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Archive for Kindle
eBook Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
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Verdict: 3 Stars
This fifth installment of Clare’s tremendously successful and well-loved series, The Mortal Instruments, has all that the first books have to offer: demon slaying, love triangles, evil super-villains bent on destroying the world, and boyfriends who have been possessed and turned into aloof clones of their former selves. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the premise of all The Mortal Instruments books.
The previous installment left off with an epic battle between the young Shadowhunters and the demon mother Lilith, who was trying to bring the evil Valentine’s son Sebastian back from the dead. She apparently succeeded only in dying but took both Sebastian and Jace with her, leaving the remaining Shadowhunters bewildered. Lost Souls picks up with the Clave’s decision that looking for Clary’s hunk boyfriend Jace is not a priority because finding Sebastian and stopping his reign of destruction is more important. It’s therefore up to the young Nephilim to find Jace, but they discover his soul has been irreversibly joined with Sebastian’s by Lilith’s pre-death ritual and that Sebastian is now controlling Jace; to up the stakes, killing one means killing the other.
How many times is Clary’s boyfriend supposed to become cold and distant only to reveal later that he was under a spell? More importantly, how many times is this supposed to happen before she dumps him? And really, Isabelle? You’re the hottest girl on the planet and a kick-butt Shadowhunter, but you’re STILL too scared to tell the geeky little vampire Simon how you feel about him? And would someone please stop letting these kids play too close to the spell books?
It seems kind of ironic that Clare’s career originally began with writing fan fiction; she was well-known for her Harry Potter fanfic and even some unfortunate resulting plagiarism accusations. But the point of fan fiction is that the characters from one literary world are so well-loved that the readers take it upon themselves to begin to write new story lines for the characters, presumably because they could not get enough from the original author’s own creations. I have to wonder if there isn’t a host of Mortal Instruments fanfic circulating under the radar in which readers have different story lines and plot twists for these characters because the author hasn’t yet filled the void for the readers.
Lost Souls did have its awesome moments and the dialogue is every bit what we’ve come to expect from a writer like Clare. It’s witty and edgy without throwing around tired, stereotypical teenager-speak. I loved the conversation in which Alec reveals his personal pain: His father actually asked him to explain what exactly had “turned him gay,” to which Simon offers, “Bitten by a gay spider?”
The writing is first-rate, but it would be great if something new would happen for once, especially since the author has left the door open for a book six that I vehemently hope is not just an even bigger helping of more of the same. The City of Lost Souls ebooks are available HERE for Kindle and HERE for Nook, as well as for other devices through various channels.
Rumor: Amazon to Build 10.1 Inch Kindle Fire Variant, Ad Supported Kindle Fire Coming
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Amazon, it seems is more keen to take on the iPad than anything else. At least, that is how industry experts are explaining the latest rumors claiming the online retail giant is more eager to proceed with the development of a 10.1 inch sibling of the Kindle Fire than an 8.9 inch sized device. The Kindle Fire was launched amid much fanfare in the middle of November. The 7 inch device has not disappointed Amazon, as the tablet went on to become the highest selling Android tablet (though its sales figures never could match up to the iPad). Kindle Fire sales have since dwindled, which means Amazon has to do something special to ensure it remains in the tablet race. A 10.1 inch sized Kindle Fire variant, along with a spruced up 7 inch version that we already know is in the making, might just be it.
Another method of increasing sales of the Kindle Fire is to introduce an ad supported Kindle Fire. This would entail lowering the price even more for a device that is believed to already have been subsidized to keep initial costs low. Amazon is already reported to have initiated talks with a number of advertising agencies to get them on-board to support a Kindle Fire that would display their ads. Sources following developments on this claim Amazon is asking for $600,000 for ads that will be displayed on the home screen of the Kindle Fire, while for a million dollars advertisers can have the welcome screen along with enhanced ad inventory. Plus the advertiser will also be included in Amazon’s public-relations push.
Amazon isn’t revealing how many devices will be allowed to carry the ads, though for advertisers, the prospect of having their wares displayed on a device that has already reached millions of users might be too tempting to ignore. Then again, Amazon hasn’t yet stated whether the move is applicable to the Kindle Fire’s already sold or for the upcoming lot of Kindle Fires. The latter seems more likely as existing users of the Kindle Fire have already paid the full amount for the tablet and a reduced price structure for an ad supported version can’t be made applicable to them. Another model Amazon can approach is to upgrade to a better speced Kindle Fire while continuing to offer the present version with ads displayed at a reduced cost.
