores have told us that they only received 5 to 8 units per store and most were only available to people who called the store to reserve them before they officially came out.
There is a massive shortage in most of the USA for the new Barnes and Noble Simple Touch with Glowlight. Expect to see delays across the board in both the retail sphere and online. If you are lucky enough to have a location near you that has these, leave a comment below.
Indie Author Design Giveaway from AMDesignStudios
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Some of the stigma associated with self-publishing originated with the popularity of vanity presses, but with so many successful and talented indie authors making a name for themselves in the publishing industry a lot of the sneering is dissolving. Unfortunately, one issue still reinforces the negativity towards self-published books: a lack of professionalism.
With the ease of digital publishing and the wealth of sites that let authors upload and sell their works came an “anyone can do it” mentality. Many writers heard the success stories of some of today’s most well-known self-published authors and saw dollar signs, rather than paying attention to the hard work that authors must go through to produce a quality book.
“Readers make very quick assumptions about a book based on their impressions of the cover, the appeal of its synopsis, the quality of the language used and the formatting visible in the sample chapters,” explains Ann Mauren of AMDesignStudios, a company that professionally formats authors’ books. “You have to get all of these elements just right or even the most intriguing, well-written story will go largely unnoticed and unpurchased.”
“We promote AMDesign Studios as a beauty shop for books and ourselves as a pair of graphics and content stylists. Amanda L. Matthews runs the graphics studio and provides author branding and custom graphic design services, which includes a constantly evolving gallery of pre-made, customizable cover art. Ann Mauren oversees the content studio and provides ebook and paperback formatting and design, copy editing, and synopsis writing services. We use our expert technical skills, extensive professional experience, and personal insights as published authors to help clients go to market with a publication that is red carpet runway ready.”
In order for authors’ books to compete for readers’ attention in a market already packed with high-quality and engaging reads, their presentation has to be on par with those book published by major imprints. AMDesignStudios is hosting the following “You Pick Two” Prize Package give away for readers of this article.
One lucky winner will get his or her choice of ONE specialty ebook/paperback service from BOTH Amanda and Ann, the “AMs” of AMDesign Studios. The prize includes your choice of a free Author Branding Package or free Custom Ebook or Print Cover (from Amanda) AND your choice of either a free Copy Editing Package, a free Ebook or Print Formatting Package, or a free Synopsis Writing Package (from Ann).
To enter, simply leave a comment on this GoodeReader post with your twitter handle or a contact email of your choice. The winner will be selected in a random drawing at the end of May and announced in a follow-up to this post. Good luck!
For updates on special offers, publishing and marketing tips, and future contests and giveaways, subscribe to their AMDesignStudios newsletter.
eBook Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
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Verdict: 5-Stars
Insurgent, the sequel to the bestselling first title in the YA series by Veronica Roth, Divergent, pulls no punches in picking up exactly where the first book left off and diving directly into the fray on the first page. Beatrice “Tris” Prior, faction-swapping Dauntless novice and potential savior of her civilization, knows only slightly more than she did at the end of the first book when she had to kill a large number of her fellow faction members in order to save them all from the Erudites’ mind control serum. But where Divergent found Tris with an enemy that she could grasp, Insurgent is going to prove to her and to the reader that no one can be trusted.
While some have rightfully argued that series like The Hunger Games and Divergent/Insurgent are more post-apocalyptic than dystopian since both series are set in an inexplicably grim future in America following some cataclysmic event that changed our way of life, Roth’s series offers the readers something that many books of this kind don’t let us experience: the chance to use our intellects and our imaginations. While the causes of this dark future in our country will be partially revealed at the end of Insurgent, Roth doesn’t offend our sensibilities by having to spell it all out for us. We’re left wondering through two good-sized volumes what could have possibly caused our future to involve Choosing Ceremonies, aptitude tests, and the need to join one of five very different factions or face a punishment worse than death, being relegated to wander alone and hungry as a member of the factionless.
The main characters whom we cheered on in the first book are back but the romance between them that thrilled readers of Divergent is tested; killing several of your boyfriend’s peers tends to do that. Of course, if he lies to you and tells you his mother has been dead for years but then she appears leading a band of rebels, it makes you question your relationship. Throughout Insurgent, the real cliffhanger grows as Tris and Four are unable to tell each other the truth about their roles in attempting to overthrow the Erudite.
