Cory Doctorow will not distribute new audiobook to Audible
Famed science fiction writer Cory Doctorow has been publishing books for over a decade, and his new title is going to be release next month, called Attack Surface, but he won’t be selling it on Audible. Instead, Doctorow is selling the recorded version of the book through a Kickstarter campaign, and it will also be available through non-Amazon vendors like Google’s Play store and libro.fm. This is because all Audible audiobooks have DRM, there is no way for authors to shut it off.
Kobo Clara HD and H20 refurbished e-readers on sale
Kobo has not been running any sales on their e-readers since the Kobo Nia was announced. The best deals you can get right now is if you buy a refurbished models. In the US, the Kobo Clara HD is available for $89, the regular price for a new device is $119, so this is a really solid deal. The Kobo Aura H2O edition 2 is a bit older, but can be yours for $139, the regular price is $179.99. Meanwhile in Canada, the Kobo Clara HD is the only refurbished model in stock, it is available for $119, the regular price is $139.
Amazon Book Clubs is a new program in early access
Amazon Book Clubs is a new platform that is in early access. People can join public groups, that focus on specific genres, such as mysteries, romance or science-fiction. Book Clubs can be private and invite only, or public. Each of clubs, has little blurb on the focus, as well as their number one recommendation. Clicking on the recommendation takes you to the Amazon listing. I think this is an interesting new system, that should have plenty of new features, before it officially launches.
Unboxing the Xiaomi Moaan W7 10.3 inch e-note
The design of the W7 features an all white body. The screen is flush with the bezel with a layer of glass. On the bottom is a USB-C port and on the very top is a power button. There are no manual page turn keys or a dedicated home button, everything is software driven. The stylus is also pure white, it looks way nicer than the stock stylus that ships with the vast majority of digital note taking devices and the fact you can replace the nibs, makes it an extremely viable proposition.
Playster has gone bankrupt
Playster was an unlimited streaming platform for audiobooks and ebooks and the company has gone bankrupt. They have removed their apps from Apple and Google Android, the website has been shut down and it looks like it is over. There are reports that customers who did not cancel their subscription are continuing to be billed and there is no way to actually stop the subscriptions, short of calling your credit card company.
John Wiley & Sons experiences a digital boom
John Wiley and Sons have experienced a big profit in the past quarter, due to COVID and more people buying research and online access. Digital and online products offset continued declines in print revenue, leading to a 2% increase in sales. Revenue was $431.3 million in the quarter ended July 31, 2020, compared to $423.5 million in last year’s first quarter, total profit was $16.3 million. The major sales drivers were Wiley’s largest segment—research publishing and platforms—where sales increased 5%, to $240.8 million, and education learning, where sales jumped 29%, to $63.6 million.
Viz partners with Funimation for streaming anime
Viz Media is one of the largest distributors of manga and anime. The company has just partnered with Funimation, the second largest streaming platform, next to Crunchyroll. The new deal will include 2018 sci-fi boxing anime Megalo Box and Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. They’ll join existing titles from the VIZ Media catalog, such as Hunter x Hunter, on September 22nd, and a slew of movies including Sailor Moon R: The Movie and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II & III.
Color E-Paper and E INK Kaleido have severe limitations
Good e-Reader has reviewed every single color e-reader and color smartphone currently available, aside from the Onyx Boox Poke 2 Color, since it was only available for a few hours before it was sold out. The non-uniform grey background color on ebooks and the darker screen, warranting the front-light to always be engaged are two of the big problems. Can this be solved or fixed? This is something E INK has to do on a screen and PCP level, they have to create a hardware switch, that can be controlled with software to turn the CFA on/off. This would solve all of the current problems, but E INK has confirmed they will not be making a revision to color e-paper or Kaleido at all in 2021.
RBmedia will distribute audiobooks by Brandon Sanderson
RBMedia has been in the news lately, primarily due to them selling their library unit to Overdrive and the company is now just selling audiobooks directly to users through their network of retailers, such as Audible and Apple Books. Today, RBMedia has announced they signed a business deal with Mainframe, to produce and distribute four new audiobooks from renowned and award-winning author Brandon Sanderson.