Amazon has already tasted success with that a formula on a version of it’s Kindle e-reader and is hoping to replicate the same with the Kindle Fire. For the Kindle e-reader, the ads appear as a screen saver when you are not reading any books and don’t appear to the users when they are actually reading ebooks. What remains to be seen is how the model is emulated on the Kindle Fire, which is more of a tablet device.
via adage
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.
Worldreader Brings e-Readers to Poverty-Stricken Schools Abroad
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With the accessibility that digital reading has brought to the educational landscape, one crucial barrier to improved literacy seems to be physically bringing content to emerging readers in the developing world, and organizations like Worldreader are working to break down that barrier as well. Worldreader recently released the results of a year-long study in which the group brought 600 Kindles to public education students in Ghana.
The results showed a number of things. First, standardized test scores and literacy rates among the students improved, as teachers found themselves able to access quality textbooks and reading materials far more easily with digital reading. However, just like their counterparts in any classroom in any given country, the students were apt to be distracted by features like music and games.
As for the landscape of the international classroom itself, loss or theft was minimal at only two of the devices, but the damage to the devices was unexpectedly high. Forty percent of the units were damaged in some way during the year-long study, indicating the need for a possibly more rugged device for students in underserved areas. Regardless of the brand name, many e-readers are not built with the average elementary school students in mind and the future success of programs like Worldreader may depend on a more durable e-reader.
According to the published results, some of the more positive aspects of the study aside from the improvement in standardized test scores were greater access to books, an increased enthusiasm towards reading, more improved and numerous resources for teachers, and better familiarity with technological skills.
Kindle Touch Lands in UK a Week Early
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eBook lovers and Kindle fans in the UK are in for a pleasant surprise from Amazon—its Kindle Touch e-book reader is now available in the country a week ahead of schedule. Amazon had earlier set April 27 as the day to mark its entry into the UK with its Kindle 4G, but isn’t citing any reason why it chose to do it a week early. The online retailer has said it is overwhelmed at the consumer response it received for the latest generation of touchscreen based e-readers, which might have prompted it to come in early.
“Orders from customers worldwide for our new line of electronic ink Kindles have exceeded our expectations,” said Kindle EU’s vice president, Jorrit Van der Meulen.
“We know that UK customers are eager to get their hands on these new Kindles, which is why we’re delighted to be able to ship several days earlier than we planned.”
On offer are both the Wi-Fi and 3G version of Kindle Touch, priced at £109 and £169 respectively. The Kindle Touch meant for UK can be considered an enhanced version of the one on sale in the US and which costs $89. The UK’s Kindle Touch e-readers has a text-to-speech feature along with the ability to play back MP3 files. Further, the Kindles will enjoy a backup time of around 2 months.
Fresh orders for the Kindle Touch are being accepted at Amazon.co.uk, while the e-reader can also be picked up from retailers such as John Lewis, Dixons, Argos, Carphone Warehouse, Currys, PC World, Staples, Tesco, and others.
via computeractive
Rumor: Amazon Launching 3 New Tablets
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Amazon has already struck gold with the Kindle Fire, it being the only Android tablet that can hold a candle to the Apple iPad (though from a safe distance). The online retailer has joined in late to the tablet sphere but has made it big, leaving behind many big name competitors such as Samsung or Acer. However, while the Kindle Fire is already due for an upgrade and a next gen version is reported to be in development, what seems evident is that Amazon is readying a three pronged attack at the tablet segment in the future.
As per CENS, a Taiwanese news channel, Amazon is about to launch two varieties of 7 inch tablet, as well as a bigger 8.9 inch sized tablet device. If true, it looks like we will see a low cost model, which may be similar to the current Kindle Fire, as well as two additional models with premium features.
While details are sparse at the moment, information from the supplier’s end reveal the base 7 inch version to have a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, while the one above it packs in a slightly higher 1280 x 800 pixels. The top of the line 8.9 inch tablet model will come with a better 1920 x 1200 pixel display. While the basic 7 inch version is expected to cater to the budget segment, the latter two are likely to have better features and cost a premium.
To have more than one tablet offering also makes sense for Amazon, when it is offering the Kindle Fire at a loss. It will allow the online retailer to make up for losses with the higher speced, and subsequently higher priced, tablet offerings. That way, Amazon will not have to integrate their tablet to the Amazon store so tightly as is the case with the Kindle Fire.