While both books are geared towards young adult readers, there are some thematic elements that lend themselves to the more mature end of the age group and will entice older fans as well. There is some mild sexuality but a good deal of fairly graphic violence, both of which Roth handles with intelligent dignity rather than sheer shock value. Both books were absolute page turners and readers may find themselves diving through in one sitting.
Both ebooks are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple.
Kobo Cloud Reader Released – Brings HTML5 to the iPad
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The Kobo Cloud Reader was officially unveiled today and allows you to use your internet browser to both buy and read books. This new browser based reader was in development for the last six months and finally allows iOS readers the ability to buy books.
The Kobo app for iOS does not let you buy books anymore and neither do any of the other large ebook companies. Amazon released their own Kindle Cloud Reader around four months ago and Kobo finally released theirs. You can access your current library of books and make new purchases on Apple Safari and Google Chrome. Read comfortably on your PC at home and pick up where you left off at your work on the iPad. Your last read page is maintained across all of the different platforms that Kobo has.
The Kobo Cloud Reader allows you a fair bit of customization in your ebook experience. You can increase the font size between nine different options and everything refreshes in real time. You have 4 major fonts to select from if the publisher’s default is not to your liking. You can change the page justifications and backgrounds. I really like e-reading apps that allow you flexibility in changing the color of your book’s background. Sometimes when you are reading late at night that pure white background is hard on the eyes and different colors for nighttime reading is a blessing.
Any past purchases you made from Kobo are attached to the Cloud Reader and you can get free samples to check out a new book. The samples right now are relegated to the first page of the first chapter, so you won’t get a clear idea of what the book is about. When you decide to buy a book there is an area to input COUPON codes! Kobo is notorious for offering massively discounted codes that result in most books being available for less then a few dollars.
Check out the new Kobo Cloud Reader today at http://read.kobobooks.com
WEXLER Flex One eReader Sporting New LG ePaper
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LG has been working on next generation ePaper technology since 2010, and only now has the technology developed enough to be implemented in a new breed of e-readers. The first ebook reader to hit the market using this new flexible screen display is the Wexler Flex One.
The new e-Paper by LG features a inch XGA display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and relies on e-ink to render monochrome display of texts and images. However, the biggest USP of the EPD is its ultra thin construction. This has been achieved with the use of plastic that is as thin as a display guard used on cellphones. This has resulted in the EPD being just 0.7mm, just about a third from similar EPD that are made of glass. The use of plastic has also made the LG produced EPD weigh just 14 gms. This in turn has added to the durability of the display, something brought forth in repeated drop tests performed by LG. The e-papers were dropped from a height of about 1.5 meters, and the displays not only survived each time but also remained devoid of any scratches. Even hitting the displays with a small urethane hammer failed to leave a mark on the e-paper displays.
The Flex One eReader features a six inch display with a resolution of 1024×768 pixels. It has a solid 8 gigabytes of internal memory that will be able to store around 400,000 digital titles. It supports all of the most popular electronic formats used, such as TXT/RFT/PDF/DOC/CHM/HTM/HTML/EPUB/FB2/DJVU. You can use 3rd party software like Calibre to manage your growing collection of books via the micro-USB 2.0 port.
This device unfortunately does not feature a touchscreen, but you do have control via the D-Pad and manual page turn keys. This harkens back to the days when most devices used this sort of interface.
The ePaper by LG produces amazing page turn speeds. You also have a fair amount of control over your reading experience. You can change fonts, margins, line spaces, and orientation. Battery life is a respectable two weeks of reading.
This new LG ePaper technology seems to be very solid and produces the kind of resolution found in the iRiver Story HD. Other new devices will be hitting the market soon employing the same tech found in the Flex One. Onyx is currently developing a reader that should should be released at the end of May. Stay tuned for our hands-on review of this new e-reader and see what all the hype is about.
The New York Times Proves Newspapers Aren’t Dead
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Even before the advent of digital reading as it stands today, the end of newspapers has been imminent. With high printing and delivery costs and a desire from readers to receive their news content in a more timely manner, newspapers around the country have been shutting their doors one by one.
