One of the great educational concerns with the upcoming summer vacations months is the amount of knowledge that students lose during their time off from school. Teachers have often bemoaned the loss of instructional time at the beginning of each school year to trying to bring the students back up to speed after so much time away from the classroom. Scholastic, the world’s … [Read more...] about Scholastic’s Digital Apps Bridge Summer Academics
Archives for May 2012
PlayBook 4G Gets Past the FCC
We all knew that a 4G version of the PlayBook has been in the making for the last few months and soon the tablet may be seen on store shelves. The tablet has just received the necessary FCC certifications, however, as usual, details of the tablet have been kept under wraps and the only thing we know of the tablet right now is that it is both NFC and Bluetooth capable. The … [Read more...] about PlayBook 4G Gets Past the FCC
Digital Textbook Isn’t Taking Off, So Let’s Force Students to e-Read?
Tom Malek, Vice President of Learning Solutions for textbook publisher McGraw-Hill’s higher education division, wrote a thought-provoking guest post for Forbes.com, which columnist Janet Novak shared with the full-disclosure statement that she is, herself, the mother of two college students. Malek’s post is an explanation of why he believes college students should be required … [Read more...] about Digital Textbook Isn’t Taking Off, So Let’s Force Students to e-Read?
Esquire to Release “Fiction for Men” eBooks June 12th
Esquire Magazine is branching out from its monthly publication into the world of digital publishing. Open Road Media will be helping out with the digital aspect of the business and share their knowledge of distribution channels. The main premise of this new venture is to write books strictly for a male audience. You can expect the first book to be released on June 12th and new … [Read more...] about Esquire to Release “Fiction for Men” eBooks June 12th
Amazon Releases New Update to App Store – Lets You Try Apps Before You Buy Them
Amazon has just released a new version of its Android APP store that lets you try an app before you commit to the purchase. This feature is in beta and only works on select phones and tablets. This is a great new enhancement because you don't have to waste your money on a particular app, only to find out it does not suit your needs. Amazon intends on refining this cloud based … [Read more...] about Amazon Releases New Update to App Store – Lets You Try Apps Before You Buy Them
Some Hope for Library Digital Lending
One of the most frustrating aspects of digital publishing is the current sad state of affairs in ebook lending. At a time when libraries are already struggling to survive within the confines of dwindling budgets and patron apathy, the Big Six publishers haven’t been very supportive of library lending, at least in their actions if not their sentiments. All this time, Random … [Read more...] about Some Hope for Library Digital Lending
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. This company published seminal authors such as Mark Twain to J.R.R. Tolkien and is currently over three billion dollars in debt. Boston based HMH in documents filed today listed $2.68 billion in assets and $3.53 billion in debt. Under the proposed recovery plan, Houghton's … [Read more...] about Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Overdrive introduces new International Language Package
Overdrive is the leading company that facilitates the digital eBook lending process from your public libraries. The company today announced their new Foreign Language Packages that will allow your library to have options to get eBooks in different languages. The new Language Package, containing Overdrives top titles in Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. The new collection takes … [Read more...] about Overdrive introduces new International Language Package
CourseSmart launches new eCommerce Platform in the UK and Europe
Coursesmart recently debuted in the UK last month and has been steadily gaining traction for their partners September back to school semester. There is lots of excitement for students to save up to 60% on digital textbooks and have an alternative to the bulky ones they have known all their lives. CourseSmart announced today their new eCommerce platform in the UK and … [Read more...] about CourseSmart launches new eCommerce Platform in the UK and Europe
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity Reaches FCC
The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity can be considered the Taiwanese company's answer to the ongoing pixel war unleashed by the iPad 3. The tablet, an improvement over the Transformer Prime, has made it past the FCC strictures. The device is all set to storm into the markets soon, not too long after the tablet first made its public appearance at the CES event in … [Read more...] about Asus Transformer Pad Infinity Reaches FCC