Anyway, these are still speculations and there is nothing from Amazon to confirm or anything.
via techcrunch
E-Readers, PCs Facing the Heat from Tablet PCs
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Amazon had lit the Kindle Fire with the hopes of blazing into the booming tablet market. While it has been largely successful (the second largest selling tablet after the iPad and the best selling Android tablet so far), an unlikely victim of the raging Amazon Fire has been its very own stable mate, the Kindle Touch. In fact, Amazon is already reported to have scaled down on it Kindle Touch production plans in view of diminishing demands for the Kindle e-reader.
The trend though shouldn’t be too unexpected, for what you get from the Kindle Fire is a tablet device with a vibrant full color display. The Kindle Touch, with its rather drab e-ink display, seems to be running out of favor with the e-book reading section as well as Kindle loyalists, even though the Kindle Touch costs less than the Fire and also has a better battery life.
However, it’s not just the Kindle Touch that is feeling the heat from the new breed of low cost tablet devices (such as the Nook Color or the Kobo Vox). What these devices offer are most of the tablet market’s available features, if not all, and they won’t leave consumers’ pockets battered and bruised. Color e-ink displays are available, though LCD based displays that these tablet/e-readers sport still has an edge with better color reproduction qualities that color e-ink displays are not capable of right now. As such, the future may well belong to the LCD based low cost tablets and e-readers unless e-ink comes up with something more vibrant.
However, e-readers are not alone in seeing a reduction of sales compared to tablets; the traditional PC market seems to be shrinking as a fallout of the tablet effect. In raw figures, sales of PCs to tablet devices were a strong 20 to 1 in 2010. Just 2 years down the line, the gap has narrowed down to just 6 PCs sold to every tablet PC. While PC sales remain largely stagnant, the tablet market has grown by leaps and bounds. In fact, tablet could be seen marching ahead of PCs by 2013.
“Tablets are on fire, there’s no question about that,” said Brad Silverberg, former Microsoft executive, who is now a venture capitalist in Seattle.
Apple, the one company that has had the biggest gain in the tablet segment with its iPad though isn’t amused at the proceedings.
“From the first day it shipped, we thought — not just me, many of us thought at Apple — that the tablet market would become larger than the PC market, and it was just a matter of the time that it took for that to occur,” said current Apple CEO Tim Cook though his predecessor Steve Jobs too shared the same vision.
However, while tablets will continue to find favor among consumers, tablet still cannot be considered a replacement of the PC. Tablet devices may score on portability and ease of use, though it’s still focused more on content consumption than content creation. Until that changes, PCs will continue to be relevant even though they might not have the strength in numbers they once had.
eBook of the Week: Rebecca Hamilton
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This week’s GoodeReader eBook of the Week title is The Forever Girl, an adult paranormal fantasy, by Rebecca Hamilton. Solving the mystery of an ancestor’s hanging might silence the clashing whispers in Sophia’s mind, but the cult in her town and the supernaturals who secretly reside there are determined to silence her first. As Sophia unknowingly crosses the line into an elemental world full of vampire-like creatures, shape shifters, and supernatural grim reapers, she meets Charles, a man who becomes both lover and ally. It’s not until someone nearly kills Sophia that she realizes the only way to unveil the source of her family’s curse: abandon her faith or abandon her humanity. If she wants to survive, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.
“Writing a book was on my bucket list,” explains Hamilton. “I tried many times to write a book but never finished anything. I don’t know what happened, but finally something ‘clicked’ and out popped a book. It was meant to be a standalone. While writing it, it turned into a trilogy. While editing it, it turned into a series of seven novels and a few related novellas. I also wrote a few other books after that, but haven’t edited those yet. But I’d say finishing that book is when I went from just wanting to cross ‘write a book’ off my bucket list, to ‘I want to be a WRITER.’ My book, The Forever Girl, is the first in the Forever Girl series. I’ve also written a horror novel that may never see the light of day and a Literary Fiction novel that is close to my heart but may take ages to revise.”
Hamilton explained the process behind her decision to self-publish her title, along with the subsequent books in the series.
“The publishing journey was long. Before I started querying agents, they started querying me (they saw my work on an online slush pile) and I think that gave me a false confidence. I started querying too soon because of that attention. I also had three publishers query me about The Forever Girl after reading samples online as well. (Harper Collins, Penguin, and Harlequin). I was hesitant to send because I knew at that point that the manuscript still needed work. They insist I send, that that is what editors are for. Unfortunately, they didn’t have confidence that I would be able to pull the story together, though they said some very nice things about the writing itself. Two of those publishers ultimately passed. The third (Penguin) never got back to me. They, along with many of the agents I encountered, all wanted to see my next project. The problem was that I mentally just could not move forward without this project fully off my plate, which meant publishing it. Now I’m an indie publisher (started my own publishing house, too, to help other authors!) and I LOVE it. I am not sure that I would take on a US publisher at this point unless they had a really solid deal to offer me up front. My book is doing a lot better than most new releases by debut authors of mainstream publishers, so in the end I think no matter how you publish, readers will ultimately decide what they want.”