“In the last few years we’ve been inundated by the end: the end of the music industry, the end of the newspaper industry,” explained Mark Gross, CEO of Data Conversion Laboratory, in an interview with GoodEReader. “And newspapers have been dying in the last few years. But in the last two years people have been a lot more positive about it. Now we’re focusing on how we can actually make a business out of electronic data and the idea of monetizing it is actually taking hold.”
“The New York Times released their quarterly financials, and they actually made money. It’s sort of a man-bites-dog story these days. They started selling online subscriptions and suddenly people have been buying it.”
The Times circulation is up by about 100,000 digital subscriptions in the past year for Monday through Friday traffic, and up by about 60,000 subscriptions for the Sunday edition for that same time period. Several other major national newspapers also reported an increase in subscriptions for both the weekday and the Sunday editions.
“Christian Science Monitor came out that their revenues are rising,” continued Gross. “They see more traffic, after stopping print publication a few years ago.”
The lure of digital newspapers is fairly obvious. The printing and delivery costs are removed and the subscriber reach is farther than with print delivery or sales. Additionally, very specialized groups of content can be tailored to the readership.
Unfortunately, one of the things that falls with digital editions is advertising revenue, something that periodicals rely on since subscriptions don’t cover 100% of the cost of authoring and production. The New York Times, for example, had a 7.2% drop in print revenue for the one year period.
Pottermore Sells Nearly $5Million in eBooks in the First Month
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Digital reading fans have clearly spoken about their love of the wizarding world. Pottermore, the site dedicated to all things Harry Potter, apparently has sold almost $5 million worth of the eBook editions of the seven-book series in its first month of sales.
The eBooks which are available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German, are available exclusively through Pottermore, although Kindle and Nook users can access the titles through a dedicated portal on the Amazon and Barnes&Noble sites. That portal takes consumers to the Pottermore site for purchase then, through an agreement with the retailers, the eBooks are sent directly to consumers’ devices without having to download them via cable.
Laura Hazard Owen of paidContent.org came up with a figure for total sales based on an average of the prices. Allowing that the first three books amount to $7.99 each, with the remaining four books in the series priced at $9.99 each, the article asserts that sales likely fall into the realm of about 525,000+ titles sold.
Her article goes on to discuss some very interesting information concerning two key issues that critics of digital reading contend. First, sales of the print editions have increased in the time that the eBooks have been available through Pottermore, most likely asserting that digital does not actually mean the death of print books. But even more interestingly, despite the eBooks’ status as DRM-free and in spite of some initial piracy, it would appear that piracy of the books has actually gone down now that the books have been made available and that they are easily transferable to readers’ devices. Supporters of DRM-free content may actually have Pottermore to thank for giving such a clear and successful example of what they have maintained for some time, that readers simply value good content and they will rise to the occasion to read.
Amazon Kindle Fire Shipments Plummet in Q1 2012
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The Amazon Kindle Fire enjoyed copiously robust sales in the last quarter of 2012 that propelled it into one of the most sought after Android devices. Around 4.8 million Fire tablets were sold in the last few months of 2011 and things have not been the same since. In the first quarter of 2012 shipments have dramatically decreased to only 728k tablets shipped.
Research firm IDC recently issued a report on the current landscape of tablet computers and some of the results are fairly interesting. There is no surprise that the Apple iPad line of tablets continue to dominate and retain the number one position.Due to the decline in Amazon sales, Samsung has usurped its position to being the second most popular tablet company in the world.
Amazon currently has shipped 17.4 million Kindle Fire tablets since it was released last year. In the few months when it first came out it controlled 16.8% of the entire tablet segment. With rivals such as Barnes and Noble and Kobo pushing hard, Amazon only has a paltry 4% of the entire market.
Amazon has recently lost a major distribution partner, in the form of Target during this last week. You will no longer be able to purchase any Amazon tablet or e-reader after May 17th. This strikes a blow towards the Seattle company and should see its sales plummet even further.
Amazon Kindle Fire Receives 6.31 Firmware Update
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The Kindle Fire has just received a new firmware update that brings it to version 6.31. This update brings additional parental controls to Kindle Fire, including the ability to password-protect purchases, disable access to specific content libraries, and block access to the Silk web browser. There is a loophole, however. It seems that the device does not prompt you for a password to factory reset the software. Many parents are saying their kids are defaulting the device to gain access to the password protected content.
