Michael Kozlowski

11735 posts
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Here are all of the modern Hisense E INK smartphones

The Hisense A5 and Hisense A5 Pro use the traditional black and white e-paper display. The A5 came out last year and the Pro is the better buy, due to a higher version of Android and better hardware specs. The Hisense A5C and A5 Pro CC both came out this summer and are the first phones to employ color e-paper, the same technology that the Pocketbook Color brought to the table. I think the Pro CC is the better buy, it has a better processor, a fingerprint scanner, a dedicated speaker, and better hardware specs. The Hisense A6L is a bit of an anomaly,  it is similar to the Yotaphone, with one screen having an LCD display and the other E INK. This device has been lost in the shuffle, even though it has great hardware, and a modern version of Android, it is very underrated.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite vs Pocketbook Color

Pocketbook basically allows users to have more flexibility and control, users will have to sideload there own things to the device, or access Dropbox from the internet browser. A full color screen is a major selling point, Amazon will likely not do color for a few years.  Amazon is more user friendly, you can do everything right on the reader, without really needing to sideload, although you can sideload in your own ebooks, you can’t do it with audio files.

What are people reading and listening to on Overdrive Libby?

One of the best apps that Overdrive ever release, was Libby. This is an app that focuses the listening and reading experience, and that’s it. It is a simplified approach that caters to people who grew tired of the main Overdrive app, which was designed not only reading, but watching videos and listening to music, or reading magazines. Libby was released in 2017 and since then, millions of readers have borrowed hundreds of millions of digital books from public libraries around the world. What are the most popular audiobooks and ebooks have been the most popular? Read the entire list on goodereader.com

HarperCollins ebook sales are up 26%

One of the bright spots for the quarter were ebook sales, which were up 26%. The big genre sales within the digital division were children’s and general fiction. Audiobook and ebook sales represented 29% of consumer revenues for the quarter, which are higher than average. In the past, digital normally accounted for 21% on a quarterly basis

Kyocera KY-01L Card Keitai Review

The Docomo Kyocera KY-01L Card Keitai came out in late 2018 and…

Indigo Books revenue dropped by 30%

During the second quarter, Indigo Books has experienced a net loss of about $31.6 million for the 13 weeks ended June 27th,  compared to a net loss of about $19.1 million in the same quarter the previous year. This was basically a 30% drop in revenue, primarily due to all of their book stores being closed during the pandemic and online sales were not strong enough to offset it.

First look at the Xiaomi Mi Reader

The Xiaomi Mi Reader features a 6 inch E INK capacitive touchscreen…

Simon & Schuster ebook sales increased by 51%

Simon & Schuster has just recorded their second quarter financial results for April, May and June 2020. The publisher reported that there was a 51% increase in ebook sales and a 34% increase in sales of physical audiobook. CEO Jonathan Karp said that there is “no reason to believe the new consumer behavior will change any time soon.” And while that will likely keep online sales strong, brick-and-mortar stores remain vital.

The Sony DPT-RP1 and DPT-CP1 are now Discontinued

The Sony Digital Paper division in the United States is now closed.…

Spend $30 on Kindle Books and get $8 in free credit

Amazon is running one of their rare promotions for free ebook credit…

Here is the Kyocera KY-01L Card Keitai E INK Smartphone

We have been waiting to our hands on this phone for years.…

Onyx Boox is having a back to school sale

Onyx Boox is having a back to school sale and some of the bestselling e-notes are at rock bottom prices. The Onyx Boox Note 2 is a 10.3 inch digital note taking device, and the regular price is $549 and it is now available for $519. The Onyx Boox Max 3, which is basically one of the best 13.3 inch devices on the market, with HDMI out and able to read A4 documents. It normally retails for $859 but is on sale for $779.

Tablets sales are through the roof due to COVID

Many people have been working from home in April, May and June of this year, due to COVID. This means that certain tech segments are doing really well, such as tablets. Worldwide tablet shipments hit 37.5 million units in Q2 2020, a remarkable 26% year-on-year increase. Tablets, part of the PC market, had faltered in recent years, but demand in Q2 2020 was boosted by consumers and businesses wanting affordable access to basic computing power and larger screens to facilitate remote work, learning and leisure.

Tolino Web Reader now has text to speech

Tolino is well known for their line of e-readers, but the company also has an online web reader, where you can read ebooks with major internet browsers. The company has just issued a 5.1 update that brings text to speech, which will allow users the ability to have their books read aloud. The new function offers an advantage especially tolino users with visual impairment. Although they were able to adjust the font to their individual size beforehand, the reading function allows them to listen to their eBooks comfortably.

USB-C is useless on e-Readers

Everytime a new e-reader comes out that uses Micro USB, there is a vocal minority of users that say they are going to skip it due to the lack of USB-C. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Pocketbook, which traditionally uses Linux as an OS. These brands rely on selling digital content directly on the e-reader and discourage the use of sideloading content, so USB-C is useless. Most e-readers that use Android tend to use USB-C and this includes. Boyue Likebook products, modern Onyx Boox e-notes, iReader C6, Pocketbook InkPad X and the Xiaomi Mi Reader.

Amazon increases online sales by 48% in the past 3 months

Amazon has just reported in the 2nd quarter of 2020 (April, May, June) that online ordering has increased by 48% and generated $45.9 billion. Sales through third-party sellers rose even more, soaring 52%, to $18.2 billion. Since many stores were closed during the peak of the global pandemic, it makes sense more people were buying things online and Amazon seems to be the clear winner. 

Unknown Amazon Packages are making a comeback

Amazon sometimes suffers from data breaches or users are using the same logins and passwords on multiple sites and they become compromised. Financial information such as debit or credit cards are normally encrypted. Logins and passwords are normally sold on blackmarket websites, hundreds of thousands are sold for a few thousand. This has created a modern concept called brushing, where you receive packages from Amazon, normally from China, with no return address. Once you receive them, bad actors are using your confirmed purchase to write positive reviews of their products. This is why sometimes when you are browsing Amazon, there are nonsensical reviews,  and even reviews of completely different products.

iReader C6 vs the Pocketbook Color

There are only two e-readers currently available that have modern color E INK panels. They are the iReader C6, which is primarily available in China and the Pocketbook Color. These two devices offer vastly different experiences for users. Which one is better? The Pocketbook is the better device, it supports comic book formats and manga. It is more internationally friendly and is around $120 cheaper.

Amazon Kindle can now save preferred fonts & layout settings

The Amazon Kindle app for iOS can now save your preferred font and layout settings into custom themes. Located in Aa menu, themes allow you to toggle between favorite reading configurations with a single tap. This system is ideal for people who share the same login and password between multiple people in a household. The settings in the iOS app are automatically synced to the Kindle line of e-readers, since they have had this feature for awhile. 

ebooks sales in the US generated $1.94 billion in 2019

The Association of American Publishers has announced that in 2019 ebook sales declined 4.9% and generated $1.94 billion. Overall sales are down 30.8% for the five-year period of 2015-2019. Digital audiobooks remains the fastest growing digital revenue segment in the industry, generating $1.31 billion in revenue in 2019, a 15.9% increase over 2018. In the five-year period from 2015-2019, downloaded audio grew a total of 143.8%.