To receive your copy of The Forever Girl, email the author at theinkmuse@gmail.com and be sure to specify if you need a MOBI or ePub version of the ebook.
Ebook of the Week: Rachel Thompson
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GoodEReader’s Ebook of the Week feature is proud to feature bestselling author Rachel Thompson once again, this week with her second title, The Mancode: Exposed. Since Thompson’s first book, A Walk in the Snark, appeared as the Ebook of the Week, Thompson has remained busy with her writing, blogging, and social media consulting business, Bad Redhead Media.
“I embraced blogging and social media like a dog to a bone. Perhaps it’s my sales and marketing background (fifteen years of pharmaceutical sales — I’m now recovered, thanks) or my Communications/Journalism degrees, but I couldn’t wait to get all up in this new media stuff,” explains Thompson about why she began Bad Redhead Media.
In her writing time, Thompson writes and publishes her humor essays, most of which focus on the inherent and key differences between men and women. Both of Thompson’s titles have reached number one on the Amazon bestsellers lists for their categories. As one of the original co-founders of the Indie Book Collective, Thompson also co-authored the IBC’s book, Dollars & Sense: The Definitive Guide To Self-Publishing Success.
Part of Thompson’s success has come from an eagerness to embrace new technology that becomes available to indie authors, such as a live virtual ebook signing that she will be participating in on Tuesday, February 28th, at 3pm/6pm EST. The link to join in the signing and speak with Thompson can be found HERE.
Thompson’s video book trailer is below. To get your free copy of the bestselling title, The Mancode: Exposed, click HERE.
Latest With The RIM Blackberry Playbook: Ad-Powered Android apps to Run Afterall
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The easiest way that most thought can salvage the PlayBook tablet device out of its impending graveyard was to allow the device to run Android Apps. Their native application market just did not have enough to attract developers to it. A user would therefore have limited applications to load on the PlayBook for their various needs. RIM accepted this suggestion and went ahead to provide for Android App compatibility on the PlayBook. However, while that is a welcome change for an otherwise brilliant tablet device, the various limitations that RIM had put in place as a pre-requisite for the PlayBook to run Android Apps has led to more questions than answers.
Like the recent announcement from RIM that the PlayBook won’t run Android apps that are supported by advertisements had led many to doubt if such a move can indeed save the PlayBook from fizzling out. RIM though has stepped in to clear the air and have stated the ads can run inside of Android apps though developers have been barred from using RIM’s own BlackBerry Ad services in their bid to monetize their apps.
Another sore point for developers who wish to port their apps on to the PlayBook is that they will have to do without in-app purchases. What this means is that developers either have to make available their apps completely free or for a price, either of which isn’t just the most appealing thing for the developers to opt for.
RIM had earlier announced applications that have an advertisement attached to it will not be allowed to run on the PlayBook. Developers who have developed some application and not charging the user for their effort, and rather collecting revenue from a company whose content they link to via their app, becomes a banned item for the PlayBook. RIM would surely find this restrictive clause playing against them, but as of now Playbook OS 2.0, the new OS for the PlayBook with Android App compatibility has this restriction in place.
RIM though has stated all of this won’t have too serious an effect of the PlayBook and is rather buoyed by the strong positive response that developers has evinced in creating apps for the PlayBook. As many as 6,600 developers have registered in just 6 days prompting RIM to extent the procurement process. Of course, there is also the free PlayBook offer for developers to go for.
“While Android is important to fill out the long tail of apps, the focus is on building out native and HTML5 apps,” said Jeff Gadway, RIM’s Senior Brand & Marketing Communication.
The PlayBook had its greatest limitation in the incapability to access messenger as well as calendar without it being connected to a BlackBerry Phone in real time. The Playbook 2.0 OS is supposed to correct these errors. It may have some new interest amongst gadget users.
Meanwhile in another interesting development, native Twitter and Amazon Kindle app might soon be seen making its debut on the PlayBook.
As per the Best Buy Canada’s product page: “Plug in to BlackBerry App World™ and read, write and game like never before. With thousands of apps for every use, you’ll never run out of new and exciting options. Pick up Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, read the latest magazines, or connect online with Facebook and Twitter apps. With access to Kobo and Kindle, you can enjoy new late night reading without ever leaving your living room.”