As with all software updates, these new features will be delivered automatically to your Kindle Fire. If you can’t wait for the new update you can download and install it manually HERE.
The Corporate Battleground for Your Digital Book Business
Posted by: Michael Kozlowski | Comments (2)The current ebook market climate is riddled with uncertainty as corporate giants do battle with each other for your digital content. Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, and other major publishers are fighting it out online and in the courts for your business.
Amazon launched the Kindle Reader in 2007 and Sony in 2006. At first, both devices lived on the fringe with early adopters. Since that time, many new entrants have entered the fray with both e-readers and content distribution systems. The e-readers themselves became more refined over the years and many devices give you wireless internet access to purchase books directly on your reader. They also came down in price to under $10o, while getting faster processing and more robust page turns.
There are a myriad of reasons why people decide to go digital in the first place. Some people do it to save money, some to conserve shelf space, and others for a lightened travel load.
The battle for your dollars is in full swing and has coalesced into ongoing legal battles between the US Justice Department and major publishers. This stems from Amazon’s veritable monopoly on ebooks and their ability to purchase content at wholesale rates and undercut their competition. Apple, Penguin, and Macmillan are currently engaged in an ongoing legal battle to maintain their ebook fixing cartel to promote a competitive landscape.
Not only are publishers fighting it out in court for a fair shake at digital book prices, but this has also transcended into the retail sphere. Recently Target has decided against carrying Amazon e-readers and tablets in their stores. This is mainly attributed to Apple wanting a more exclusive relationship with the chain and trying to phase out their direct competition.
Apple and Amazon have been fighting for a number of years. One of the main elements that contributed to their ongoing battle was Apple’s mandate to control all in-app purchases on their iOS ecosystem. Amazon decided against paying Apple 30% for each book sold in its official app and now faces the predicament of not being able to sell books directly within their app.
Apple seems to have it out for Amazon and is influencing publishers and retailers to curb their relationships with them. This is undoubtedly affecting Amazon’s ambitions to be the number two tablet company in the world. Last year Amazon shipped 4.8 million Kindle Fires and reached a critical mass during the holiday shopping season. They basically increased their market share in the tablet market, but fell to only 728k units in the first quarter of 2012. It seems as though the Kindle Fire has reached critical mass and everyone who wanted one, now has one.
Barnes and Noble recently got a 300 million dollar investment from Microsoft to bundle their bookstore in Windows 8. This will allow users all over the world to purchase textbooks and electronic books. This was a necessary move for B&N for their international expansion, something that they have had no success in doing in the past. Microsoft also benefits from this new partnership because they also have had little success in the ebook market.
The digital book market on a whole has been seeing massive success over the last few years. The UK market has seen over 366% growth in 2011 and ebooks now account for 7% of the entire publishing industry’s revenues. Meanwhile in the USA, the Association of American Publishers said that 31% of all adult trade sales in February, up from 27 per cent in the same period a year ago, with their share of the children’s and young adult market jumping from 10% to 16% in a year. The entire USA market is estimated to do a brisk 2.5 billion dollars in sales in 2012.
e-Readers are currently the best way to read your digital books and the Yankee Group projected that the industry will sell over 8.2 billion dollars worth of devices by 2014. Most companies like Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble used to focus exclusively on the USA market, but in the last year have aggressively adopted a stance of international expansion. Kobo and Amazon both have started marketing their readers and bookstores in UK, Spain, Germany, France, Denmark, and are both branching into South America later this year. B&N is the odd man out in expansion but is making inroads in the UK market and should release a new reader and bookstore later this year.
e-Readers, tablets and digital books are enjoying unparallelled success in the last few years. More money then ever before is at stake and companies are trying to cornerstone the entire industry. Google, Kobo, Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon are all fighting hard for your money. Some are offering discounted hardware and some are offering millions of free books. If you thought things are getting complicated with the USA Justice Department and backroom dealings with major publishers and hardware companies, you haven’t seen anything yet.
- I recently did a great interview with Barney Jopson of the Financial Times on this very subject! Everyone is suggested to check out his great article that was published today! You can read it HERE.