Month: July 2020

77 posts

Kobo Nia e-reader Review

The Kobo Nia is the first e-reader that the company has released in 2020. It is considered an entry level e-reader that is ideal for people who have never had one before or had an older Kobo branded device that is more than five years old.  It is great to read ebooks, borrow ebooks from Overdrive or read blog articles from Pocket. It seriously lacks the hardware power to read PDF files effectively or use the experimental web browser.

Kobo Unlimited subscription system has launched in Canada

Kobo Plus is an unlimited ebook subscription platform that has been operating in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2017. It took Kobo sometime to convince publishers and indie authors that self-published with Kobo Writing Life, that this was a viable distribution system. Today, Kobo Plus has finally expanded into Canada. Booklovers can now choose from hundreds of thousands of eBooks, including French-language titles as well as a variety of books in Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, and more, to serve those communities in Canada as well. With a risk-free 30-day trial, there’s never been a better time to discover new authors and series on a Kobo eReader or with the free Kobo reading app. The cost is $9.99 per month.

Quirklogic announces a new 13.3 inch e-note called Papyr

Quirklogic has just announced that they have developed a new 13.3 inch e-note, that is based on the Sony Digital Paper DPT-RP1 design. Inspired by its larger, 42” counterpart, Quilla, Papyr offers all of the same interactive capabilities for capturing, storing and managing your thoughts, ideas, notes and critical information, in a compact, portable size to take and use wherever you go. The paper-like surface and large 13” display make the digital writing experience feel as natural as writing on a piece of paper.

Amazon has ended support for the Kindle Paperwhite 3

Amazon has ended support for the Kindle Paperwhite 3 and the e-reader will not receive any future firmware updates. The only exception is if Amazon upgrades their Kindle Whispersync program and Kindle Store with a new version of TLS. The 7th generation Kindle Paperwhite 3 was one of Amazon’s most successful e-readers ever. It came out in 2015 and was heavily marketed for four years, before it was eventually replaced by the Kindle Paperwhite 4 in late 2018.  The last time the PP3 received a firmware update was in 2019, and it is currently running 5.12.2, while all of the other modern Kindles, are running 5.13.1. Amazon frequently suspends firmware updates on devices that are 4-5 years old, as a way to get people to always upgrade to the latest and greatest, if they want to receive new features, bug fixes and enhancements.

Unboxing the brand new Kobo Nia

The Kobo Nia is a new 6 inch e-reader that will be out on July 21st. This device brings a lot to the table and has some very compelling features. It has Overdrive integration, so you can browse your local branches collection, checkout and read the ebook, right on your Nia. Pocket is a read it later service, where you can send blog articles from your browser, directly to the Nia. It also costs $99, which is a solid price point. 

The Kobo Nia e-reader is coming out on July 21st

Kobo has just released the Nia e-reader, which is an entry level device.  It was designed to compete against the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight 3 and the Pocketbook Basic 4.  The Nia taps into a large Kobo ecosystem to purchase millions of ebooks. It also has Pocket and Overdrive, to make borrowing content from your local branch super easy.

Netgalley Launches New App and Supports Audiobooks

Netgalley is an online platform that major publishers have embraced. It allows book reviews and bloggers to get early access to upcoming digital titles, so they can read them in advance and post a comprehensive review, close to the publication date.  The company has just added support for audiobooks, but only for people living in the United States and United Kingdom. Netgalley has also just released their first app for Android and iOS. It is called NetGalley Shelf, and will provide easy access to request audiobooks and ebooks from the service, get approved and then start reading or listening.

Fujitsu Quaderno A4 Hands on Review

The Fujitsu Quaderno A4 is the perfect e-note to take notes, freehand draw and view/edit PDF files. The screen is 13.3 inches, which is about the same size as an 8.5/11 piece of paper. This product was designed to replace paper and provide over a month of usage. The screen is easy on the eyes and excels in direct sunlight.

Comics and Graphic Novels made $1.21 billion in 2019

The total sales of graphic novels and comic books generated $1.21 billion in 2019, which was an 11% increase over last years figures. Let’s breakdown the exact amount that each format made in North America. The graphic novel format led the charge in overall revenue and made $765 million, while sales of periodical comics were $355 million. The sales of digital comics, that did not include online subscription services, totaled $90 million. Sales made through different retail channels totaled roughly $570 million via the bookstore channel; about $525 million in sales were via direct market comics shops; and about $25 million in sales came via “other channels,” which includes newsstands and crowdfunding.

Audiobook and eBook revenue continues to soar in May 2020

In the United States, audiobook and ebook revenue continues to soar. Digital book revenues were up 39.2% in May and generated $113.0 million. On a year-to-date basis, eBooks were up 7.3%, coming in at $435.4 million for the first five months of 2020. Digital audiobook revenues saw a 22.0% increase as compared to May of last year, reaching $54.2 million in revenue. On a year-to-date basis, it was up 15.8% as compared to the first five months of 2019, with a total of $262.5 million for the year so far.

Color e-paper is back to running at full capacity

Over the course of the past three months a number of new e-readers and smartphones have come out, that has been been employing the E INK Kaleido screen tech. This has resulted in E INK being virtually sold out, which is why you haven’t really heard of any new devices being in the works. According to the E INK CEO, Johnson Lee, it looks like this situation has been resolved. Color e-paper production lines are now running at full capacity and another factory has been devoted towards manufacturing. This will result in a 10% increase in the number of screens that will be produced by the end of 2020. E INK has also disclosed to Good e-Reader that by the end of the year, color e-paper will account for 10% of its revenues.

Amazon keeps pushing Kindle Unlimited

Amazon Kindle Unlimited offers 1.4  million audiobooks, comics, ebooks and graphic novels. The platform continiously offers discounts, but tends not to advertise them. Currently you get get a free two month trial and promotion lasts until the end of August. It is only good for people who reside in the United States. One of the most important aspects of this deal is not just for new members but also the ones who canceled the subscription some time ago. There is one caveat, your previous free trial had to end earlier than 12 months ago.

Audibles Executive Leadership is in Turmoil

Don Katz founded Audible in 1995 and turned it from a scrappy startup to the biggest audiobook retailer in the world. He sold the business to Amazon in 2008 for $300 million and remained CEO until January 2020. Bob Carrigan took the reigns, but he had big shoes to fill. One of his first hires was Brad Schwartz, who became chief content officer and who would oversee Audibles big push into original audio series, which are more like podcasts or old radio dramas than books. The company has already spent millions of dollars to produce shows with the likes of civil-rights activist Colin Kaepernick, rock star St. Vincent, and actors Riz Ahmed and Christian Slater. In less than a month on the job, Schwartz was fired. According to Bloomberg News, Audible employees found a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in February 2018 against Pop Media Group, Lionsgate and CBS by one of Pop TV’s sales VPs. Schwartz was not listed as a defendant but was included in a series of alleged incidents of misconduct experienced by the plaintiff at the network. The lawsuit accused Schwartz of demeaning a female sales executive when she objected to a press release sent by the network that included the headline “Pop Puts Out.” He was also accused of yelling out, “I may or may not have slept with her in college!” in reference to a keynote speaker at a national women’s empowerment conference.