What’s not known though is when the Twitter and Amazon Kindle apps will be seen on the PlayBook device.
via gigaom
Handwriting Support Now a Reality on the Kindle Touch
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The Kindle Touch from Amazon is one of the best e-readers that your hard earned money can buy right now which in turn is aided largely by its extremely affordable price tag of just $99. However, that’s not to undermine the core abilities of the Kindle Touch as an e-book reading device which boasts of an E Ink display and touch input along with a commendable battery life. In all, the Kindle Touch is a superb e-reading device though the Seattle based startup called Puzzazz clearly had other ideas — that the Kindle could be put to use for more entertaining stuff rather than just reading e-books.
The game developer’s claim to fame is a new technology named TouchWrite which endows the Kindle with the ability to recognize handwriting. What this means is that one can now write text or numerals by drawing with finger directly on the screen instead of having to rely on a virtual on-screen keypad to do so. Like one can play Sudoku with the finger tips on the Kindle.
Now this isn’t the first time we have come across something of this sort before as handwriting technology isn’t anything new for tablet devices though that’s very much true for an e-reader. The Kindle Touch is the first e-reader to feature the handwriting recognition technology while Sodoku Unbound Volume 3 is the first game to have been based on the technology. The e-book contains 100 Sudoku puzzles and can be procured from the Amazon store for just $2.99. However, while the game is also compatible with the Kindle 4, its only the Kindle Touch where one will be able to make good use of the handwriting recognition feature.
Puzzazz founder and CTO Roy Leban stated: “We think what we’re doing here is the future of books,” though he didn’t mention Puzzazz will license the technology for use in the next iteration of the Kindle Touch.
Interactive e-books are what the future of digital books will be like and the new handwriting recognition technology from Puzzazz has already made a start on this. It will be interesting to see how what the future has in store on this.
iPad Holds More Value Than the Kindle
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Apple and Amazon are the two biggest players in the tablet and e-book reader segment respectively, though it’s the iPad that might just have edged past the Kindle as far as the product’s age and resale worth is concerned. A recent research report suggests that the iPad has more value then Kindle products.
So what type of value do these devices hold? The Apple iPad will lose just half its initial cost a year after purchase while the Kindle loses up to 75% of its value during the same time. Similarly, the Kindle e-readers continue to lose their sheen in the re-sale market faster than the iPad. The Kindle 3 or “Keyboard” is known to be selling on Craigslist and Ebay for only $16. Compare this to the $139 that Amazon is selling the same for via its retail site. All of that translates to a 22% faster depreciation rate for the Kindle compared to the Apple iPad.
“Kindle’s frequent price drops combined with multiple models now available heavily contribute to its reduced Gazelle value,” said an executive with electronics reseller Gazelle, Anthony Scarsella. “Similar to what you see in Andriod phones (lots of model updates and frequent price drop) compared to iPhone (few models, stable pricing), the iPhone holds about 60% of its value one year after launch while even the best Androids only hold about 40%.”
Apple is in the process of launching a whole new iPad this coming month which means there will be a sharp rise in the sale of the older versions. However, there aren’t any such resale figures available as yet for the Kindle Fire tablet, seeing as it’s just 4 months old. Incidentally, the Kindle Fire happens to be the biggest competitor of the Apple iPad and it will be interesting to see how the Amazon tablet measures up to the iPad in the resale market.
via cnn
Amazon Set to Launch Kindle Touch in Japan in April
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The e-book reader market in Japan may be poised for a major shakeup now that Amazon is all set to introduce its Kindle Touch 3G e-reader there in April. Price of the Kindle e-reader would be 20,000 yen, which converts into $258. That’s quite a bit on the higher side considering the same is available in the US market for just $150. However, the price is still lower when it comes to readers with 3G capability, which usually cost more in Japan. The 3G service in Japan would be provided by domestic player NTT DoCoMo and not AT&T.
The e-reader, if it indeed were to make it to the land of the rising sun, would be the first of its kind on foreign soil. Amazon has only recently started accepting orders for the Kindle Touch from countries outside of the US, though that has been restricted to the Wi-Fi only version so far. Right now it is Sony and the other local makers that are ruling the roost so far as e-readers go in Japan. A foreign element adding to the competitive spirit in the market would have far reaching effects, and the consumers are set to benefit more than anyone else. Sony, along with other domestic players, might be forced to re-think their pricing strategy once the Kindle Touch makes it big.