Ebook revenue increased by 25% in July 2020
Ebook revenue in the United States are up 25.0% for the month of July 2020 as compared to July 2019 and the format generated $103.7 million. On a year-to-date basis, ebooks were up 14.2%, coming in at $652.9 million for the first seven months of 2020. Notably, ebook revenues in the Children’s and YA category saw a 76.4% jump during the month, coming in at $11.6 million. On a year-to-date basis, ebook revenues in the Children’s and YA category were up 63.3% for the first seven months of the year, coming in at $73.2 million.
iFlytek Book C1 Color E INK E-Reader Review
The vast majority of color E INK devices that have come out in 2020 have primarily been by Chinese companies. The iReader C6, Onyx Boox Poke 2 Color, the Hisense range of smartphones and now the iFlytek C1. The iReader and iFlytek both use similar design, with a flush screen and bezel, but tap into different ecosystems. The iReader uses Baidu, while iFlytek uses their own and also Migu, these two devices are perfect for Chinese speaking people who live outside of China, students studying abroad, or other circumstances.
Buy print and get a free ebook? Bundling will never happen
Ever since ebooks became popular in 2007, with the release of the 1st generation Amazon Kindle, major publishers have been actively digitizing their front and backlist titles. When the Barnes and Noble Nook and Kobo e-readers came around a few years later, they had massive bookstores on their e-readers, that allowed customers to buy them in their pajamas. Various companies have experimented with giving an ebook away for a very low cost or even for free, if you bought a print edition. Everyone has virtually scaled back or discontinued these programs, the dream of a bundled print/ebook will never be a reality.
Kindle for Android can now permanently delete ebooks
Amazon has added functionality to delete Kindle books right from your Android smartphone and tablet. This will allow you to completely delete ebooks that you no longer want on your device, or sampes you downloaded years ago. All you need to do is visit your library and long press on the cover art and it will give you a confirmation if you want to remove it or not.
Canadian Publishers are focusing on audiobooks and ebooks
Canadian publishers are focusing on digitizing their backlist and frontlist when it comes to audiobook and ebook production. In 2019 91% of all publishers are involved in ebook production and 55% have converted their backlist to the ebook format, while 74% release front-list ebook titles, in conjunction with print. Publishers are also embracing the public library, as an avenue to increase sales. Sales rose 90% in 2019, whereas in 2014 it was only at 75%.
TCL will release 2 new tablets TCL 10 TABMAX TCL 10 TABMID
Last week TCL unveiled the new NXTPAPER e-paper technology. It will feature a color monochrome display that has 25% higher contrast for better viewing and when compared to a typical LCD panel, is up to 36% thinner and 65% more power efficient than a typical LCD. The first products that will employ the e-paper is the TCL 10 TABMAX and TCL 10 TABMID. These two tablets will debut this fall and exclusivly rely on ambient light in order to display content and will not have a front-light or backlight.
Kaite 2 13.3 inch battery free enote review
The Kaite 2 is available from Good e-Reader for $99, which puts this on impulse buy terrority. It is a very interesting writing notepad, I think it is perfect for people who just want to doodle, layout their thoughts or have it sitting next their PC and jotting down notes. To be honest, this device is really solid. It showcases a different approach towards making notes or drawing. Since it doesn’t have a battery, it is easy to ship and order from every country in the world. I would recommend it to people who are on the fence about whether they want to buy a more expensive enote and whether they will actually use it, day to day. 13.3 inch products are normally very expensive because of the fast processors, RAM, SD support and E INK screens are not cheap. So if you are thinking about purchasing a Remarkable 2, Sony DPT-RP1, Fujitsu A4 or anything else, pickup the Kaite 2.
Dinlebi is a new audiobook platform available in Turkey
Dinlebi is a new audiobook provider in Turkey and content is delivered via their own apps for Android and iOS. They have thousands of audiobooks from over 20 leading publishing houses in Turkey and are offering an attractive business model that would generate them more revenue
Comixology gives Black Panther digital comics away for free
Comixology is giving close to a hundred Black Panther digital comics away for free. Included on the list are the Black Panther series by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the comic Shuri— so named for the sister of King T’Challa— by Nnedi Okorafor, Agents of Wakanda by Jim Zub and the Rise of the Black Panther series by Evan Narcisse.
The Pocketbook Basic 4 is a respectable e-reader – Review
This is a simple, barebones e-reader with none of the frills and options as all of the other e-readers in Pocketbooks modern portfolio. There are a small minority of people who don’t like touch screens for whatever reason, or use their e-reader while wearing gloves or mittens, due to the cold weather. Clicking on big oversized page turn buttons can be used in this manner.
The Basic 4 has a really good design, but doing any kind of typing is utterly terrible, I would recommend this as just a dedicated e-reader and that’s it.